Break for the border: Southwark

Once April is out, the number of new corona cases in the UK has peaked for now and in London, a week or two earlier. Face to face contact is still limited to 2-minute doorstep conversations with neighbours but we now have a new friend---Zoom. One of the groups I am in is a Saturday quiz. When the picture round comes on---identify 20 brands of chocolate bars, would you believe---it's a bloodbath. Never mind; the Thornbridge Jaipur IPA is an effective tranquilliser to dispel any hard feelings. As a friend says, the good times are wonderful but the bad times help us build character.

The beautiful weather continues and I tiptoe over the border into Southwark. The Shard is visible almost everywhere, showing all its glory near London Bridge station or poking out from spring foliage in Leathermarket Gardens. There's some industrial grit near Borough Market and street sculpture towards Bermondsey. Small gardens are too numerous to include here apart from the exquisite Red Cross Gardens, a mere 50 yards square and bordered by houses founded by the 19th century reformer Octavia Hill.Read more