In 1902, just one year after Queen Victoria’s death, the Greenwich Foot Tunnel was opened, connecting Greenwich from the point where the Cutty Sark is displayed to the Isle of Dogs on the opposite side of the Thames River.

There are glazed domes enclosing the entrance shafts at both ends. Helical staircases allow access to the tunnel, which slopes slightly from each side to its midpoint under the river.

Despite reading descriptions of the tunnel as “spooky”, I really wanted to experience it. Plus, how spooky can it really be when about 4000 people use it every day? I expect the description relates to the fact that the most tourists are not used to walking in a 9-foot diameter 0.3km/1215 ft long cylinder running 15.2 metres /50 feet below the surface of a river.

The northern access staircase has 87 steps, and the southern has 100 – a piece of cake for experienced cathedral bell tower climbers like we are – and the staircases are bright and spacious, a far cry from the 18th century bell towers in Germany!

There are also elevators (“lifts”, since we’re in England), originally installed in 1904, upgraded in 1992 and 2012, but they’re less reliable than the stairs. The Royal Borough of Greenwich website mentions that while the lifts are currently operating, “they remain vulnerable to further unpredictable faults, due to their historic nature.” No thanks. Getting stuck in a lift is not on my to do list.

The tunnel itself is made of cast iron, coated with concrete and surfaced with over 200,000 white glazed tiles.

In my opinion, there is nothing the least bit spooky about it, although maybe if we were entering it at night…and the lights flickered….or we could hear water dripping….

The only section I expected to find a bit disconcerting was the northern end that was damaged by bombs on the first night of the Blitz (September 8/9 1940) in WWII, since after being repaired and reinforced it is quite a bit narrower in diameter than the rest of the tunnel, but even that is brightly lit – and it’s actually quite interesting to see the infrastructure without tile covering it.

Reaching the north side, we were on the Isle of Dogs, and immediately in Island Gardens.

To reach “Canada”, we had to pass through Mudchute Park, 32 acres of countryside with a working farm, children’s nursery, protected wildlife habitat, and a wide range of education activities. The entire complex is a free-access community charity.

Canary Wharf was the 1980s mega-project funded by Canadian Paul Reichmann and his real estate development company Olympia & York, which was also responsible for developments in Toronto’s financial district and Manhattan’s World Financial Center in the mid 1970’s . In 1987, he was asked by then British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher to create a project similar to New York City’s in London. Unfortunately, transit infrastructure promised by the British government didn’t happen (until 1999), making the Canary Wharf docklands location an inaccessible white elephant instead of the city’s second financial district. The project eventually bankrupted the Reichmanns. In his 2013 obituary in MoneyWeek magazine, they wrote: “As with railway pioneers, his career reminds us that those who risk their money on mega-projects often lose out, while the rest of us inherit a great infrastructure”.

In recognition of the Canadian developer’s role in revitalizing the area, “Canada” is recognized in the huge central complex comprised of Canada Place, Cabot Place, Churchill Place, Crossrail Place, Jubilee Place and The Park Pavilion, and Canada Square hosts events and performances when not simply being used as green space.

In 2015, Canary Wharf was bought by Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund and another Canadian investor, Brookfield Properties. It is certainly a thriving centre now, full of retail malls, huge office towers, and modern apartment buildings mixed with a few iconic older structures, AND some of the world’s biggest banks, all surrounding an area that was once shipbuilding drydocks.

We were ready for lunch and a rest by the time we reached Canada Square, having done just over 10,000 steps. A couple of lovely draught beers, potato and sweet potato fries, a bit of battered chicken, and spiced cucumber hit the spot. After all, we still needed to walk back home!

A quiet evening in front of the telly beckons.