THE HARRY POTTER TOUR AND TREASURE HUNT CONTINUES.
HARRY POTTER WALKTHROUGH DIRECTIONS
Continue to the end of Stoney Street at the end of which go left along Southwark Street and, just before the underground station, go right to cross all the traffic light crossings, heading towards Ryman's.
On arrival at Ryman's turn left in front of it and keep ahead along Borough High Street to cross over St Thomas Street, keep ahead over London Bridge Street and, on arrival at the rail, veer right then go left over the first traffic light crossing, keep ahead over Tooley Street, via the pedestrian crossing, and veer left and ahead to walk on to London Bridge.
LONDON BRIDGE IS FALLING DOWN.
In 1013 the Danish leader Sweyn Forkbeard (960 -1014) son of Harald Bluetooth (history got so dull when Kings and Queen's took up numbering rather than nicknames!) invaded London. He met with a determined resistance but the citizens eventually surrendered. The English King, Aethelred, (968 - 1016), fled into exile and Sweyn was proclaimed King of England. Sweyn's victory, however, was - for him at least - short lived as he died five weeks later.
The following year Aethelred returned with an ally, Olaf 11 (995 - 1030) of Norway, and they set about recapturing the City. The Danes, however, repelled the attack and the invading Norsemen were forced to retreat under a barrage of missiles coupled with streams of boiling oil and water that rained upon them from London’s heavily fortified bridge.
According to the 13th century Norse Sagas, it was Olaf’s ingenuity that saved the day. He had his boats covered with thick platforms of wattle and clay, and with his men ensconced beneath this protective layer he had them row upriver under cover of darkness and tie ropes around the timber piles of the bridge.
With the next flood tide, his warriors rowed downriver and brought London Bridge tumbling into the water along with many of the astonished Danish defenders.
The rest fled, and the City was taken. This infamous event was later immortalised by the Norse poet Ottar Svarte who wrote: -
London Bridge is broken down
Gold is won and bright renown
Shields resounding,
War horns sounding Hildur shouting in the din!
Arrows singing
Mailcoats ringing
Odin makes our Olaf win
In time this saga of war evolved into the popular children’s rhyme London Bridge is falling down my fair Lady
Click on this link to hear a rendition of the modern version of London Bridge is Falling down.
THE HISTORICAL LONDON BRIDGE.
The first London Bridge was built by the Romans, probably in about AD100 a little further down river from the present bridge. There was certainly a bridge here in the ninth century as the Anglo Saxon Chronicle tells us of a woman accused of witchcraft being thrown off it.
During the first thousand years the bridges here were made of wood and would frequently collapse or be destroyed in war, as happened in 1014. The first stone bridge was built by Peter of Colechurch in 1176 and by 1201 there were references to houses on the bridge.
At its centre was a chapel dedicated to St Thomas a Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury who was murdered in his own Cathedral in 1170 by four knights acting on an outburst by King Henry 11. Shortly afterwards Becket was canonised and the pilgrimage to his shrine at Canterbury became particularly popular with Londoners. Their journey would begin with prayers at his chapel on the bridge.
The houses were removed from the bridge between 1758 and 1762 and between 1823 and 1831 a new bridge, designed by Sir John Rennie, was erected a little way upstream from where the old bridge had stood.
By the 1960's increased traffic flow had caused some subsidence of the bridge and it was decided to build a new and wider one.
The present bridge was constructed around the old bridge in order not to interrupt the flow of traffic. Rennie's Bridge was sold to the McCullough Oil Corporation for £1,000,000 and transported to Lake Havasu, Arizona, USA.
Until 1760 the City Corporation - the governing body of the City of London - had charged a toll to cross the bridge, which was paid into the Bridge House Estate Fund and used to maintain and repair the bridge. Although no monies have been paid into this fund since 1760, each successive version of the City bridges (London Bridge, Tower Bridge and Blackfriars Bridge) has been built using the resources of the fund.
HARRY POTTER WALKTHROUGH DIRECTIONS
Keep ahead on to London Bridge and pause at its centre to look right towards Tower Bridge.
