Selected from the main lists, these walks prove especially popular for social occasions (e.g birthdays, clubs/societies or just getting a group of friends together) as each of them can end with a meal in a pub/restaurant I recommend, which I will book and host if required. (Some full days involve bringing a picnic lunch). However you can also select any walk from the ‘90+ ‘ Walks I Do’

Cost £20 per head min. charge £200 for half days, £30 per head for full days min. charge £300. Lunch cost extra. (Special group rates for CAF registered charities).

ANCIENT ALLEYWAYS AND NEW GARDENS OF THE CITY
Including a visit to one of City’s newest rooftop gardens
A walk combining the newest and the oldest of the City of London. It starts at new gardens near St. Paul’s Cathedral, and crosses the City to end at 120 Fenchurch St. www.thegardenat120.com one of London’s newest roof top gardens..  The route in-between is 90% along pre-fire narrow streets and ancient alleyways of the medieval and 17c. City.  Lots of history and quirky stories…and even for City cognoscenti new nooks and crannies. (Meal in www.naturalkitchen.co.uk near Tower Hill tube. 7mins walk from end of walk).

BATTERSEA POWER STATION REGENERATION
Optional extension to Nine Elms development incl. new American Embassy
See the remarkable and imaginative redevelopment of Battersea Power Station.  The industrial wharves and riverfront have been transformed into impressive gardens.  The centrepiece of the residential development is by Frank Gehry – his first housing project in the UK. Only being up close to, and inside the power station can one fully appreciate the monumental scale of the building and the well-preserved Art Deco and 50’s interiors of the two turbine halls – now a shopping mall. (Meal to be arranged at the time, many new restaurants opening all the time)
The Nine Elms Development is a complete and rather depressing but never-the-less interesting contrast to Battersea, ½ mile up river near Vauxhall. This can be done as an extension to the Battersea visit. (1 ½ hrs £10 extra)

BEDFORD PARK  (CHISWICK) – LONDON’S ARTISTIC SUBURB
The opening of the tube westwards to Chiswick in the mid 19C prompted the development of a purpose-built suburb of grand houses set in leafy streets, many designed by Norman Shaw, complete with a church, schools, shops, pub and social club.  Inspired by the social ideals of Ruskin and William Morris it became the haunt of artists, poets and eccentrics. (Could end with meal in www.cote.co.uk or www.megans.co.uk)

BERMONDSEY - FROM TANNERS TO TREND-SETTERS  (3hrs)
An area rich in history and atmosphere, it is now re-emerging from Victorian dockland, industrial area and notorious slum, into a desirable riverside residential area. Now dominated by the Shard it is one of London’s ‘coolest’ areas, but there are still traces of its industrial history including the Leather, Hide and Wool Exchange noted by Dickens for its noxious miasma …now of course  gone!. (Meal in a fashionable Bermondsey St. eatery)

THE BLITZ AND ITS EFFECT ON THE 21^ST C. CITY
A walk concentrating on the events, characters, and human stories of the terrifying months of the winter of 1940/41. These events will also be put in contemporary context by showing how the effect of the Blitz is still influencing London today.  Walk ends on a new viewing gallery with a spectacular view over St Paul’s and the City. (Meal in meze restaurant www.hazrestaurant.co.uk nr. St. Paul’s).

CAMDEN – FROM PRIMROSE HILL TO MORNINGTON CRESCENT
The walks starts along the villa-lined elegant streets of Primrose Hill, featured in the films Paddington 2, and Alan Bennett’s The Lady in the Van.  Camden Town is a complete contrast – an assault on the senses, busy, noisy and fun, – the home of counter culture . The walk ends opposite London’s most bizarre and dramatic Art Deco building – the erstwhile Black Cat cigarette factory in Mornington Crescent. (Meal in a local pub www.thelytteltonarmscamden.co.uk)

CITY CHURCHES ( weekdays only for interiors)
Over 38 churches in a stone’s throw of each other, the many designed by Christopher Wren, some by Nicholas Hawksmoor, a few surviving the Great Fire of London.  Walk eminently flexible it can either concentrate on interiors visiting up to 5  churches, or can pass more churches by seeing exterior only.  Half or full day options available (Lunch in City pub)

COVENT GARDEN AND 7 DIALS – The red-light district of Georgian London
The area which was the 18c red-light district for the upper classes!  In 19c.it declined into poverty and now is regenerated as a vibrant area of street performers and entertainment.  3 contrasting areas – Embankment Gardens, the bustle of Covent Garden Market, and the converted warehouse enclave of 7 Dials.  A walk not for the prudish!  (Meal in a ‘millennial’s’ middle-eastern restaurant in 7 dials www.eatlebab.com)

