APPARITIONS, ALLEYWAYS & ALE
Barbara Lovejoy - Murfreesboro, TN USA
August 2009
My friend and I took this tour with Russell not in February but it was snowing that night, neither one bothered us!
Russell was great taking us down all these dark back alleys and putting up with us "slow walkers", we had a lot of ground to cover!
I'll never forget what Russell told us as we walked through St. James Park that even HE wouldn't walk through it at night ALONE!
You won't be disappointed!
Shubhamay - Gurgaon, India
July 2009
Absolutely your money's worth (or paisa vasool, as they say in India)!
My wife and me went for this walk today, and felt that it is a good substitute for any movie. It was a 2 hour walk, but we did not feel tired or bored at any point.
Russell is a great raconteur and its really difficult to not believe him. Do try it out once.
Jenn - Chicago
May 2007
I loved this tour and this city. The guide was fablous. Kind of Sexy...Very nice bloke. He was very funny. London is just the best city, yes, even over Chicago. Thank you very much for the great tour and making my time in London the best.
Phil D - Carrollton, TX
April 2007
As a good customer (so many walks now I've lost count, possibly 65 ish?), I did want to give you my comments on a couple of issues that occurred on a recent (mid-March) Thursday Apparitions, Alleyways, & Ale walk, led by Russell. Please know this is intended in the spirit of constructive feedback. You won't know what is going on in your customer's minds unless they tell you, right?

We stopped at a pub mid-walk, and Russell mentioned to the group the pub did not allow children inside. So, my teenage son and I, and another man from India and his 3 kids, stood outdoors. The weather was luckily mild.

Ultimately, we all trickled inside and sat down, with no apparent protestations from the staff, so in that context, no harm, no foul. I am sure the pub does this for space concerns, as it is very small. But, as we say in Texas, "that's just wrong." This was the Tom Cribb pub in Piccadilly.

I know your guides put together their own itineraries. My suggestion would be for Russell to find a different pub (family friendly), or perhaps David could speak to the proprietor.

My only other negative point would be just a tad towards a comment made by Russell. Overall, he was a great guide and conducted a super walk. My difficulty came at the very end of the tour, when he was parting ways with the group.

He was trying to be light and humorous (at the end of a Ghost walk), and cracked a joke about how the Americans will still experience some ghostliness and spookiness at home, due to the presence and presidency of George Bush.

During my trips to London I have seen the British press flame your politicos, have had Londoners ask me what I thought about Bush, and have even had other walkers make inane comments about our president, but I have never had the guide do it.

I for one was taken aback by his comment. There is plenty enough Bush bashing here at home and I don't really want to hear it when on holiday. I don't think Russell meant any malice, but my two cents worth would be to recommend he re-think the ending of this walk and keep his American political comments and views to himself.

That being said, Russell was still a friendly, knowledgeable and personable guide, and my son and I both enjoyed the walk and had a great time.

Thanks London Walks for running a top notch operation. Best regards from Texas.

Phil D
Russell Richardson - London
April 2007
A reply to Phil D from Texas. I read with interest your comments re my Apparations Walk with London Walks, and felt I would post this reply.

You're absolutely right about families being "left  out in  the cold". Not really a problem of  course on a lovely spring or autumn evening - or throughout the summer - when most everybody spills out of the pub in any case. But it's absolutely not acceptable in the winter. And you're quite right to have called us on it. So - having taken the point - I've made some "alternative arrangements". There are a couple of really nice little cafes right there - I know the proprietors well - and they're willing to roll out the red carpet for any famillies - or for that matter any adults on the walk who may prefer to have a non-alcoholic hot drink! As you are no doubt aware, unlike many continental bars British pubs tend not to serve anything other than alcoholic or cold soft drinks.

In response to your comments relating to my joke about President Bush, I am sorry if you were personally offended. All I'd say is that I'm a British bloke with a British sense of humour and politicians of all stripes are "fair game" to most of us. It's probably something in the air. Sixth months domiciled here and you'd be right in there with the rest of us laying about the lot of them - Blair, Cameron, Menzies-Campbell, Chirac, Kerry, Bush, Clinton, etc. Putin in the boot, so to speak.

Once again, thank you for your comments and I hope to see you on another walk.

Best wishes
Russell