spelthorne u3ak2 “exploring london” walk synopsis walk … · 2020. 3. 1. · spelthorne u3ak2...

SPELTHORNE U3AK2 “EXPLORING LONDON”

WALK SYNOPSIS

WALK 1 – PORTOBELLO MARKET, NOTTING HILL

DISTANCE: 4 miles (with possible add on for a detour through Kensington Gardens)

GETTING THERE AND BACK

START: Ladbroke Grove on the Hammersmith and City Line

Via Waterloo to Baker Street change to Hammersmith and City to Ladbroke Grove

Or District Line from Richmond to Hammersmith and then Hammersmith and City

Line to Ladbroke Grove

FINISH: Notting Hill Gate or Queensway (Circle Line) to Bond Street – change to Jubilee to

Waterloo

ROUTE AND REFRESHMENTS

The major problem on this walk is a dearth of Public Toilets, and no clear stopping place for Lunch.

There is certainly no shortage of places to have Coffee or snacks, so you will have to make sure that

you select a cafe that has Toilets available. The walk starts from Ladbroke Grove Station, and goes

the short distance to Portobello Green where you can hopefully find Coffee+Toilet facilities.

Portobello Market spreads for about 1 km going from the cheaper end to the more salubrious antique

market at the top of the road. It is likely to be very crowded, and it will be much easier to have free

time to wander along at your own pace, and meet at place, time suggested by the leader. Continuing

to the “peak” of Notting Hill we reach the church of St. John’s which has toilets and a café (sadly only

open mid week). After a downhill stretch the route continues and crosses over Holland Park Avenue

before a short uphill climb to reach Campden Hill, a very select and salubrious part of Kensington

where there is a reasonable pub. The optional end to the walk is at Notting Hill Gate or you may wish

to continue to the official end to the walk in Kensington Gardens where there is a tea kiosk and

Toilets. Return is then from Queensway Tube station.

INFORMATION

If you have seen the film, “Notting Hill” or been to the Carnival, then you are already familiar with

the area of Notting Hill. The Westway divides the area into 2 distinctive regions; to the north lie

housing estates and multiple occupancy dwellings, and to the south the leafier, gentrified areas of

Notting and Campden Hills. The Carnival wends its way for 3 miles around the area from North

Kensington down as far as Westbourne Grove and then returns northwards along Ladbroke Grove.

Begun in 1959, as a direct response to the Notting Hill Race Riots of the previous year, it moved out

onto the streets in 1965. Mainly Caribbean, it is the second largest street festival in the world after

Rio. Portobello Road in the middle of this route feels like a true mixture of both of these areas. It is

called Portobello Road after an infamous battle in the Caribbean in 1739 when a certain Admiral

Vernon captured the town of Puerto Bello – a battle that had begun over the slicing off of Sea Captain

Jenkin’s ear by Spanish Coastguards during a fracas the previous year. The victory over the Spanish

put the name of Puerto Bello on the map and in this area of London one landowner called his fields

Portobello Farm. The market that now inhabits the road that ran through his fields has grown

dynamically since 1927 into the wonderful eclectic mix that Portobello Road is famous for today -

including the Bookshop featured in the film “Notting Hill”.

Updated July 2019


WALK SYNOPSIS

WALK 2 – A VENTURE INTO SPITALFIELDS

DISTANCE: Under 4 miles


START: Aldgate East Underground Station (District Line from Richmond)

FINISH: Liverpool Street Station (Bus 26 return to Waterloo)

ROUTE AND REFRESHMENTS The stroll is less than 4 miles, but there are many twists and turns! There are also many opportunities for

refreshment stops. We begin at the Whitechapel Art Gallery where there are toilets and a café, which is fairly

small and quite expensive but nice! It is worth taking a few minutes in the Gallery. If you prefer there is also a

Starbucks nearby, and maybe other coffee shops. We then walk a short distance to see the site of the former

Whitechapel Bell Foundry close to the Royal London Hospital and retrace our steps to enter the heart of

Spitalfields at the spot where Jack the Ripper’s first victim was discovered! From here the fascinating history of

this part of London is slowly revealed. We walk along Brick Lane with its assortment of Bangladeshi shops

and restaurants, and through the old Brewery to eventually reach Spitalfields Market where there are plenty of

eating places and also a quiet garden where you can eat your own sandwiches if you have brought them with

you. The final part of the stroll takes us along part of Petticoat Lane to emerge at Liverpool Street Station.

INFORMATION

Spitalfields is perhaps one of the most fascinating areas of London, situated as it is on the interface between the

City and the sprawling suburbs of today’s East London. Its location, close to the City and Docklands, has led to

waves of incomers from many different cultures settling in the area. It is in the Borough of Tower Hamlets

which is so named because in 1554 the Tower of London had the right to order a muster of men from 13 small

villages to the east, to provide guard duty at the Tower. By 1675 (after The Fire), there were 1300 houses

crowded into small streets and alleyways. The first incomers were poor Protestant French Hugenots after the

Edict of Nantes in 1685. They were master silk weavers, dyers, and retailers and built houses with large light

upper floors meeting the demand for rich silks by Regency and Georgian fashion trendies. The area became a

stronghold of Protestant non-conformity and Christchurch was built in 1711 to counter this! Waves of Irish

Roman Catholic immigrants some of whom were linen weavers looking for work began to come into the area

from the 1730s. The result was a social mix that led to overcrowding and appalling poverty. The first Jewish

settlers were rich Sephardic merchants from Spain/Portugal , followed by Ashkenazim Jews early in 1700s who

developed Jewellery businesses, and later between 1880-1970, the area was probably the largest Jewish

community in Europe with 40 synagogues. Refugees flooded in from all over Europe and Russia, and

developed the Jewish clothes/tailoring businesses. Jack the Ripper’s victims lived in the “grim warren” of

streets and alleyways of Spitalfields and Whitechapel, and died there between April and November 1888.

