At the Tenby and District Arts Club meeting last Friday, John Beynon took us on one of his favourite riverside walks along the South Bank of the River Thames, from Lambeth to Tower Bridge, a distance of three miles.
During the walk we sighted many familiar historic buildings and many regenerated buildings, some converted from commercial to artistic use.
One example of this regeneration is the Museum of Garden History now occupying the Church of St. Mary at Lambeth, with Lambeth Palace and St. Thomas's Hospital close by, the two latter buildings dating back to the 12th and 13th centuries.
At Westminster Bridge we saw the elegant Edwardian home of the LCC, later the GLC, now changed from offices to houses, hotels, shops, museums and the London Aquarium.
From this position the eye is drawn to a combination of architecture, design and engineering in the form of the London Eye, the giant wheel built in 2000 and standing 135m high.
Moving eastwards to Brunel's Hungerford Bridge, refurbished in 2002 as the Jubilee Bridge, we gazed at the two elegant walkways cantilevered on to the original railway bridge.
Nearby stands the Royal Festival Hall with its adjacent Queen Elizabeth Hall and the Purcell Room. The Royal Festival Hall is the first post-war building with Grade I listed status.
Waterloo Bridge now approaches in its granite splendour and known as the Ladies' Bridge because of the female labour used to complete it in 1945. In the shadow of the bridge stands the Old Vic and the Young Vic theatres together with the very modern I-Max Cinema.
Nearby also are the National Theatre and the Film Theatre, both mid-20th century buildings. On the walkways, a number of modern sculptures can be seen.
Another regenerated building in sight is the Oxo building of the 1920s, now housing offices, shops, apartments and a museum.
Built in 2002, the Millennium Bridge is the first pedestrian bridge over the Thames for 100 years, linking St. Paul's Cathedral with the South Bank. We admired its simple streamlined design.
The Tate Modern Gallery, the Bankside Gallery and the Globe Theatre with its own museum, are all big attractions in this vicinity, as is a replica of the Golden Hind moored nearby and not far from the site of the old Clink Prison.
From this position could also be seen the medieval Winchester Palace and Southwark Cathedral, each with its own historical significance.
Near London Bridge, Borough Market is about to undergo an £18m refit. Moored close by, HMS Belfast has been a floating museum since 1971.
The radical shape of the leaning City Hall attracts one's attention as we near the end of our walk to Tower Bridge with its unique Victorian design.
Finally, John Beynon drew our attention to the old Victorian warehouses on the river bank with their romantic names: Spice Quay, Cinnamon Wharf, and Cayenne Court among others, which have been regenerated into apartments, restaurants, shops and the Design Museum.
John Beynon's talk and the excellent slides had given us a wonderful evening with a wealth of information, covering every aspect of life along this three-mile stretch of the River Thames as it was many years ago and as it is now with its modern busy-ness and vibrancy.
The chairman, Joy Griffiths, thanked John Beynon very warmly for a most rewarding evening and reminded everyone that this (Friday) evening our old friends, the Memphis 7, will give us an evening of jazz, starting at 8 pm. All are welcome.
J.R.