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THE SUNDAY MORNING LONDON WALKS |
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THE SUNDAY AFTERNOON LONDON WALKS |
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THE SUNDAY EVENING LONDON WALKS |
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THE COTSWOLDS IN MID-SUMMER...RAPTURE!  9.15 am on selected* Sundays
from Paddington  Railway Station
*Runs June 6, June 20, July 11, July 25, August 8, August 22 & Aug. 29
Meet by the main ticket office – it's by Platform 1
The Cotswolds are achingly beautiful. The Cotswolds are the fresh green lap of this fair isle. The Cotswolds are thatched roofs and honey-coloured stone and cottages wreathed in honeysuckle. The Cotswolds are kissing-gates and stone bridges and old mills and millponds. The Cotswolds are storybook villages and matchless flower gardens. The Cotswolds are rural England at its best. Now who's for a photo-essay? Guided by Richard.
Here's another taster. It's a lovingly shot little film of day, destination, and guide (ah, Richard, cynosure of guides, golden of voice, red of cap, pink of courtesy! Not to mention platinum of well-connected, etc. etc.).
*And just to repeat those dates: in our Summer 2010 programme we go to the Cotswolds on the following Sundays: June 6th, June 20th, July 11th July 25th, August 8th, August 22nd and August 29th.
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10 am on Sundays
from Hampstead Tube
(Hampstead Tube is on the Edgware branch of the Northern Line)
This is a great walk. They just don't come any better than this. Our setting is London's most picturesque neighbourhood – a perfectly preserved Georgian village crowning the top of a handsome hill and garnished with the capital's most elegant old world promenade, a medley of cobble-stone lanes, pretty cottages, surprising turnings, and unsurpassed views. As for our cast of characters...well it's every bit as beguiling as our setting, ranging from the highwayman Dick Turpin to the painter Constable to the poet Keats; from Freud and D.H. Lawrence to Sting and Boy George; from Elizabeth Taylor and Judy Dench and Emma Thompson to Rex Harrison, Peter O'Toole, Alan Bates, Liam Gallagher and Jeremy Irons. And for good measure, there's London's most villagey atmosphere, white swans on a lake, and magnificent Hampstead Heath.
More (in the words of the guide)...
 And if you're up for a listen, here's the opening of the Old Hampstead Village chapter in our book, London Walks London Stories. A chapter inspired, it should go without saying, by this walk. Here it is...
The Old Hampstead Village Walk takes place
every Sunday at 10 am
and every Wednesday at 2 pm.
And it also takes place every Saturday night at 7 pm as a pub walk.
Meet your guide just outside the exit of HampsteadTube.
The "Late-comers' Catch-Up Stop – for the Sunday morning Hampstead Walk – is "the viewing platform". From it we can see right across the Thames River Valley. London panoramas don't come any better – the whole city is spread out before us. To get to "the viewing platform" come out of the tube, cross Heath Street so you're standing directly underneath the clock tower, turn right and head up Heath Street. About 40 yards up Heath Street you'll come to some steps. They'll be on your left. The steps take you up to a narrow, twisty little lane. Follow that lane all the way up. At the top end of the lane there's another set of steps. Go up those steps and hey presto you've reached "the viewing platform". That's where we go to start the Sunday morning walk and we're there for a good few minutes. And from there we make our way along to the Holly Bush pub – it's at the opposite end of the little street from the "viewing platform".
HampsteadTube is on
theNorthern Line
 Guided on Sunday by David
Guided on Wednesdays by Richard III or Peter G.
Guided on Saturday evenings by Richard III or Peter G.
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One of Hampstead's Mysterious Old Lanes |
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THE LONDON TOUR - Westminster & the West End 10.30 am on Sundays
from WestminsterTube, exit 4
Whoa! Here it is. The all-in-one London Walk. It's the Grand Tour. The London equivalent of the Yellow Brick road. So it's hey ho and off we go – off to see all the classic sights in Westminster and the West End. Tick "em off: the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, St. James's Palace, the quintessential Royal Park, classy St. James's, Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square, Trafalgar Square, Covent Garden, you name it. They're all here – all the London pearls. And here's the clincher – Helena and Tom have strung them together with quaint little back streets and passageways that give you the real essence of London.
The London Tour - Westminster & the West End
takes place every Sunday morning at 10.30 am
Meet Tom or Helena just outside
exit 4 of WestminsterTube.