GEORGIAN RIVERSIDE – HAMMERSMITH TO KEW  BRIDGE
via Chiswick House Grounds(5m). ‘More walk less talk’
A stretch of the Thames lined by grand Georgian houses with pretty riverside gardens, . Pass William Morris’s Kelmscott press, Chiswick church with Hogarth’s grave. Cut away from the river to Chiswick House, a Palladian villa in classical grounds (coffee stop). Rejoin the river along the picturesque Strand-on-the-Green. Walk ends by Kew Bridge. (4hrs) (drink/lunch in a riverside pub www.bell-and-crown.co.uk)

THE GENIUS OF WREN – ARCHITECT AND POLYMATH
Tues-Thurs. mornings as only on these days are all 4 churches normally open.
Wren was already famous as an astronomer, mathematician and inventor before he took up ‘architecture’ his thirties.  Through visiting up to 4 of his best preserved City churches, seeing the exterior of 4 more, and ending with an unusual view of St. Paul’s Cathedral, I hope to give you an understanding of the sheer versatility, brilliance and surprising modesty of the man himself. (Lunch in meze restaurant www.hazrestaurant.co.uk nr. St. Paul’s)

HACKNEY TO SHOREDITCH – THE ANCIENT DROVE ROAD
Look at a modern street map of Hackney, Haggerston and Shoreditch and you can see a straight diagonal route cutting across the grid of the modern street plan.  Starting in the 1100’s livestock from Essex were driven along this ancient path to the City meat market at Smithfield. This walk follows approx 3 ½ miles of this path from Hackney to Shoreditch.  It is a way of linking diverse areas and sights from 13c church tower, a city farm, traces of Victorian philanthropy and social housing to finish in ‘millennial’ Shoreditch.  (Can end with an optional late lunch in Cocotte in Hoxton Square. www.mycocotte.uk) (3 + hrs/3 ½ m.)

HAGGERSTON…Where?
Sandwiched between the City and the Regents Canal Haggerston is an area attracting a property boom.  Victorian terraces, massive neo-gothic public buildings, a city farm on the site of a old gas works, traces of which remain,  and erstwhile furniture warehouses  now being colonised by the new tech workforce.  But still hints of its previous past remain from 1715 alms-houses now the ‘Museum of the Home (the renamed Geffrye Museum) to 60’s council estates and canal-side living. (Meal in one of London’s original Vietnamese restaurants – www.songque.co.uk)

HAMPSTEAD VILLAGE – LONDON’S GEORGIAN ‘HILL STATION’
Still very much a village, and once a fashionable spa it boasts some grand houses, and elegant gardens. Literary and artistic connections abound – John Keats and Constable to name but two.  (Meal in a gastro pub www.freemasonsarms.co.uk)

HIDDEN GARDENS OF THE CITY (Walk 1)
A walk concentrating on the area in the West of the City most devastated by the Blitz.  After the war many gardens were created.  This walk concentrates on those gardens between Barbican and St. Pauls. Whilst concentrating on the gardens it is a way of tracing the varied history of the City from a different perspective…literally!  (Best between March to October)
(Meal in meze restaurant www.hazrestaurant.co.uk nr. St. Paul’s)

HIDDEN GARDENS OF THE CITY AND RIVERSIDE (Walk 2)
An additional walk of the gardens of the City, concentrating on the St. Paul’s area and the riverside, ending in a ruined church in the East of the City now converted into a ‘secret’ garden. (Light lunch in www.bywardkitchenandbar.com – by All Hallows by the Tower churchyard)

HOW LONDON WAS BUILT
How steel and glass replaced lath and plaster, windows got bigger and bricks got more colourful.
A walk from Clerkenwell into the City, concentrating on the building styles, construction and materials of London, from the Kentish ragstone of the Roman Wall, via Georgian brick terraces and ornate door-cases, to the glistening steel and glass of 21st century London.  Spot a few fossils on the way! (Meal in meze restaurant www.hazrestaurant.co.uk nr. St. Paul’s)

THE ILLUMINATED RIVER AND CITY
St. Paul’s->cross Millennium Bridge –> Bankside -> cross Tower Bridge -> Tower Hill
An evening walk to see the City and Thames bridges in an unfamiliar light. Floodlighting enhances features of buildings you never notice in daylight.  St Paul’s seems to float above the City and the Tower is eerie when not thronged by visitors. Particulary enjoyable at Christmas time, but is still worth doing any winter evening. (Could end for supper in www.naturalkitchen.co.uk near Tower Hill Tube).

