Camden Guides

Secrets of St. Giles and Seven Dials: a walk through London's dark past
2026-04-24 11:00 - 13:00 (Europe/London)
Join Elena to discover a fascinating neighbourhood that not many people know.
We will delve into the darker chapters of London’s past as we uncover the secrets of this infamous neighbourhood.
We will wander through the alleys where tales of poverty and crime once echoed (Dickens will get a mention or two, of course…) and discover the remnants of centuries-old buildings that bear witness to St Giles’ tumultuous history.
As we wind our way from the ancient church built on the site of a leper colony to the site of the infamous rookeries and gallows, now replaced by some of the most striking modern architecture in London, we’ll talk music, pubs, executions and developers’ greed. There is something for everyone!

The Trollopes of Bloomsbury
2026-03-29 14:00 - 16:00, 2026-03-23 11:00 - 13:00
Both Anthony Trollope and his mother Fanny were proliflc and successful writers.
Anthony, born in Bloomsbury is best known for the Barchester Chronicles and Paliser novels where Catherdral towns and country houses often overshadow the place of Bloomsbury. But this area which “cannot be called fashionable” and is “not much overlooked by nobility” offers lodgings and temptation to young clerks like Johnny Eade and affordable accomodation for impoverished women like Lady Anna.
Join Sue to follow the links between Anthony Trollope’s own life as a civil servant at the Post Office, his fiction with its Bloomsbury locations and the influence of Fanny Trollope’s writing on her son’s work.

Music and Revolution in Camden Town
2026-03-28 11:30 - 13:30, 2026-03-22 11:30 - 13:30, 2026-03-07 11:30 - 13:30
Camden Town has been a hotbed of musical scenes and counter-cultures for over 50 years!
But where did it get the grit and charm that has inspired so many musicians and writers? From open fields to steam and stench, industrial powerhouse to drinkers paradise, and from radical thinkers to musical rebellion – what is it that put this tiny area of Camden Town on the global stage and spawned cultural movements that changed the world? Join me as we look beyond the t-shirt stands and souvenir stalls to discover the places where counter cultures were born and musical history was made. Find out how Camden Town became the beating heart of Rock, Punk, Britpop and beyond! The tour will naturally end in one of Camden’s fine pubs where you can soak up the atmosphere and find some inspiration of your own 😉

MADNESS The Nutty Camden Walk
2026-03-15 10:30 - 12:30
Conducted by official Camden Tour Guide and Madness fan Frank K Molloy, this walk explores the story of Madness, the ever-popular UK band. This year, they are celebrating 50 years since the first Nutty sound developed into an enduring musical legacy. So join us as we go One Step Beyond in commemorating a national treasure.
It’s incredible to think that the first seeds of this band were planted way back in 1976, when early members got together in a north London house with the idea of making music. But how did they originate? Who were their influences? And how did that famous ‘Nutty Sound’ evolve?
Your guide will provide the answers by leading you through the various locations around Camden Town. These were the stomping grounds of Madness during the 1970s and 80s, and we will also examine why these streets became so inspirational to their music.
The first walk takes place on Sun Mar 15, 2026, at 10:30am from outside Chalk Farm Underground Station. It will take approximately two hours and finish about 12:30pm close to Camden Town Underground. This walk is limited to ticket holders who have booked through Eventbrite only. Further walks are scheduled later in 2026.

Happy 200th birthday to UCL! A medical walk round Fitzrovia
2026-03-11 13:00 - 15:00, 2026-02-18 13:00 - 15:00
Meet opposite one of London’s finest hospitals and end at the chapel of a rival hospital that has been razed to the ground. Learn about the medical discoveries at University College Hospital and at the now extinct Middlesex Hospital on the other side of Tottenham Court Road. We’ll talk about the discovery of the hormone aldosterone, early identification of HIV, novel cancer therapies and some of the amazing characters who have shaped the practice of medicine over the past 200 years.

