19 April 2024 Olympic Park

London's Legacy - 12 years on at the Olympic Park

"Super Saturday with Jessica Ennis, Greg Rutherford and Mo Farah all winning Gold?  Tom Daley and Rebecca Adlington in the pool?  Or Chris Hoy winning and winning and winning in the velodrome?  Most of us have a favourite memory or two of London's Olympic Games.

But this was a Games of change.  From an area of industrial decline, poor housing and worse life choices, the dream was to create an area with better housing, a huge park and sporting facilities for everyone and work had begun within 24 hours of the Games ending. 

We will see the Aquatics Centre and the Olympic Stadium - now bedecked in the colours of West Ham Football Club.  We will explore the new "Cultural Quarter" with a museum, university, and concert halls about to open.  We will enjoy the open spaces  and see the Blossom Garden which has been dedicated as a Covid memorial. 

And whilst all of this is big and obvious there'll be other nuggets that are easy to miss.  Who got moved to face the Royal Box?  Where have the apple trees come from? And why did the whole thing get stalled because of animals? "

24 May 2024 Legal London

Visiting some of the quietest and most hidden corners of central London as we take a look at Legal London.  From the Inns of Court to which all barristers must belong to the Law Society which licences solicitors, this small area is of the utmost importance to our legal profession.  At its heart is the Royal Courts of Justice where we will step inside and experience this "Temple to Justice".  From shopping for wigs and gowns to buildings used as film sets, from WW1 bomb damage to books to cure insomnia this walk has it all.  Add in a  800 year old church, a hall known to Shakespeare and a building that survived the Great  Fire and we will also discover "For Whom the Bell Tolls".  Join us to admire an area of London that few know exists and fewer will experience.

21 June Covent Garden

June, will takes us to Covent Garden.  Get ready for music, daredevils and living statues as we criss cross the area of Covent Garden this afternoon.  Hear about the “gardeners” and see who owns the land today.  Discover the 18^th century history with crime and debauchery which led to London’s first police force.  Hear about the market and attempts to stop the development that would have destroyed the buildings.  Visit the “Actors Church” and find your favourite’s memorial.  Marvel at the Mercers property holdings and enjoy their colourful area.  With characters such as Dr Johnson, Oscar Wilde, Nell Gwyn and Charles Dickens to meet along the way this is a walk that will show you that Covent Garden is not just a great tourist spot but one where “aspirations” are “bridged” with a lot of hard work.

13 September International Soho

SEPTEMBER will takes us to International Soho.  "In a city of more than 300 languages nowhere typifies International London more than Soho.  From a French Huguenot Chapel to the first Italian coffee bar via Greek Street,  this has been a  melting pot for centuries.  Prepare to hear about a famous Jamaican nurse, a leading Communist, a church with services Polish and Cantonese and two or three Iranian brothers.  And even Casanova makes an appearance".

28 October 2024 ‘Gruesome London

Our final  walk of the year, in OCTOBER,  is intriguingly entitled ‘Gruesome London’. As we approach Halloween it's time to turn our attention to the gory and macabre but we are not making up ghost stories but telling the real gruesome history of London.  See where Henry VIII's executions left their mark, see where Bloody Mary's Protestant martyrs were burned, find a beautiful but horrific statue to a Saint and discover the place where you could sell your wife.  We'll have executions, body snatching,  a terrifying poem and an evil Queen.  And for anyone feeling faint we've got a couple of churches for a sit down and rest before we head on to a real ghost story that actually happened.  Oh, and finally, mind your feet - you never know who you might be treading on!

14 March 2025 ‘Children, Charity and Cheers’ – a stroll through Dickens’ Bloomsbury

This walk will take us through an area that Dickens knew well as he wrote three of his most famous novels whilst living here.  So, expect a pub that he frequented, a hospital that he supported and a place where he worshipped.  But the beauty of Dickens is that he used the places and people he encountered in his stories so we will discover the original "kindly gentleman" who will rescue Oliver Twist and the Doctor who inspired him to write a Christmas classic.  But it's not just Dickens!  We'll hear about Handel and the Messiah, Ted Hughes & Sylvia Plath and Jane Austen.  We'll even discover the link between a favourite children's character and a former Labour Prime Minister!   To finish we have the Chambers of the current Prime Minister, a Hanoverian Square and an artwork by Tracy Emin.  There's enough here for a dozen novels!

29 April 2025 St James: the old palace quarter

Today we uncover the first "West End" of London as we stroll through the area of St James'.  Discover the Tudor Palace which still plays a part in our Royal ceremonials, hear how coffee was blamed for many evils and see the first "weightwatchers"!  We will window shop with the very best in society, visit a rare Wren church and avoid "dancing, whistling and singing"!  Along the way we will encounter Nell Gwyn, Beau Brummel, James Bond and many more.  Join us as we learn how the "other half" have lived in London as we dive into 500 years of history.

2 June 2025 “Basin, boats and bridges”

 This walk takes us around one of the prettiest corners of London as we explore Little Venice.  We will discover the literary figures who gave it the name, enjoy the colourful  houseboats and walk along the towpath that links London and its docks to the industrial Midlands.  Along the way we will find some of the most beautiful houses in London - we'll discover why Madonna doesn't live here! - and find a blue plaque or two to famous residents.  Our walk will end as we encounter a brand new part of the capital in the recently developed Paddington Basin with its restaurants, shops and business headquarters not least of which is M&S.  So this is not just a walking tour..."

 29 July 2025  "The Game is Afoot"

 Join us for a walk in the footsteps of Holmes and Watson as we explore the area known to Arthur Conan Doyle.  We start with the iconic image of Sherlock - but who made him look like this?  We visit the scene of his great detections - but who put him there?  We discover where he was created, where he should have lived and who inspired the characters in this walk through the area of Marylebone.  You don't need to have read the books to enjoy this one but you'll need to keep an open mind.  When everything is being questioned, you'll end up wondering what is real and what is fiction".

12 September 2025 "Go wisely and slowly.  Those who rush stumble and fall"  Shakespeare on the South Bank

What better words for our next walk as we encounter the London of William Shakespeare?  This is not an easy task thanks to the Great Fire of 1666, the Victorian city expansion and the Blitz but we will seek him out in courtyards, under modern buildings, in paving stones and in new arrivals.   We will uncover his story and the life of Londoners in the Elizabethan age.  We will visit the original site of the Globe along with its reconstruction, hear about his "lost years" and learn who was benefiting financially from London's entertainment centre.    

20 October 2025 "Roman London"

Gleaming skyscrapers, modern architecture and cutting-edge technology - that's what we'll be walking around in today's walk in the City of London.  But whilst we may admire these places our focus shifts to 20 feet below our feet as we try to work out where and how London first developed.  First a bridge, then a wall, a Forum & Basilica, a temple and an amphitheatre have all been discovered by our archaeologists but then built over with finds preserved elsewhere.  But if you know where to look there are traces remaining - a chunk here, some pottery there and the writings of Tacitus to piece it all together.  Hear of Boudica's revolt and the Romans reaction to it, touch real Roman building remains and enjoy the opportunity to go in and down to one of London's hidden gems.