h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Can I do Southwark?

Is Southwark a borough? I'll add it anyway...

So tell us something about Southwark. All I know is that it's not pronounced how it's spelt...

Oh yes, Southwark's a borough. In fact it was going for city status last year - but that might be delusions of grandeur. In fact Southwark includes The Borough (just south of London Bridge) which is the oldest and first London borough, dating back to the days when there was just the City of London and few houses around it. Not surprisingly there are quite a few historical sites in Southwark - like the Globe theatre. More later.....

Southwark as a city. Now there's an idea! (Strange how we've got cities within cities in London!).

The Globe Theatre's quite good - hard work if you're standing up for four hours though...

See also under Addictiveness of the Suburbs.

Further to my previous posting I would like to say that Southwark is one of the biggest boroughs. It incorporates the former boroughs of Bermondsey and Camberwell and thus has three town halls! It is so different from one end to the other. At the Crystal palace end and down through Dulwich it is a very wealthy borough with much open space and includes the Dulwich College group of schools and their playing fields and at the Northern end it was very slummy in the prewar years. That end is still very down at heel with very few open spaces. Margaret Thatcher had a house on Dulwich Common for a short while. Charlie Chaplin had some connection with East Street,Walworth but lived in Kennington which is in the borough of Lambeth.

Southwark also incorporates Rotherhithe, from where the Mayflower sailed to pick up the Pilgrim Fathers on their migration to the USA, the captain of the Mayflower, is buried in the small graveyard there.
Also, apart from Charlie Chaplin being born in the Elephant & Castle area of the Borough, there are also other famous people from or linked to Southwark, Michael Farraday for one (Physicist), Keats (student at Guys Hospital), William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania,USA, and in the worl of entertainment, Max Bygraves (Rotherhithe) and Michael Cain (Elephant & Castle).

In this borough we also have the famous George Inn an original coaching inn with balconies. This is in George Inn Yard off the Borough High Street and also the reconstructed Shakespearian Globe Theatre off Bankside.
This part of London is steeped in history.

I don't live in Southwark but I do like to visit. Borough market is brilliant, you have the Monmouth coffee company, which is the best coffee house I have ever been too! Also, at the market is the booze stand, it sells all our fav belgian beers which we can't get anywhere else. Not forgetting the scottish brews at 10 and 12% which are quite difficult to get hold of but smooth as anything!

The cathedral is nice, I'm not christian but I appreciate the quiet space it provides. Its also handy for prezzies for those who are christian.

Is the Design Museum is Southwark? They do great coffee, but not as good as the Monmouth!

Thats where the floating gardens are which the council have threatned to get rid off for not being in keeping with the area. Oh yes they are, they are ingenious and innovative and should be marketed as a tourist attraction, not got rid off. So go see them whilst you can, before the council ruins somethig else.

You forgot to mention that Themes link is going to smash through Borough market. the destruction to the buildings around is going to be massive .I was walking past southwark cathedral the other day and I noticed they're built a crome and glass office building right in front of it by the river ,talk about out of keeping.

Being that it is a place that is on the up for house prices but on the decline for quality of people. I don’t think that Southwark will ever be able to become a city. Do we need this anyway? No, it will just make more red tape for getting anything done. For Southwark to become better we need to fix the roads for a start. Nice buildings everywhere but you can’t see them as you are bouncing around on the road too much.