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 […]
Join Mike Marriott's walk for a look around the "new" King's Cross. The area formerly used for goods yards behind King's Cross station has now been transformed. Come and see how on this walk! 200 years ago King's Cross was a rather desolate place, marked by brick kilns, rubbish heaps and slums. The arrival of […]
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries Charlotte Mew, Dorothy Richardson and Virginia Woolf all drew inspiration from walking alone in London; observing and enjoying street life. Woolf called it "street haunting". The sights and sounds of London run through their novels, stories, essays and poetry. On this two hour walk through the streets […]
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 […]
People migrating to work in a city like London may begin settling together in ghettos, but eventually they mix. Working-class migrants, often maligned as ''economic migrants', do business, make families, invent objects, bring pleasures, help each other, fight and die together. One old area of central London shows strong and sympathetic traces of the migrations […]
You will probably know lots of bits of the St Giles' area: Tottenham Court Rd tube, Centrepoint, Shaftesbury Ave, Seven Dials...but you probably don't know how the area came to be as it is. A fascinating story of ancient roadways meeting, a medieval leper colony, a failed posh residential district, a notorious Victorian slum and […]
You probably know Hampstead as a very attractive area of very posh houses and very famous people. But why is it so lovely to walk around? It's a lot to do with a hill which prevented major roads and any railways being built: so uniquely in London it preserves a Georgian village streetscape. It also […]
Dorothy L Sayers, one of the “golden age” crime writers between the first and second world wars, lived and worked in Holborn and Bloomsbury – as did her alter ego, Harriet Vane and other familiar characters from the novels and short stories. See places from which she took inspiration for her detective fiction; find out […]
Dorothy L Sayers, one of the “golden age” crime writers between the first and second world wars, lived and worked in Holborn and Bloomsbury – as did her alter ego, Harriet Vane and other familiar characters from the novels and short stories. See places from which she took inspiration for her detective fiction; find out […]
You will probably know lots of bits of the St Giles' area: Tottenham Court Rd tube, Centrepoint, Shaftesbury Ave, Seven Dials...but you probably don't know how the area came to be as it is. A fascinating story of ancient roadways meeting, a medieval leper colony, a failed posh residential district, a notorious Victorian slum and […]
Discover a very cosmopolitan "urban village" in North London with Elena. We will explore historic Primrose Hill, one of London's prettiest "urban villages", and its magnificent park: from the top of the hill you can enjoy clear views of London's skyline. The area, with its continental cafés and independent shops, has been and still is […]
Join Elena on a guided WALK IN BLOOMSBURY followed by a visit to the newly re-opened NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY. PLEASE NOTE THIS WILL BE A 4 HOUR EVENT (including a refreshment break). This walk will celebrate the incredible women who made Bloomsbury a hub of creativity and empowerment. Starting at Russell Square tube, we will […]