WestminsterTube is on
theCircle, District & Jubilee Lines
Guided by Helena or Tom
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THE OLD JEWISH QUARTER - a shtetl called WhitechapelSplinter-sharp Guides & Gripping History
10.30 am on Sundays
from Tower HillTube
This walk traces the history of London's Jewish community in the East End. It's a story that embraces the poverty of the pogrom refugees and the glittering success of the Rothschilds; the eloquence of the 19th-century Prime Minister Disraeli and the spiel of the Petticoat Lane stallholder; the poetry of Isaac Rosenberg and the poetry-in-motion of Abe Saperstein's Harlem Globetrotters. Set amid the alleys and back streets of colourful Spitalfields and Whitechapel, it's a tale of synagogues (go on, click me) and sweatshops, Sephardim and soup kitchens. And on this day of all days the past isn't dead; it isn't even past...because the famous old Petticoat Lane street market will be going full tilt and we'll show you the best of it. After we've visted the historic Bevis Marks synagogue!* And on that note, it's time for a joke. Guided by Judy or Shaughan.
Update: our little film of the walk has just been "released". A click here brings it to your screen!
The Old Jewish Quarter Walk takes place
every Sunday at 10.30 am,
every Wednesday at 11.30 am,
and every Friday at 11.30 am.
Meet outside the exit of Tower Hill Tube. Tower HillTube is on
theCircle & District Lines
N.B. Whenever possible we visit the wonderful Old Synagogue, for which there's a small entrance fee.
Guided on Sundays by Judy or Shaughan
Guided on Wednesdays by Steve
Guided on Fridays by Jean
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SUBTERRANEAN LONDON - What You're Overlooking10.30 am on Sundays
from EmbankmentTube
The "Cobra Room", Secret Tunnels, Bomb Shelters,
Crypts, Lost Rivers & Trains & Drains
"nowhere else is the tangle of infrastructure - new and old -
with history and geology more intriguing or problematic"
Beneath the Metropolis The Secret Lives of Cities Alex Marshall
The London we "know" is just the crust. There's another world down there. A fascinating, freakish, disturbing world. Everything from the squat, camouflaged, granite-hard redoubt where the last stand would be made against the Nazis to the ultra-secret "cobra room". Scope out that London under London with a guide who's like ground penetrating radar...and who can show you the tell-tale ripples on the surface - vents, secret doorways, emergency exits, the "last stand" redoubt - and old familiar London will never look the same again.
N.B., for safety and security reasons we will not be crawling through tunnels and wading through sewers! The walk is a ground-level survey - the topographical equivalent of a scan - of what's down there. More...
The Subterranean London walk takes place
every Sunday morning at 10.30 am.
Meet Kim or Peter G. just outside the exit of EmbankmentTube at 10.30 am.
EmbankmentTube is on the Circle, District & Northern Lines.
Guided by Kim or Peter G.
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THE FAMOUS SQUARE MILE – 2,000 Years of History |
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FROM THE REPERTORY - The 10.45 am Tour du Jour! |
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HISTORIC GREENWICH - and the best boat ride in London10.45 am on Sundays
from Tower HillTube
We begin with an overture: the best boat ride in London. The Tower, Tower Bridge, Docklands, and then, three miles downstream, the Thames bursts into one of the sublime sights of English architecture: "the most stately procession of buildings in England." Moments later, another frisson: the mast and spars, the web of rigging of the Cutty Sark, the hauntingly beautiful old tea clipper. As the poet said, "they mark our passage as a race of men; earth will not see such ships again." Welcome to Greenwich! Maritime Greenwich. Royal Greenwich. Greenwich the home of time and centre of space. The Greenwich of crooked lanes, bric-a-brac shops, and bustling antique and flea markets. Greenwich the "green village." Greenwich of the Queen's House, Old Royal Observatory, Royal Naval College, the world's largest nautical museum, the Millennium Dome, and the Cutty Sark itself! Richard or Chris will turn the pages of its history for you.
The Historic Greenwich Walk takes place
every Sunday at 10.45 am
every Tuesday at 10.45 am
and every Thursday at 10.45 am
Meet your guide just outside the exit of
Tower HillTube.
Tower HillTube is on
the Circle & District Lines
N.B. There's a charge for the boat trip but we get you a massive 50% discount!
Gillian, Chris, Nick or Hilary go with you on the boat.
Guided on Sundays and Tuesdays by Gillian or Chris
Guided on Thursdays by Nick or Hilary
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THE BEATLES MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR 11 am on Sundays
from Tottenham Court RoadTube
(Meet Richard P. just outside exit 3, by the Dominion Theatre)
Guided by "the pied piper of Beatlemania", this is a chance to Imagine Beatlemania and the Swinging 60s. It's a Magical Mystery Tour of the Beatles' London haunts: their Apple offices, where they played the famous rooftop session Paul McCartney's headquarters; and the world famous Abbey Road Studios and the Abbey Road crosswalk. Richard P., recaptures the era when London was the cultural capital of the world and the "Fab Four" were its rulers.  Here's a "grab" from the walk. And if you want to know something about the area where you'll be meeting Richard, well, simply click on me!
And make no mistake, Abbey Road is very special – it's no surprise that it's Britain's most popular "unofficial" tourist destination.
