Shooter's Hill

London's highest point is Shooter's Hill. This 132-meter-high hill southeast of London offers a magnificent panorama of the capital. An even better view is offered by Severndroog Castle, a folly nestled in the nearby castle woods. Richard Jupp built this "castle" in 1784 in memory of Commodore Sir William James, who in April 1755 attacked and destroyed the island fortress of Suvarnadurg (then translated into English as Severndroog) of the Maratha Empire on the west coast of India, between Mumbai and Goa.

The name Shooter's Hill comes from the archery practiced there during the Middle Ages. The Roman road between Kent and London, the Waitling Road, runs over the hill. Travellers risked their lives in those days. This was a favourite hunting ground for highwaymen. As a warning and deterrent, the raiders were sometimes killed on the spot. For example, Samuel Pepys saw a man hanged in 1661. “A filthy sight it was to see how his flesh is shrunk to his bones,” he noted in his diaries.

In the preceding century, on May 1, 1515, to be precise, Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon enjoyed breakfast in a bower in the heart of Shooter's Hill forest. Catherine and her ladies-in-waiting were dressed in Spanish riding attire, Henry wore green velvet. Twelve men of the royal guard were disguised as Robin Hood and his men. There was a procession and a masquerade or dance. The hill also appears in works by Charles Dickens (A Tale of Two Cities), Bram Stoker (Dracula), and H.G. Wells (The War of the Worlds).

In fact, Lord Byron had Don Juan write lyrical poems about it when he first arrived in London. Don Juan had gotten out on Shooter's Hill / Sunset the time, the place the same declivity / Which looks along that vale of good and ill / Where London streets ferment in full activity / While everything around was calm and still / Except the creak of wheels, which on their pivot he / Heard, and that bee-like, bubbling, busy hum / Of cities, that boil over with their scum. My final tidbit: Boy George, who grew up on the hill, sings about Don Juan in "Don't Take Your Love Away."

For me, as a Gazelle cyclist, the hill is a nearly insurmountable bump on the way to Bexleyheath or Dartford. Fortunately, it is followed by a fantastic, straight road to Welling, the neighbourhood where Kate Bush grew up. Although the "highwaymen" are a thing of the past, it's still important to be careful. Police figures, I discovered in the local newspaper, show that 88 crimes were committed in February of this year, including 35 cases of (sexual) violence, 14 cases of antisocial behaviour, eight thefts, and 31 other offences…