THE ‘NEW NORMAL’ WALKS PROGRAMME
Welcome to my walks!  The new format – capping the group size to 8 and, to allow for more people to do the walks, running each walk both on a Sunday and on a weekday – was voted a success and is now the regular format.

Pre-booking essential as groups limited to 8 maximum – contact Diana to book or join the email list for regular updates.
  • Walks last approx. 2hrs – 2 ½hrs.
  • Each walk will be run on a Sunday and repeated on a weekday
  • Small groups – Maximum size 8 (Walks cancelled if fewer than 5).
  • Price £20, of which £1 goes to a nominated charity* (Cash on arrival preferred or BACS transfer can be arranged).
  • Walks go-ahead in all weather.
  • Free cancellation up to 48 hrs before.
  • All walks led by Diana Kelsey.
  • See the Autumn Programme (September – October 2023) 
  • 2023 Donations to to FareShare – who take good quality surplus food and get it to front line charities and community groups. Charity No. 1100051.


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PRIVATE GROUPS

I would be delighted to do private groups – with my following provisos:

  • Group organiser must collect contact details of participants and deal with enquiries.
  • £200 per group for up to 10 people thereafter £20 per additional person.
  • Group organiser to pre-pay by bank transfer to confirm the booking. Cash on the day possible by prior arrangement.
  • Suggested maximum 15 (including group leader)

Do not hesitate to contact me to discuss – DiaKelsey3@aol.com or 07973 316 102

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Sunday 17 September

NEW GARDENS AND ANCIENT ALLEY WAYS OF THE CITY
Including a visit to the City’s latest rooftop garden at 120 Fenchurch St.

A brand new walk through the City of London, designed to be a cross between 21st century London, with new gardens (including the latest city rooftop garden)  – and the pre-fire alleyways of the medieval and 17c City.  We will start by visiting gardens by St. Paul’s including the new ‘Reflection Garden’ (great photo opp.!) and Distaff Garden.  The route in-between will be 90% through the narrow ancient streets and alleyways of the City. Many of these have featured on my previous City walks, but this time I will be able to point out features I have had to ignore on previous walks. As these are pre-fire thoroughfares the emphasis of the walk will be on the medieval and immediate post-fire City. I also intend to challenge those who think they know the City inside out, to find routes you have never walked before!!  We will end back in the 21st century by visiting the new roof garden at 120 Fenchurch St., with its peaceful landscaping and planting and great 360deg views, including some of the latest city skyscrapers.
NB This walk will cover more distance than my normal City walks, as it criss-crosses the City, so it is not suitable for those who have mobility issues.

STARTS 10.00am – St.Paul’s Tube (Exit 2 opp. Café Nero)

Ends at 120 Fenchurch St.  (5 mins walk from either Monument or Bank Tube)

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Tuesday 19 September

NEW GARDENS AND ANCIENT ALLEY WAYS OF THE CITY
Including a visit to the City’s latest rooftop garden at 120 Fenchurch St.

A repeat of 17 September’s walk.

STARTS 2.00pm – St.Paul’s Tube

Ends at 120 Fenchurch St. (5mins walk from either Monument or Bank Tube)

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Sunday 8 October

EXPLORE WALTHAMSTOW – Historic Village, Neon Haven and William Morris Gallery (optional extra)

Walthamstow is not what you might expect…yes it is suburban as we start the walk through its wind-swept 60’s town square and cross its noisy roads, but we soon come to the first surprise…‘Old Walthamstow’, a conservation area with a real village feel.  It has a 17c Vestry and early 19c grand mansions, Victorian almshouses, a church set in an ancient churchyard, and even a half timbered 15c house. Walthamstow is now the haunt of millennials who frequent Orford Rd with its eclectic shops and gourmet café’s.  Another surprise is ‘God’s Own Junkyard’ with its quirky ‘Neon Heaven’, voted the highlight of the morning on previous walks. The last part of the walk begins with a 15mins stretch uphill through suburban Walthamstow to reach the massive ‘art-deco/eastern bloc totalitarian’ Town Hall. Then 10mins along a busy main road (sorry!) brings us to the substantial Georgian mansion, Morris’s teenage home and now the William Morris Gallery and park with its Morris-inspired garden, where the walk will end.  (This walk has an ulterior motive – to entice you to make a day of it by visiting (on your own) the newly refurbished William Morris Gallery in the afternoon. (It’s a small gallery so 1-1 ½ hrs should be sufficient.  There is a small café where you can get a snack) (www.wmgallery.org.uk)
The whole circular route including walk back to tube is 3+ miles.

STARTS 10.15am – Walthamstow Central Station. ‘‘Selbourne Road and Buses’ exit – meet at top of stairs by the Information and Assistance Desk

Ends 1.00/1.15 @ William Morris Gallery (either bus/15min walk back to station or café/picnic lunch and possible visit Gallery pm.)

