Southwark marks the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity not with a service or talk but an ecumenical walk.
It was a pleasure to join in visiting first St Hugh’s, Guy’s Chapel and La Salette Church near London Bridge. After walking along the river, and looking for the seal as we crossed St Saviour’s Dock, we were received at Dockhead Convent in Parker Row.
Here we saw its permanent exhibition about the convent, Dockhead and the sisters’ work with Florence Nightingale.
January is deep winter with no tourists so the landlord at The Angel was away. The temporary staff did a splendid job in producing fish and chips at short notice. The pub, where Whistler sketched the river from the back, is at the start of Bermondsey Wall West and a good place for lunch now that Surrey Docks Farm has closed its cafe.
We ended in Rotherhithe where Fr Mark Nicholls showed us round St Mary’s Church and pointed out that we had to climb steps because the floor is above flood level. This year is the 700th anniversary of the appointment of his predecessor, the first rector.
See page 25.