JEWISH LONDON – PERSECUTION AND PERSEVERANCE (inc. Bevis Marks Synagogue)
A walk tracing the history of the Jews in London, from their arrival with William the Conqueror, to the establishment of the Jewish East End. Visit the oldest synagogue still in use in England, at Bevis Marks, (entry charge + subject to opening hours).  ((Curry in Brick Lane).

EXPLORING HIDDEN KENSINGTON.
Forget Kensington Palace and Gardens and Kensington High St in favour of the site of the original medieval Manor of Kensington and the less well-known streets and squares in a series of ‘villages’ south of the high street. The walk goes through Kensington’s two historic squares, and also explores the ‘New Town’- (1840’s!) – 3 distinctive estates each developed by entrepreneurs, who made their money in surprising ways. (Meal in Iraqui restaurant www.samadaliraquirestaurant.co.uk /or Holland Park cafe)

KING’S CROSS REGENERATION – IT’S STILL ALL CHANGE
Currently Europe’s largest city centre regeneration scheme the once seedy area of King’s Cross has been reborn as a vibrant new mixed use development, including the new home to the University of the Arts, Aga Khan centre, Google and META’s HQ, flats, shops, art centres and restaurants. Over 20 old buildings have found new uses, coal drops have become a shopping centre and Gasholder has become a park. Gardens by Dan Pearson, and other leading landscape designers. (Meal – Vinoteca www.vinoteca.co.uk – but new places are opening up all the time).

LONDON’S LOST RIVERS  (Full days)
For full details see in ‘Full Days / Longer Walks /Lost Rivers’

THE MAKING OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Starting in Blackfriars, site of one of Shakespeare’s theatres, the walk will cross the river to Southwark to explore the area that became associated with the great flowering of the Elizabethan theatre. The walk includes a visit to London’s oldest galleried Inn and could also include a tour of Southwark Cathedral, with its many Shakespearean connections.(entry charge). Could be combined with a theatre visit to Shakespeare’s Globe, or a tour of the Globe. (meze meal www.tasrestaurants.co.uk)

PARKS OF LONDON, LONDON’S GREEN HEART
Leisurely Full Day (Holland Park- Embankment 6m.) Almost exclusively off-road, through London’s green heart, through Holland Park, Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park, cross under the Wellington Arch through Green Park, St James Park, to Embankment Gardens. (bring a picnic)

PLAGUE AND FIRE THROUGH THE EYES OF SAMUEL PEPYS
Tracing Pepys’ colourful life and his observations on high and low life in London during the Plague, – learn about the surprising similarities with the recent pandemic -, the Great Fire and the regeneration of the city.The walk weaves through the narrow alleyways of the City along routes that Pepys would have known. (Meal in www.naturalkitchen.co.uk near Tower Hill Tube).

THE REGENT’S CANAL
1. From Paddington to Islington
2. Full length to Limehouse – 11 miles, full day. www.thenarrowboatpub.com (not Suns.)
Built in 1820’s to link the Grand Union Canal to the booming docklands on the Thames, it now provides a varied canal-side walk.
Part 1. Paddington Basin, Little Venice, elegant villas of Regent’s Park, Camden Lock and then on roads through to Islington. pub lunch www.thenarrowboatpub.com (not Suns.) Part 2. More industrial but fast changing, past Victoria Park (East End’s Hyde Park) to Limehouse Basin Docklands.

RICHMOND TO WIMBLEDON PARK
An 8 mile ‘country’ walk through Richmond Park and across Wimbledon Common.
Starting in Richmond, with its Tudor Palace gatehouse, then along the river to climb Richmond Hill to the Park.  In the Park we cross open grassland, pass ancient oaks and herds of red and fallow deer to reach Wimbledon Common, passing its famous windmill. Then about a mile past posh houses and the site of the much disputed All England Club development to end at Wimbledon Park station. (bring a picnic).

RICHMOND VILLAGE, RIVERSIDE AND PARK (8m)
A varied walk which combines the elegant villages of Richmond and Petersham, with Richmond Park (via Isabella Plantation – a riot of colour at azalea time) past the 17c stately home – Ham House, and back to Richmond along the river. (bring a picnic).