The Beatles Magical Mystery Tour takes place
every Sunday at 11 am,
every Wednesday at 2 pm,
and every Thursday at 11 am.
Meet Richard P. just outside exit 3 – the Dominion Theatre exit – of Tottenham Court RoadTube.
Tottenham Court RoadTube is on
theCentral & Northern Lines
N.B. We make a short tube journey to Abbey Road, so getting "a ticket to ride" – i.e., a 2-Zone Travel Card is a good idea.
Guided by Richard P
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from HolbornTube on the 1st Sunday of every month
from St. James's ParkTube on the 2nd & 4th Sunday of every month
from BankTube on the 3rd Sunday of every month
Let's Go To the Pictures – Sunday Morning Film Walks at 11 am
Runs: August 1, September 5 and October 3.
Meet Richard IV just outside the exit of HolbornTube at 11 am.
Runs: July 11, July 25, August 8, August 22, September 12, September 26, October 10 and October 24.
Meet Richard IV just outside St. James's ParkTube at 11 am. (Broadway/Westminster Abbey exit)
Runs: July 18, August 15, September 19 and October 17.
Meet Richard IV just outside BankTube, exit 3 at 11 am
And here's the schedule in table form.
The London on the Big Screen Walks take place on
the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Sunday of every month at 11 am.
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ANCIENT LONDON - Knights, Nuns & Notoriety |
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OLD HIGHGATE VILLAGE - "a place apart"1.45 pm on Sundays
from HighgateTube
(Highgate Tube is on the branch of the Northern Line that goes toward High Barnet/Mill Hill East)
What kind of sorcery is this? We're just a few stops up the Northern Line, but we're in a country village nestling round what was once an old pond. Yes, we've taken a brief tube journey into timeless England. Here are lanes and cottages and Georgian houses and spectacular views across London. Here are Coleridge, Dickens, Betjeman, Cromwell, Nell Gwyn, Dick Whittington, Yehudi Menuhin, George Michael, Annie Lennox, and Sting. And after the walk, there's Highgate Cemetery ("one of the most astonishing places in London...architecture's answer to Hieronymus Bosch") or, on its wooded slope on the Heath, Kenwood House. In short, this is the perfect London Walk for a fine Sunday afternoon. But keep it under your hat, because if the word got out Highgate would be a major tourist attraction!
The Old Highgate Village Walk takes place
every Sunday at 1.45 pm from HighgateTube.
HighgateTube is on
theNorthern Line
Meet Brian or Tom in the station booking hall.
Guided by Tom or Brian
Back to top
"Oh the after tram-ride quiet,
When we heard a mile beyond,
Silver music from the bandstand,
Barking dogs by Highgate pond."
Sir John Betjeman
"'London!' It has the sound of distant thunder."
James Bone, The London Perambulator, 1925
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SHAKESPEARE'S & DICKENS'S LONDON – the Old City2 pm on Sundays
from St. Paul'sTube exit 2
London was to Shakespeare and Dickens what Paris was to Balzac. It held them in its thrall, was both their canvas and their inspiration, their workshop and their raw material. They in turn made it their own, imaginatively colonising it. And, like "special correspondents for posterity", bequeathed it to us. Today, despite the ravages of time, riot, bombing, and especially fire, traces of their London - shipwrecks from the past - still abound in the City. Everything from superb half-timbered Elizabethan dwellings to the magnificent early 16th-century gatehouse where Shakespeare went with his plays to the offices of the Elizabethan Master of the Revels. (Intermezzo called for here.) And from London's grandest Tudor manor house to crooked little alleys which fed the fires of Dickens's "hallucinating genius".
And if you'd like to read a bit more about this one - here's some press coverage of this walk. First, a recent piece in The Guardian by the distinguished critic and scholar, John Sutherland. Here's what he says (and to accompany it, there's some further "particulars" about the walk - and some very fine old imagery!). Or there's this from the Observer. Taking the Observer guy's "vote of confidence" as a jumping off point, here's the start of a little "photo essay" for this walk. Update: this one just keeps attracting a lot of press attention. Here's a recent piece from the Times.
Shakespeare's and Dickens's London - the Old City
takes place every Sunday at 2 pm
and every Wednesday at 11 am.
Meet David just outside exit 2
of St. Paul'sTube.
