A sad pilgrimage

Up in the sweltering Smoke for a day,  I fulfilled a long standing ambition and went to find the site of the Hayward Brothers foundry in Borough SE1. The foundry churned out thousands of coal hole covers and other streetscape paraphernalia in Victorian days.

Alas,  its site at 187-189 Union Street is now occupied by a modern block of flats and studios and a non-descript car park on the corner. A truly uninspiring and dispiriting development. There aren't even any Hayward coal hole covers in the immediate neighbourhood

The trip wasn't entirely wasted because on Blackfriars Rd I spotted a building with Blackfriars Foundry signs on it and I also had a nose around the wonderful Peabody Estate - a great example of Victorian social housing

which raised my spirits a little.