Imatges de pàgina
PDF
EPUB

flour from the west country. On the opposite side of the river is Bankside, where stood some old theatres which have long since disappeared. At SOUTHWARK BRIDGE the river is at its narrowest, being only about 650 feet wide. On the south side is that great establishment BARCLAY'S BREWERY, and hereabouts, in Shakspere's time, stood the famous Globe Theatre. Beyond, on the same side, is ST. SAVIOUR'S CHURCH, the interior of which is well worth inspecting. On the north bank close upon London Bridge is FISHMONGERS' HALL, above which are several piers for landing and taking up passengers. But if the London Bridge Railway Station be the reader's destination, he should land on the opposite (north) side of the river.

LONDON BRIDGE TO GREENWICH.

Stepping on board a steamer from a pier on the west or upper side of London Bridge (steamers bound for Greenwich and Woolwich call here every quarter of an hour), we pass through an arch of the bridge, and are soon in front of Billingsgate market, standing on the left, and marked by an Italian campanile ; behind which is the dome of the Coal Exchange. Next to the market is the great front of the Custom House, and behind it is seen the church steeple of St. Dunstan-in-the-East, copied by Wren from one at Newcastle-on-Tyne. The Tower of London, with its lofty keep, is conspicuous; the low arch under the esplanade is Traitor's Gate. At this spot the Thames is 860 feet in width. The high walls of St. Katherine's Docks succeed, and a church tower indicates the classic district of Wapping. We now enter the Pool, which, with its vast crowd of ships, will give some idea of the immense commerce of the Port of London, and must strike all foreigners with astonishment. The London Docks lie, like all the preceding objects, on the north bank of the stream. The tower of Rotherhithe Church, on the opposite bank, will point out the position of the south entrance into the Thames Tunnel, that costly and nearly useless work, over which the steamer insensibly glides, having previously stopped to land and receive passengers at a pier on the north side, known as the Tunnel Pier. "Prince" Le Boo, from the Pellew Islands, was interred at Rotherhithe Church. The Commercial Docks are on the Surrey side, in the angle formed by the river bending to Limehouse Reach, and over against them are the immense West

India Docks, which have entrances at both sides of the Isle of Dogs, as the large horse-shoe piece of land round which the river winds is called, from Henry VIII. having kept his hounds upon it. Its western shore is known as Millwall, and here are placed some large manufacturing and engineering establishments, to wit, Burnett's timber-preserving works, the white-lead works of Messrs. Pontifex, the engineering yards of the Napiers, Swayne and Bovill, Mare, and Scott Russell. In the last mentioned establishment the mighty but unfortunate Great Eastern was constructed. Deptford, with its royal dockyard, indicated by low buildings and vast sheds, is on the south bank. It was here that Peter the Great studied ship-building. The Navy Victualling Offices are an immense establishment here. A little further on are Messrs. Rennie's engineering works. Shortly after passing the Dreadnought hospital ship (where the sick sailors of all nations are received for treatment), we are in front of that magnificent group of buildings forming Greenwich Hospital, backed by the trees of Greenwich Park and the Observatory. Here, if our design be to inspect the interior of the hospital, we land, but if Woolwich be our destination, we proceed. In a few minutes we are abreast of the pier at Blackwall, noted for its iron ship-building establishments and for its hotels, to which the Londoners resort, in the proper season, to eat their favourite dish of whitebait, a small fish taken abundantly in the Thames, and formerly supposed to be the young of the shad, but now established in books of natural history with a scientific name of its own (Clupea alba). The ministers of the crown have a curious custom of coming here or to Greenwich to feast on whitebait at the end of the session. Near the pier is the terminus of the Blackwall Railway. Behind Blackwall are the East India Docks, and a little lower down the river the Victoria Docks, the last construction of these artificial basins. Charlton, a pretty village, with a manor-house of James I.'s time, is seen on the south bank; and shortly afterwards we are at the Woolwich pier, with a not very attractive prospect of houses, and high walls, and tall chimneys, before us. Behind Woolwich, Shooter's Hill, a mound of London clay capped with drift gravel, rises to the height of 412 feet. On the opposite side of the river is the terminus of the North Woolwich Railway. Our return to London may be made, if thought desirable, either by this line (the London terminus of which is at Shoreditch) or by the North Kent line to London Bridge.