St. Paul'sTube is on
theCentral Line
Guided on Sundays by David ("none better" The Observer 2005)
Guided on Wednesdays by Andy or Corinna
And you're going to like this. If you roll up early for the walk and you want a sit-down and a coffee, well just make your way to Casa di Caffe - it's directly behind exit 2 of St. Paul'sTube Stop (at the top of the exit 2 staircase do a U-turn and walk toward St. Paul's Cathedral, Casa di Caffe is on your left, half way between the cathedral and the tube stop. And why Casa di Caffe? Well, it's the best coffee shop in the neighbourhood for one. And for two, London Walks has carved out some "added value" for you. If you print this page out and show it to Mehran and his wonderfully international staff - Estonian lasses, a Chinese chap, etc. etc. etc. - you'll get a whacking great 20 percent discount on whatever you order, whether it's a cappuccino or one of their delicious paninis or this, that or the other. Can't be bad! And it's just an attractive place for a sit-down: light streaming in, brightly coloured overstuffed chairs, a view of the cathedral. YUM YUM!
 
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2 pm on Sundays from
Warwick AvenueTube
If you fancy something completely different, this is the walk for you. Little Venice is the prettiest and most romantic spot in town. A unique combination of white stucco, greenery, and water, it boasts the finest early Victorian domestic architecture in London; a Who's Who of famous residents (Robert Browning, Edward Fox, Joan Collins, Annie Lennox, and Sigmund Freud to name but a few); and a jewel of a "village" street. And that's not to mention its canals. One of them - Regent's Canal - is known as the "loveliest inland waterway in England". Part of the walk is along the canal towpath - which to this day is studded with fragments of evidence that bring the Age of Canals to life. And afterwards you can have tea - or a bite to eat - at a stylish canal-side café. And why not lend an ear? Which is by way of saying, here's a bit of audio from this walk. It's Shaughan in all his full-throated - let alone multi-charactered - glory!
Cue Shaughan, who guides the walk: "Walking this one is always a revelation - behind the elegant facade is the other story; the maids, butlers, cooks & grooms - the downstairs-backstairs people who made it work. I talk about the rise, decline and resurgence of wealth in the area - these days there are quite enough "Celebs" to turn Maida Vale into "Media Vale". I drop more mames on this one than you can fit in your basket. And running through this stucco wedding cake - the artery that supplied goods from the Heart of England to its Brain - The Grand Union Canal. Look at London from both sides for an afternoon, and finish with chocolate cake and a boat ride."
The Little Venice Walk takes place
every Sunday at 2 pm;
every Wednesday at 11 am;
and every Saturday at 2 pm
Meet Shaughan just outside the exit of Warwick AvenueTube.
Little VeniceTube is on
theBakerloo Line
Guided on Sundays by Shaughan
Guided on Wednesdays by Peter or Richard III
Guided on Saturdays by Shaughan
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THE TOWER OF LONDON "the most important mediaeval fortresss in Europe" 2 pm on Sundays
from Tower HillTube
In the beginning William – the bastard – created the Tower. And, yes, the biblical echo is deliberate. That's how important the Tower is. Crown jewels, battlements, Traitor's Gate, the executioner's block, armour, centuries-old ceremonies, the stage on which so much of our history climaxed: the question isn't whether you'll go to the Tower – the question is whether you'll go First Class. And let's tell it like it is. First Class isn't tacky and touristy. It isn't wandering aimlessly. What it is is seeing the Tower with a great guide. Because that thrilling, chilling past is still there – sighs run in blood down Tower walls – but you have to know where to look. And how to look. Go First Class – go in there with London Walks and a world class guide* (and these three are) and you'll come out exclaiming, "that's the best upgrade on the planet!"
Here's a soundbite. It's Tom introducing the Bloody Tower. It's just a couple of minutes long but it's salient point after salient point. History, architecture, engineering, biography, military science, geography, etc. What's so exciting about it is the way he makes you see both the past – "Ann Boleyn and Catherine Howard will have walked right here" – and the particulars, details that you wouldn't have seen on your own, let alone clock their significance. E.G., the width of the arch for its time, the iron boat hoop, the way the entryway narrows (in order to funnel attackers into a killing zone), the portcullis, etc.
 Guided by Tom or Brian or Judy *An "upgrade" because if you go with London Walks you'll get a huge discount on the Tower admission price and we get you VIP admission. There's no shuffling along in a goes-on-forever ticket queue. Go Economy Class you pay more, you get less and you could queue for half an hour or more. Some Economy. And that's by way of saying, there is of course an admission charge to visit the Tower, but we get you a huge discount.