Women Who Broke the Rules: Bloomsbury Walking Tour
2026-03-10 11:00 - 13:00
A guided walk led by Elena Paolini, Camden and City of London guide, to celebrate Women’s History Month
Bloomsbury, a hotbed of radical ideas, has always attracted women who refused to conform. This Women’s History Month, we will walk in the footsteps of suffragists who demanded the vote, women doctors who fought to practise medicine, artists who defied expectations, reformers and pioneers who transformed women’s education. As home to the 200 year old University of London, the first secular university in Britain to admit women in 1878, Bloomsbury nurtured thinkers who challenged conventions and changed the world. From political rebels to medical mavericks, this walking tour celebrates bold women who refused to think – or live – inside the box.

Conrad's Secret Agent and Anarchism in Fitzrovia
2026-03-09 11:00 - 13:00
Explore the anarchist circles in London through the eye of Joseph Conrad in his Secret Agent, based on true events
Conrad’s The Secret Agent cast a critical eye over London at the end of the nineteenth century when the capital was home to a series of revolutionary anarchist groups. They had come to police attention following royal pressure after the assassination of the Tsar of Russia. The Secret Agent, Verloc, in Conrad’s novel is a double agent, blackmailed to commit an outrage which ends in family tragedy. The death of Stevie, Verloc’s son in law, is closely based on a real anarchist explosion near the Greenwich Observatory in 1894

Dodging the Blitz:Bloomsbury Second World War Novels
2026-03-05 14:00 - 16:00
Graham Greene’s End of the Affair and the Ministry of Fear are directly taken from his wartime experiences and love affairs in Bloomsbury as an air raid warden. Elizabeth Bowen and Muriel Spark are other writers who transposed war time events into their literary output. Pat Barker and Sarah Waters have used the period and location brilliantly in recent novels to emphasise the female experience of war. This walk highlights important events which formed the basis of these novels, and looks at some of the main landmarks of the Blitz in Bloomsbury.

All change at King's Cross
2026-02-24 11:00 - 13:00
On this guided walk, discover the fascinating history of King’s Cross, one of the most successful regeneration projects in London.
200 years ago King’s Cross was a rather desolate place, marked by brick kilns, rubbish heaps and slums. The arrival of the canal and the railways changed the area forever: join Elena’s walk to discover the traces of King’s Cross past – pioneering stations, model dwellings, splendid hotels and many historic building and structures which have been beautifully reimagined and repurposed for 21st century living. Today, King’s Cross is hailed as one of the great success stories of urban regeneration. Come and discover why!

From Prejudice to Pride
2026-02-22 11:00 - 13:00
Celebrate LGBT+ History Month 2026 by walking the streets where history was made. Join this guided walk through Bloomsbury and King’s Cross and walk in the footsteps of the trailblazers who dared to live, love and resist openly.
With longstanding local resident and Camden tour guide Richard Cohen, you’ll uncover Camden’s deep and rich heritage of sexual diversity.
Learn about the extraordinary range of people and places that are part of Camden’s LGBT+ heritage. Hear about the Molly Houses, the Victorian cross-dressers and the notorious and much policed watering holes of the Bohemian demimonde of the 1920s and 30s. Learn about the theatre which was the vanguard of lesbian and gay drama and pass London’s first LGBTQ+ bookshop.
Meet the Bloomsbury Set who challenged Victorian codes of behaviour and Kenneth Williams the great genius of Polari. Hear the inspiring story of how the LGBT+ community rallied together to respond to the HIV/AIDS crisis in the 1980s.
Witness the struggle against the hated Section 28 and the joyous celebrations of the first Same Sex weddings at Camden Town Hall.
Don’t miss this inspiring walk, visiting the sites where history was made and honouring those who came before.
Part of Camden Council’s LGBT+ History Month programme

Primrose Hill and the Navvies
2026-02-20 13:00 - 15:00
Primrose Hill was born when navvies dug out the land by hand, bringing grime, racket, hard drinking and what some called Moral Depravity.
The neighbourhood radiates brilliant industrial solutions of Victorian engineers, but who built it? This walk puts hard-living navvies at the centre of the story and tells how the area developed in the face of the railway’s smoke, grit and noise. Camden railway landmarks include an Hydraulic Accumulator Tower, a roundhouse, the tunnels that working horses used to get to and from the Goods Yard, the site of the Stationary Winding Engine and numerous street details. The story of Primrose Hill’s creation also takes us to a beautiful stretch of the Regent’s Canal and the top of the famous hill with its superb views, as well as artists’ studios and pastel-painted streets. We end at a high street free of chain shops where good pubs abound, and it’s all minutes from Camden Market.