The Jewish community gradually moved to Golders Green and other north west London boroughs, leaving the

economically run down area to become, from the 1960s, the home of Bangladeshi refugees from Pakistan, who

now fill Petticoat Lane and Brick Lane once more with rich silks – but now in the form of Saris! The

Spitalfields Trust formed in 1977 has saved many of the Georgian buildings we thankfully can still see today.

The area in the 1930s was the focus of extreme political figures such as the British Fascist Party, and has

continued to be home to many radical political extremists. Spitalfields has thus absorbed wave after wave of

immigrant communities and that is the rich amalgam that we see today

Updated June 2019


WALK SYNOPSIS

WALK 3 – DOING THE “GREEN” LAMBETH WALK

DISTANCE: 3 Miles


START: Waterloo Station

FINISH: Waterloo Station


This is an unusual walk which is designed to show that even in the heart of London there are plenty of

green spaces. There are many places throughout the route where it is possible to sit and eat your own

refreshments if the weather is fine. The first main stopping place is the Imperial War Museum,

which has one café inside the building, and another outside. The Museum itself is free, The Toilets

are situated downstairs and the café is on the ground floor. The walk continues through some

interesting parts of Lambeth, passing a wide variety of housing and open spaces, to reach Lambeth

Palace. Here there is another opportunity for tea/coffee/toilets at the Museum of Garden History.

However there is a charge to look around the Museum itself. The last part of the route is through

Archbishops Park and St. Thomas’s Hospital – quite a surprise here as well, and it finishes on the

South Bank at the Festival Hall.

INFORMATION

The Borough of Lambeth is located between the Borough of Southwark on the east, and Wandsworth

on the west. The name Lambeth may conjure up images of social deprivation associated with the

inner city. However as we shall see, real efforts have been made to improve the quality of the

environment, and Lambeth prides itself on the amount of green spaces within its boundaries. It

actually includes the South Bank Complex and Lambeth Palace. Historically it was a marshy area

crossed only by a few raised roads hardly suitable for habitation, and therefore not surprising that,

unlike the north bank of the Thames, the area is not steeped in history. However it really is amazing

just what can be discovered! From medieval times Southwark had become the entertainment hub of

London, attracting the rich to the countryside on the other side of London Bridge. However the poor

were also driven out of the city of London and alongside the rich houses there also grew up the most

appalling squalid housing totally lacking in sanitation where people lived in abject poverty. As space

became even more cramped, there was an overspill into Lambeth which grew in the 1700s as a few

industries developed in the area. Death from malnutrition and disease caused by lack of sanitation

was common. However in1815 a business began which was to eventually radically improve living

conditions for the poor. In that year a company was formed known as Jones, Watts and Doulton in

Vauxhall. A certain young John Doulton had just finished his apprenticeship, and only 11 years later

in 1826 the business had grown and moved to Lambeth High Street which was virtually taken over by

the production of Lambeth Pottery. Joined by his son Henry in 1835 they manufactured pots for local

apothecaries and pharmacists, and stoneware storage jars for the chemical industry. In 1853 the

business became known as Doulton & Company and as well as the toilets and baths with which the

name had become synonymous, the company began to use artists from the Lambeth School of Art to

design more decorative pieces known as Lambeth Delftware. Henry went on to produce domestic and

sewerage pipes in an attempt to fight the regular cholera epidemics. However it was not until 1888

that a mains drainage system was constructed in Lambeth and clean piped water was made available

through Doulton’s pipes. Even then the very poor continued to live in terrible conditions until after

WW2. The firm became Royal Doulton in 1901. And this is only one aspect of our Stroll today –

just what else might there be?

Updated June 2019

SPELTHORNE U3AK2 EXPLORING LONDON

WALK SYNOPSIS

WALK 4 – CHISWICK HOUSE TO FULHAM PALACE

DISTANCE: 4.5 – 5 Miles


START: Chiswick Station on the Hounslow loop

FINISH: Putney Station


The route begins in the grounds of Chiswick House where there is an excellent cafe with toilets. After

crossing the busy A316 Burlington Lane the walk continues through Chiswick old village and along

the Mall to reach the stretch of riverside towards Hammersmith Bridge. Here there are several pubs

which offer a great place for lunch (and more toilets). Continuing beneath Hammersmith Bridge

there are some interesting places to see before reaching Craven Cottage the home of Fulham FC.

DONT DO THIS WALK ON A FULHAM HOME GAME DAY.

The finish is in the grounds of Fulham Palace which have also been restored and where drinks are also

available at the Bishops Palace. To reach Putney Station for the return journey there are 2 options.

The first is simply to cross Putney Bridge ahead of you and carry on up the High Street to the station

but the alternative is to walk on beneath the Bridge to the Bridge carrying the District Line over the

Thames which has a convenient footbridge.

INFORMATION

This walk has a Restoration theme by starting at Chiswick House, a Palladian villa built by the third

Earl of Burlington to show off his art collection acquired on a Grand Tour of Italy. He not only

wanted to build a house in the style of the great Italian architect Palladio, but also to surround it with

gardens in the same style. For these reasons he employed William Kent to landscape the garden and

this became the forerunner of the English Landscape Movement and the model for many famous

gardens including Blenheim Palace. The history of the house can be found on line but essentially

after having many owners and tenants by the year 1892 it had become a mental institution and both

the house and the gardens went into serious decline. In 1950 the Ministry of Works handed it over the

Local Authority but it was not until English Heritage took over the management in 1984 that they

began the process of restoring the house. The gardens however were left in a terrible condition until a

Lottery Grant in 2005 enabled the restoration of the gardens to the original plan of William Kent.

Chiswick is from the Saxon meaning Cheese farm. There is evidence of prehistoric, Roman and

Saxon settlement. The church of St. Nicholas is known to have been here in 1181 but has obviously

undergone many changes over the centuries. The location of Chiswick attracted many members of

the nobility who wanted to live in close proximity to the many Royal Palaces in the area and to the

ferry that operated from beside the church. The houses along the Mall reflect the wealth of their

earliest occupants, but one local resident whose remains lie in the churchyard of St. Nicholas could

hardly be said to be a royalist – one Oliver Cromwell.

