Holloway's main shopping area has a wealth of Jazz Age and Streamline Moderne architecture simply hiding in plain view. Since the 1870s this area has been north London's main shopping area. As this continued into the 1920s and 1930s many businesses updated or rebuilt in the new Moderne styles of that time. We'll visit a ... Read More
A statue in honour of Mary Wollstonecraft is now a feature of Newington Green but there's a long history of radical thought in the area, explored on this walk. The Unitarian Chapel is the oldest nonconformist chapel still in use, and the original China Inland Mission still stands next to the Green. The walk will ... Read More
Since the middle-ages, when religious pageants were held on the banks of the River Fleet and entertainers performed at the annual Bartholomew’s Fair, Clerkenwell has been a part of London steeped in cultural history. Theatre, literature, music, film, architecture, food, sculpture and visual art spanning the last 900 years are all covered as we wander ... Read More
Remnants of old advertising, for bygone brands and businesses, are today known as 'ghostsigns' and there are some good examples to be found clinging to the walls above Islington's busy streets. Most of the signs we'll look at on this two-hour walk will be the hand-painted variety, as per the example shown here which is ... Read More
In 1086 the Domesday Book reported that Islington contained just 27 households. Today its quarter-of-a-million residents live in an area that boasts world-class cultural venues but also less green space than any other London borough. The story of how Islington developed over the centuries provides many tales of social, cultural and political history. The walk ... 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
A guided walk looking at a cross-section of architectural styles from the interwar years. Obviously, we'll visit Arsenal FC's iconic Highbury ground, but we'll also look at and talk about places of entertainment, companies that strived to keep up with the zeitgeist, well-proportioned residential properties and a renovation scheme that was never completed. You'll hear ... Read More
Discover how the Nag's Head area of Holloway Road quickly evolved from a well-to-do middle class suburb to become North London's go-to shopping district, offering the best selection of well-known brands, impressive independent outlets, beautiful restaurants and top-end entertainment, all accessed by excellent wide roads and frequent rail services. The evidence is all around us. ... Read More
This architectural appreciation tour showcases a variety of well-designed social housing developments in the Upper Street area. We'll visit impressive Victorian, Edwardian and pre-WWII dwellings made possible by innovative benefactors and independent housing trusts. These we'll compare with early London County Council estates and Islington council's more recent schemes. It's a delightful route that always ... Read More
Canonbury Tower was built in the late 16th century and is a rare survivor of Tudor domestic architecture in London. The Tower was added onto a manor house built in the early 1500s as the country retreat of the Canons of St Bartholomew's Priory in Smithfield. On this 90-minute tour you'll see the existing Tudor ... Read More
From St Paul's via Greyfriars & Old Bailey to Smithfield, St Bartholomew's & Charterhouse. The Priory and Hospital of St Bartholomew were founded at Smithfield 901 years ago in 1123. London has a long and dark history of martyrs, public executions, body snatchers, crime and punishment - and butchery. Hear tales of hangings and burnings; ... Read More
In 1086 the Domesday Book reported that Islington contained just 27 households. Today its quarter-of-a-million residents live in an area that boasts world-class cultural venues but also less green space than any other London borough. The story of how Islington developed over the centuries provides many tales of social, cultural and political history. The walk ... Read More