It’s February 25th. February 25th, 2022 is a Friday. So, yes, it’s time for a “Friday Special” London Walks podcast. For this one I’ve chosen a short extract from brilliant guide Simon Whitehouse’s Virtual Tour Tracing a Lost London River the Westbourne. Here’s how I introduce it.
This is the Friday Special London Walks podcast for this week, Friday, February 25th.
For it, I thought we’d hear from Superstar London Walks guide, Simon Whitehouse. This is a short clip from Simon’s Virtual Tour of one of London’s “lost rivers”, the Westbourne.
Simon’s pursuit of the Westbourne is one of the episodes in Liquid London – the Capital’s Waterways, the 8-part Virtual Tour series created by Simon and his colleagues Fiona, Russell, Adam and Karen. I’m proud as punch that Mary and I have got a little cameo role in this delightful piece. And you’ll immediately twig the other reason why this is near and dear to my heart. The Westbourne takes its rise in Hampstead. It’s ground I go over every Sunday morning. Looking at the Whitestone Pond and making the amazing Constable connection that Simon makes here – and yes, I make the same connection on the walk – it’s a revelation, an epiphany moment. Worth the price of admission all by itself.
The other reason I’ve chosen this extract for today’s Friday Special is Simon and Team London Walks are
up for a very important award, the 2022 Tourism Superstar Award. I’m going to be very frank now. We’re desperate to win it. It wouldn’t just be a great feather in our cap, it would also be a huge morale-booster. A morale-booster sorely needed given how storm-battered this little company is compliments of 24 months of Covid, 24 months of haemorrhaging red ink, 24 months of wondering if this is ever going to end and can we survive it. The Superstar Award is a nationwide competition. To win it, we don’t just need votes – we need the most votes. And for us it’s very much a David and Goliath battle. Beleaguered little London Walks does not have the firepower of finalist Blenheim Palace. So this is also an ask – please vote for us, please vote for Simon and his colleagues. There’s a couple of links on the www.walks.com homepage. Just click on either of them – wait a second or two and the ballot will come up, put a tick in the circle beside our name, beside London Walks, hit the Vote Now button and it’s a done deed, you’ve cast your ballot, weighed in to help us out. Many thanks indeed.
And on that note, here’s Simon…