Fulham Palace at the end of the walk has also had a great deal of funding in recent years to restore the

gardens surrounding the Bishops Palace and it is worth spending time looking around before perhaps

succumbing to a cup of tea in the delightful cafe which was once the Bishop’s Drawing Room.

You will have walked from one fine house built in the time of the Restoration to another fine house

that has similarly been the subject of restoration.

Updated July 2019


WALK SYNOPSIS

WALK 5 – CANARY WHARF TO ST.KATHARINE’S DOCK

DISTANCE: 4.5+ miles


START: Canary Wharf (Change at Waterloo on to the Jubilee Line)

FINISH: Tower (District Line to Richmond OR RV1 bus to Waterloo)


This “Walk” includes both a ferry crossing from Canary Wharf pier to the Hilton Hotel, and also a

one stop trip on the London Overground which goes underground between Rotherhithe and Wapping.

At the start there are numerous Coffee shops and excellent Toilets in the shopping complex beneath

the buildings of Canary Wharf accessible from the station. The best place for lunch and the next

toilet stop is the Old Salt Pub at Rotherhithe. There are several places for drinks at the end of the walk

at St. Katharine’s Dock.

INFORMATION

This is a walk that explores the theme of changing land use as it explores part of the area that was

once covered by the 9 docks included in the overall title of Surrey Commercial Docks. Over the

centuries Britain became a great trading power with the Pool of London at its heart. From Roman

times through to the present day the river and its banks have been built on, dug out, and used to

service the trade that arrived in the capital from the earliest wooden sailing vessels through the age of

steam up to today’s huge container vessels. The riverside and its hinterland has therefore seen

dramatic changes as the volume of trade increased and the facilities moved steadily downstream

looking for ever more space. Surrey Commercial Docks were the last of the major dock complexes

to be dug out although the Great Howland Dock at Deptford was in existence in 1696. This was

eventually used for Arctic Whalers and known as the Greenland Dock. As trade in bulk such as

timber grew, then more land was dug out close to Greenland Dock and eventually 85% of the

peninsula was covered by a system of docks (see attached map). The names of the docks indicated

the source of their trade. The construction of the Grand Surrey Canal was planned to link the docks

to the hinterland but only 3.5 miles were built before the coming of the railways which was able to

transport bulky goods directly from the dockside all over Britain. WW2 and Hitler’s bombs did

irreparable damage – only the South Dock was used to combat the enemy by being drained and used

for the construction of the Mulberry Harbour. By 1969 90% of the docks were filled in and the whole

area was a derelict wasteland. In 1981 the LDDC was formed and over the following decades the

whole area was regenerated with 5,500 new homes and associated amenities. The transformation has

been greatly enhanced by improved transport links. From this amazing transformation of old

Docklands the walk finishes at the oldest surviving dock and the one that is closest to where London’s

Dockland story first began in the Pool of London.

Updated July 2019


WALK SYNOPSIS

WALK 6 – CANONBURY AND THE NEW RIVER

DISTANCE: 3.5 Miles


START: Highbury Corner (Number 4 bus from Waterloo)

FINISH: Sadler’s Wells (Bus 341 to Waterloo)


The first viable coffee stop is at the Estorick Gallery in Canonbury, but there is a Starbucks just as

you get off the bus, and it does have toilets, albeit somewhat limited. From Canonbury the walk

Passes one of the oldest buildings in North London and then continues alongside the New River until

after a few twists at the end it reaches the heart of Islington at the Green. This is the best place to

stop for lunch since there are plenty of cafes offering a lot of choice as well as seats all around the

green. All in very close proximity to the wonderful Camden Passage. Although it is not a great

distance from here to the end of the walk, it would be a pity not to end in style and take tea in the cafe

at Sadler’s Wells Theatre.

INFORMATION

Islington since the 1950s has steadily gone through a process of gentrification and this walk explores

one of the first areas of the borough to turn its bomb damaged and run down housing stock into the

desirable residences attractive to the up and coming wealthy mainly young professionals - not only

because of the ridiculously low property prices at the time, but also due to the close proximity of the

area to the City of London and the Financial district at Canary Wharf. In the Saxon era the old manor

of Canonbury belonged to the Bishops of London. The Normans took over both Canonbury and

Barnsbury but in 1253 the land was gifted back to the Canons of St. Bartholomew’s Priory,

Smithfield, and became known as Canons’ Burgh. The manorial land had rich pastures, and Islington

became suppliers of dairy produce to the City of London. The village lay only 4 miles from the City

and provided fresh air, spa waters and jolly carryings on to the city weary inhabitants who travelled

out to Merry Islington for Medieval fun, whereas today’s fun loving inhabitants of gentrified

Canonbury, jet off to far flung corners of the planet for 21st century R and R.

Running through the area is a “River” that is not a river and is certainly not a “New” one! Tudor

London was desperate for fresh water, and one Lord Mayor at the time obtained 2 Acts of Parliament

for a scheme designed to bring water from natural springs from Ware in Hertfordshire, 20 miles away

as the crow flies, but because the channel had to have a gradual fall, it had to follow the 100 ft contour

which meant the actual course would be 40 miles long. The project was delayed due to problems with

land ownership until in 1609 a man called Hugh Myddleton – an MP, a Goldsmith, and a rich

entrepreneur – took over the project and guaranteed that water would be running within 4 years. On

29th September 1613 just a few months past the promised time, water flowed into the Round Pond at

New River Head. No wonder that Hugh Myddleton’s statue is in pride of place on Islington Green and

that his name is remembered in the name of both a school and roads in the area. The walk officially

finishes at New River Head, the place where the first fresh water reached Islington but the 341 bus

stop is outside Sadler’s Wells and this makes a great end to a fascinating walk.

