Escorts in London Bridge, SE1: who is close, and how soon
Half past six on a weekday, and London Bridge is doing two things at once. Commuters are streaming down into the station for the trains south and east, while the streets either side of the tracks switch from lunch trade to supper: tables laid under the railway arches, lights coming on along Tooley Street, the pubs round the market filling up in the shadow of the cathedral. For escorts in London Bridge, and whoever books one, that second shift is the part that counts.
Every home on the board lies north of the Thames, so she has a bridge to cross, and once the office has said yes the wait is usually around an hour, stretched further by the evening rush, with her time to the minute posted in the chat; the prices sit on the rates.
On the ground
London Bridge in practice
Landmarks on the arrival slip
By postcode, never by nameSE1 9QU, SE1 0UG, SE1 0NZ, SE1 9SG, SE1 2BY.
Nearest stations
Walking timeLondon Bridge, 2 minutes. Borough, 6 minutes. Monument, 8 minutes.
Getting there
SE1Travel is included across Zones 1 and 2, and counted from the moment the hour is set rather than from when she leaves.
On the board
Nearest prints to London Bridge
Who works here
On the board in London Bridge
The six prints above are a first shortlist for London Bridge tonight. Any of the twenty eight on the who is free page can be asked for by name instead.
Note 02
The market once the stalls are down
Borough Market spreads out beside Southwark Cathedral, just south-west of the station, and food has been sold in this corner of Southwark for centuries, one of the oldest markets of its kind in London. The stalls themselves are a daytime business. By evening the covered hall is quiet and the eating moves to its edges: the pubs and dining rooms on Stoney Street and the lanes squeezed between the market roof and the cathedral churchyard.
Note 03
Supper under the railway
East of the station the tracks head out towards Bermondsey on brick arches, and plenty of those arches have been turned from workshops into kitchens and bars. They make long, vaulted rooms with the occasional train rumbling overhead, better suited to small plates, a counter and a bottle chosen together than to anything formal. Crucifix Lane and Druid Street run alongside, dim and narrow after dark, and a room near the station is a short stroll back.
Note 04
Tooley Street and the water
Tooley Street leaves the foot of London Bridge heading east towards Tower Bridge, with pubs and restaurants spread along its length. On its river side, Hay's Galleria was once a working dock where tea clippers unloaded. The dock was filled in and roofed over in glass between the old wharf buildings, and the result is a long covered arcade of places to eat and drink that opens straight onto the Thames. It is the easiest table hereabouts with the water in sight, and the glass keeps a wet night out.
Note 05
Which kind of table
Round the market the cooking tends to follow what the stalls sell by day: bread, cheese, fish and oysters, cured hams, fresh pasta. Under the arches it runs to sharing plates, wine and beer. Tooley Street and the Galleria lean towards larger, plainer dining rooms and pubs, the simple choice when dinner is only the prelude.
For a first evening, London Bridge escorts and their guests do best where they can hear each other, which rules out an arch with a train due. A table at the cathedral end of the market is the gentler opening, and Borough carries on south if the evening does.
From The Roundup
Two notes worth reading for London Bridge
Asked most often
London Bridge, asked and answered
Does Borough Market itself stay open for dinner?
Where can we eat with the river in sight?
Are the arch restaurants too loud for conversation?
Is it easy to find a table without reserving?
One zone either way
Next along from London Bridge
Last strip
Say a name and an hour
Write in with a length, a time and the zone you are staying in, and a name from the board comes back with a window attached. That is the whole of the arrangement.