Welcome to the October newsletter of walks and events from Camden Guides, and this month sees the annual Local London Guiding Day: when guiding organisations across London provide free walks exploring their local areas.
Local London Guiding Day takes place on the 10th of October, and details of Camden’s contribution are as follows:
Camden Guides for Local London Guiding Day: King’s Cross, From Grime to Sublime!
Every October, on Local London Guiding Day, guiding associations across London offer free guided walks. This year’s theme is Back to the Future – how yesterday’s London changed into the capital of tomorrow.
Camden Guides’ walks this year showcase the King’s Cross redevelopment: From Grime to Sublime!
Explore how King’s Cross has transformed from an industrial wasteland to a hub for leisure, learning and travel, aware of its past as it builds the future, on its journey from steam, coal and gas to coding, creativity and green spaces.
Meet at King’s Cross Railway Station, under the station clock tower. Each walk lasts one hour. Book online or just show up on the day.
Walks take place between 10:00 and 16:00, and either turn up on the day or book a free space at the following link:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/camden-gudes-121677492697
As well as Local London Guiding Day, our guides have a comprehensive range of walks throughout the month, starting with some walks that take place this weekend as part of the Bloomsbury Festival:
Radical Bloomsbury: Hidden Histories of Community, Critique and Change
Explore radical Bloomsbury’s past in a guided walk where you find hidden stories of abolitionism, scientific critique, and social dissent.
A guided history walk that uncovers the hidden stories of the ordinary people, radicals, and reformers who shaped Bloomsbury from below. While the area is globally renowned for its elite literary heritage, this tour shifts the spotlight onto the streets, pavements, and public spaces where history was driven by independent voices and defiant acts.
Led by an urban geographer and accredited Camden tour guide, the walk decodes the layers of the built environment, tracing the forgotten echoes of past lives etched into the very stones of the borough. Together, we will explore powerful narratives embedded in the local architecture—from the courageous anti-slavery struggles of Mary Prince and the defiant satirical dissent of William Hone, to Eduardo Paolozzi’s striking monument that challenges how we view science and authority.
Perfect for local history enthusiasts and anyone curious about the intersection of community, critique, and change. Come and discover a different, more radical side of Bloomsbury.
This walk takes place on the 3rd of October, and can be booked by clicking here.
The Ballad Walk of St Giles
Discover dramatic stories of historic St Giles-in-the-Fields and the trades and industries of Seven Dials. Through spoken commentary and sung ballads this walk brings first-hand experience of street life in the area during the times of Pepys and Dickens. Singer and researcher Vivien Ellis with Camden Guides will lead you through a ballad walk which provides a direct connection to the characters and stories of the past.
The ballads have been researched and gathered by Vivien with a group of volunteers and the support of the University of Cambridge Rare Books Library, British Library, Charles Dickens Museum and Camden Archives.
Approximate running time 2 hours. Audience participation encouraged!
This walk takes on the 3rd of October and can be booked by clicking here.
The Ballad Walk of Charles Dickens
Enter the world of Charles Dickens: experience the sights and sounds of 19th century Bloomsbury through songs, spoken commentary and selections from his writing. Follow some of the routes of his daily walks from his home on Doughty Street (now the Charles Dickens Museum) and enjoy songs from the Museum’s William Miller collection of sheet music, inspired by his characters and stories. Singer and researcher Vivien Ellis with Camden Guide Chris Wilkins Molloy will lead you into a world of streetsweepers, abandoned children and domestic service contrasted with Victorian middle class comforts. Approximate running time 2 hours. Audience participation encouraged!
This walk takes place on the 3rd of October and can be booked by clicking here.
The Ballad Walk of St Giles
Discover dramatic stories of historic St Giles-in-the-Fields and the trades and industries of Seven Dials. Through spoken commentary and sung ballads this walk brings first-hand experience of street life in the area during the times of Pepys and Dickens. Singer and researcher Vivien Ellis with Camden Guides will lead you through a ballad walk which provides a direct connection to the characters and stories of the past.
The ballads have been researched and gathered by Vivien with a group of volunteers and the support of the University of Cambridge Rare Books Library, British Library, Charles Dickens Museum and Camden Archives.
Approximate running time 2 hours. Audience participation encouraged!
This walk takes place on the 4th of October and can be booked by clicking here.
The Ballad Walk of Charles Dickens
Enter the world of Charles Dickens: experience the sights and sounds of 19th century Bloomsbury through songs, spoken commentary and selections from his writing. Follow some of the routes of his daily walks from his home on Doughty Street (now the Charles Dickens Museum) and enjoy songs from the Museum’s William Miller collection of sheet music, inspired by his characters and stories. Singer and researcher Vivien Ellis with Camden Guide Chris Wilkins Molloy will lead you into a world of streetsweepers, abandoned children and domestic service contrasted with Victorian middle class comforts. Approximate running time 2 hours. Audience participation encouraged!