Updated July 2019


WALK SYNOPSIS

WALK 7 – CAMDEN MARKET TO OXFORD CIRCUS

DISTANCE: 4.5 Miles

GETTING THERE AND BACK START: Camden Town (Change at Waterloo onto the Northern Line)

FINISH: Oxford Circus (Bakerloo Return to Waterloo)

ROUTE AND REFRESHMENTS:

The walk starts with a stop at Camden Market for about 45 minutes or longer to allow time for

looking around and having coffee or perhaps an early lunch from the tempting food on sale at the

numerous stalls. Whilst Coffee and food are available everywhere toilets are more elusive so look out

for the Ice Wharf Pub on the opposite side of the canal which has good clean toilets and serves coffee.

The stroll then continues through the back streets of Camden Town to eventually reach Regents Park

and its wonderful Garden Cafe. Space is however limited here since it has become more of a

restaurant, but still OK for Soup/Sandwich/Drink if you haven’t found food at the Market. The second

half of the walk is full of pleasant surprises as we wander through the area to the north of Oxford

Street to finish at All Soul’s, Langham Place and the BBC which is just a few steps from Oxford

Circus.

INFORMATION This walk like many in London is full of surprises. Today after a short distance along the Regent’s

Canal, the walk heads south passing the Jewish Museum en route towards Regents Park Barracks,.

The area of the barracks looked interesting but turned out to be less so. The route then passes the

wonderful Nash Terraces on the east side of Regent’s Park and into the park itself. From Regents Park

we plunge into Marylebone which is the unexpected gem of the route. The name Marylebone is

derived from the words St. Mary-le-Bourne indicating that St. Mary’s church once stood beside a

river. The river is not quite visible today but nonetheless evidence can be seen if you know what to

look for. The river is one of London’s lost rivers – the Tyburn which flowed south from Hampstead

Heath, through Regents Park and along the line of Marylebone High Street. As you walk along this

fashionable street notices how it bends and off to the left there is a noticeable downward incline. The

last mile is through streets whose names are almost household words - Wigmore Street, Wimpole

Street, Harley Street, and thence to Broadcasting House and its church of All Soul’s Langham Place

where the walk ends.

Updated July 2019


WALK SYNOPSIS

WALK 8 – CORRIDORS OF POWER

DISTANCE: 4 Miles

GETTING THERE AND BACK START: Vauxhall station

FINISH: Waterloo station

ROUTE AND REFRESHMENTS The walk starts from Vauxhall and crosses Vauxhall Bridge to the all important Coffee/Toilet

Stop at Tate Britain. After meandering through the back streets of Westminster it is possible to have a

further Toilet stop and Lunch in the cafe at Methodist Central Hall but there are obviously many pubs

and eating places in the area to choose from. After lunch it continues through St. James’s Park along

the Embankment, around the site of Whitehall Palace, and finishes at the Houses of Parliament aka

The Palace of Westminster. From there it is just a 7 minute stroll over Westminster Bridge back to

Waterloo Station.

INFORMATION This is a route that passes many Government Offices and Departments situated in the

Westminster area. Researching Government departments is very time consuming and not always

straightforward and therefore if you can add any information, please feel free to chip in! The Palace of

Westminster was located on an island known as Thorney Island almost exactly where it stands today,

but north of the present Westminster Abbey stood Whitehall Palace. This was the royal residence in

London from 1530 until 1698 and covered an area of 23 acres bounded by the present

Northumberland Avenue, the Embankment, Downing Street and Horse Guards Parade. It was bigger

than Versailles or the Vatican with 1500 rooms. All that now remains after its destruction by fire in

1698 is the Banqueting House in Whitehall, and Henry VIIIs Wine Cellar located beneath the

Ministry of Defence. You may have noticed that the buildings that make up the complex of the

Ministry of Defence are curved. Allegedly the three buildings form arcs of a circle whose centre point

is the Speakers Chair in the House of Commons! Henry VIII took the house away from Cardinal

Wolsey and made it his own London residence. He had a bowling green, an indoor tennis court, a

cock fighting pit and a tiltyard for jousting constructed within the palace. Hence the open space of

Horse Guards Parade which was used for jousting, and the name of Cockpit steps. Henry married both

Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour in the palace. The name of Whitehall of course lingered on when

Scotland Yard was first built on the site and had the famous telephone number Whitehall 1212.

Updated July 2019


WALK SYNOPSIS

WALK 9 – A FLAVOUR OF DICKENS LONDON

DISTANCE: 4+ Miles

GETTING THERE AND BACK START: Waterloo Station

FINISH: Borough Market (RV1 bus OR Jubilee Line back to Waterloo)

Please note that there is a journey on the underground in the middle of this walk from Chancery

Lane to Borough involving a change at Bank station

ROUTE AND REFRESHMENTS Coffee and toilets are always available at the Festival Hall at the start of the walk. The route then

crosses the Thames using the Jubilee (aka Hungerford) footbridge. The main lunch stop is in Covent

Garden, The route continues through Lincoln’s Inn Fields and Fleet Street to Chancery Lane. After

looking at both Staple Inn and Gray’s Inn, we use the Central line for 2 stations to Bank, and then

change on to the southbound “Northern” Line to Borough Station. This is close to the site of

Marshalsea Prison and to the church of St. George the Martyr which is well worth a visit if it is open.

From there it is only a short walk along Borough High Street to either have a drink in the famous

George Inn, or spend time and perhaps money in Borough Market (or both!).