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Monday 9 October

THE GENIUS OF CHRISTOPHER WREN – ARCHITECT + POLYMATH
To mark the tercentenary of his death

Wren is much in the news this year as 2023 marks the 300th anniversary of his death.  The Wren300 celebrations (www.wren300.org) feature many events and exhibitions throughout the year.  The aim of this walk is to inspire you to enjoy the many events this celebration offers.   Wren was far more than just an architect (a term that he would not recognise).  As a child he made sundials, as a student he dissected human bodies and he entered Oxford University at 17. He was already famous as an astronomer, mathematician and inventor before he took up ‘architecture’ in his thirties.  But it is on this latter role that my walk primarily concentrates, as his lasting legacy to London is the glory and variety of his City churches.  Although I hope to give you an understanding of the sheer versatility and brilliance of man himself, this walk concentrates on the variety of his architectural  achievements, one of which was  the team of talented craftsmen he gathered around him.   I have selected a route that takes in some of the best interiors to visit, but this will be dependent on volunteers being on duty (other churches we will see from the outside only) …so we will have to be flexible on the day.  Expect a longer duration – up to 3hrs , but the distances will not be great and you will have a chance to sit when we visit.  The walk ends with a dramatic view of St Paul’s Cathedral from Festival Gardens.  **book early – previous tours fully booked**

STARTS 10.15am – Inside St Mary Aldermary church.  Opposite Bow Lane exit of Mansion House Tube  (coffee @ Host Café inside the church from 9.30am)

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Thursday 12 October

EXPLORING HIDDEN KENSINGTON

This walk eschews the more familiar sights such as Kensington Palace and Gardens and Ken.High St. in favour of the less frequented streets and squares of a series of ‘urban villages’. The first part of the walk will be around the site of the original manor of ‘Chenistone’, listed in the Domesday book – a hamlet surrounded by rich farmland with the little church of St. Mary Abbotts at its heart.  We will then cross to the south side of Kensington High Street to walk through quiet streets, squares and little ‘villages’. We pass through Kensington’s two historic squares,- one of which over 300 years old -, one of London’s prettiest mews and Kensington ‘New Town’ with its imposing villas built in the 1840’s.  The ‘New Town’ comprises 3 separate small ‘estates’ developed by 3 early Victorian entrepreneurs who made their money in surprising ways.  The unusual street pattern imposed by the estate boundaries and the contrasting architectural styles makes this a very varied walk.  The walk ends in Edwardes Square, about ½ m. along Kensington High St.  N.B. To do this area justice this 2 ½ hr.walk covers 2 ½m  – a longer distance than my normal walks.

STARTS 2.00pm -  Kensington High St. Tube (Meet at tube exit inside the arcade)

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Sunday 15 October

EXPLORE POPLAR AND ITS ROLE IN THE FESTIVAL OF BRITAIN

Until the building of the enclosed docks in the early 1800s Poplar was one of the small hamlets east of the Tower (hence Tower Hamlets!) surrounded by grazing and market gardens.  With the East India Company opening a dock and ship building in Blackwall in the 18th century, the East India Dock Road became lined with elegant Georgian mansions for merchants and ship builders, a few of which still survive. But once the enclosed docks were built in the early 19th century the area declined rapidly into cheap accommodation built for the dock workers. It was also an important part of the 1951 Festival of Britain, with a so-called ‘Live Architectural Exhibition’ better known as the Lansbury Estate, much of which survives.  Although Poplar lies just north of Canary Wharf, it is still a poor area, but unlike other London areas it has been slow to fall prey to ‘gentrification’ – although it is now starting!  In contrast it is being regenerated mostly with social housing and amenities, so it still retains its East End community feel and its links to the docks and seafarers – (We may stop for tea in a seamen’s hostel) .  It is a fascinating area with impressive churches and the occasional Georgian villa, a street for the Imperial Gaslight Company workers…still lit by gas lamps, interesting social housing and remnants of its dockland past.

STARTS 1.30pm – Poplar DLR – Poplar High St/Tower Hamlets College Exit. (It’s on the n. side of DLR.) Meet by back of New City College at bottom of stairs from DLR

Ends at Poplar DLR

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Friday 20 October

EXPLORE WALTHAMSTOW  – Historic Village, Neon Heaven and William Morris Gallery (optional extra)

Walthamstow is not what you might expect…yes it is suburban as we start the walk through its wind-swept 60’s town square and cross its noisy roads, but we soon come to the first surprise…‘Old Walthamstow’, a conservation area with a real village feel.  It has a 17c Vestry and early 19c grand mansions, Victorian almshouses, a church set in an ancient churchyard, and even a half timbered 15c house. Walthamstow is now the haunt of millennials who frequent Orford Rd with its eclectic shops and gourmet café’s.  Another surprise is ‘God’s Own Junkyard’ with its quirky ‘Neon Heaven’, voted the highlight of the morning on previous walks. The last part of the walk begins with a 15mins stretch uphill through suburban Walthamstow to reach the massive ‘art-deco/eastern bloc totalitarian’ Town Hall. Then 10mins along a busy main road (sorry!) brings us to the substantial Georgian mansion, Morris’s teenage home and now the William Morris Gallery and park with its Morris-inspired garden, where the walk will end.  (This walk has an ulterior motive – to entice you to make a day of it by visiting (on your own) the newly refurbished William Morris Gallery in the afternoon. (It’s a small gallery so 1-1 ½ hrs should be sufficient.  There is a small café where you can get a snack) (www.wmgallery.org.uk)
The whole circular route including walk back to tube is 3+ miles.

STARTS 10.15am – Walthamstow Central Station. ‘‘Selbourne Road and Buses’ exit – meet at top of stairs by the Information and Assistance Desk

Ends 1.00/1.15 @ William Morris Gallery (either bus/15min walk back to station or café/picnic lunch and possible visit Gallery pm)

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