Category: Victorian

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ARCHIVE OF RECENT WALKS (2019 – 21)

I do various walks from time to time, nearly all for London Walks. (A list of all the walks. lectures, study tours I have given can be found here): 

JANE AUSTEN’S LONDON

!8th Century Bonnets cartoon

Jane Austen’s London takes place at 2.30 pm on Sunday, July 4th. The meeting point is just outside the Green Park exit (by the fountain) of Green Park Tube.

This is a London Walks Walk. To book click here:

The walk takes in the area of the London section of Sense and Sensibility. This is where Jane Austen frequented when visiting her banking brother, Henry. He  lived here during his ‘successful’ period, after resigning as a Captain in the Militia and setting up a bank to help soldiers pay for their commissions.  He then did what all good bankers do – went bankrupt and ruined himself, family and friends.   His uncle lost 10,000 pounds; his rich brother, Edward Knight lost £20,000. (that is 2/5ths of the fortune of Willoughby’s wife, and equal  to the income of Darcy,  100 times the annual income of Mrs Austen after her husband died)  i.e. a heck of a lot of money.   Jane lost £13.

But this area was also the centre of the Ton – the wealthy elite of Regency London. It was here that the French Royal family, in exile, hung out, and the haunt of Beau Brummel and Prinny, the Prince Regent, loungers in chief who were so well satirised in the figure of Sir Walter Elliot.   This is where the Dandies lounged, leered and shopped.  Here the rich could get their guns, swords, cigars, snuff, hats, shoes, tailored clothes, uniforms, wine, prostitutes, lovers.   They came to visit art galleries, see panoramas of European Cities, to ‘see’ the invisible women living in her glass jar, to choose their Wedgwood pottery.

And what is astonishing is that this is still where the megarich do exactly the same things: hang out and shop.  All the top brands are here, and instead of people like John Willoughy are to be found Russian Oligarchs, and the rich of the Emirates, and every other country in the world.  And most marvellously many of the shops survive into the present day. The same shops and shop fronts still in use.  They catered to the stupidly wealthy of the 18th Century are now catering for the stupidly wealthy of the 21st Century.  This is where you can buy luxury yachts.

So we follow Jane and Henry, and see the ghost traces left by immoral Willoughby,  sensible Elinor,  overwrought Marianne,  dull but nice Edward Ferrars,  dull and horrible Robert Ferrars, stolid Colonel Brandon, vulgar but kind  Mrs Jennings and her unforgivably vulgar daughter Mrs Palmer with her despairing husband; the Middletons, the Steeles gals ruthlessly working their assets.   Plus we have a little look at the relationship between Prinny and Beau Brummel, and the terrible childbed of Princess Ch

THE REBIRTH OF SAXON LONDON ARCHAEOLOGY VIRTUAL WALK

Sunday 4th July 2021 6.30pm

An exploration of what happened following the Roman Period. How did a Celtic speaking Latin educated Roman City become, first deserted, then recovered to become the leading City in a germanic speaking Kingdom?

My first virtual walk took place every Sunday at 2pm in August 2020 and was:Myths, Legends and the Archaeological Origins of London  in August 2020
   and I have since done:  

 ​Sunday 25th October 2020 ​​The Archaeology and Culture of ​Roman London​  Virtual Walk. For more details click here. 

​ Sunday 1st November 2020 ​ ​​The Decline and Fall of ​Dark Age London​ Archaeology Virtual Walk. ​For more details click here. 

​ Sunday 8th November 2020 ​ ​ ​The Rebirth of Saxon London Archaeology Virtual Walk For more details click here. 

​ Sunday 22nd November 2020 ​ ​ ​​Flower of Cities All – ​Medieval London​ History & Archaeology Virtual Walk​ For more details click here. 

Sunday 29th November 2020. ​ ​ ​The London of Thomas More and Thomas Cromwell  Virtual Walk For more details click here. 

​ Sunday 6th December 2020​​ The Financial City from Slavery t​o Hedge Fund  Virtual Walk For more details click here. 

Sunday 13 th December 2020 Myths, Legends and the  Origins of London Archaeology Virtual Walk . For more details of this walk click here. 

Walks given recently:

Feb 22 2.30 Bermondsey – Archaeology & History.   Bermondsey Tube

7.15  Southwark & Bankside Pub Tour.  London Bridge Tube, Tooley St

Feb 1 2.30 Tower Hill to Rotherhithe Riverside Walk.  Tower Hill Tube

Feb 2  10.45 Bishopsgate Ward Walk.   Liverpool St Tube

Jan 25th 2.30 Wolf Hall London.   Liverpool Street Tube

7.15 Blackfriars to Fleet St Pub Tour.  Blackfriars Tube

Jan 26 2.30 Romans in London.  Monument Tube

2019

Dec 21 10.30 London’s East End – The Peasants’ Revolt to Street Art.  Aldgate Tube High Street Exit

Click here for info.

