One weekend in the millenium year 2000, my husband, Tony Lynes, and I went for a walk along the Southbank and stumbled across the Operating Theatre of Old St Thomas’s Hospital (now Guy’s).  It was installed in 1822 in the attic of the early 18TH century hospital Church which was already used for drying herbal medicines. We were fascinated by this discovery.  

As we walked away, Tony said there must be so many places like this in London that we had never known about.  As a lifelong social security expert and a Camberwell resident, he had already joined Southwark Pensioners’ Centre in Camberwell Road.  

The following week, he went into a meeting at the Centre and asked what people thought about setting up a Club to explore London.  He was met with an enthusiastic response and the Committee of Southwark Explorers’ Club was born.