Waterloo
Waterloo is probably the most famous location I could blog about in South London, and for good reason. It's well known for its train station, one of the most used in the country, as well as for that massive glass cinema in the middle of a roundabout. Then there's the bridge which connects it to Soho, an area teeming with nightlife, as well as the touristy South Bank.
I started outside the station's car park. Waterloo's name is derived from the Belgian battlefields, specifically the one that saw Abba win Eurovision and Napoleon lose once and for all, before his exile to St Helena. Specifically, Waterloo Bridge was named after the battle, and once the station opened in 1848, the name was consolidated. It's easy to forget there's another nearby station, specifically Waterloo East, but it hardly lights a candle to Waterloo, which sees nearly sixty million passengers annually.
I soon made progress from the car park, approaching the central IMAX cinema which is more an eyesore than anything; I found the nearby Royal Waterloo Hospital for Children and Women more interesting. The hospital opened in 1816 but moved here in 1823, initially for children but later accepting women come 1851 as well. The hospital eventually closed in 1976, not before it became known for its disturbing treatment practices which involved giving depressed patients electroshock therapy and occasionally lobotomies - you can read more about that here. University students now reside in this architecturally sound building.
Whilst the bridge lay to my right, I carried on past another car park and walkway tunnels to soon emerge by the South Bank. There, in yellow modernist spirals, is the Royal Festival Hall, built in 1951 as part of the Festival of Britain. It hosts music and poetry performances, with the odd art standing around it. It's only part of the larger Southbank Centre which overlooks the Thames, also including the Queen Elizabeth Hall and Hayward Gallery. At the bank itself, passing the unusual memorial of Chopin, was an art display of fountains which alters which parts of water are sprayed or not. The centre requests no photographs to be taken, so I took one from afar. Otherwise, the area feels quite bleak, what with the brutalist exteriors surrounding you. I'm sure the entertainment inside more than makes up for it.
There are, however, two bridges to spot here - Waterloo, obviously, and also the Hungerford Bridge, which opened in 1864, which looks more exciting with its cables. It's used exclusively by railways crossing into Charing Cross, and is named for the 17th century market named for Hungerford House, named for the Hungerford family, which stood on the South Bank. Unfortunately a fire put an end to it in 1669, as Samuel Pepys noted. There are also the Golden Jubilee bridges (opened in 2002) on either side, used by pedestrians, though I wouldn't consider them bridges per se, more extensions. They're also depicted in a Monet painting, though it's hard to make them out.
Towards Westminster
Things brighten up as you walk towards the Jubilee Gardens, which also opened in 1951 as part of the Festival of Britain. There used to be a Dome of Discovery here, but that was dismantled by the time the area was made to celebrate the Queen's Silver Jubilee. It's a nice park, though dwarfed by the comparably larger London Eye. This Ferris wheel was originally meant to be temporary to celebrate the millenium, but has stayed in the same place whilst constantly changing sponsors. It makes for a welcome addition to the London skyline, and it's easy to forget it's a relatively new addition, it's that distinctive.
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The South Bank from here becomes an assortment of entertainment venues - the London Dungeon, the Shrek Experience, the London Aquarium, the like. Parliament's on the other side of the river, and when I visited it hadn't opened yet for the new Labour government. There's also Big Ben, named for the bell - it's officially the Elizabeth Tower - and looking much better after its refurbishment a few years ago.
Westminster Bridge was the first crossing of the Thames following the original London Bridge, opening in 1750 after eleven years of construction. Westminster was expanding rapidly at the time, and despite initial opposition, not many wanted to continue crossing the river by boat. A new bridge was erected in 1862 and is painted green, as per the seats in the Commons.
As always, the area is full of tourists - just to the north is Whitehall and Trafalgar Square with similarly iconic landmarks, and not far from there are all the entertainment districts. I could have followed them, but instead I made my way westward.
Towards Vauxhall
I quickly went to see St Thomas' Hospital, named for St Thomas Beckett since the original infirmary was renamed in 1173. It moved around quite often, settling here in 1861. County Hall now houses two hotels, yet was once where London County Council and its successor, the Greater London Council, met. They did this for nearly 100 years before Margaret Thatcher got rid of them, and a large notice and plaque remind people of County Hall's past life.
The section towards Vauxhall was where the rain started. The lengthy Covid memorial starts here, a harrowing collection of hearts and names filling up the entire section of embankment up to Lambeth Bridge. The Thames also doesn't change much until we get to the next major crossing, Lambeth Bridge. This one's red, as per the seats in the House of Lords, and opened in 1862 at the site of a ferry that carried horses and wagons - the Horseferry. The bridge was susceptible to rusting and was rebuilt entirely come 1932. Lambeth Palace is also nearby, though I didn't notice it, and it may well be a future blogpost.
There's the office for the International Maritime Organisation, as well as the London Fire Brigade Headquarters - or at least they were, from opening in 1937 to leaving in 2007. A slight beach forms around here too, and as the buildings shift from cultural to residential, you can tell we're entering Vauxhall. There's far more glass, and the buildings also protrude upwards, often surrounded by cranes.
Vauxhall
Vauxhall comes from French, referring to a "manor owned by Falkes"; the Falkes was a military leader who ruled around the time of King John. His crest had a griffin, which is where the Vauxhall (car company) logo originates from. The notable Pleasure Gardens are also nearby, yet I didn't visit on this occasion. A popular story is that the gardens indirectly inspired the Russian word for train station, voksal, but it doesn't actually seem to be true. The River Effra used to feed into the Thames here, though since it was covered up and merged into the sewage system, it's sadly no longer visible.
Vauxhall is far more urban now, and houses Vauxhall Bridge; the original opened in 1816, and the current bridge opened in 1906. The odd looking bus station is at the centre of a large gyratory, with many major roads feeding into it. There's also the SIS Building, which houses MI6 - it's a terrific looking glass building which I didn't photograph, but you'll probably see if you watch a James Bond film. It's seemingly come up on three different occasions, though I wouldn't know.
Epilogue
I probably could have photographed the SIS Building, but it's always better to be safe than sorry. The fact that there are so many photos lying around on the internet perhaps confirms this, and everyone knows where it is, too. Then again, maybe someone from MI6 reads this blog, in which case hi.
I've probably not spent as much time blogging about every bit of the journey as I'd have hoped for, but hopefully you've enjoyed the blogpost. The walk was by far the best part of the trip; everyone knows the places but may have not walked between them.
I also carried on towards Battersea, which may come up in a future blogpost.
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