2.30 Shakespeare’s London Locations – The places in the plays

Shoreditch High Street Overground Station

Click here for more info

Jan 5 10.45 Myths & Legends & the Origins of London. Tower Hill Tube

Click here for more info

Nov 23rd  2.30 The City and the Blitz.  Moorgate West Tube. For more information

7.15 Hampstead Pub Tour Hampstead Tube For more information

Nov 30th  2.30 In Search of Saxon London.  Moorgate Tube.  For more information

7.15 Smithfield Pub Tour.  Barbican Tube

Myths and Legends and the Origins of London on Saturday at Oct. 5 for details click here 

City Backstreets Pub Tour  at 7.15 Oct. 5 click here for details


The City and the Blitz on November 23

Decline and Fall of Roman London on Saturday at 2.30 Sept. 28 for details click here:

Chelsea Pub Tour Saturday at 7.15 Sept. 28 for details click here:

Jane Austen’s London 4 May 2019 7.15  Green Park Underground

For more details see blog post:

River Fleet Pub Crawl  May 18

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The Financial City from Slavery to Hedge Fund Virtual Walk

City of London at Night
Night view of the City of London

THE FINANCIAL CITY FROM SLAVERY TO HEDGE FUND VIRTUAL WALK

SUNDAY 30th May 2021 6.30pm

To book

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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VIRTUAL GUIDED WALKS COMING UP

THE REBIRTH OF SAXON LONDON ARCHAEOLOGY VIRTUAL WALK

Reconstruction of Dark Age London Bridge
London in the 5th Century Reconstruction painting.

Sunday 4th July 2021 6.30pm

An exploration of what happened following the Roman Period. How did a Celtic speaking Latin educated Roman City become, first deserted, then recovered to become the leading City in a Germanic speaking Kingdom?

To book

THE GREAT FIRE OF LONDON ANNIVERSARY VIRTUAL WALK

Virtual Zoom Walk on Sunday Sept 5th 6.30pm

On the Anniversary of the Great Fire of London we retrace the route of the fire of 1666 from Pudding Lane to Smithfield.

To book

RING IN THE EQUINOX VIRTUAL WALK

Tuesday 21st September 2021 7.30pm

On this walk we look at London at the Equinox, its calendars, folklore and events associated with the beginning of Autumn

To book

MYTHS, LEGENDS, & HALLOWEEN VIRTUAL WALK

SUNDAY 31st October 2021 6.30pm

The walk tells the story of London’s myths and legends and the celtic origins of Halloween. .

To book

ZEPPELIN NIGHTS – A VIRTUAL WALK FOR REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY

Sunday 14 November 2021 6.30pm

We follow the route of a Zeppelin Raid through London. On the way we discover London in World War 1

To book

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COMPENSATION FOR SLAVERY & STATUES

Coat of Arms of Royal Africa Company
Coat of Arms of Royal Africa Company

​ ​I used to think that asking compensation for past wrongs was not a good idea, after all where would we draw the lines?  Currently, we seem to draw that line in 1933.
Then I heard about the

Legacies of British Slave-ownership project – UCL

What this revealed was that the British Government borrowed money (from Rothschild which they only paid back recently) ​some £20m if I remember correctly.
We have the list of the beneficiaries of compensation for their loss of OWNERSHIP of human beings.  So we, the people, funded compensation of exploiters of human misery.

​£20m is perhaps £16 billion in today’s money.


So what would be so terrible about,  we, the people,  setting up a charitable fund with £16billion capital to fund, say, the removal of barriers to equal opportunity in Britain, the West Indies and Africa.

Funded by Government borrowing.


​As to Statues.  Case by Case examination of the issues, by citizens panel guided by expert opinions.


Options to include:


1. Removal to a museum display where contextual information can be clearly displayed.

2. Erection of new plinth with appropriate information

3. Creation of a new statue nearby to make a suitable display representing the issues

4. Resiting of statue with an explanatory panel.

5. Leaving in place with an explanatory panel.

6 Leaving as is

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Life Scientific vindicates Florence Nightingale’s Wards

Cath Noakes, an expert on ventilation and Covid talking on Life Scientific today on BBc Radio 4 (https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000rcnl) reported on experiments using a Nightingale Ward design and found it was likely to cut down the spread of infection by 4 times.
This was by

1. use of high ceilings

2. Big Windows that could open top and bottom

3. Radiators with ventilation grills behind them

She noted that most Florence Nightingale wards have since been modernised with low ceilings, smaller sealed windows and radiators replaced.