RIVERSIDE VISTAS – ROTHERHITHE to SOUTHWARK (more walk less talk)
A 3+ mile walk along the Thames on the South side from the maritime village of Rotherhithe, which we will briefly explore.  The walk will then follow the river path past Jacobs island, immortalised in Oliver Twist continuing along Butlers Wharf. Crossing under Tower Bridge, it passes City Hall to end at Southwark Cathedral. (great café!)  Wide views across the river to Wapping waterfront and to the City.  This is a brisk walk with brief stops, ideal for winter or for those who want more walk and less talk or both!
OR SOUTHWARK to ROTHERHITHE.  Starting with coffee at Southwark Cathedral, following route above in reverse, ending with late lunch in Mayflower Riverside Inn www.mayflowerpub.co.uk in Rotherhithe. Make a day of it by visiting the Brunel Museum – Thames Tunnel. www.thebrunelmuseum.com

ROMAN LONDON UNDER LONDON
Visit new exhibition (opened 2023) of the Roman Wall and finds, + London Mithraeum
A walk ideal for winter as it is mainly inside. The city wall at Vine street www.citywallvinestreet.org only opened in Spring 2023 shows off a long-hidden piece of Roman wall, and a display of 2,000 years’ of finds. We then take the tube to visit the London Mithraeum  (under Bloomberg’s London HQ) which showcases the ancient temple and a selection of the remarkable Roman artefacts found during the excavations. (3 ½ hrs).  (Late lunch in Vinoteca – City. www.vinoteca.co.uk – not Suns)

RURAL HACKNEY – From Finsbury Park to Hackney Wick (10m)
A walk which links the green spaces of North and East London. It includes a new bird wetland, a transformed ‘sink estate’, Georgian village, Victorian cemetery, river/canalside walking, parks and gardens and an area home to both orthodox Jews and Muslims. We end by walking alongside the Olympic Park and end with a beer in the new cool quarter of Hackney Wick. (bring a picnic).

SHOREDITCH AND HOXTON
On the borders of the City, yet a world apart, but now in the forefront of the ‘tech’ revolution attracting hi-tech start-ups and the new youth culture, including street artists such as Roa, and Stik.   But there are many traces of the past from Shakespeare, through music hall, to Victorian furniture industry. Old buildings with new uses – a circus school in an old power station, comedy clubs under railway arches. (Meal in Hoxton Square – www.mycocotte.uk)

SOHO – FROM HUNTING PINK TO RED LIGHT AREA
Soho, with its street cafes, restaurants and its seamier side – learn the history of the area and look more closely at its elegant 17+18c. houses, and hear stories of the bohemian crowd of the 50s and 60s.  This is a walk better done in winter as the narrow pavements are less crowded with diners and visitors.  (Meal in one of Soho’s original eateries – the French House www.frenchhousesoho.com – Tues – Sat.)

SOUTHWARK AND BANKSIDE – A WALK ON THE WILD SIDE
The red-light district of Elizabethan London – with theatres, taverns, cock-fighting, bull and bear-baiting, a notorious prison, and the ‘oldest profession’ plying their trade…it’s an area rich with stories. Afterwards shop/eat in Borough market, (closed Mon.). (Meze meal www.tasrestaurants.co.uk).

SOUTHWARK + BANKSIDE – THE EVOLUTION OF ELIZABETHAN THEATRE
From Gladiators to the Globe
A walk weaving through narrow streets tracing the history and evolution of the theatre from Roman times to the great flowering of Elizabethan theatre in the playhouses of  Bankside. This was also the red light district of Tudor London, so the walk is not as erudite as it may sound!  (Meze meal www.tasrestaurants.co.uk) (Particularly successful when done as a precursor to a performance at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre).

SOUTHWARK + ROTHERHITHE – SEEDS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
(Pilgrims and Puritans)
A walk originally developed for the Daughters of the American Revolution, which traces the origins and motivations of some of the first settlers to cross the Atlantic. In Southwark see the site of John Harvard’s home and a replica ship almost identical to the Mayflower.  Take a short bus ride to the Thames-side village of Rotherhithe, to see where the Mayflower took on board 65 passengers to sail on to Plymouth.  The 17c charity school and church where Captain Jones worshipped still survive. (Lunch in the riverside Mayflower Inn, www.mayflowerpub.co.uk Rotherhithe)