The Tower of London Tour takes place
every Sunday at 2 pm
and every Wednesday at 10.45 am
Meet Brian, Tom or Judy just outside the exit
of Tower HillTube
Tower HillTube is on
the Circle & District Lines
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WESTMINSTER AT WAR "Hitler will have to break us in this island or lose the war"
Winston Churchill2 pm on Sundays
from EmbankmentTube
Let's start with a few salient facts. 1) Where we meet - if you know how and where to look - you can see the dagger that was plunged into the heart of Nazi Germany. 2) Until the middle of 1944 there were more British civilian deaths than military. 3) Europe, like a prison door, had clanged shut - this country stood alone and at bay in guarding the future of the civilised world. And Westminster? The nerve-centre of the entire war, it was a city transformed: sandbagged tombs in the Abbey (ditto Eros in Piccadilly Circus); a pillbox and barbed wire in Parliament Square; a machine-gun nest on the Members' Terrace; bombers caught in the scissors of searchlights; barrage balloons and air-raid shelters; nights out of the Revelation of St. John - fires that turned the moon blood red and canopied the Thames with smoke. Any of that left? Well, more than you'd think. And in some cases it's not just "trace evidence". That history is writ here in stone. We end at the Cabinet War Rooms, the fortified bunker that housed Winston Churchill's centre of operations during the war. You'll get a brilliant discount on the price of admission if you want to visit the War Rooms. Guided by Tom or Helena.
The Westminster at War walk takes place
every Sunday at 2 pm
Meet Tom or Helena just outside the exit of
Embankment Tube.
Embankment Tube is on the Circle & District & Northern & Bakerloo Lines
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SOUTH KEN - ALBERTOPOLIS, ALCAZAR & ALCOVES Village, Vignettes & Victoriana in SW72 pm on Sundays
from South Kensington Tube
(Meet just beyond the ticket barrier [subway turnstile] in the booking hall)
Fairy dust. Seven no trumps. Slice after slice of unreality. Carousel. Green matrix. Cultural Core. Urbane village. Mews and views to die for. Tot it up how you will this is the least likely neighbourhood in an unlikely city. It's a cabinet of curiosities: campanile, President Kennedy's house, the SAS, 140 billion frozen peas, Darwin, a Russian cathedral, South American shrunken heads, the weird subway that inspired the greatest London poem ever, Shackleton and Livingstone, a quarter of a million butterflies, the Apollo 10 command module, meteorites, earthquake simulator, Crystal Palace...let alone those secret, painter's palette mews (which you'd never find off your own bat) and the most astonishing piece of "countryside" you'll ever see - woodland, fen, pond, chalk downland, meadow - right in the heart of London. Guided by Margaret or Fiona.
The South Ken - Albertopolis, Alcazar & Alcoves walk
takes place every Sunday at 2 pm.
Meet Margaret or Fiona just beyond the ticket barrier
in the booking hall of South KensingtonTube.
South KensingtonTube is on
the Circle, District & Piccadilly Lines
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THE HARRY POTTER FILM LOCATIONS TOURS 2 pm on Sundays
from BankTube exit 3 on the 1st, 3rd & 5th Sunday of the month
from WestminsterTube exit 4 on the 2nd & 4th Sunday of the month
Harry Potter: "Can we find all this in London?"
Hagrid: "If yeh know where to go."
Where to go on these two completely different tours. (Tours plural because the film locations are too spread out for just one walk.) Betwixt and between the film locations we hit the sweet spots – the very best of quirky, peculiar, curious, lost old London. It's all very Harry Potter and Co.
For a detailed description of each of the two different tours, see below.
But first a word about the guide. Because with this one you've got to get the guide right. You've got to have a guide who's part Lumos, part Mirror of Eristed. Who's got his O.W.L.s and then some. Cornish Pixies* won't do. *Let alone pizza delivery boys, parking lot attendants and security guards.
And that's by way of saying, it takes a very special guide to get this one right. It's a question of range. A gifted actor – like Richard – has got that range. He's instantly likable. But he can also do high-beam intensity. He's got the goblet of fire voice. Got the dynamic personality. Got the past: Himalayas and a raft on the Pacific (he's earned that nickname of his – "Kontiki"). He's got those actor "gifts" that can't be taught, let alone faked. He's pitch perfect. He's got timing. He's got presence. He's just got it. All of it.
Harry Potter in London takes place on the 1st, 3rd and 5th Sunday of the month from BankTube, exit 3. Here's guide Richard taking you through the menu for this one: "This walk 'Potters' through the old City of London. You’ll see most of the great buildings of the ancient City: the Bank of England, Mansion House, the wonderful Leadenhall Market, a close up view of the ‘Gherkin’, magnificent St Paul’s Cathedral, etc. You’ll cross the river by way of London Bridge – natch! You’ll see film locations where Hagrid and Harry make their way to Diagon Alley in the first film, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. You’ll see where Harry, Mad-Eye Moody, Nymphadora Tonks and their friends fly in The Order of the Phoenix. And you’ll see the locations used for the Leaky Cauldron and the Third Hand Book Emporium in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. And lots more. What's not to like about a London Walk packed with history and Harry Potter. So come on muggles, it's time to enter the maze. Yes, that time – Portkey time, warp-across-London time!