Her message was that ventilation is, with distance, one of the best ways of cutting the spread of infection.

Here is an image of Dorcas Ward st St Thomas’s Hospital, London.

Black and white photograph of Dorcas Ward, St Thomas Hospital showing high ceilings.
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Victoria & Albert & Albertopolis Guided Walk

Victoria & Albert & Albertopolis March 28 2020
2.30 High Street Kensington Tube

All London Walks have been cancelled until further notice due to Social Isolation

If this is a disappointment please email me and I’ll send you a print out.

On this walk we discover the story of the Great Exhibition of 1851 and the foundation of the one of the world’s Greatest Museums.

Led by Kevin Flude, who worked as an Assistant Keeper at the V&A, We begin in the new Victorian suburb of Kensington, prospering in the shadow of Kensington Palace, birthplace of Queen Victoria. We then explore the site of the Great Exhibition, and the great buildings inspired by Albert around the Albert Hall, before ending the walk with a tour of the Victoria and Albert Museum.

The area was originally part of the lowly area of Brompton until the huge success of the Great Exhibition created by Prince Albert and his right-hand man Henry Cole, the first Director of the V&A. The area became known as Albertopolis,as a memorial to a remarkable man, and a testament to the energy and wealth of Victorian England.

 

This is a London Walks Guided Walk by Kevin Flude

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Southwark & Bankside Pub Tour. London Bridge Tube, 7.15 22nd Feb Tooley St Exit

Southwark & Bankside Pub Tour.

London Bridge Tube, 7.15 22nd Feb Tooley St Exit

Southwark has a unique historic and literary heritage and an authentic historic ambiance, with beautiful views of the Thames and the City of London. Plus some of London’s most famous Pubs!

Historic Southwark is chock-full of famous people, and we encounter traces of Chaucer, Shakespeare and Dickens as we explore the history of London’s most famous suburb. Its location at the south end of London Bridge made it a key strategic and commercial site. This was where the great Medieval Inns were located, and from where Chaucer’s pilgrimage set off for Canterbury. Its independence from the City made it a haven for ‘undesirable’ elements and it became the home of the Medieval Stews (Brothels), and also the home of the Shakespearean Stage. On the walk we explore the sites of the Globe, the Rose, the Swan and the Bull and Bear Baiting Pits and Shakespeare’s role in the area. By the Victorian period its nature had changed completely into an industrial centre, home of notorious slums, of debtors prisons, and of charitable hospitals. It became one of the main inspirations for Dickens London fiction whose father was imprisoned here for debt when Dickens was a young boy. It was at the White Hart that Dickens introduced Sam Weller into the flagging story of the Pickwick Sporting Club – the character who saved Dickens literary career.

This is a London Walks Guided Walk by Kevin Flude

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Bermondsey – Archaeology & History. 2.30 Feb 22

Bermondsey – Archaeology & History. 2.30 Feb 22 2020
Bermondsey Tube

Bermondsey has a fascinating history which can be traced back to important prehistoric discoveries. It was home to one of Britain’s leading Monasteries, and was, for a time, fashionable. But as London swallowed it up, it became a very polluted and over-crowded industrial area. It was an important part of Britain’s economy and saw the invention of the tin can. It also housed the largest hat making and leather working factories in the world. Of course it attracted the attention of Dickens and it is here that the devilish Bill Sykes met his end.

Although parts of Bermondsey have become fashionable again much of its heritage and charm remain intact which will make a pleasant afternoon stroll.

 

This is a London Walks Guided Walk by Kevin Flude

 

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Bishopsgate Ward Walk. 2nd Feb 20 10.45.

Bishopsgate Ward Walk. 2nd Feb 20 10.45.
Liverpool St Tube. Bishopsgate Exit. Top of Escalator

The next in a series of occasional Ward Walks. This is a chance to explore a small area of the historic City of London in detail. The area in question Bishopsgate is split into 2 parts – Within Bishopsgate and Without the gate. This means that the Ward covers two of the most fascinating areas of the City of London – from the Gate to Leadenhall Street, and outside the Gate to the border of Shoreditch. The extramural section was an area of monastic settlements, burial grounds, grand housing, and on the periphery slums. Inside the Gate were prime business locations, important markets and Parish Churches. Along the way we will look at the archaeological discoveries and the historic and literary associations of the area, including local resident William Shakespeare.

This is a London Walks Walk by Kevin Flude