INFORMATION

It is a tall order to try to cover the London that Dickens knew so well, but I hope that this walk

will give a flavour of the London of 200 years ago. There is a Dickens Museum in Doughty Street

but it is slightly off the route of this walk and perhaps better kept for a visit at another time. When I

first wrote this walk in 2012 I had to confess to my strollers that I was not a literature buff and my

knowledge of Dickens was confined to GCE and dramatised serials! If anyone in the group is able to

add to the understanding of the man and his works, then encourage them to make a contribution. My

interest was in the impact that 19th century London had on the man, and the portrayal of London that

as a result he brought to life in his writing. The London Walks are aimed to help us understand how

London has grown and changed over the centuries. We can only hazard a guess at the squalid

conditions that existed at the time of Dickens, but he opened a window for us onto that world, and

perhaps paved the way for improvements in social conditions. There existed then, and still exists

today, a dichotomy between living conditions of the rich and the poor, but we must remember that the

“lower classes” in the mid 1800s lived in abject poverty in overcrowded slums where life was short, a

small debt was enough to put you in prison, children were put to work at an early age at labouring

jobs for which they were ill-equipped, and illness and disease took their toll without the benefit of a

NHS to offer medical support. Charles Dickens was born in1812 to what might be termed middle-

class parents and for the first 12 years his life was relatively comfortable because his father had a

good job as a clerk in the Naval Pay Office. They moved from Portsmouth where he was born, to

Chatham and then to London. It was here that things went badly wrong, and Charles experienced the

depths of despair that haunted most of his writing. Dickens himself spent many hours walking the

streets of London particularly at night, and on this walk we will perhaps even be following in his

footsteps, but I wonder whether he would recognise the city that he knew and loved so well.

Updated July 2019


WALK SYNOPSIS

WALK 10 – CHELSEA HARBOUR, BATTERSEA VILLAGE AND PARK

DISTANCE: 4 Miles

GETTING THERE AND BACK START: Imperial Wharf station (Change at Clapham Junction onto the London Overground

for one stop.

FINISH: Battersea Park station (One stop to Clapham Junction)

ROUTE AND REFRESHMENTS The walk starts at a very convenient Pub on the Riverside at Imperial Wharf where coffee etc, is

available and continues through Chelsea Harbour, Lots Road to Cheyne Walk. After crossing

Battersea Bridge there is a short detour to Battersea Village before turning back along the riverside

path and through the Battersea Park. Whilst there are a few eating places in the village they are not

very suitable so it may be advisable to wait until Battersea Park where there are two cafes or buy

something en route and have it in the park.

INFORMATION The aim of this walk is to compare areas of Riverside redevelopment, by visiting two very

different places on opposite sides of the river. Since writing the walk, there have been massive

changes on the south side of the river from Clapham Junction to Waterloo, including the huge project

of redevelopment on the site of Battersea Power Station. Whilst the iconic image of the Four Towers

of Battersea remain, the south bank of the river will soon be lined with luxurious riverside apartments

along what once a somewhat dismal industrialised stretch of the riverbank. On the north bank,

Chelsea Harbour development is old by comparison having sprung up in the late 1980s as a luxury

riverside complex containing apartments, houses, a hotel, marina, and a Design Centre, replacing a

defunct coal wharf for the national rail network in the long ago “age of steam” trains. Between

Chelsea Harbour and Battersea Bridge lies the derelict Lots Road Power Station almost facing its big

brother at Battersea on the south bank. Lots Road was built to produce electricity for powering the

District Line but later supplied the whole Underground network. The contrast between the two

adjacent areas is stark as you will see, and gives us a picture of the “Before” and “After” of the

process of Thames Riverside redevelopment. Less than 40 years ago, a large proportion of riverside

land was still used by industry and commerce. Only a few stretches were accessible to the general

public. As heavy industry declined so did the need for its riverside location. The 1980s saw the

potential for the burgeoning property market to claim back prime riverside location sites. Whilst some

might argue that only the wealthy could afford to buy such property, the counter argument must surely

be that all developers were bound to provide pedestrian access along the edge of the river, thus

enabling the development of the Thames Path which surprisingly was only completed in 1996.

Today we take a closer look at Cheyne Walk before crossing over to Battersea. At one time it was

here more than anywhere along the river the contrast between the affluent north bank and the

somewhat less salubrious south used to be very apparent. However the differences are becoming

blurred and the area is fast becoming a “desirable riverside location”.

Battersea and Chelsea do however have one thing in common – their place name endings which

do not, however, have the same meaning. Whilst Battersea is likely to be the Saxon name for a piece

of dry land wholly or partially surrounded by water, the meaning of Chelsea could be a chalk wharf.

What is not disputed is that from the 15th C Chelsea became the home of rich and famous inhabitants

owning large estates of land including of course Sir Thomas More who built Chelsea Old Church and

did much to gain Chelsea the reputation of being known as the “Village of Palaces”. Marshy Battersea

however became the market garden which no doubt provided produce for the rich and wealthy over

the river. Perhaps that is the reason why their main produce Asparagus, sold in what was known as

“Battersea Bundles”!

Updated July 2019


WALK SYNOPSIS

WALK 11 – FROM THE HORNIMAN MUSEUM TO DULWICH

DISTANCE: 4 Miles

GETTING THERE AND BACK START: Horniman Museum (176 bus from Waterloo or Overground from Clapham Junction)

FINISH: North Dulwich Station to London Bridge and change to Waterloo (or Bus from North

Dulwich Station to Clapham Junction)

ROUTE AND REFRESHMENTS The route starts at the top of the hill at the Horniman Museum from where it is almost downhill

all the way. There will be time for Coffee/Toilets and a look around the Museum before starting the

walk. The route crosses Lordship Lane and after a short uphill climb enters Sydenham Hill Woods.

The path may be a bit muddy after rain! It eventually emerges out on to the playing fields of Dulwich

College, and continues past the College buildings to reach Dulwich Village. Here there are a host of

options for a late lunch, and also some attractive spots to have a packed lunch. Toilets are available in

Dulwich Park, the Picture Gallery, and the pub the Crown and Greyhound. The stroll finishes at North

Dulwich station for either the bus or train journey home.