And Harry Potter in Westminster takes place on the 2nd and 4th Sunday of the month from WestminsterTube, exit 4. Here's Guide Richard again, taking you this time through the menu for the Harry Potter in Westminster tour: "The walk takes in many of the grand sights of London including a terrific view of the river, Big Ben, Whitehall, Downing Street, Scotland Yard, Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus. And – this should go without saying – you'll get to see some brilliant Harry Potter film locations, including the entrance to the Ministry of Magic, the flight path of Death-Eaters in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince as well as the flight path taken by Harry, Mad-Eye Moody, Nymphadora Tonks and Co. in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. It's a treat for Harry Potter fans and indeed for the benighted few who aren't Harry Potter fans. (Works for them because of "the sweet spots – the very best of quirky, peculiar, curious, lost old London.") And if you're not a Harry Potter fan or a London fan – this is the wrong walk for you; and for that matter, the wrong town.
"Nothing like a...stroll to give you ideas"
The Harry Potter Film Locations Tour takes place
every Sunday afternoon at 2 pm.
N.B. There's a 3 galleon* charge for kids as this one's for all ages! Super Kids – i.e., adults – get their usual "best bargain in London" deal: £8 (£6 for concs.).
Guided by Richard
*Oh, okay – if you must put it that way – £3. But not for tinies – under 8s – they go free.
DISCLAIMER: The Harry Potter Film Locations Tour is not an official 'Harry Potter' event. (For the record, London Walks doesn't do "official" – we value our independence waaaaaaaaay too much for that.) Nor is it endorsed, sanctioned or in any other way supported, directly or indirectly by Warner Bros Entertainment Inc, the Harry Potter book publishers or J.K.Rowling and her representatives. All rights to the series of “Harry Potter” books are the property of J.K. Rowling and her publishers including Scholastic Press, et al. Film rights and image trademarks are the property of Warner Bros Entertainment Inc.
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Find one photograph to introduce - and sum up - the literally hundreds of London Walks From the Repertory Walks. An image that crystallises the Tour du Jour cornucopia. Surely an impossible task. Or so I thought. But London's an "inventory of the possible". And because it is London Walks has had the great good fortune to cross paths with Jon Block, who's taking photographs that are sui generis. And just so wonderful. This is one of them. And it does what I thought was impossible - until I kept the "inventory of the possible" faith, that is. It introduces - and crystallises - the hundreds of Tour du Jour London Walks. A Special Photograph for Special Walks. It's called The Meeting Place, St. Pancras. And, yes, we do a From the Rep walk there.
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FROM THE REPERTORY - The 2.30 pm Tour du Jour! 2.30 pm The Walk in this time slot changes weekly!
For the particulars of the 2.30 pm Tour du Jour
on any given Sunday see the following table.
| DATE |
WALK |
STATION |
| June 27 |
West of the Bars Hidden in Plain View – The Strand's Lost Lanes, Alleyways & Secret Treasures |
TempleTube |
| July 4 |
The Regent's Canal – Islington to Mile End |
AngelTube |
| July 11 |
Old Spitalfields – Huegenots, Riches to Rags, Ghosts in Stone, Time Torn Off |
Liverpool StreetTube Bishopsgate exit |
| July 18 |
Three Mills, the Bow Back Rivers & 2012 Games London |
Bromley-by-BowTube |
| July 25 |
Beat London – Kerouac, Ginsberg & Dylan |
EmbankmentTube |
| Aug. 1 |
Three Mills, the Bow Back Rivers & 2012 Games London |
Bromley-by-BowTube |
| Aug. 8 |
The Rothschild's London – "The Lords of Europe" at Home, Work & Plat |
Green ParkTube north exit |
| Aug. 15 |
The Regent's Canal - King's Cross to Hitchcock's Hackney |
King's CrossTube (meet by the taxi rank) |
| Aug. 22 |
Hangman's London |
FarringdonTube |
| Aug. 29 |
Old Walthamstow A Hidden Village |
Walthamstow CentralTube (meet by the bus station exit) |
| Aug. 29 |
Kensal Green Cemetery – The Grand Union Canal – Little Venice |
Kensal GreenTube |
| Aug. 29 |
A Poetry-in-Performance Walk Shakespeare to Wordsworth (guided by "The Voice" – Lance himself) |
EmbankmentTube |
| Sept. 5 |
The Regent's Canal – Islington to Mile End |
AngelTube |
| Sept. 12 |
Wapping Tales – Ships, Pirates & Murders |
Tower HillTube |
| Sept. 19 |
Uxbridge, the Battle of Britain & The Grand Union Canal |
UxbridgeTube |
| Sept. 19 |
Terra Incognita Seeing the Elephant in Souf London |
Elephant & CastleTube Bakerloo Line exit |
| Sept. 26 |
Classic London Mews & Hidden Passageways |
Earl's CourtTube Earl's Court Road exit |
| Oct. 3 |
Three Mills, the Bow Back Rivers & 2012 Games London |
Bromley-by-BowTube |
| Oct. 10 |
A Poetry-in-Performance Walk Shakespeare to Wordsworth (Guided by "The Voice", Lance Himself! ) |
EmbankmentTube |
| Oct. 17 |
The Regent's Canal – King's Cross to the New River |
King's CrossTube (meet by the taxi rank) |
| Oct. 24 |
The Dark Side of Notting Hill |
Holland ParkTube |
| Oct. 31 |
Samuel Pepys' London – Bloody, Flaming, Poxy London |
Tower HillTube |
