a ride up to the City to visit the church of St Stephen Walbrook

A somewhat ecclesiastical cycle ride, with an opportunity to visit the church of St Stephen Walbrook and a coffee stop at St Nicholas Cole Abbey.
We will cycle our usual route up via Peckham and Walworth as far as Southwark Bridge Road. We will cross the river over Southwark bridge and make our way along Cannon Street to the church of St Stephen Walbrook. In medieval times, the original building was one of 100 churches in the square mile of the City of London and was one of many to be destroyed in the Great Fire of London. The building we will visit today dates from 1672; designed by Sir Christopher Wren; it was the first domed church in England and is considered the prototype for St Paul's. (Wren also designed Chelsea Hospital and Greenwich Hospital, Trinity College Library at Cambridge, and extended Hampton Court. He was responsible too, for the Monument to the Fire on Fish Street Hill)
In the early 1950's, Chad Varah founded the Samaritans while he was vicar of St Stephen Walbrook; he was also instrumental in commissioning Henry Moore to sculpt the Altar during its restoration in 1978 .
The route consists of mainly quiet roads and traffic free paths but there are a couple of stretches of potentially busy roads so you should be confident cycling alongside traffic. You must be able to maintain a steady pace in order to keep up with the group and so we adhere to the timings posted in this ride. The overall timing for this ride however, is somewhat approximate, as it depends how long we spend at St Stephen Walbrook and the coffee stop. This is not a ride for beginners.
Please ensure you are dressed appropriately for the weather conditions and that your bike is in good working order. Make sure your details on your profile are up-to-date, in particular that we have a phone number for you. If you don’t have a mobile put your home number in the mobile phone box.
Any problems on the day, call Jacqui Turner 07456840924