London: Tea Time in Wonderland

I remember a time where you could walk along the Thames, straight from the London Eye to Tower Bridge. These days,  work on Blackfriar’s station force you to take a little detour along the way.

I usually turn on Hopton Street to get back to the river (and find my favourite pub with its cacao beer) – there is a lovely cottage there I love to have a glimpse of. It’s o very traditional in a background of modern buildings and constructions!

A cottage, did I say? Not really -  it is more noble than that. Charles Hopton, a fishmonger, decided to buy the ground and have an almshouse built there. It was to welcome 26 poor local men. The houses would be very simple: a sitting room on the ground floor, a bedroom on the first floor. Each inhabitant would receive £6 and a chaldron of coal a year. They could marry but the charity would not give extra money for the children.

Those habitations still exist, hidden from view by the vegetation and so does the charity who welcomes people in difficulty to this day.

Hopton’s Charity
Hopton st
Southwark
London SE1 9JI

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