Imprial War Museum to Millenium Wheel

This is a very short walk but there are places of interest to see on the way. Arrive at Lambeth North Tube Station and follow the sign posts to the Imperial War Museum on Lambeth Road. Here you can also see the former home of William Bligh (1754 – 1817) the captain of the “Bounty”.

The museum contains various machines for killing people along with a replica of “Little Boy” the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. Why anyone would want to see such a thing is beyond me but its there if you feel the need.

Opposite the museum, in St Georges Road, is St George’s Cathedral, a relatively modern building having been rebuilt in 1958 due to bomb damage caused during the Second World War. The original building, opened in 1848, was the site of the first Catholic Cathedral to be built after the Reformation. At 131 St Georges Road is the former home of George Myers – “Master Builder” who worked with Pugin the architect of the original Cathedral.

Further on along Westminster Bridge Road is an imposing tower block of luxury apartments now known as 100 Westminster Road. This was originally called Century House and from 1966 until 1995 was the home of MI6. That’s a secret. Don’t tell anyone.

Continue walking past Lambeth North Tube Station and turn right into Lower Marsh. Here you will find a proper street market selling loads of things you don’t want but at only a pound can not resist. Turn left into the tunnel that is Leake Street to the site of the once infamous Can Festival. All the original ‘Art’ work has now been sprayed over as it seems more important for street ‘artists’ to write their own name on walls rather than create something original. Despite this it’s still worth a look.

Emerge from the darkness of Leake Street to the impressive sight of the Millennium Wheel. Londoners originally thought that the 435ft ferris wheel would be an eye sore, being the forth tallest structure in London, towering over Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament it would ruin the London skyline. As Londoners gathered to see the structure raised in two stages by the worlds largest craine it soon became clear that the wheel would become a London icon, similar to the Eiffel Tower in Paris.