Bermondsey: Bermondsey Street to the Beer Mile: a walk in London

From the abbey village street to the railway arches where London's craft-beer revival began: a design museum, a 1690 church, the abbey square, Ropewalk's street food and a Saturday afternoon in the brewery taprooms.

Best time: Saturday from late morning: Maltby Street for lunch, the arches in the afternoon

The route, stop by stop

1
Fashion and Textile Museum (Bermondsey Street)
Museum building by Mexican architect Ricardo Legorreta, designed with Zandra Rhodes; Legorreta's only building in Europe. 30 min.
2
St Mary Magdalen, Bermondsey
Rebuilt about 1690; the south gallery keeps its original box pews. 10 min.
3
Bermondsey Square
Site of the 11th-century Bermondsey Abbey and still home to the weekly Bermondsey Market. When Islington's Caledonian Market moved here in 1950, antiques and furniture dealers took over the warehouses and arches round Maltby Street. 10 min.
4
Maltby Street Market (Ropewalk)
Street food in a narrow lane beside railway arches built in 1836-1839 for the London and Greenwich Railway, London's first steam railway. The market grew from Borough Market traders' arch stores; Monmouth Coffee began selling from its arch on Saturdays in 2009. Lunch. 45 min.
A narrow alley of railway arches with around 20 traders; many locals use it instead of Borough on weekends because it is smaller.
5
Enid Street arches (Bermondsey Beer Mile)
The Beer Mile is an informal string of breweries and taprooms in the Victorian railway arches of Druid Street, Enid Street and Spa Terminus, with no ticket and no single owner; Saturday is the day almost all are open. 45 min.
6
Spa Terminus
Food wholesalers and more brewery arches at the south end of the Mile; Bermondsey (Jubilee line) is a short walk. 20 min.
A collective of food producers in railway arches: coffee roasters, butchers, bakers, cheesemakers and importers who supply London restaurants and open to the public on Saturday…

Walking directions

Bermondsey: Bermondsey Street to the Beer Mile

The route, stop by stop

More walks in London