A Letter to the Mayor of London

I (David) want to preface this by saying 1) it’s the best possible 2021 Christmas present; 2) it came in unbidden, unsolicited; and 3) a huge thank you Pamela Fuselli – your letter made us weep with joy and gratitude.

 

Pamela Fuselli Email supplied

Mayor Sadiq Khan Mayor of London City Hall
The Queens Walk London SE1 2AA

Sent by Email: [email protected]

Dear Mr. Mayor

 

I am writing to you to draw attention to a company that is one of the best ambassadors of the City of London, London Walks. London Walks was founded half a century ago by Keith Baverstock, an Australian, and is now led by two passionate people, Mary and David Tucker, who are expert guides in their own right. They have surrounded themselves with equally dedicated, knowledgeable, and passionate experts in any topic you could imagine related to London.

London Walks was my favourite thing to do every time I visited London. And then the pandemic arrived, cutting off so many businesses’ livelihood. I was gutted not to be able to travel and enjoy being guided around London, to continue to discover the vast number of secret places, secrets of well-known places, the awesome history that still exists, and hear stories of the people who ruled, lived, worked, and played in the city. With a positive outlook, I logged onto the London Walks website one day to see which adventure I’d take the next time I was able to travel. To my delight, I discovered that London Walks was offering a few virtual walks and I immediately signed up to try them out. I then signed up my sister and my mother to join me!

I have immensely enjoyed over 20 virtual London Walks adventures to date, four of which were series featuring between 8-10 sessions. Truth be told, these series and individual walks were a savior throughout the past two years allowing me to travel even for a short period to London to learn and enjoy a city I love. Meeting weekly with a group of people located around the globe, the London Walks team created a space to escape the realities of lockdowns, to connect and form connections virtually through a shared interest in the city and an enjoyment of the guides who welcomed us into their world.

Every single London Walk Guide is an ambassador for the City of London. The depth of knowledge they possess about London (and beyond), the passion they have for the wide range of topics covered, the delight they take in the people’s enjoyment of the tours, the storytelling abilities that bring to life the information and the personalities, and the amount of work they undertake to make every single walk an outstanding success has resulted in a team of people showcasing the City of London to the world. Guides Fiona Lukas, Simon Whitehouse, Russell Nash, Karen Scott-Goulding and Adam Scott-Goulding have presented London in several series from different angles, from the historical centuries and 20th century, to using the A-Z and most recently using the underground as ways to navigate around London. They are true artists, dedicated to their craft. The depth and breadth of their knowledge is exceptional, whether it’s architecture, transportation, politics, education, the arts, industry, justice, major events and the more obscure, they are able to bring the stories to life in ways that capture our attention and makes each tour fly by.