This walk takes place on the 4th of October and can be booked by clicking here.
First and Quirky Kings Cross and St Pancras
A visit around the recently regenerated railway lands. The walk consists of some very interesting ‘firsts’, a lot are transport based, but also about the contrast in the life styles of the inhabitants. The area has recently undergone a massive transformation and is very much a ‘destination’ with so many new companies moving into the area. It is also a walk about the lives of the poor as well as the home of some iconic inventions and well-known traditions. We visit the old coal drops yard, now completely transformed and St Pancras Old Church graveyard, which includes John Soanes grave the inspiration for the telephone box
This walk takes place on the 6th of October and can be booked by clicking here.
Bloomsbury – Hotbed of Creativity
Meet the Pre-Raphaelite Movement and the Bloomsbury Set in a short walk round the streets of Bloomsbury, seeing some of its world-famous cultural institutions.
Enjoy the fresh air and admire the architecture of two of Bloomsbury’s most elegant city squares in their autumnal glory. Meet some of the great creative spirits of the Pre-Raphaelite Movement and Bloomsbury Set who have lived and worked in the area. Hear the origin story of the British Museum and learn about the work of its conservation department. Pass the great modernist mass of Senate House, headquarters of the University of London. Walk through the beautiful Greek Revival halls of University College which is currently celebrating its bicentenary and see some of the college’s collection of artworks.
This walk takes place on the 8th of October and can be booked by clicking here.
Camden Guides for Local London Guiding Day: King’s Cross, From Grime to Sublime!
Every October, on Local London Guiding Day, guiding associations across London offer free guided walks. This year’s theme is Back to the Future – how yesterday’s London changed into the capital of tomorrow.
Camden Guides’ walks this year showcase the King’s Cross redevelopment: From Grime to Sublime!
Explore how King’s Cross has transformed from an industrial wasteland to a hub for leisure, learning and travel, aware of its past as it builds the future, on its journey from steam, coal and gas to coding, creativity and green spaces.
Meet at King’s Cross Railway Station, under the station clock tower. Each walk lasts one hour. Book online or just show up on the day.
Bloomsbury – Hotbed of Creativity
Meet the Pre-Raphaelite Movement and the Bloomsbury Set in a short walk round the streets of Bloomsbury, seeing some of its world-famous cultural institutions.
Enjoy the fresh air and admire the architecture of two of Bloomsbury’s most elegant city squares in their autumnal glory. Meet some of the great creative spirits of the Pre-Raphaelite Movement and Bloomsbury Set who have lived and worked in the area. Hear the origin story of the British Museum and learn about the work of its conservation department. Pass the great modernist mass of Senate House, headquarters of the University of London. Walk through the beautiful Greek Revival halls of University College which is currently celebrating its bicentenary and see some of the college’s collection of artworks.
This walk takes place on the 10th of October and can be booked by clicking here.
From Burton to Beveridge: Bloomsbury’s Great Groundbreakers
This walk takes a roundabout route from Tavistock Square to Russell Square. Focusing on creativity in a broad sense, it aims to show how twelve notable Bloomsbury figures embody it. Apart from imagination and artistry, its mainsprings lie for instance in curiosity, pioneer spirit, responsiveness to human needs, and even serendipity. All these figures had a clear vision and strong sense of mission. Their achievements have benefited people in innumerable ways.
Highlights on the route will include an architect whose work made him “most gratifyingly rich”, a poet who “altered expression”, the founder of the Welfare State, a pioneer of education for working people, a visionary female bookseller and the origins of the Bloomsbury Group.
This walk takes place on the 11th of October and can be booked by clicking here.
Thinkers, Makers and Scribblers, Walk One
From a Godless Group to the God Particle
This first walk, in a series of three, explores the characters, stories and events in the West of Bloomsbury.
These walks will be led by a team of three expert Camden guides, we will unpick three subjects in each walk. Come to one, two or all three, each one will be different! Bloomsbury will reveal it’s hidden histories and culture with tales of the world-changing discoveries, ahead-of-its-time creativity and unbounded imagination.
The leafy squares and streets will unveil the fascinating stories of visionaries who were inspired by beautiful Bloomsbury to create ground breaking work that transformed the worlds of art, science and literature.
This walk takes place on the 16th of October and can be booked by clicking here.
The Ballad Walk of St Giles
Discover dramatic stories of historic St Giles-in-the-Fields and the trades and industries of Seven Dials. Through spoken commentary and sung ballads this walk brings first-hand experience of street life in the area during the times of Pepys and Dickens. Singer and researcher Vivien Ellis with Camden Guides will lead you through a ballad walk which provides a direct connection to the characters and stories of the past.
The ballads have been researched and gathered by Vivien with a group of volunteers and the support of the University of Cambridge Rare Books Library, British Library, Charles Dickens Museum and Camden Archives.
Approximate running time 2 hours. Audience participation encouraged!
This walk takes place on the 17th of October and can be booked by clicking here.
