THAMES PATH 3: DEPTFORD TOWN CENTRE and on, to GREENWICH
Along Deptford High Street, and back
164 HIGH ST
MYDIDDEE MEMORIAL
Mydiddee
A native of Tahiti. Sailed to England with Captain William Bligh in HMS Providence. Died in Deptford, 4th September 1793.
Deptford Friends' Meeting House, stood here, demolished 1807.
{Encircled by:} Peter the Great, Czar of Russia, worshipped here 1697-8.
It is believed that William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania, also worshipped at this Quakerhouse.
Deptford Railway station
The first steam railway to have a terminus in London. Originally it ran, largely on viaducts, between Deptford and Spa Road Bermondsey. By 1838 it had been extended at both ends: from Deptford to Greenwich and from Spa Road to London Bridge. Initiated and designed by Colonel George Thomas Landmann. The holding company continued in existence until 1923. View from the Mirror have a whole post about this railway with lots of pictures.
COLONEL GEORGE THOMAS LANDMANN
Army officer and engineer. Born Woolwich, the son of a professor at the Royal Military Academy. He studied at the Academy, joined the Royal Engineers and served abroad constructing fortifications, canals and bridges. Fluent in Spanish he was particularly useful there. On his retirement from the Royal Engineers in 1824 he became involved with railway construction.
An elevated railway from Greenwich into central London was his idea and with a partner, George Walter, he created the London and Greenwich Railway Company to build it. His design, using viaducts to overcome all obstructions and avoid level crossings was innovative and it is still the longest railway viaduct in Britain. Also constructed a railway line and docks at Fleetwood in Lancashire. Died Shacklewell, Hackney.
56-60 HIGH ST.
Detour: Along New Cross Road
Site of the 1981 New Cross Fire
NEW CROSS INN P.H., music venue and hostel