First and Quirky Kings Cross and St Pancras
2026-02-20 11:00 - 13:00
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 Sir John Soanes grave the inspiration for the telephone box.

Politicians, Physicians and Philanthropists
2025-12-20 11:00 - 13:00
This walk behind Holborn’s main roads takes us through garden squares and tree-lines streets. Queen Square with its many hospitals and educational associations, Red Lion Square, laid out by the first professional, female landscape gardener. We pass architectural gems including the John Soane Museum, and through Sicilian Avenue; see monuments to social reformer Margaret MacDonald, radical politician Fenner Brockway, and the church with a king on its spire close by early social housing and the hotel that started life as a hostel for young women before finishing at the British Museum.

The Irish in Camden Town
2025-12-20 10:30 - 12:30
Celebrate the rich history & culture of the Irish community in Camden Town at this exciting event! Join us at Camden Town Station to learn about the harsh reality of journeying to London to get away from the hardships at home in Ireland. You will hear about the influence the Irish had on building the canals, roads & railways of Britain as well as its homes. Find out where the Irish went in Camden to have the Craic (Fun), where they went to church, where they were housed & supported when they were down on their luck. On a less serious note, I will relay the funny stories that I have come across during researching & delivering this walk!

London's Sex Industry and the Stage in the Long 18th Century
2025-12-15 13:00 - 15:00
When the Puritan Protectorate ended in 1660, London’s sex industry grew wildly public and was linked to both theatres and the underworld.
Charles II lifted the Puritan ban on theatre-going, and by 1700 London was sex-capital of Europe. This walk starts with the stage at a time when all actresses were assumed to be prostitutes and theatres a place for clients to find them. We pass through areas where street-walkers and bawdy houses were closely linked with playhouses, and we hear about high-class masquerades where actress-courtesans like Sophia Baddeley might appear. There are the bawds who kept houses, the women who worked in them, like Sally Salisbury, and Harris’s List, where they might advertise. We hear about homosexual Molly Houses as well as Jelly Houses, Coffee Houses and Bagnios.
Links between corrupt government officials and criminals formed the plot of John Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera in 1728, with its cast of thief-takers, highwaymen, pickpockets and sex workers like Jenny Diver, who met in flash houses where they spoke a secret language. The unscrupulous Society for the Reform of Manners tried to close down vice, but things began to change when Social Reformers said women selling sex were victims needing rescue.
The walk starts in Lincoln’s Inn Fields and passes through Covent Garden and surrounding streets like Drury Lane, where ordinary folks lived who sold sex – orange-girls like Nell Gwyn, flower girls and all women unable to make ends meet on very low incomes. The underworld called this red-light area the Hundreds of Drury.

Cold Comfort Farm in Highgate
2025-12-06 13:30 - 15:30
Discover the life of Stella Gibbons, who published over 20 novels as well as Cold Comfort Farm, her first novel, which achieved widespread success. She lived on the Holly Lodge Estate, Highgate, which had been built on land once owned by Angela Burdett-Coutt. John Betjmann and J.B. Priestley lived nearby, both of whom wrote about single professional women making their own way, often in flats like those on Holly Lodge Estate. Walk ends near Parliament Hill Fields.