| Nov. 7 |
Gunpowder, Treason & Plot On the Trail of Guy Fawkes |
WestminsterTube exit 4 |
| Nov. 14 |
A River of Memory A Special Walk for Remembrance Sunday |
EmbankmentTube |
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OLD WESTMINSTER - 1,000 Years of History
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2.45 pm on Sundays from
WestminsterTube, exit 4
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photo by Jon Block
This is the cornerstone, the great seminal London Walk. Miss it and you've missed London. For Old Westminster is London at its grandest: the place where kings and queens are crowned, where they lived, and often were buried. It's the forge of the national destiny, the place where the heart of the Empire beat, the Mecca of politicians throughout the ages. The past here is cast in stone and we take it all in: ancient Westminster Hall, the Houses of Parliament, the Jewel Tower, and Westminster Abbey. And to see it with a great guide is to have that past suddenly rise to the surface...like seeing a photographic print come up in a darkroom. It doesn't get any better than this. And embarras de richesse, we'll also explore the private face of Westminster - the London equivalent of Georgetown! Unlike the tourist hordes, we'll get to see the hidden and ever so picturesque Georgian back streets where all the political salons are! And fancy a listen? Click here. It's the opening of the Secret Westminster chapter in our forthcoming book, London Walks London Stories. A chapter that was inspired by - and draws on - this walk.
The Old Westminster Walk takes place:
every Sunday at 2.45 pm
every Tuesday at 2 pm
every Thursday at 2 pm
and every Saturday at 11 am
N.B. every Monday evening at 7 pm
Old Westminster by Gaslight takes place.
Meet your guide just outside WestminsterTube, exit 4.
WestminsterTube is on the
Circle, District & Jubilee Lines
Guided on Sundays by Graham
Guided on Tuesdays by Judy
Guided on Thursdays by Shaughan or David
Guided on Saturdays by Karen
Here's the kind of catch-in-the-throat, "writing on the wall" history that you get on the Old Westminster walk. This old sign is fading, almost ghost-like...and all the more moving for being so. It's an old World War II bomb shelter sign that we see in one of those "picturesque Georgian backstreets" on this walk. A stark reminder that this neighbourhood was right on the Luftwaffe's flight path. And into the bargain, if you're looking at the sign from this angle you're standing right in front of the house where the Anti-Appeasement movement got started! Welcome to 1940 ladies and gentlemen. This isn't "textbook" history. It's in-your-face history. Standing here looking at this sign you're going to hear the sirens in your mind's ear. And smell the cordite. And shudder. And thank Winston Churchill. And his generation.
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THE OLD CHELSEA VILLAGE PUB WALK 7 pm on Sundays
from Sloane SquareTube
The Village of Palaces is London at its most beguiling. It's Oscar Wilde's Tower of Ivory and Mick Jagger's town-house. It's James Bond's pad, Paul Getty's stately mansion, Christopher Wren's Royal Hospital, and an ancient Physic Garden that changed the course of American History. It's trendy Sloane Rangers, Hooray Henries, and scarlet-coated Chelsea Pensioners. It's cannons from the Battle of Waterloo and Chinese lanterns from the Flower Show. We take it all in, punctuated with visits to three delightful hostelries, including the most traditional pub in London (it's David's all-time favourite pub!) And that's by way of introducing this bit of audio from the walk. Here's ballerina (and trapeze artiste!) Mary sure-footing the "social" high wire of Old Chelsea Village's "pub culture". Handled with her infinite grace and tact, wouldn't you say? They don't call her "the practically perfect Poppins" for nothing. And for another "bite" from the walk, try this. (And, yes, food is available!)
The Old Chelsea Village Pub Walk takes place
every Sunday evening at 7 pm.
Meet Mary or David just outside the exit of
Sloane SquareTube.
Sloane SquareTube is on
theCircle & District Lines
Guided by Mary or David
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"Man hath no better thing under the sun
than to eat and to drink and to be merry." The Bible
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7 pm on Sundays
from Leicester SquareTube
(meet just outside exit 1, by Wyndham's Theatre)
Okay, it's not as risque as it sounds. Though there's eertainly some very tasty historical naughtiness: Casanova cruised these parts, for example. And, yes, it is London's, er, hoary old red light district. What's really to the point is that colourful and cosmopolitan Soho is London's hottest - and coolest - social melting pot. It's a place of bewitching contrasts. Homely village and red-light district; workplace and playground; Chinatown and Theatreland; a paradise for gourmands and the haunt of artists, con-artists, artistes and artisans. Today it's a by-word for style; in the 60s it was the cradle of British pop music; a century ago it was the worst slum in town; earlier still, the hub of aristocratic life. There's no place like it. Anything else? Yes, this is a pub walk and food is available.
