The Diary of a Nobody started as a popular satirical column in Punch magazine in 1888 before being extended and published in book form a few years later. This guided tour brings the book to life, taking you back to the late Victorian middle-class Upper Holloway that Mr. Charles Pooter and his family and ... Read More
Victorian London was a dangerous place especially after dark, with highwaymen and other scoundrel’s waiting to pounce on anyone crossing their path. Imagine stepping back in time to 1837, when London was a bustling city and not so different from today's metropolis. You see people walking down the street with their heads held high as ... Read More
Retrace the path of two Victorian circus elephants who, in 1884, ran through the streets of Dartmouth Park, ending trapped but unharmed in an Islington N19 front garden. It’s a delightful route starting near Parliament Hill Fields and ending between Archway and Tufnell Park stations. We will take time to admire what the elephants missed ... Read More
Time to take your rose tinted history specs off…. Farringdon and Smithfields have always been associated with gore and bloodshed. For centuries, these two areas of London were the sites of public executions, and the blood of countless criminals was spilt on their streets. In more recent times, Farringdon has had its fair share of ... Read More
Time to take your rose tinted history specs off…. Farringdon and Smithfields have always been associated with gore and bloodshed. For centuries, these two areas of London were the sites of public executions, and the blood of countless criminals was spilt on their streets. In more recent times, Farringdon has had its fair share of ... Read More
Explore the City's Bloody Past, through times of great suffering such as the Great Fire of London, times of religious and political upheaval during the Dissolution of the monasteries and why heads adorned the gates of the City. Explore London's bloody past. The walking tour lets you explore the horrors of living through the Great ... Read More
A wander along Upper Street looking at remnants of lovely old shop fronts hinting at a bygone age when this area was a magnet for upper classes, hence its reputation as Islington's Golden Mile. Learn about the top quality products on offer, beautifully presented behind spindle windows and curved glass. Hear about umbrella makers, handmade ... Read More
Ghostsigns are the remnants of old advertising still clinging to the walls above our busy streets depicting products or services that are no longer available, and there are some excellent examples to be found around in Islington. Most of the signs we'll look at will be the hand-painted variety, as per the example shown here, ... Read More
For centuries, Islington has been a popular destination for pleasure seekers. On this two-hour tour we'll explore the activities and institutions that went from ubiquity to obscurity as London changed around them. We'll uncover Islington's time as a land of pastoral excess; the antics of various rock-n'-rollers; the food; the fads; and the fights. The ... Read More
See fine Georgian squares, secret gardens and London's smallest nature reserve, while learning about the area's history. Dating back to the Domesday Book of 1086, Barnsbury was for centuries a rural manor set back a little from the busy Islington main road of Upper Street. In the 18th century its open fields, fresh water springs, ... Read More