TOWER BRIDGE
THE FLIGHT OF THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX
This is one of the sections of the River Thames along which the members of the Order of the Phoenix fly on their broomsticks as they escort Harry Potter to 12 Grimauld Place in the early stages of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Having flown along the Thames through Docklands, pictured by night below, and which you can see to your right beyond Tower Bridge,
they fly past HMS Belfast the grey battleship that you can see to the right and which is pictured below
Having passed under London Bridge, on which you're standing, they fly under Southwark and Blackfriars Bridges before almost colliding with the Golden Salamander, a Thames pleasure boat which is owned by Thames Luxury Cruises, and which has also been used in the James Bond films and The Bill.
HARRY POTTER WALKTHROUGH DIRECTIONS
Continue over London Bridge. Towards its other end look through the gap in the two buildings on the right at the Gherkin which features in the opening sequence of Harry Potter and the Half Blood price as the Death Eaters fly over London wreaking havoc and destruction.
Continue off the bridge and past Adelaide House on its other side to go first right into Monument Street where directly ahead of you is:-
THE MONUMENT TO THE GREAT FIRE OF LONDON.
The Monument commemorated the Great Fire of London which broke out on the next street along, Pudding Lane, in September 1666.
HARRY POTTER WALKTHROUGH DIRECTIONS
Turn left in front of Monument and go up Fish Street Hill, keeping to its left side.
Cross over the main Road, Eastcheap, via the crossing (there are toilets here should they be required) off which veer right go over the next crossing and turn left along Gracechurch Street.
Keep ahead over Fenchurch Street and keep walking until, on the right, you come to Bull's Head Passage. Turn right along it and pause outside the opticians a little way along. on the left.
THE OTHER LEAKY CAULDRON. HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE.
HARRY POTTER WALKTHROUGH DIRECTIONS
Keep ahead and go left to pause under the clock at the centre of:-
LEADENHALL MAKET - DIAGON ALLEY
Leadenhall, which dates from 1881, is London's most beautiful Victorian market. The market has been used in the Harry Potter films for the exterior shots of Diagon Alley.
HARRY POTTER WALKTHROUGH DIRECTIONS
Turn left and keep ahead past the New Moon Pub and back out on to Gracechurch Street.
Cautiously cross to its other side and turn right to pass Ede and Ravenscroft.
On arrival at the traffic lights go left along Cornhill and pause a little way along on the left outside the door of St Peter's Church.
Facing the door look up at the building on the right at:-
THE DEVIL AND ST PETER'S - A LONG AGO FEUD.
The red-brick building to the right of the church is surmounted by two looking demons that look decidedly fearsome! Indeed, why not see if the children can spot them?
The two devil's crouch as though poised to leap from their perches and wreak demonic mayhem around the church.
They remember a bitter feud between between a long ago vicar of St Peter’s and the architect who designed this building, a Mr Rentz.
When Rentz drew up his original plans for the building he did it in such a way that his new building would have encroached on land owned by the church.
As it happened, the then vicar of St Peter's was very territorial and he created such a furore that the architect was forced to redesign the building, which cost him a great deal of both time and money.
When the building was finally completed, Rentz added the grotesques in commemoration of the feud and, it is said, modelled the face of the fiercest demon on that of his arch enemy, the then vicar of St Peter’s.
HARRY POTTER WALKTHROUGH DIRECTIONS
Walk a little way along Cornhill and go left through the very narrow covered St Peter's Alley. Keep ahead through the next covered passageway, go right into Corbett's Court go up and down the stairs, off which bear left, and walk straight to pause outside the George and Vulture.
WHERE CHARLES DICKENS'S A CHRISTMAS CAROL BEGAN
The alleyway you arrive in is extremely atmospheric; even the London traffic and everyday bustle are strangely muffled.
It was in this vicinity of the City that Charles Dickens placed the office of Ebenezer Scrooge, and it has to be said that the alleyways hereabouts still have a very Dickensian feel.
The neighbourhood has changed much since, but here in this backwater of grimy alleyways time stands still, and you can picture its Victorian residents going ‘wheezing up and down, beating their hands on their breasts, and stamping their feet upon the pavement stones to warm them’.
HARRY POTTER WALKTHROUGH DIRECTIONS
keep ahead through Castle Court and go left along Birchin Lane. At its end go right along Lombard Street and keep walking along it until you arrive at the entrance to Bank Underground Station.
From Bank Underground Station you will need to take a northbound Northern Line train to King's Cross for the final section of your Harry Potter Walkthrough.