Suffragette City
London was at the centre of the suffragette protests just before the First World War, when the capital was rocked by arson attempts, hunger strikes and massive demonstrations. The walk will visit the church where Emily Wilding Davison’s funeral cortège began, and the headquarters of the Women’s Social and Political Union, and the site of the Suffragette Hospital where all the staff, including surgeons, were women, dealing with soldiers straight from the trenches. Along the way we will explore vegetarian restaurants and the 1911 Census boycott.
This walk takes place on the 17th of October and can be booked by clicking here.
The Ballad Walk of Charles Dickens
Enter the world of Charles Dickens: experience the sights and sounds of 19th century Bloomsbury through songs, spoken commentary and selections from his writing. Follow some of the routes of his daily walks from his home on Doughty Street (now the Charles Dickens Museum) and enjoy songs from the Museum’s William Miller collection of sheet music, inspired by his characters and stories. Singer and researcher Vivien Ellis with Camden Guide Chris Wilkins Molloy will lead you into a world of streetsweepers, abandoned children and domestic service contrasted with Victorian middle class comforts. Approximate running time 2 hours. Audience participation encouraged!
This walk takes place on the 17th of October and can be booked by clicking here.
The Ballad Walk of St Giles
Discover dramatic stories of historic St Giles-in-the-Fields and the trades and industries of Seven Dials. Through spoken commentary and sung ballads this walk brings first-hand experience of street life in the area during the times of Pepys and Dickens. Singer and researcher Vivien Ellis with Camden Guides will lead you through a ballad walk which provides a direct connection to the characters and stories of the past.
The ballads have been researched and gathered by Vivien with a group of volunteers and the support of the University of Cambridge Rare Books Library, British Library, Charles Dickens Museum and Camden Archives.
Approximate running time 2 hours. Audience participation encouraged!
This walk takes place on the 18th of October and can be booked by clicking here.
The Ballad Walk of Charles Dickens
Enter the world of Charles Dickens: experience the sights and sounds of 19th century Bloomsbury through songs, spoken commentary and selections from his writing. Follow some of the routes of his daily walks from his home on Doughty Street (now the Charles Dickens Museum) and enjoy songs from the Museum’s William Miller collection of sheet music, inspired by his characters and stories. Singer and researcher Vivien Ellis with Camden Guide Chris Wilkins Molloy will lead you into a world of streetsweepers, abandoned children and domestic service contrasted with Victorian middle class comforts. Approximate running time 2 hours. Audience participation encouraged!
This walk takes place on the 18th of October and can be booked by clicking here.
First and Quirky Fitzrovia
A very popular walk passing the homes of the famous both past and present. Film sets, street art and ending at an iconic tavern.
This is about Bohemian London and both the wealthy and not so wealthy parts of the community. We pass the homes of some celebrities past and present and the workhouse that inspired Dickens to write Oliver Twist. We pass Dickens first London home, and some very ‘quirky firsts’. We walk along Colville Place a hidden gem. As this walk is on a Wednesday we are able to visit the amazing Fitzrovia Chapel which is a real rare treat. This is the location where King Charles in 2024 chose to give his annual Christmas speech to the public.
As with all of my walks we end in an iconic tavern (this one I promise is amazing – its one of those places that it is easier to state who hasn’t drank there than who has!)
This walk takes place on the 21st of October and can be booked by clicking here.
Thinkers, Makers and Scribblers, Walk Two
From Dreaming Poets to Art Beneath our Feet
This second walk, in a series of three, explores the characters, stories and events in the East of Bloomsbury.
These walks will be led by a team of three expert Camden guides, we will unpick three subjects in each walk. Come to one, two or all three, each one will be different! Bloomsbury will reveal it’s hidden histories and culture with tales of the world-changing discoveries, ahead-of-its-time creativity and unbounded imagination.
The leafy squares and streets will unveil the fascinating stories of visionaries who were inspired by beautiful Bloomsbury to create ground breaking work that transformed the worlds of art, science and literature.
This walk takes place on the 23rd of October and can be booked by clicking here.
Thinkers, Makers and Scribblers, Walk Three
From the Importance of Time to a Timeless Legacy
This third walk, in a series of three, explores the characters, stories and events in the South of Bloomsbury.
These walks will be led by a team of three expert Camden guides, we will unpick three subjects in each walk. Come to one, two or all three, each one will be different! Bloomsbury will reveal it’s hidden histories and culture with tales of the world-changing discoveries, ahead-of-its-time creativity and unbounded imagination.
The leafy squares and streets will unveil the fascinating stories of visionaries who were inspired by beautiful Bloomsbury to create ground breaking work that transformed the worlds of art, science and literature.
This walk takes place on the 30th of October and can be booked by clicking here.
And that completes a very busy month of walks. Our calendar of walks is regularly updated, and can be found on our homepage at: Camden Guides – Camden Tour Guides Association Public Website
Our next newsletter will be at the start of November.