Living in Bermondsey

Bermondsey was industrial riverside for most of its history — tanneries, wharves, biscuit and jam factories — and the buildings survived that trade. Shad Thames, east of Tower Bridge, is a canyon of warehouses joined by iron walkways, now flats; further in, former leather works line Bermondsey Street, which has become a strip of restaurants, galleries and the Fashion and Textile Museum.

Weekends revolve around the railway arches. Maltby Street's small food market runs under the viaduct, and the arches heading south-east from Tower Bridge Road hold enough small breweries and taprooms that the stretch is known as the Bermondsey Beer Mile. On a Saturday afternoon it is busy with groups walking from one to the next; on a Tuesday it is a quiet industrial street.

The location is the practical draw. London Bridge and the City are a walk of fifteen to twenty minutes, Tower Bridge is closer, and Bermondsey station on the Jubilee line reaches Canary Wharf in a couple of stops and Westminster and Bond Street in the other direction. Cycling into the City along quiet backstreets is easy.

The rental market is a mix of loft-style warehouse conversions, which command a premium, Victorian terraces, new-build blocks, and large council estates, which still house a big share of long-standing Bermondsey families. Green space inside the neighbourhood is thin — a handful of small parks and churchyards — so most residents head east to Southwark Park or along the Thames Path. It suits people who work in the City or at London Bridge and would rather walk than commute.