Now that could have been messy ...

Two blogs in one day? Well I have tomorrow off, and am out with the family ('Hotel for Dogs', something to eat, then swimming if you're interested. And obviously we'll wait one hour before going swimming ...) so decided to blog about my lunchtime exploits now - ok?

I went for my regular lunchtime walk with no idea of where I was going to go, but the River Thames is always a good place to start. I thought that perhaps this blog post could be photos of my walk, but before I post lots of pictures, a quick story ...

On London Bridge there's an underpass that allows you to get down to the riverside. The steps also continue down to the actual river, so with my camera-phone set to black and white as the colour photos didn't come out too well, I went down the steps to the river. There's a mezzanine, (As seen in the moody photo of me) then a further set of steps that lead down to the water, the mezzanine being relatively dry ...

I took the picture of me with the timer function on my phone, then thought that I'd take another one with me slightly further down the steps ...

However, as you'll notice in the picture, the steps are a bit 'shiny' ... This is because they are covered in green slime! I stepped on the first step, promptly slipped, and then slid around the top two steps like Bambi on ice. During the split second that I was hurtling round the steps and swearing profusely, I had a vision of me flying down the steps, unable to stop because of the green slime stopping me from getting my footing, and going headfirst into the Thames. Still trying to think how I'd have explained that one at work ... And now, nearly 2 hours later, my legs are still aching from the strain of trying to stop myself going for a swim a day early.

So I left the steps, and retreated to the safety of dry land.
The tide was out, which is how I like to see the Thames as you never know what you might see, plus there's history to be seen. The photo above has the remains of 19th century barge holdings, as well as masonary from the buildings that used to stand along the Thames and are now long gone, whereas the picture below has two partially submerged and broken lamp posts - aftermath of the bombing from World War 2 perhaps? Though on reflection, they look more like the 'City of London' bollards .. I prefer my bomb damage theory though.

Heading back to work, I passed another of the old/new things I like about London. In the background of the picture you have the Tate Modern Art Gallery, formerly a power station that provided electricity to the south of London, but stretching across the picture is the Millenium Bridge - built for the Millenium, and then promptly shut as there were safety concerns over how it 'bounces' (And there's more of those 19th century barge things as well in the corner!).

But as bridges go, the one over Lower Thames Street is quite weird (And I had to be careful how I took the photo incase the woman in shot thought I was stalking her!) - how comes the bridge suddenly slopes up? Why, when building the bridge, couldn't an extra step be put in on the lower side to make up the difference? Still, makes a cool photo ...