Greenwich part 1

One of the nicest parts of London for a visitor to spend a day is Greenwich, about five miles east of Westminster, right on the banks of the River Thames. If you look on a map Greenwich is at the bottom of that big horseshoe the Thames makes and it’s position gives great views up river, across to the Isle of Dogs and the financial buildings in Canary Wharf and down river you get a good look at that white elephant, The Millennium Dome.

To get to Greenwich take the Dockland’s Light Railway and get on a train that’s heading for Lewisham. There are two stops you can get off at, Cutty Sark for Maritime Greenwich or Greenwich. Get out at Cutty Sark station it’ll put you right in the middle of town, the Greenwich stop is about a ten minute walk away.

The other way to get there is by river boat from Westminster, the London Eye or Tower Hill. There are a number of operators but they all seem to charge similar prices and £7 seems about the price from Westminster to Greenwich one way, £9 return.
This is a nice way to go but if you’re going in the autumn and winter wear some warm clothing because the river’s wide and open down that stretch and the wind can really pick up off the water. I did a trip on one with a visiting cousin a couple of weeks ago and we got a good blast of it.

When you walk off the boat and out of Greenwich Pier, straight in front of you is the Cutty Sark, a 19th century tea clipper in dry dock, and to the right is a circular red brick building with a glass domed roof. You might think its some old Victorian public toilet but it’s actually the entrance to the Greenwich foot tunnel that runs all the way under the River Thames to the Isle of Dogs.

It was opened in 1902 to allow dock workers living on the south side of the river to get to work at the Millwall docks. It’s still open today, 24 hours a day, there are elevators but they only run from from 5am-9pm. The walk shoudn’t take more than five to ten minutes to get to Island Gardens on the other side and not only can you say you’ve walked under the Thames but you’ll have a good photo oppurtunity from the north side of all the great buildings on the Greenwich bank.

The Cutty Sark is a 280ft long sailing clipper that was launched in 1869 and carried produce from Britain to the Far East and brought back tea from China. After a few years she switched from tea to begin taking cargoes eveywhere from China and Japan to Australia, America and Europe. She was renowned for her speed and went from Australia to Britain in 73 days. Her final voyage was in 1938 and she went on display at Greenwich in 1958.

Normally the Cutty Sark is open to the public to go all over the ship and there are many kinds of displays, collections and exhibits below decks, but it actually closed to the public on 5 November 2006 for a £13million refurbishment and is not due to open again until 2008.

The central part of Greenwich is a lively place and fairly small so its easy to walk around and see what’s there. As well as being a major tourist area Greenwich has a University in the Old Royal Naval College buildings on the banks of the Thames, one block from the Cutty Sark and that mixture of visitors and students means there’s good selction of restaurants, bars and shops.

Walk up past the Gypsy Moth pub and head in the direction of the large church tower, St Alfege’s Church, and you’re on Greenwich Church Street. You’ll find tapas bars, Tex-Mex, noodle bars and even a traditional English pie and eel house.

If you take a right turn down Creek Road and cross the street you’ll find a comedy club called Up The Creek that looks like its taken over a large old church and painted it purple. They have comedy show’s Friday and Saturday nights with a DJ to follow and special show’s on Sunday’s with bands as well as comedy. They also have a restaurant and bar that are open until 2am.

Take a left turn down College Approach road and on the right is Greenwich Market, through the pillared entrance way halfway down the street. This is a busy little market of small individual stall holders under a covered area selling anything from arts and crafts to clothes, jewllery, furniture and all kinds of second hand stuff.

A large proportion of the stalls seem to be run by Chinese women, it maybe just coincidence or maybe they’re students making a little extra cash, it only costs £10 to have a stall there Thursday or Friday. It’s also open Saturday and Sunday and there are a few food stalls regular shops around the edges.

The market is open Thurs 7.30am-5.30pm, Fri, Sat, Sun and Bank Holidays 9:30am - 5:30pm. On Saturday’s and Sunday’s they also have a food court there.