he 12th century cleric, William Fitzstephen wrote in glowing terms about London. However, on this walk we will discover both the ups and downs of life in Medieval London. Walking through Clerkenwell, Smithfield and ending in the City of London, find out about a variety of aspects of life from prayer to punishment and employment ... 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
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
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
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
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