INFORMATION I quote from a wonderful book entitled “Eccentric London” which was written by an Old

Alleynian i.e. a past pupil of Dulwich College, Ben le Vays:

“Dulwich, picturesque and peculiar, is geographically rather confused, fittingly for the home of so

many eccentrics. East Dulwich is north, not east of West Dulwich, while North Dulwich is southeast,

not northwest, of East Dulwich. South Dulwich is called Sydenham, as far as I can make out, but

Upper Sydenham is mostly known as Crystal Palace after a palace that was neither crystal, nor a

palace, and wasn’t here in the first place, and certainly isn’t here now”!!

If you are confused.com already then just add this little delightful snippet to the mix. Dulwich

Village is, and always has been, gentrified and exclusive, whilst East Dulwich is catching up fast

having overcome a history of being somewhat of a hotbed of crime, led our Ben to observe that:

“East Dulwich may have had crooks and nannies, but Dulwich Village has nooks and crannies”!

All I can promise you is that we will be walking northwards towards the Village through a truly

delightful area lying amazingly only 5 miles from Central London with old fashioned signposts

standing proudly pointing the way just in case you are really in a muddle, and a plethora of Alleynian

Coats of Arms adorning buildings, toll gates, bridges and fountains – to ensure that you never forget

that you are walking through the hallowed ground of the Dulwich Estate. For that experience you

have to thank Will Shakespeare’s contemporary Edward Alleyn who made an absolute fortune from

his amazing talent for acting and his entrepreneurial skills in building theatres like the Fortune and the

Rose– and then married the boss’s step daughter. He retired from acting after the death of Elizabeth I

who, whilst she was alive, had persuaded him to continue. By1605 he had amassed sufficient wealth

to buy the Manor of Dulwich for £5000. He moved to Dulwich in 1612 and founded an establishment

to provide homes for 12 poor old people. On 21st June 1619 he was granted a charter by the King to

establish a college for 12 poor boys. One of the 12 was awarded a free place if he selected the one

piece of paper out of 12 which had the words “God’s Gift” written on it. Dulwich College which we

will see today grew out of that act of philanthropy. In 1857 the Alleyn Foundation was set up to

provide for the three schools – Dulwich College itself, James Allen’s Girls School, and Alleyn’s

school,.

Updated July 2019


WALK SYNOPSIS

WALK 12A – WIMBLEDON THE FIRST SET!

DISTANCE: 5 Miles but please note that this is a hilly area with 3 gradual climbs

GETTING THERE AND BACK START: Wimbledon Station (several options – best perhaps change at Clapham Junction)

FINISH: Wimbledon Common at the Windmill (93 bus to Putney Station)

ROUTE AND REFRESHMENTS This is the first part of the Wimbledon Doubles. It is difficult to work out geographically how to

cover all that is interesting about Wimbledon in one hit, and I hope you will agree that the two

planned walks will both be winners! The walk starts from the Centre Court Shopping centre for the

first Coffee/Toilet stop, and then continues slowly uphill towards the AELTC! Having reached the top

of the hill however, in order to make a really interesting route, it then turns back downhill to reach the

entrance to Wimbledon Park. There is a cafe in the park and plenty of spots for packed lunches, which

makes a convenient lunch stop. From here it is slightly uphill again to reach the AELTC. It is worth

looking inside at the shop. There is one more uphill stretch, with a delightfully peaceful stop towards

the top, before reaching Wimbledon Common and cross towards the Windmill and its welcoming

Tearoom. GAME OVER. Just a short walk back to the bus stop and you will have completed the first

5 miles of the Wimbledon Doubles.

INFORMATION The hilltop situation of Wimbledon has been occupied since prehistoric times, and was an ideal

location for the Iron Age hill fort on Wimbledon Common known as Caesar’s Camp, despite not

being Roman in origin. Wimbledon was not mentioned in Domesday, but the name could be of Saxon

origin. The manor lay within the larger manor of Mortlake, and after being in the hands of the

Archbishop of Canterbury, the first eminent owner was Thomas Cromwell. In 1540 it was purchased

back from Cromwell by King Henry VIII and given by him to Katharine Parr. Over the centuries the

manor changed hands several times until it was purchased in 1723 by Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough,

and was left to her grandson Sir John Spencer on her death in 1744, and then was passed on through

the Spencer line until it was sold in 1846 to John Augustus Beaumont a property developer. The

Manor House was situated in the area on the top of the hill, and was surrounded by beautiful parkland

which was improved by a succession of wealthy owners from 1588 onwards. By 1609 the park had

been enclosed for deer hunting, and during the Civil War the trees were cut down for Cromwell’s

ships. After the war the parkland received a makeover from John Evelyn and the resultant gardens

were said to be magnificent. Sarah constructed a new house and her descendent John Spencer wanted

to improve the view across the valley, and so he employed none other than Capability Brown in 1764

to change the formal elements into the more natural landscape, the elements of which can still be seen

today. A contemporary newspaper noted “The grounds of Lord Spencer’s place at W are perhaps as

beautiful as anything near London”. The coming of the railway in 1838 was to change all that. After

1846 house-building continued apace and the parkland was frequently under threat until Wimbledon

Corporation bought the land in 1914. In 1922 the AELTC moved to Church Road, and the council

sold off a chunk of land to build tennis courts and the expensive houses that fringe the eastern edge of

the Park that we will see today. The history of the AELTC would take more than the few lines that are

left to write up about – suffice to say that from its beginnings in 1877, the small private tennis club

has grown into the massive centre of world class tennis today and as you will see, occupies a site the

extent of which is simply mind blowing!

Updated February 2020


WALK SYNOPSIS

WALK 12B – WIMBLEDON THE SECOND SET

DISTANCE: 4 Miles Compared with The First Wimbledon walk, the majority of this walk is

level with only a short uphill section towards the end.