RIVER STEAMERS.

HALFPENNY STEAM-BOATS between Adelphi Pier and Dyer's Hall Pier, London Bridge.

PENNY STEAM-BOATS between Westminster Bridge (Surrey side), Hungerford Bridge, and London Bridge, every ten minutes, not calling at intermediate piers.

CITIZEN AND IRON STEAM-BOAT COMPANY'S BOATS start every five minutes from piers on both sides of London Bridge, and call at Paul's Wharf, Doctors Commons, Blackfriars Bridge, Temple Pier, Essex Street, Strand, Waterloo Bridge, Hungerford Bridge, Westminster Bridge, Lambeth, Vauxhall Road, Vauxhall and Nine Elms, Pimlico, West London and Crystal Palace Railway Pier, Battersea Park Pier, Cadogan Pier, Chelsea, and Battersea Bridge. Fares, from London Bridge to Lambeth, 1d.; to Pimlico Piers, 2d.; to Chelsea and Battersea, 3d.

WATERMEN'S COMPANY STEAM-BOATS start during the summer months for Greenwich and Woolwich every fifteen minutes from Hungerford Bridge, calling at the Temple Pier, Blackfriars Bridge, London Bridge (upper side), Cherry Gardens, Rotherhithe, Thames Tunnel, north bank, and Commercial Dock, and calling at Blackwall every half hour.

DIAMOND FUNNEL PACKETS leave, during the summer, Hungerford, London Bridge, Greenwich, Blackwall, and Woolwich, for Erith and Gravesend, every half hour throughout the morning, and at two and half-past four from London Bridge in the afternoon; for Southend and Sheerness at half-past eight, and ten from Hungerford, and nine and half-past ten from London Bridge, returning the same day. Fares, Sheerness and back, 2s. 6d. ; Gravesend and back, 1s. 6d.

STEAMERS TO KEW, from London Bridge, calling at the other piers, every half-hour throughout the summer. Fare, there and back, 1s. From Cadogan Pier, Chelsea, by the Citizen and Iron Steam-boats every half-hour, calling at intermediate piers; fare there, 4d. Return from Kew Bridge every half hour.

STEAMERS TO KEW AND RICHMOND from Hungerford Bridge at half-past ten on Sundays and Mondays.

R

CHAPTER THE NINETEENTH.

THE BRIDGES.

Battersea Park Bridge-Blackfriars Bridge-Charing Cross BridgeLambeth Bridge-London Bridge-Southwark Bridge-Vauxhall Bridge-Waterloo Bridge-New Westminster Bridge-The Tunnel.

BETWEEN Chelsea and the Tower the Thames is crossed by ten bridges, of which seven are constructed of iron, and the rest of stone. Two of them are railway bridges, the others are for foot passengers and ordinary vehicles. The following account of the London Bridges is arranged alphabetically:

BATTERSEA PARK OR VICTORIA BRIDGE is an elegant iron structure, erected in 1857, from the designs of Mr. T. Page, at a cost of £88,000. It crosses the river in the neighbourhood of Chelsea Hospital, and the new park at Battersea. Including the abutments, it is 915 feet long, the distance between the two suspension towers being 347 feet. Toll is levied; foot-passengers pay a halfpenny, vehicles various rates. Close by is the viaduct by which the Crystal Palace and West End Railway is carried over the Thames from the Victoria Station, Pimlico.

BLACKFRIARS BRIDGE.-The old bridge was commenced in 1760, and opened in 1769, Portland stone being the material employed in its construction. Robert Mylne was the architect, and its total cost, including the approaches, was about £262,000. It had nine semi-elliptical arches, the largest having a span of 100 feet. Its total length was 995 feet, and its width 45 feet. Large sums have been expended upon repairs, but the foundations having given way, a new iron bridge is about to be erected from the designs of Mr. Page. It has only three spans, with a width of 80 feet within the parapets.

CHARING CROSS (HUNGERFORD) BRIDGE. This bridge has been lately erected for the purpose of extending the South-Eastern Railway from London Bridge to the station built on the site of

« AnteriorContinua »