The Pubby Purlieus of Buckingham Palace

Short read: New walk, star guide (Simon W.).

Long read: Fresh peaches. Fancy some? That’s what we get – figuratively – on this new walk. Fresh peaches hidden away in a neighbourhood most people take for granted, regard as fairly humdrum. OMG they’re clueless. Start by reminding you of the opening bars of the London Walks anthem: “London specialises in hiding the best of itself” and “London Walks makes the familiar new and the new familiar.” So what have we got here? For starters Simon W.’s going to make you see – properly see, understand – Victoria Station itself. Victoria Station – the Gemini station. See a couple of poignant details you’ll have missed. That’s before we get into the mind’s eye “seeing.” The canal, The kowtowing to the high and mighty – the banned goods trains, the shrubs, the glass train sheds, the tracks lined with rubber beds. There’s the Music Hall (well, there was the music hall). There’s Art Deco. There’s Little Ben. There’s the first use of the Queen’s name (in this area). No, it wasn’t the station – it was something much better, a hidden gem. The Duel. Tear ’em, the politician who regarded the aristocracy, the church, and the unreformed municipal corporations as sinister interest groups, which used their powers for their own selfish ends. (Yeah, you want to meet him, don’t you? Who wouldn’t? Put your mind at rest, we’ll be stopping by Tear ’em’s house.) The spot where the Queen’s neighbours enjoy every comfort. A chance to wave at James Bond – well, James Bond’s creator – who’s up there writing Casino Royale. The liberation of Peru, Bolivia and Brazil. And then we’ve hit our strolling stride. There’s Buckingham Palace’s back door; there’s the wall that goes forever and the Royal Mews; there’s Lord Allpride and Queen’s Row; there’s stuffed tortoises and ‘ill-shaped fishes’; there’s the Gutter Hotel; there’s De Gaulle and Polish General Sikorski under the same roofs; there’s the Duchess of Cambridge’s family in the hotel round the corner the night before the wedding; there’s a couple of secret passageways; there’s very pretty, all-of-a-piece little old residential streets; there’s very pretty little old pubs; there’s real life spymasters; there’s Shakespeare… well, you get the idea. Great guide, great walk.

PUBBY PURLIEUS OF BUCKINGHAM PALACE – THE PRACTICALS

Pubby Purlieus of Buckingham Palace takes place at 7.15 pm on TBA. The meeting point is outside the Wilton Road exit (opposite the Apollo Victoria Theatre) of Victoria Underground Station. 

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 Pubby Purlieus of Buckingham Palace walks do think about booking one as a private tour. If you go private you can have the Pubby Purlieus of Buckingham Palace 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 Noel 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.

MIND THE GAP

It’s not even close