London A-Z Part 2 (G-L)

As a newbie to the Capital I want to get my bearings as quickly as possible. What better way than to run around it? (responsibly, only once a day and obeying social distancing rules). So here is my London A-Z with information about the neighbourhoods I visited, some famous people who were born/live there and an accompanying photo.

G - Grove Park

Grove Park is a district of South East London, England within the London Borough of Lewisham.

I ran through Grove Park on my way to South Croydon as part of my Lionel Stanhope challenge.

Famous residents: Desmond Tutu. In March 1972, Desmond Tutu settled in Grove Park, where he became honorary curate of St Augustine's Church.

H - Hither Green

Hither Green is a district in south-east London, England, in the London Borough of Lewisham. It forms the southern part of Lewisham.

Growing extensively with the arrival of the railways, Hither Green is characterised by late 19th and early 20th century Victorian and Edwardian domestic architecture.The railway runs through the centre of the area, which divides Hither Green into an "east side" focused on Staplehurst Road, and a "west side" focused on Hither Green Lane and Springbank Road. The lane dates back to Roman times and runs between the Quaggy and Ravensbourne rivers.

Famous residents: Actor Jude Law.

As this is where I live I decided to do a street run. It was surprisingly fun planning the route and quite meditative. I may have to try and map the whole area. It reminded me of my Run Folkestone last July. Could I run Hither Green? Lewisham? London!?

I - Islington

The London Borough of Islington is a London borough in Inner London. The borough includes a significant area to the south which forms part of central London.

It was always going to be a longer run for letter I. It came down to a choice between Isle of Dogs and Islington, both a good ten miles from home. As the Greenwich Foot Tunnel is shut I would need to go via Tower Bridge to reach either one.

As I reached the Thames I was still unsure which way to turn. In the end the lure of the City won out and I headed into the centre and north towards Islington. Despite a relaxing of lockdown measures it remained quiet as I passed Bank, Barbican and the old London Wall before arriving first at Angel and then Islington Town Hall.

Famous residents: Actor, Comedian and half of The Mighty Boosh, Julian Barratt. Actors Jim Broadbent, Cathy Burke and Helena Bonham Carter, Radiohead guitarist Ed O'Brien and the first women bare knuckle boxer (1700s) Elizabeth Wilkinson.

J - St John's

St Johns is a name used to refer to Lewisham around the station of the same name in south-east London within the London Borough of Lewisham.

At 6:20pm on Wednesday 4 December 1957, in dense fog, St Johns station was rocked by one of Britain's worst railway disasters, killing 90 people and injuring 176 more.

Due to the adverse weather, trains were late and crowded. The 5.18pm electric train from Charing Cross to Hayes, with 1,500 passengers on board, was stationary beneath the railway bridge carrying the line to London Victoria, to the east of St Johns station. The 4.56pm steam express train from Cannon Street to Ramsgate, carrying 700 people, ploughed into the rear of the standing train at 30 mph. The last three carriages of the steam train came to rest before they had even passed out of the station.

The 10-coach electric train in front suffered catastrophic damage as coach 8 was run through and completely destroyed by the coach immediately behind it. The leading coach of the steam train concertinaed into the steam engine in front, throwing both off the tracks to the left and dislodging a column which supported the bridge overhead. The bridge immediately collapsed, completing the destruction of the leading coach, and crushing the second and half of the third.

Further disaster was narrowly averted two minutes later when the driver of the 5.22pm from Holborn Viaduct to Nunhead, travelling on the elevated section, noticed that the bridge was at an angle and stopped his train. Had he not done so, the front coach or perhaps two coaches would have tumbled onto the wreckage below.

K - Kidbrooke

Kidbrooke is a district of south east London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich.

A pretty non-descript area being rapidly developed with new high rise housing. It takes it's name from the Kyd Brook that flows through the area.

Famous residents: Jim Davidson, Lawrence Llewelyn Bowen and Sandie Shaw.

L - Lewisham

Lewisham is an area of south east London in the Borough of the same name.


According to Wikipedia t is most likely to have been founded by a pagan Jute, Leof, who settled (by burning his boat) near St Mary's Church (Ladywell) where the ground was drier, in the 6th century.


In the most ancient Saxon records this place is called Levesham, that is, the house among the meadows. Leofshema was an important settlement at the confluence of the rivers Quaggy (from Farnborough) and Ravensbourne (Caesar's Well, Keston), so the village expanded north into the wetter area as drainage techniques improved.

Famous residents: Musicians Mica Paris, Ginger Baker, Natasha Bedingfield, Maxi Priest, Louise Redknapp, Bill Wyman and Sid Vicious. Also Actor Jessica Hynes who now lives in Folkestone.