This excursion will be back soon. In the meantime we’d be happy to organise a private tour for you. Please contact us on 020 7624 3978 | [email protected] to make a booking.
Islington Between the Wars
Angel tube station, London
Guided by Philip
Adult: £20 · Students & Seniors: £15 · Children: £5
Take a stroll along chic Upper Street and its surrounds to experience the first half of the 20th-century and the hidden history of a less prosperous Islington.
There was no NHS, so where did the poor go for treatment and where could they get free milk? What were the shops like? What was showing at the cinemas and music halls? Where could you place a bet when betting was illegal? What is the “hole in the wall” and who used it?
This unusual, highly original walk – indeed, it’s sui generis – is based around the recollections of a very special lady – Olive Clements, born 1919, who lived in Islington for more than a century.
Adding to our journey, we hear vignettes of Olive’s life as she grows up ‘between the wars’.
Local expert Philip Nelkon teleports you to a bygone Islington.
ISLINGTON BETWEEN THE WARS – LOGISTICS
To go on the Islington Between the Wars walk meet Phillip just outside the exit of Angel Tube.
LONDON WALKS REVIEWS
“London’s best city tours” The Telegraph
“the best in the capital” Visit London
“the unfailingly fascinating London Walks…” San Francisco Chronicle
LONDON WALKS PRIVATE WALKS
If you can’t make one of the regularly scheduled, just-turn-up, public Islington Between the Wars Walks do think about booking one as a private tour. If you go private you can have the Islington Between the Wars Walk – or any other London Walk – on a day and at a time that suits your convenience. We’ll tailor it to your requirements. And – always with private London Walks and tours – we go to great lengths to make sure the guide-walker(s) “fit” is well-nigh perfect. Ring Fiona or Niamh or Peter or Mary on 020 7624 3978 or email us at [email protected] and we’ll set it up and make it happen for you. A private London Walk – they’re good value for an individual or couple and sensational value for a group – makes an ideal group or educational or birthday party or office (team-building) or club outing.
GIVE THE GIFT OF LONDON WALKS
A private London Walk makes a fab present – be it a birthday or anniversary or get-to-know-your-new neighbourhood gift or Christmas present or whatever. Merchandise schmerchandise (gift wrapped or not) – but giving someone an experience, now that’s special. Memories make us rich.
David Tucker –
Business owner’s review / response
Thank you for your review, Jean, and for taking the time to share your experience.
We’re glad you found Philip pleasant, personable, and easy to listen to. He’s a long-standing London Walks guide, very much a five-star one by our lights, and he also happens to be local to Islington – which is part of what gives this walk its depth and texture.
This was the very first outing of Islington Between the Wars, and first runs are always about fine-tuning – finding the right length of string once the walk meets real walkers on real pavements. Your comment about pace was noted and taken seriously.
For the record, Philip has been guiding for us for several years now, and across many walks and many hundreds of walkers we’ve never previously had a concern raised about pacing. That said, comfort levels vary, and we always encourage walkers to let the guide know on the day if they’d prefer a more genteel tempo. London Walks are at their best when they’re a two-way street.
Since that inaugural walk, the route and timing have been refined, and future outings will be brought in comfortably at the standard two hours. Like all London Walks, this one is a living, evolving thing, and Philip continues to enrich it with new discoveries and refinements.
We genuinely value feedback – it’s how good walks become even better ones.
Jean Hendy-Harris –
Philip was very pleasant and personable and had a very good voice. The downside of his walk was that he proceeded faster than was comfortable – and thus finished nearly 20 minutes early. It would have been much more comfortable had he adjusted the pace somewhat.