SPITALFIELDS + WHITECHAPEL – IMMIGRANT LONDON
Only yards from the City of London, yet atmospherically a million miles away, this area has seen waves of immigrants since 17th century. See foundations of a medieval charnel house, Huguenot weavers’ houses, traces of the Jewish East End.  Now it is home to London’s Bangladeshi community.  (Curry in Brick Lane, or a 10min extension through Whitechapel to Tayyabs a Bangladeshi restaurant not yet on the tourist trail). A version of this walk concentrating on Spitalfields and omitting Brick Lane could be linked to a visit to the Denis Severs House www.dennissevershouse.co.uk in the afternoon)

STRATFORD + THE QUEEN ELIZABETH  OLYMPIC PARK
For full details see 21^st Century London + Regeneration The Olympic Park has now been transformed into a public park, and the areas surrounding it are being redeveloped progressively. I can offer a variety of walks in and around the park concentrating on different themes from landscape design to regeneration. (Walks will be around 3 – 31/2 hrs, but can be curtailed or extended to full days incl. lunch – on request)

SYLVIA PANKHURST AND THE EAST END SUFFRAGETTES
A walk round Bow, a less frequented area of the East End, but one associated with the East London Federation of Suffragettes, led by Sylvia Pankhurst.  This walk traces the life and work of Sylvia and the ELFS, particularly their initiatives to ameliorate the lives of factory girls. Still an area of deprivation, but fast changing as a result of the ‘Olympic Effect’. (meal in a gastro-pub www.morganarmsbow.com)

TEA AND COFFEE – How they made the City rich
Coffee and tea first arrived in London in the mid 17c, and from then on have been central to the growth of London as a great financial and trading centre. This walk weaves through the City of London, crosses London Bridge and ends in Southwark tracing this history and can end with a cup of tea, coffee or a snack lunch in Southwark Cathedral café.  (morning or early evening walk could end with late lunch or early supper in  Cote – Hays Galleria – www.cote.co.uk)

THAMES PATH WALKS – Full Days
For full details see in ‘Full Days / Longer Walks / Lost Rivers’

• BOAT RACE ROUTE  CIRCULAR –  8m (Hammersmith  -> Fulham -> Putney – via Beverley Brook >Barnes -> Chiswick -> Hammersmith)
• CITY (Blackfriars Bridge) TO CANARY WHARF - 6m
• THE ENGINE OF EMPIRE  – City to Greenwich  – 9m (City->Wapping/Limehouse->Isle of Dogs -> Greenwich – via Thames tunnel)
• HAMMERSMITH TO KEW  - 7m with a cut away via Chiswick House
• SOUTHWARK TO CANADA WATER – 8m  (Bermondsey -> Rotherhithe > Surrey Docks/Canada Water)
• THAMES VILLAGES AND PALACES. – CIRCULAR – 10m (Kew –> Brentford –> Syon House –> Richmond -> Kew)

THE WALBROOK  ‘LOST’ RIVER – Shoreditch – Thames nr. Cannon St. (3 ½ hrs)
It is the shortest but arguably the most important of London’s ‘Lost Rivers’, as it formed the heart of Roman ‘Londinium’.  A walk of great contrast between the vibrant, youthful area of Shoreditch and the serious money-making pulse of the City. It passes Shakespeare’s original playhouse, foundations of which have been recently discovered and the location of 2 major archaeological digs, Liverpool St. Elizabeth Line and the Walbrook . These are shedding new light on London’s history.  (Meal in Vinoteca – City. www.vinoteca.co.uk – not Suns)

THE WESTBOURNE ‘LOST’ RIVER
Hampstead – Hyde Park.  (approx 5m)
A walk from Hampstead to Bayswater. Rising on Hampstead Heath the Westbourne flows (underground) down through West Hampstead, Kilburn, Paddington and Bayswater.  It is a truly varied walk where you will see the influence of the river on its adjacent areas. This walks ends at a gastro pub nr. Hyde Park. (approx 4hrs including coffee stop.) (Late pub lunch in Bayswater www.mitrelancastergate.com)

EXPLORE OLD WIMBLEDON’S HILL TOP VILLAGE
(optional afternoon extension to Cannizaro Park, after traditional pub lunch)
This walk explores the original Wimbledon village on the hill overlooking 19c. Wimbledon in the valley.  The route climbs to reach the original parish church, traces of a royal Tudor manor, and later rich merchants’ houses. The original high street still exists with interesting shops and pubs.  We then skirt the common, to pass more grand houses to end on the original village green, home to 2 village pubs.  (Lunch at a traditional pub www.thehandinhandwimbledon.co.uk)

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