My iPhone health app tracked me as walking 25 klics (or taking 30,000 steps) today. It was a big one…with most of it spent stuck behind the madding crowds in the large London Markets. Once out of the blocks in the morning I headed to Big Ben & the Houses of Parliament. Thence it was across St. James’s Park, a spot of the changing of the guard at the Palace and then up to Portobello Markets (interesting, crowded, worth a visit). I then went across to Camden Markets (overrated, crowded, don’t bother) and back to my London Bridge digs via Oxford Circus, Regent St & Trafalgar Square. Certainly a tour of the London highlights.
London botf observation #4: A lot of Londoners smoke. It’s not just because there’s more people overall than Sydney. A greater proportion of the whole like a dart than back home. I guess it’s still part of Europe (pending Brexit) so it’s still the thing to do.
As the FA Cup kicked off I headed to the Bermondsey Beer Mile. It’s a sequence of breweries set up, on the whole, in arches under the National Rail Line that terminates at London Bridge. There’s normally 9 breweries that are part of the complete ‘experience’ but time escaped me and I managed just 3.
A dull Piccadilly Circus and breweries in rail arches
First stop was Southwark at the northernmost tip of the Mile. The FA Cup crowd were in full swing and I managed a few excellent crafties jammed in a corner under the TV.
Second was UBrew. These guys dance to a slightly different tune and essentially enable those without the facilities to do their brewing to come and use their kit to punch out some crafties. They also have a few other breweries on tap to to sample.
Lastly it was Brew by Numbers. These guys use a novel labelling method whereby the beer label has 2 numbers. The first is the style (e.g. Saison, Porter or Witbier) with the second being the recipe based on the ingredients (e.g. Citra, Original or Classic). I also felt like I was back at Manning Bar at Sydney Uni as there was a deposit on your glass – £3 in this case which also means you can return your glass for a takeaway – handy that.
I was on the Bermondsey Beer Mile on a Saturday afternoon so a top tip to be aware of is that they all close quite early, from 6pm – 7pm. So get in early.
Southwark Brewing
Address: 46 Druid Street, London SE1 2EZ (select for map)
Tube: Bermondsey
UBrew
Address: 24 Old Jamaica Rd, London SE16 4AW (select for map)
Tube: Bermondsey
Brew by Numbers
Address: 79 Enid Street, London SE16 3RA (select for map)
Tube: Bermondsey
back of the ferry 