T. S. Eliot – The Waste Land Tour
Blackfriars underground station, London
Guided by Rick Jones
Walk Times
| Day | Walk Type | Start Time | End Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wednesday | Weekly | 11.30 am | 1.30 pm | Winter Summer | Reserve Online |
N.B. this walk will not take place on the following dates:
16-10-2024 25-12-2024By walk’s end you’ll get it about this portrait, understand why it’s so “right.” Just as you’ll understand the poem and the times.
“Inexplicable splendour of Ionian white and gold…”
And a world-class guide to boot.
T. S. Eliot’s The Waste Land. The most influential poetic work of the 20th century. Because its centenary was just now “on the clock”
Rick Jones, a poet and musician* himself, has put together this tour of locations in the poem. Up Queen Victoria Street to where St Mary Woolnoth kept the hours, down King William Street to St Magnus the Martyr. And of course London Bridge and “a public bar in Lower Thames Street.”
“This walk has everything I want in a walking tour: a brilliant guide, an inspired route, lots of alleyways and hidden passageways, a secret garden, no end of surprises, fantastic A-List attractions, three stunning interiors, a pub, three rivers (two of them visible),
a heady mix of past and present London, London life surging and eddying all around us, gobsmacking “well I never” tiny details, and brilliant delivery of wondrous content (Rick doesn’t read those great lines, he’s memorised the whole poem – all of it anchored in the places he takes us to and what he shows us.) The walk’s a joy. And a revelation. I’ve come to the walk late – it’s been going six months now – so all I’m doing here is seconding what everybody who goes on it says. See the deluge of rave reviews it’s generated.” David Tucker
*”a poet and musician” hardly goes far enough. Rick guides his virtual tours in blank verse, he was the chief music critic for the Evening Standard for a decade, and he’s a top-flight Blue Badge guide.
The pic was taken at the Athenaeum Club. It hangs outside the gentlemen’s lavatory.
WHAT WILL I SEE?
Rick Jones’s T. S. Eliot The Waste Land walk has wonderful visuals.
A Selection from The Waste Land Portfolio
Here’s the grand finale (bears repeating, this one) – the view we get at walk’s end.
And here we are mid-walk. One of three superb interiors.
No words needed.
Single file into a secret garden.
Down the Thames at walk’s end, across the Thames at walk’s beginning
Not forgetting London Bridge Gatehouse.
Hurry up, please, it’s time…
“This way for The Waste Land walk, folks” (it’s London, stuff happens).
Want more walks like this? Check out our other literary tours of London.
Alex –
This was an excellent tour from a top notch guide. I was only somewhat familiar with the Waste Land poem, having only recently read it in anticipation of this tour that I was attending with my son who is an has studied the poem at Uni and loves it. It’s a credit to Rick that both of us were fascinated and thoroughly enjoyed the tour.
Rick brings the poem to life, and weaves the history of the City of London into his discussion of the poem as well sharing his deep knowledge of London and its history. The tour takes place the in City and it is fascinating to learn about TS Eliot’s career there as well as to learn about the rich history of this financial heart of London. Whether you are a TS Eliot fan, or know little of him and his poems, this a great tour.