Abolition! Anti-Slavery Campaigning in Central London
2025-11-09 13:00 - 15:00
This walk reveals where many key London events took place in British campaigns against slavery and slave-trading between the mid-1700s and mid-1800s. Fugitive and former slaves, white lawyers, activists and orators –women as well as men — along with black activists, authors and musicians come alive in a walk from Chancery Lane to Fleet Street, Lincoln’s Inn and Covent Garden, ending at Embankment Gardens. The capture in London of escaped slaves led to legal cases that campaigners loudly supported. Slaves were given as gifts by West Indies planters to wealthy Londoners who used them as fashion-accessories. There were small communities of free blacks, many working as servants. Blacks made free by fighting on the British side during wars thronged to London, many becoming beggars but others getting by and even moving up in social class. On the walk you meet Olaudah Equiano, Mary Prince, James Somerset, Granville Sharp, Sarah Parker Remond, Thomas Clarkson, Ottobah Cuguano, Elizabeth Heyrick, Samuel Johnson, Hannah More, the Fisk Jubilee Singers and more names now usually forgotten.

The Irish in Camden
2025-11-07 10:30 - 12:30
Celebrate the rich history and vibrant culture of the Irish community in Camden Town! Starting at Camden Town Station, this guided walk explores the journeys of those who came to London seeking a better life, and the lasting mark they left on the city. Discover how the Irish helped build Camden’s canals, roads, and railways — and the very homes we live in today. Along the way, learn where Camden’s Irish community gathered for the craic (fun), worshipped, and found support during tough times. And, of course, enjoy a few of the funny and heartwarming stories uncovered while researching and leading this walk!

Garden of eternal rest: twilight walk of St. Pancras Old Church graveyard
2025-11-05 15:00 - 16:00
As November nights draw in and the last light fades over the old gravestones, come and discover the secrets of this quiet garden that once was a burial ground. Join Elena, an accredited Camden Tour Guide and local resident, on a twilight walking tour starting at St Pancras Old Church, with a fascinating history that goes back 1500 years.
We will uncover many hidden stories – sometimes tragic, sometimes romantic, sometimes almost unbelievable: we will hear about resurrectionists going “fishing”, discover the truth behind the myth of the legendary and much missed Hardy tree and learn how the two most famous horror characters of all times are inextricably linked to this place.
We will meet famous writers, genius architects, WW2 most unlikely hero and even a gender-fluid 18th century spy. By unearthing their stories, we will bring them back to life.

From Art to Anarchy: Hampstead and the Spanish Civil War
2025-10-26 14:00 - 16:00
This 90-minute guided walk is led by Can Yildiz, oral historian and accredited Camden guide.
Meet outside Hampstead Heath Overground Station and uncover the hidden radical history of Hampstead on a walking tour tracing the lives of artists, writers, and exiles who fought for social change.
Explore how creativity and activism intertwined, as Hampstead became a hub for voices challenging injustice and supporting international struggles, including the Spanish Civil War. Along the way, hear stories of courage, collaboration, and intellectual ferment, discovering how exile and radicalism shaped the area’s distinctive character.
By the end of the tour, near Chalk Farm Underground Station, you’ll see Hampstead not just as a picturesque village, but as a living archive of ideas, activism, and international solidarity, quietly woven into its streets.
A fundraiser for Torriano Meeting House

Bloomsbury Festival - Ballad Walk of Dickens
2025-10-19 14:30 - 16:00, 2025-10-18 14:30 - 16:00, 2025-10-17 14:30 - 16:00
The William Miller Collection of sheet music at The Charles Dickens Museum is a treasure trove of songs inspired by Dickens, his characters and stories.
Singer and researcher Vivien Ellis takes songs from this remarkable collection to bring the world of Dickens to life in the streets he knew. Starting at the museum, home to Dickens as a young writer, this walk will end at the Foundling Museum, a route Dickens regularly took.

Bloomsbury Festival - Ballad Walk of St Giles and Seven Dials
2025-10-19 11:00 - 12:30, 2025-10-18 11:00 - 12:30, 2025-10-17 11:00 - 12:30
Discover dramatic stories of 17th to 19th century St Giles-in-the-Fields and the trades and printing industry of Seven Dials. Through song and 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 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.
Enter the dates of your walk (Format day, date and month, example Saurday 245th March): 17th, 18th and 19th October 2025