GETTING THERE AND BACK START: Windmill cafe Wimbledon Common (train to Putney then 93 bus)

FINISH: Wimbledon Village (Return on 93 bus to Putney)

ROUTE AND REFRESHMENTS This walk was the first one that I planned by using Google Earth Street View and fortunately

turned out to be a great route. It starts at the wonderful Windmill Cafe for Coffee and the Toilet Stop,

and then goes southwards across the common towards Caesar’s Camp, continuing into Cannizaro

Park. Shortly afterwards you will reach The Crooked Billet pub which is an excellent place for lunch,

and the route continues through pathways and elegant streets back towards the common and finishes

at the High Street in Wimbledon Village where they may be the all-important tea facilities.

INFORMATION You will like this, I think! On a Charter signed by King Edgar the Peaceful in 967, the village was

referred to as WIMBEDOUNYNG (just say that quickly), which probably refers to the Iron Age Hill

Fort on the top of the Hill, which since the 19th C has been wrongly attributed to Caesar and known

as Caesar’s Camp. It is now thought that it may have been stormed by Romans during the invasion by

Claudius in their push westwards. Wimbledon Common has remained an open space, as I mentioned

on the previous walk, because of the fact that the ordinary people – or commoners of Wimbledon

fought off the machinations of Earl Spencer in 1864 who intended to build himself a very nice house,

thank you very much, by pinching 700 acres of their grazing land and another 300 acres to build a lot

of houses on! After a battle that lasted for 4 years, guess what, the Commoners won and in 1871 the

Wimbledon and Putney Commons Act was passed ensuring that the commons would remain

“unenclosed, unbuilt on and their natural aspect preserved forever”. So There! Wimbledon

Village on the top of the hill where we finish the walk, was in existence at the time of Domesday, but

the main residential development occurred during the 19thC after the building of the railway, along

the line of an ancient track known even today as the Ridgeway consisting mainly of Victorian Villas

for wealthy and high ranking business people working in the City of London. In the 1851 Census

there were only2,700 residents, but expansion was rapid, and by 1894 it became an Urban District,

and eventually in 1965 became part of the London Borough of Merton. Wimbledon has had its fair

share of celebrities, including Sarah Churchill, Joseph Bazalgette, Raymond Briggs, Annette Crosbie,

Haile Selassie, James Hunt, Vinnie Jones, Oliver Reed, Laura Robson, Margaret Rutherford, Brian

Sewell William Wilberforce and the Wombles. I’m not sure how many of them we are likely to see

today. As well as enjoying a walk across the Common and through an award winning park, it will be

possible to recognise that Wimbledon is one of those features of London that we have come across so

often – a Village in the heart of a Great City.



WALK SYNOPSIS

WALK 13 - “DRAMA ON THE SOUTH BANK”

DISTANCE: 3 Miles (with optional extra 0.5 at end)

GETTING THERE AND BACK START: Waterloo Station

FINISH: London Bridge (Your ticket to Waterloo can be used on the Overground from London

Bridge back to Waterloo, otherwise use the Jubilee Line or the RV1 bus)

ROUTE AND REFRESHMENTS The walk starts from the National Theatre where both Coffee and Toilets are available. Turning

south the route takes in a number of “dramatic” establishments and passes a few eating places which

with a small group you might like to use for lunch. However the walk finishes at Borough Market

where there is much more choice of delicious food, as well as the excellent Refectory of Southwark

Cathedral where there are also Toilets! Please note that the walk includes a fascinating visit to the

Rose Theatre which is only open on Saturdays and that Borough Market is open between Thursday

and Sunday.

INFORMATION In our modern society we think of “London’s Theatre-land” as being located in the West End,

north of the river. However the greatest history of Theatre in London can be found on the south bank

of the Thames. On our Stroll today we will take a trip back in time from the epitome of British

Theatre, the famous National Theatre on the Southbank via the “Vic’s - Old and New”, to the

reconstructed Globe with some extremely interesting stops along the way. The story of “Theatre”

began in Ancient Greece, and Rome, with dramatic productions on a large scale. After the coming of

Christianity, churches began re-enactment of biblical stories and this led on to the presentation of

Mystery Plays, a genre which had its beginnings in France in about 1170, when a group of monks

decided to move the performance from the inside to the outside of church buildings. Later on in the

mid 16th C the genre of “Commedia dell ‘arte” began. Troupes of travelling players performed a wide

variety of drama, particularly comedy, on stages set up in the street. The roots of London theatre can

be found in this movement, since the first performances were given in the courtyards of inns to bawdy

and noisy audiences. Other entertainment was provided by bear and bull baiting which took place in

ring shaped enclosures, and these bizarre and cruel sports were instrumental in the design of purpose

built “theatres” which used the same basic structure. In 1576 an actor, James Burbage, built the first

play house in London in Shoreditch outside the City walls to avoid having to get permission from the

puritanical City authorities. It was called “The Theatre”, and the site has recently been excavated by

the Museum of London. It was built like an Inn Yard with galleries surrounding it and a stage at one

end open to the sky. A second playhouse close by called “The Curtain” followed in 1577, and 10

years later in 1587 “The Rose” was built in Southwark which if you are doing this walk on a Saturday

you will be able to visit. When Burbage died in 1597, his sons dismantled “The Theatre”, and

transported the timbers across the river to build a new theatre in the area of Southwark that was rife

with inns, sporting facilities, and prostitution! It was named “The Globe”. Here were performed the

first plays by Christopher Marlowe and then by William Shakespeare who arrived in London in 1590.

Updated January 2020

SPELTHORNE U3A K2 “EXPLORING LONDON”

WALK SYNOPSIS

WALK 14 – GOLDERS GREEN AND HAMPSTEAD GARDEN SUBURB

DISTANCE: 4.5 Miles

GETTING THERE AND BACK:

START: Golders Green Station (Overground from Richmond to Finchley Road & Frognal then Bus

82 to Golders Green – this route avoids Waterloo)

If meeting at Waterloo use the Edgware branch of the Northern line to Golder’s Green

FINISH: Golders Hill Park (short walk to Bus stop for return the same way)

ROUTE AND REFRESHMENTS There are a few Coffee outlets near the start of the walk at Golder’s Green. It is advisable to find one

with Toilets since they are in short supply on this walk. It is also advisable to bring a packed lunch

with you since the best cafe is close to the end of the walk in Golder’s Hill Park. The walk explores

this primarily Jewish area of North West London, with the opportunity to look into the Jewish

Cemetery, walk through Hampstead Garden Suburb and discover how one woman, Henrietta Barnett,

saved large swathes of Hampstead Heath.

