JACK THE RIPPER HAUNTS
Bob Marquette - Fort Smith, Arkansas
December 2008
My wife and I participated in the Jack the Ripper Walk this past Monday. We were initially disappointed that Donald, the reputed expert Ripperologist would not be doing the Walk as advertised but were very satisfied with Andrew who lent knowledge and enthusiasm and made the Walk very enjoyable. Despite narrowly being struck by a bag of garbage hurled by the local residents as we stood and listened to Andrew describe one of the murders in the Spitalfield area, we had a great time. For those of you who are interested in learning more about Jack and the environs in which he operated, don't be fooled by the fact that this area is reputed to be very trendy and upscale because of first the bohemians and now rich yuppies moving in, it still is a part of London that is dark and slightly sinister. The guide took some verbal abuse from a couple of residents and handled it well. I rate the Walk an A- and would recommend it to all. Just watch out for the flying garbage bags :-)
 
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Hi Bob,
 
David here.
 
Glad to see that smiley face at the tail end of your note! And even gladder that the bag of g. was off the mark!!! But seriously, counting private walks we must have done the Ripper tour 30,000 times in the last 20 years - taken getting on for a million people on that walk. So you're one-in-a-million - because that garbage bag googly was a first!
 
I think the other thing to bear in mind is that the area comes as a bit of a shock not least because of the City, which is where we are at the start of the walk. It's a different world. The contrast really is a pow! precisely because a few minutes earlier you were in the richest square mile in Europe. (I use the word pow! advisedly of course :-) 
 
Only other thing to add is 1) the scruffiness - the old, time-worn, run-down, out-at-elbows, slightly gnarly 19th century feel of the neighbourhood - its "edginess"-  is, methinks, precisely one of the reasons it's become trendy. That ambiance is very much part of the appeal. And 2) I suspect the touch of the sinister you picked up on will at the very least have been coloured, not to say generated by some superb guiding by Andy!. But if it was "out there" rather than part of the group-guiding-material troika and dynamic - Andy's creating and managing "perceptions", so to speak - well, the counterweight to that, needless to say, is there's "safety in numbers!"  :-)