In Focus – Berkeley Square

Green Park underground station, London (north exit, on the corner)

Guided by

Streets Ahead! More trail blazing by the best urban walking tour guides on the planet. In Focus walks are an extremely detailed look – "what I love about London Walks is the degree of granularity you get" (as that American visitor memorably put it) – at the most famous streets and squares of London. And their tributaries. Today's In Focus walk explores Berkeley Square, past and present. It's not just nightingales that sang – and sing – in Berkeley Square. The architecture sings. This history sings. The anecdotage sings. The Plane trees sing. The ghosts sing (and terrify). The Geology sings. The secret river sings. The art (that ceiling painting) sings.The tributaries sing. Ok, quick thumbnail. This aristocratic quadrangle in central Mayfair rivalled Grosvenor Square as the most fashionable spot in the West End. (Love it that strictly speking it should be called Berkeley Oblong.) Its history goes back to the 1660s (far enough back for you?). The Queen was born here. Its exclusive club was the only London club to admit women on equal standing with men. It boasts the most architecturally perfect private house (well, it was a private house) in London. And the most haunted house. And as name drops keep falling on your head in Berkeley Square (or maybe the Nightingales sing of them)… there's Diane, Princess of Wales; there's Lord "Lucky" Lucan – this is where he charged the Light Brigade of his family fortune into the Valley of Death;; there's Winston Churchill; there's statesmean George Canning (think of the Monroe Doctrine and his almost dying at a funeral); there's general Lord Clive; there's (tangentially) Vera Lynn, Frank Sinatra and Glenn Miller; there's the American actress who cartwheeled knickerless; there's the man behind the £10 million dollar coffin; there's Banksy. Nuff said? The walk's been created and is curated (guided) by another starter in the London Walks All Star lineup, Blue Badge guide Stephen.