Central london Outdoor Group New Members' Night

On Wednesday 29 October Central London Outdoor Group - London's friendliest outdoor group - are having a New Members Evening - perfect for potential new members. CLOG is a voluntary non -profit making group run by the members for the members offering walks, cycle rides and social events in and around London, weekends away and overseas trips.
It will be a combination of an evening walk and pub social aimed especially at new members

The evening walk will be a Woodland, Wharves, Bodysnatchers and Pirates walk which will depart at 18:30 sharp (ie aim to meet around 10 minutes earlier) from Canada Water tube station (Jubilee line and Overground) ending up at The Ship pub in Rotherhithe about an hour later. Those unable to do the walk can arrive at the pub (near Rotherhithe Overground station) from 7:30pm onwards.

Woodland, Wharves, Bodysnatchers and Pirates Walk

The first part of the walk goes through Russia Dock Woodland, a long narrow park created by the infilling of Russia Dock (originally used for the importing of timber from Norway, Russia and Sweden). We don't have light evenings in October, but for your comfort and safety, the path is surfaced and lit by street lamps.

We end up by the Thames at King and Queen Wharf (built by French prisoners during the Napoleonic Wars in the 1790s). Along the Thames admiring wharves and views opposite to Wapping, where pirates and thieves flourished in the 18th century. Pirates would ambush ships coming into the area and also steal outgoing cargoes. In 1701 Captain Kidd was executed at Execution Dock (opposite), which dealt with convicted pirates for over 400 years We exit onto Rotherhithe St reetby the red swing bridge near the Rotherhithe Tunnel shafts. The Rotherhithe Tunnel was designed by Marc and Isambard Brunel and was finished in 1843. After 26 years as a foot tunnel, it was converted to a railway tunnel for the East London
Railway in 1869 and is now part of the Overground. It is the oldest tunnel in the oldest underground system in the world.

The walk continues along Rotherhithe Street past the Brunel Museum and the Mayflower pub (near the landing steps where the Pilgrim Fathers set sail aboard the Mayflower) and passes St Mary’s Church which dates back to the 12th century. The churchyard holds some very interesting people including three of the four owners of the Mayflower and Prince Lee Boo. Through the churchyard to St Mary’s Free School and the Watch House. Outside the former school are two statues of school children wearing uniform from the 18th century. The school was founded in 1613 for the sons of local seafarers and is thought to be the oldest elementary school in London.

The Watch House next door dates from 1821 and was used by watchmen who guarded the graves from bodysnatchers (also known as resurrection men). Bodysnatching was common in this area as surgeons at the local Guy’s Hospital required fresh corpses and body parts for medical research. In 1832, the Anatomy Act was passed and it became legal to dissert the unclaimed bodies of people who died in hospitals and poorhouses so bodysnatching was no longer needed.

We walk down Elephant Lane to the Ship pub, where the walk finishes. The Ship pub is at 39-47 St Marychurch Street. SE16 only a couple of minutes from Rotherhithe Overground station.

We've reserved half the bar area for a social evening aimed at both new and existing members - hope to see you there!