This afternoon tour wanders through London’s docklands, stopping off at historic riverside pubs to soak up the atmosphere, imbibe a little history, enjoy the view and drink a pint / cocktail / glass of wine or two! Pubs lie at the heart of British life, and some of our oldest surviving buildings are often pubs! This means they have wonderful quirky architecture, old beams, scary cellars, long and wonderful histories and stories of incredibly varied patrons.

This tour starts on the Isle of Dogs at a wonderful historic pub associated with armament making, before walking through the modern glass and steel centre of Canary Wharf and into the historic preserved heart of Limehouse to admire handsome Georgian buildings and fine river views. The walk continues into Wapping with its sensitively renovated 19th century docks and its historic pubs linked to smugglers and thieves. A short journey on the London Overground takes us under the river (via a wonder of engineering by Marc and Isambard Kingdom Brunel) to Rotherhithe where we can see the dock where the Mayflower departed on its voyage to the New World in 1620 and visit a modest church with global links thanks to its seafaring parishioners. We will finish at a wonderful local pub with touching statues in honour of community heroes and views of Tower Bridge.

The plan is to visit 3 docklands neighbourhoods (Canary Wharf, Wapping and Rotherhithe), include 6 historic pubs and enjoy drink stops at 4 pubs (although we may have to be flexible on the day according to how busy the pubs are)

The walk will take approx 4 hours (because of the drink stops – it is not all walking!) and will include one short hop by public transport (please bring an oyster card)

Enjoy dipping your toes in the history of the river Thames and its pubs!

Meet time: at 13:45 to start at 14:00 (you are very welcome to get to the first pub early and grab a table, just text Caroline and she will come and find you)

Meet place: Outside The Gun, 27 Coldharbour, Isle of Dogs, London, E14 9NS

End: approx: 18:00 at our final pub in Rotherhithe (from here it is a short walk to Rotherhithe Overground station)