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The Financial City from Slavery to Hedge Fund Virtual Walk

Sunday 6th December 2020

This walks looks at the development of the City of London as a financial centre. Its origins were among the money lenders of the Jewish and Italian quarters of Old Jewry and Lombard Street. We continue the story with the introduction of the first commercial companies and the Merchant Adventurers of Elizabethan London, alongside the revival of the cruel trade in Slaves. We walk through the alleyways of the City where innovation went side by side with the introduction of Coffee in the Coffee Houses of Stuart
London.

We look at the distinctive architecture of the City as we walk around one of the most specialised market places in the world that once prided itself on the virtues of providing face to face contact.. The financial institutions in the City have encountered many changes since the scandal of the South Sea Bubble and it has weathered them all, so far. It was given a huge boast by the ‘Big Bang’ in Mrs Thatcher’s time. But the consequences of the effects of Brexit and Covid on top of the Internet are not yet clear on the City.


TO BUY TICKETS CLICK HERE:

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The Rebirth of Saxon London Archaeology Virtual Walk

Sun, Nov 8, 2020 6:00 PM

The Romans gave the name of Saxons to barbarian pirates that plagued the North Sea region in the Late Roman Period. Historians link them with the Angles to create the germanic Anglo-Saxon period of which London was the leading town. But excavation and DNA analysis make the traditional story more difficult to sustain and although the Anglo-Saxons have a rich history how much of it can be trusted? Was there a Dark Age? Or was it just a ‘transistion’? How did English become the main language sweeping aside native Celtic languages? Much of the story of Saxon London has been founded on myth and dubious historical sources, but archaeological, documentary and genetic research has beginning to provide a clearer narrative.

Following the fall of Roman Britain, London was almost deserted. On this walk we explore how London recovered and grew to be the most important City in England by 1066. We will concentrate on the period from 600 AD onwards, and will begin with the story of Lundenwic at Covent Garden. We will then walk along the Strand and Fleet Street to visit the empty City of Lundinium which had a rebirth in the 9th Century as Lundenburgh and which grew to become London – the largest City in the Kingdom by 1066.

This is a London Walks event by Kevin Flude To book click :

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Myths, Legends And The Origins Of London Archaeology Virtual Walk

Sunday 13th December 2020 6pm

The walk is led by Kevin Flude, a former archaeologist at the Museum of London, who has an interest both in the archaeological evidence as well as the myths and legends of London’s origin.

The walk will tell the story of the legendary origins of London which record that it was founded in the Bronze Age by an exiled Trojan called Brutus. The new City was called Troia Nova or New Troy, which became corrupted to Trinovantum, and then changed to Lud’s Dun and eventually Londinium. The legends provide a host of characters in the rich mythic past of London. Kevin will tell the stories, and relate some to the archaeological evidence.

The route starts at Tower Hill, then down to the River Thames at Billingsgate, London Bridge, up to the Roman Forum at the top of Cornhill, into the valley of the River Walbrook, passed the Temple of Mithras, along Cheapside to the Roman Amphitheatre, and finishing up in the shadow of St Pauls.

This is a London Walks Guided Walks. Look at their web site for a list of other of their amazing walks.

To buy tickets click here:

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The Decline and Fall of ​Dark Age London​ Archaeology Virtual Walk

Sunday 1st November 2020 ​

The first British Brexit?   The Roman Britains kicked out the Romans in 407AD, and then asked them to come back  after a catastrophic collapse.  Faced with plaque, civil war, invasion, mass  immigration,  industrial decline, reversion to barter the authorities struggled against anarchy and the Dark Ages.

Or was it?   Wasn’t it a rather a transition into the Late Antique period in which life for most people went on much as before except paying taxes to local rulers not to distant Romans?

This virtual walk explores why the Roman system in London broke down, and what really was the impact of the end of the Roman system in London.? What is the evidence?  Can we do much more than guess?  How should we regard the written records? We tramp the virtual streets of London in search of the light to shine on the Dark Ages.

This is a London Walks event by Kevin Flude.

To Book for this walk click here

Also given as a physical walk at 2.30 pm on Saturday, September 28, 2019. The meeting point was exit 2  St. Paul’sTube.