Now for a scene setter, why not hear from a Soho guide himself. Here's Richard III on Soho. He sounds good. And it sounds interesting, fun, stimulating, convivial, tasty, and, well, if truth be told, a little bit saucy!
Photo by Jon Block
The Old Soho Pub Walk takes place
every Sunday evening at 7 pm.
Meet Richard III or Peter G. by Wyndham's Theatre,
just outside Leicester SquareTube.
Leicester SquareTube is on
the Piccadilly & Northern Lines
Guided by Richard III or Peter G
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7.30 pm every* night
from Tower HillTube
Please tread carefully and keep away from the shadows -
you are about to enter the abyss...
He came silently out of the midnight shadows of August 31, 1888. Watching. Stalking. Butchering raddled, drink-sodden East End prostitutes. Leaving a trail of blood that led...nowhere. Yes, something wicked this way walked, for this is the Ripper's slashing grounds. We evoke that autumn of gaslight and fog, of menacing shadows and stealthy footsteps as we inspect the murder sites, sift through the evidence - in all its gory detail - and get to grips, so to speak, with the main suspects. Afterward we can steady our nerves in "The Ten Bells", the pub where the victims - perhaps under the steely gaze of the Ripper himself - tried to forget the waking nightmare. More... And if you'd like a bang-up-to-date independent assessment of our Ripper walk - "an eerie experience" - here are some choice words from the Toronto Star. Now, anyone for some audio? Want to hear the man who is "internationally recognised as the leading authority on Jack the Ripper" in action? I thought so. Click here. And here. And for some stills of the walk and the neighbourhood, click here (Don's the chap wearing the fedora and red scarf and holding the clutch of London Walks leaflets).
 Last but not least, don't miss the WARNING! right at the end of this entry. It's important - so be sure to scroll down and get across it.
The Jack the Ripper Haunts Walk takes place
every single night* at 7.30 pm.
Meet the guide just outside the exit of
Tower HillTube.
N.B., there's also a Ripper walk every* Saturday afternoon at 3 pm
(in addition to the nightly 7.30 pm walk).
Tower HillTube is on
the Circle & District Lines
*except December 24th & December 25th
Guided by Steve (on Saturdays)
Guided by Donald (on Sundays)
Guided by Donald or Molly (on Mondays and Tuesdays)
Guided by Steve (on Wednesdays)
Guided by Angela and Shaughan (on Thursdays)
Guided by Donald or Shaughan (on Fridays)
Faces in the crowd. Faces that say it all. They're rapt. Only word for it. Now click here to see the full image. Yes, it's Don in action, as caught by a David Cook photo earlier this year.
N.B., Let's call a spade a spade. Going on Donald Rumbelow's walk is as close as you're going to get to nailing the Ripper. Donald is the author of the best-selling The Complete Jack the Ripper, the definitive book on the subject. He's been the chief consultant for every major television and film treatment of the Ripper for the last 20 years. In the words of The Jack to Ripper A to Z (the bible of Ripperology studies): "Donald Rumbelow is internationally recognised as the leading authority on the subject". The former Curator of the City of London Police Crime Museum and a two-time Chairman of the Crime Writers" Association, Donald is Britain's most distinguished crime historian. And I hasten add, he's not some dry-as-dust academic. He spent 25 years on the City of London Police Force - which in effect means you'll be taken over some of the most famous crime scenes in the world by a law enforcement professional...who just happens to be the world's leading expert on those particular crime scenes! Oh and I almost forgot - he's also a top-flight professionally qualified Blue Badge Guide!
But a word of warning: never part with your money or set off with anyone until you're absolutely certain you're with Donald or - if it's another night - one of his London Walks colleagues. Donald (and co.) will be holding up copies of the distinctive white London Walks leaflet. And remember, Donald and his colleagues never ever start the Jack the Ripper walk before 7.30pm. In short, don't let anyone pull a fast one on you. In the words of the Toronto Star: "rip-off tours...capitalize on his [Rumbelow's] popularity and try to confuse people who show up knowing that this is the place for Ripper Tours, but haven't got the details straight."
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"Not yet recovered from its recent terror, Whitechapel was yesterday thrown into a state of excitement and alarm by the perpetration of another cold-blooded crime..." Daily Telegraph, Monday, 1 October 1888 |
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ADDITIONAL TOURS ON SELECTED SUNDAYS |
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