Holloway’s main shopping area has a wealth of Jazz Age and Streamline Moderne architecture simply hiding in plain view. In the 1930s many new buildings were constructed here, and some well-established companies either updated their façades or rebuilt completely. Visit a cross section of architectural styles from this period – places of entertainment, commerce, manufacture ... Read More
A time-travelling guided walk taking us back to when Holloway was the go-to shopping zone for the upwardly-mobile Victorian middle classes. Find out how this area quickly evolved to offer North London's finest selection of drapery, finery, furnishings and tailoring, as well as beautiful restaurants and top-end entertainment, all accessed by excellent wide roads and ... Read More
Ghostsigns are the remnants of old advertising still clinging to the walls above our busy streets advertising products or services that are no longer available. There are some excellent examples to be found around the Islington Green area. Most of the signs we'll look at will be of the hand-painted variety, as per the example ... Read More
Join this walk, led by Jonathan Wober of London On The Ground, to discover some of the Islington sites Geoffrey Fletcher captured so lovingly and to learn about the area's heritage. Best known for his 1962 book 'The London That Nobody Knows', Geoffrey Fletcher recorded the London that he feared was vanishing in the 1960s, ... 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
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
St Mary’s, Islington on Upper Street has played a central role in the history of Islington for a thousand years. During this time several different churches have stood on the site, leaving an eclectic range of architectural styles. On this 90-minute guided tour you’ll learn about the 12th-century Norman church and its 15th-century medieval successor. ... 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 N19 front garden near Archway. 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 ... 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
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
Expect a once innovative prison, an establishment for fatherless Scottish children, the revolutionary impact of the railways and omnibus and the remnants of the huge livestock market that fuelled the Victorian mega-city with meat. This circular walk commissioned by The London Metropolitan Archives continues a series covering the broad sweep of London’s history. It explores ... Read More
A stroll through more than 100 years of Islington cinema-going; all between Angel and Essex Road stations. You’’ll encounter Victorian showmen, architectural wonders and tales of bad behaviour in the stalls. Come to discover hidden gems and hear what a night ‘at the flicks’ was like decades before multiplexes. In addition to such landmarks as ... Read More