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Tuesday 22 October

LONDON’S NEW ‘FAR EAST’ + THE ROYAL DOCKS AND SILVERTOWN   ***New***

The re-development of this massive area has been a very stop/start affair from the failed 2012 Olympic ‘Pleasure Park’,and Boris Johnson’s 2013 much trumpeted £1.7bn Asian Business Park now a ghost town, to the successful recent redevelopment of the erstwhile Silvertown industrial site.  The pace has now picked up with the opening of the Elizabeth Line, and the planned Silvertown Tunnel .
When the Royal Victoria Dock opened in 1855 it was the largest area of impounded water in the world.  Only by walking by the dock with its wide skies, towering cranes, and dramatic views back to the skyline of London, can you really appreciate the sheer scale of London’s port at the height of Empire.  The walk starts at Customs House station (Elizabeth Line, or DLR from  Canning Town). The first part of the walk is round the western end of Royal Victoria Dock, passing the GLA’s new City Hall, and the still derelict hulk of Spillers Millenium Mills – beloved of film makers. The second part of the walk is through Silvertown, until recently a derelict and forgotten post industrial area.  It is still very much work in progress – with exciting plans for new development around Millenium Mills.  We will pass a solitary terrace of pre-war housing isolated in an 80s estate, then walk through new Royal Wharf  Riverside development, which is complete and proving popular. The walk will end in Thames Barrier Park, built in the old Pontoon Dock (hence the DLR station) with its clever landscaping reflecting its dockland’s heritage, and dramatic views of the Thames Barrier.
(NB. Walk is 2 ½ -3hrs. It is exposed so can be windy and cold…dress appropriately)

STARTS 1.30pm – Customs House station.  Meet by/in Starbucks on the entrance to the bridge to Excel Exhibition Centre

Ends  Pontoon Dock DLR – (2 stops to Canning Town – Jubilee Line)

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Friday 25 October

WALK THE ENTIRE REGENT’S CANAL – From Paddington to Limehouse

This 10 mile walk along the whole length of the Regent’s Canal gives you a really different perspective on London.  Built in 1820s to link the Grand Union Canal to the London Docks on the Thames, it now provides a truly varied canal-side walk, from the picturesque and elegant Little Venice, Regents Park, Camden lock, new canal-side developments, to 60s East End housing estates and Victoria Park – the East End’s rival to Hyde Park. The canal disappears underground at Islington, the only part of the walk along streets and ends by the Thames at the Limehouse Basin, with dramatic views downriver to Canary Wharf and upriver to the City.  Those who want can end with a reviving drink or even a early meal at riverside Pub.  We will stop for coffee at Camden Lock and for lunch at a canal-side pub -  www.thenarrowboatpub.com .  (Cost £30).  Priority given to those doing the full walk, but I will run a waiting list for those only wanting to do morning + pub lunch (Cost £25)

STARTS 9.45am – Paddington Mainline Station (meet under the old clock on platform 1)

Ends approx 5.30pm near Limehouse DLR

NB This may be the last time this ever appears on my programme as many of my walkers are aging…like me!   In the future I may only offer this as 2 separate walks on my programme, but still keep the full route on my list for Private/DIY bookings.

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Sunday 27 October

SAMUEL PEPYS – PLAGUE, FIRE AND REVOLUTION  ***Repeat by Popular Demand ***

Pepys’s diary, which chronicles nine of the most turbulent years of London’s history, gives a unique insight into both public and everyday life of mid-17th century London.  This walk will trace Pepys’s colourful life and his observations on high and low life in London, during the Plague, Great Fire and the regeneration of the City after those cataclysmic events.  Now having experienced a modern plague ourselves, there are many eerie similarities (…do we ever learn from history?). The walk will weave through the narrow alleyways, along routes that Pepys would have known. (some roads cobbled – wear comfortable shoes!).

STARTS 2.00pm – Blackfriars Tube (NB N. side of river)

Ends near Tower Hill Tube

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Sunday 17 November

ROMAN LONDON UNDER LONDON
Visit new section of wall + gallery, London Mithraeum

One of the many exciting things about London is that new historical sites are being uncovered all the time.  A large section of the Roman London wall has been uncovered whilst excavating the foundations of a new building near Tower Hill.  It is now open to the public  together with an exhibition of the many artefacts found spanning nearly 2,000 years of London life.  (They have even preserved snails, found at every level of excavation!). Starting by Tower Hill I will give you an introduction to Roman London and we will then pass sections of the Roman wall on our way to Vine St. and the new gallery.  Given there is a pleasant small café there, we will spend around 30-45mins – time for a brief introduction to the wall and the finds, for you to look round and have a coffee/pastry in the small café. We will then take the tube to Cannon St. to visit the London Mithraeum (the Roman Temple of Mithras – rebuilt on its original site under Bloomberg’s new building).  Viewing the temple, 7m below street level, is at 20min intervals.  So I will first give you some background as I will only be able to point things out after a 5-7min.audio visual ‘experience’, (their words not mine!).  The main walk ends at the Mithraeum, to allow you to spend more time looking at the excellent display case showing many of 14,000 artefacts unearthed. NB both venues are free entry.

