THAMES PAGEANT

Our last twenty or so miles

January 9th dawns with a blue sky.

We resume the journey at Putney Bridge Station,

This is a pageant of history.

Through Wandsworth,

Wedding Cake Albert Bridge,

Battersea Power Station.

Pretty Chelsea and onto Westminster,

Past the home of the Secret Service, 

Expected to see Dame Judy Dench.

Past the mother of parliaments

Onwards along the South Bank and into Borough Market

Mike unpacks its delights and we sup from the greasy spoon.

Most excellent marketplace,

Charcuterie and Cheese for souvenirs,

Mike takes us further into the depths of Southwark,

Strange stones of an ancient palace 

And a stones throw further

The 13-century burial ground of prostitutes,

Its gates now hung with votive offerings

for London's more recent dispossessed.

Eastwards past The Globe Theatre

Past Tower Bridge

Now we are entering the flatlands

Through Greenwich,

Opposite is Canary Wharf

The modern mammon

So on onwards, through waste ground and deserted wharfs collapsing into the low water mud,

Sand and ballast workings,

Strange jetty's and elevators peer out from the river's bank

Inquisitive, as if looking for a purpose.

End is in sight,

Like six shinning Bishops’ mitres, the Thames Barrier. 

The journey's end.

A photo is taken. 

Much banter tinged with disappointment that the Visitors Centre is not open, 

So no souvenirs. 

The Thames Journey is complete.