In the middle of Middle Temple stands Temple Church. Like all the other buildings in the area, it is taken care of by the law fraternities, but its roots were once again with the Knights Templar in the 13th and 14th Centuries.

It is a beautiful, light old church, modelled on the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. It had wonderful stained glass windows and a round vaulted ceiling that made the interior so bright.

The founders of the church were also buried here. Their final resting places still maintained even after 800 years.

I had a nice view of St Paul’s all the way across the bridge.

I wasn’t the only one heading in that direction.

And here we are.

The very high dome of the Cathedral is certainly a sight. Imagine it back in the old days, in the 17th Century, when there were no other skyscrapers, when it would have towered above all the other buildings in the city, when all around it was filth and poverty. Londoners back then must really have thought that it was a place of God.

There were loads of people out enjoying the sunshine – office workers on lunch breaks, joggers, tourists from all over Europe… and the odd busker taking advantage of the low tide.

The Thames isn’t really busy nowadays, just the odd barge or ferry or cruise boat.

And unlike in medieval times when there was only one bridge across (the infamous London bridge), there are now many ways to cross, even dedicated footbridges like this one.

I took advantage of a warm sunny day in early March, and walked along South Bank from Waterloo Station to St Paul’s. It was a spring-like 14C (a temperature never again reached while we were there, by the way), and it was lovely to walk along the banks of the Thames.