STARTS 1.00pm – Tower Hill Tube exit

Ends near Cannon Street approx  4.15pm

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Sunday 24 November

SAMUEL PEPYS – PLAGUE, FIRE AND REVOLUTION
4 places available to join a group of 4 who have booked this as a bespoke walk (cf under my DIY scheme – see above) Optional lunch at end of walk

Pepys’s diary, which chronicles nine of the most turbulent years of London’s history, gives a unique insight into both public and everyday life of mid-17th century London.  This walk will trace Pepys’s colourful life and his observations on high and low life in London, during the Plague, Great Fire and the regeneration of the City after those cataclysmic events.  Now having experienced a modern plague ourselves, there are many eerie similarities (…do we ever learn from history?). The walk will weave through the narrow alleyways, along routes that Pepys would have known. (some roads cobbled – wear comfortable shoes!). (Cost £25 per head – lunch extra)

STARTS 11.30am – Blackfriars Tube (NB N. side of river)

Ends near Tower Hill Tube

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Wednesday 27 November

SMITHFIELD – BEAUTY AND BUTCHERY inc. visit St. Bartholomew the Great and Charterhouse (garden + chapel only) *** New ***

This is a new walk in a very historic area of London which merits closer exploration as a sensitive new development round St. Barts hospital has opened up new vistas and pleasant squares.  The ‘Beauty’ is the magnificent Smithfield meat market soon to find a brand new use, St. Bartholomew the Great, with its impressive and atmospheric Norman interior (we will visit), and Charterhouse with traces of its Tudor past, where we will visit the chapel and a newly created garden with its beautiful modern gates. The ’Butchery’, Smithfield for nearly 400 years site of  numerous executions, the modern day meat market and St Barts hospital site of the evolution of modern surgery and its concomitant body snatching!

STARTS 1.30pm – Farringdon Tube

Ends 3.30pm near Farringdon Tube

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Sunday 1 December

SMITHFIELD – BEAUTY AND BUTCHERY inc. visit St. Bartholomew the Great and Charterhouse (outside only) (St Bart’s Advent Carol Service @5.00pm. Full details – www.greatstbarts.com) *** New ***

A repeat of Wednesday’s walk, except that Charterhouse chapel and garden are closed  Sundays, but the garden is easily viewed though a pair of beautiful modern iron gates (best appreciated closed!).   Walk will end around 4.30, to give those who want to join the (possible) queue for the carol service.

STARTS 2.30pm – Farringdon Tube

Ends approx 4.30 near Farringdon Tube

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Saturday 14 December

CHRISTMAS LIGHTS WITH A DIFFERENCE – ST PAUL’S TO TOWER OF LONDON
St. Paul’s -> Bankside via Millenium Bridge ->  to cross Tower Bridge -> end near the Tower.  NB More walk less talk – few brief stops and brisk pace

A way of seeing familiar buildings in an unfamiliar light…literally, and  it’s also an opportunity for keen  photographers.  Floodlighting enhances aspects of buildings you never notice in daylight, and great buildings like St. Paul’s seem to float above the City, and the Tower of London takes on an eerie quality when not crowded with tourists .  We will cross the Millennium Bridge, then walk along the river, looking up at the skyscrapers of the City and looking down at the reflections of the newly-floodlit  bridges in the dark waters of the Thames.  We will cross back over Tower Bridge, stopping to see an unparalleled view of the floodlit Tower and City, ending by Tower Hill Tube.  (Cost £25 – meal extra)
(Optional supper @ Natural Kitchen -Trinity Square – www.naturalkitchen.co.uk).

STARTS 5.00pm – West Front of  St. Paul’s Cathedral (meet by statue of Queen Anne)

Ends Tower Hill  approx. 6.45/7.00pm

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Wednesday 18 December

CHRISTMAS LIGHTS WITH A DIFFERENCE – ST PAUL’S TO TOWER OF LONDON
St. Paul’s -> Bankside via Millenium Bridge ->  to cross Tower Bridge -> end near the Tower.  NB More walk less talk – few brief stops and brisk pace

A repeat of Saturday’s walk.  (Cost £25 – meal extra)
(Optional supper @ Natural Kitchen -Trinity Square – www.naturalkitchen.co.uk).

STARTS 5.00pm – West Front of  St. Paul’s Cathedral (meet by statue of Queen Anne)

Ends Tower Hill  approx. 6.45/7.00pm

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Friday 3 January

THE NEW RIVER WALK – Stoke Newington – Sadlers Wells + late lunch in Exmouth Market – 4m ‘more walk less talk’ ***New ***

Walk off the festive season’s indulgence and welcome in 2025 with a long half day walk following the route of the so-called ‘New River’, neither new nor a river!.  Completed in 1613 it  was a major ‘infrastructure project’ and private enterprise funded by a City merchant to bring fresh drinking water 39 miles from Hertfordshire to Islington, from where it was distributed to the City.  We will follow its final 4 miles from Stoke Newington to the ‘New River Head’ in Islington right next to Sadlers Wells.  It is a varied walk through parkland, a brand new wetland bird reserve, the major regeneration project of Woodberry Down, elegant Georgian terraces and squares of Canonbury   We then rejoin the ‘river’ again in a narrow park through Canonbury to Islington, to end  the ‘river’ route at the ‘ New River Head.  We will then continue for 10 or so mins. to Exmouth market for a late lunch.
Cost £30 – lunch extra (if there is demand I will increase numbers to max 12)

STARTS 10.15am – Manor House Tube EXIT 6 – Green Lanes N.W side. (Piccadilly Line) Meet at Park View Café from 9.30am

Ends Exmouth Market (10 mins walk to Farringdon or bus down to Blackfriars)

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