London has the effect of making one feel personally historic. The past is always there in the present. As Londoners we don't forget it, we can't forget it. It's an attribute of the Londoner's mind, his character, his DNA.
I'm thinkng about
Adam, yesterday (June 18, 2010 [the instinctive 'pull' just there was to write 1940, I had to stop myself from doing so) putting up an item on the London Walks blog (and indeed sending out a London Walks Twitter) about its being the 70th anniversary of both Churchill's 'Finest Hour' speech and De Gaulle's 'Is the defeat final? No!' almost equally famous first broadcast to France. This of course against the background of both France and England having their backs to the wall in the "present" (the "inverted commas" because to the London mind the past is every bit as real – and as "present" – as "the present") – i.e., the World Cup.
And of course that sense of the past being always there in the present isn't "static". The proper image for it isn't three fixed points triangulating away – i.e., Adam in London on June 18, 2010, Churchill and De Gaulle in London on June 18, 1940, and the England and France sides in South Africa on June 18, 2010 – the proper image is of something mysterious and alive and moving. In a word, rippling. Like the graphic for radio waves – those broadcasts – emanating from London. Of course from London.
Rippling because feeling "personally historic" – London has that effect – Adam's easily and naturally ("thought I'd better mention") bringing up June 18, 1940 and the 'Finest Hour' speech of course led on to June 18, 1815. In short, the 'Finest Hour' speech was given on the 125th anniversary – to the day – of the Battle of Waterloo. And, for that matter, where was Churchill 100 years ago? He was on manoeuvres with the Kaiser. The Kaiser who, four years later, would be signing the Declaration of War against England at a desk make from timbers of the HMS Victory.
Well, you see what I mean.
And that kind of thing is, well, "ever-present". Twelve hours ago – on my
Along the Thames Pub Walk – I made the point to a group of frankly astonished walkers that "right here, right where you're standing, this is the only place in the world where the two things come together that lit the fuse that made the modern world." A fuse that was lit in the late 16th-century. But you'll have to go on the walk to get to that spot, see what there is to see (yes, there is something extraordinary to see – this one's not just a "words job"), get plugged into that extraordinary, unique, historic (and, for you, just then and there, "personally historic") London moment.
And what's this have to do with the
London Walks Blog and our Tweets treats? Well, as I trust the above has illustrated this town is so stimulating that having "a connection to it" – whether you're in an outpost of the former empire or points beyond or, indeed, in the beating heart of the former empire – is a good thing. A satisfying thing.
That Blog is a good read. The stuff that's set out there is neat to know. It's what's been characterised variously – and accurately – as "the rich particularity of London Walks" or "what I love about London Walks is the degree of granularity you get". Whether it's the shocking origins of The Beautiful Game or that desk of the Kaiser's (two tasty historical morsels that pitched up on the table of this week's Blog smorgasbord, for example).
So, stuff that's neat to know. And you don't have to read a whole book to get those rich particulars. We do that for you. What you get are the gold flakes – some of them are a whole lot more valuable than flakes, some of them are nuggets – that it takes hours and hours of labour for the prospector to "pan out".
Secondly – and this point really thrums my (David's) harp – I hate it that the likes of Rupert Murdoch are telling me, telling us, deafeningly, unremittingly what to read, what to think, what to buy, what movies to go to, what's important, etc. etc. I'm talking about the mainstream socio-political-cultural cement mixer that's all around us and tossing us all around. Turning us this way and that. So, good for the internet. There's a lot to be said for the violet over against the corporate behemoth. There's a lot to be said for being able to tune into, if only for a few seconds a day, the small, local, hand-crafted, half-a-century in the making (that's rather longer than the Murdoch Colossus has bestrode the world) "voice" – the London Walks voice, for example. As opposed to the unrelenting "surround" of "corporate culture". Why should "they" do all the thinking for us?
Thirdly, a practical point. London's an ocean. It's all kinds of currents and stirrings. And some of them come up –
come by – very suddently. And a lot of them are really quite special – and they make good "fits" with this walk or that walk. The classic case of course is the Roof Garden in Kensington. We always go up there when it's open to the public. But in the summer, especially, we're normally only able to do so maybe once out of every four or five times we run the Old Kensington walk. That's because the Roof Garden gets booked for private functions and when it's booked it's of course off limits to the public. And the other thing is that we never know for certain that we'll have access to it until a day or two before. But when we turn up trumps – when we get a Thursday or Saturday (the days the
Old Kensington Walk takes place) that we do have access to the Roof Garden – well, we do our best to get a Tweet out to our loyal Tweetership!
And perhaps an even more compelling example – though the Roof Garden is hard to, er, top – a couple of times a year a lot of our walks are free. Yes, FREE! Now we don't heavily heavily heavily advertise that – for the very good reason that we don't hundreds of people turning up for each of the Free Walks and then nobody turning up on those same walks for the next three or four weeks. But our loyal following – our "base" so to speak – well, it's a no brainer, isn't it? They're special. You're special. We'll certainly put out the word to you guys. But to get that special, personal invitation you have to be reachable. You'll have to be London Walks Twitterable!
Oh there's other stuff as well. Adam runs the occasional competition, for example. One lucky London Walker a few months ago, for example, won the second best book published on London in the last year. Not only is it a very fine book – it's also reassuringly expensive. That was compliments of his getting on board the Good Ship London Walks Blog.
So, maybe give it some thought. Lots of upside and no downside. Can't be bad.