INFORMATION The route of this walk was difficult to plan and I have shelved it many times because of the problems

of working out a good route relative to public transport. I tried to fit in Kenwood House as a lunch

stop but that would have involved a long detour and after much thought I decided that it was feasible

to work out a circular route from Golders Green that would visit Hampstead Garden Suburb and also

explore the Jewish Heritage of the area. It is only ever possible to touch briefly on important areas of

social history but I hope this walk will give you a glimpse into the development of Jewish culture in

this part of London as well as the paradox of Hampstead Garden Suburb. It is also a Stroll that tells

the story of one amazing lady who saved a huge area north of Hampstead Heath, now known as the

Hampstead Heath Extension, and at the same time was largely responsible for creating the Garden

Suburb. If you have been on the Spitalfields walk you will have heard of her. She was Henrietta

Barnett (1851-1936) who was a notable social reformer, philanthropist, author and educationalist. She

married Canon Rev. Samuel Barnett in 1873 and moved straight away to work with him in the parish

of St.Jude’s Whitechapel in the heart of the worst slums of the East End. There, amongst many other

social activities, they established the University Settlement at Toynbee Hall believing that it was only

through education that people could overcome poverty. In 1889 the Barnett’s acquired a weekend

retreat close to the Spaniards Inn on Hampstead Heath. Henrietta had become a close friend of

Octavia Hill (the founder of the National Trust) who had worked tirelessly to save Hampstead Heath

and preserve it as an open space. They were both influenced in their thinking by John Ruskin and no

doubt it was her friendship with Octavia that was to drive Henrietta in her tireless quest to save a

further part of the Heath and, as part of the deal, to establish the Garden Suburb that is now her

permanent memorial. Today, one hundred years on, as we explore the leafy green streets that she was

the driving force behind, perhaps it is worth reflecting just how far removed the Suburb is today from

her dream of a socially mixed community. A paradox indeed.


SPELTHORNE U3AK2 “EXPLORNG LONDON”

WALK SYNOPSIS

WALK 15 – AFFAIRS AND SQUARES OF BLOOMSBURY DISTANCE: 4 Miles

GETTING THERE AND BACK START: Russell Square (68 bus from Waterloo)

FINISH: Russell Square (68 bus to Waterloo)

ROUTE AND REFRESHMENTS The walk starts in an unusual open shopping space known as the Brunswick Centre, where there

are several Coffee Shops in which you ought to be able to find Toilet facilities. The best place for

lunch is the wonderful Cafe in Russell Square, or alternatively in the Great Court of the British

Museum and. there are toilets in both places. After lunch the route continues through a lot more

squares and finishes back in Russell Square.

INFORMATION

This is an area that is so rich in history that it is just very difficult to know where to start. The

outline below is a very brief overview of the Bedford Estate. You will soon understand why it is

important to SIT DOWN in each of the Squares and Gardens that abound in the area! Many of these

delightful enclaves have their own Information Boards which are very helpful but difficult to cope

with if you are tired. Covent Garden and Bloomsbury were the chief metropolitan estates of the

Earls/Dukes of Bedford whose country estate was, and is still today, at Woburn in Bedfordshire.

Covent Garden was granted in 1552 to John Russell the 1st Earl, whilst Bloomsbury was granted to

the 1st Earl of Southampton in 1550. The daughter of the 4th Earl of Southampton conveniently

married Lord William Russell in 1669 whose father was the lst Duke of Bedford. Bloomsbury thus

became part of the Bedford Estates. During the following century a series of gardens, squares and

terraces were developed up to and over the Euston Road. Bedford Square contains the only gardens

that are closed to the public but is the only complete Georgian Square left in Bloomsbury. Built

between 1775 and 1780 during the time of the 6th Duke it was until the mid 20th century the home of

several large book publishers. Bloomsbury itself remained an upper class area and attracted many

writers and intellectuals. By the end of the 19th Century however many of the fine houses had

illegally been converted into hotels and also the original entrances to the estate which had been

guarded by gates and lodges to keep the riff raff out were removed by Act of Parliament in 1890. By

1893 when the 11th Earl was head of the Bedford family, popular feeling had turned against large

landowners and he began selling off the London holdings such as Covent Garden in 1914. The British

Museum had been built on land belonging to the estate in 1753 and eventually pressure grew for the

land occupied now by the University of London, and the British Museum to be sold for the purposes

of Education. Some land remains in the ownership of the Estate but the real evidence for their long

ownership and occupation of the area today is only apparent only in many of the present street names:

WOBURN, RUSSELL, BEDFORD, TAVISTOCK, SOUTHAMPTON, THORNHAUGH,

GOWER, and even HERBRAND.



WALK SYNOPSIS

WALK 16 –TWICKENHAM TO TEDDINGTON

DISTANCE: 4.5 Miles

GETTING THERE AND BACK START: Twickenham Station

FINISH: Teddington Station This walk includes crossing the river by using the Hammerton Ferry

from Marble Hill to Ham House

ROUTE AND REFRESHMENTS The walk starts from Twickenham station and continues to Church Street where Coffee/Toilets

are available in a few places. It then explores Eel Pie Island, and continues as far as Orleans House

where refreshments/lunch/toilets are available. It is only a short distance to Hammerton’s Ferry to

cross to Ham House and then continue along the towpath as far as Teddington Lock. On the other side

of the lock are 2 pubs and one tea shop. It is then a further half mile or so back to Teddington Station.

INFORMATION Twickenham is another place that grew up from a small settlement around a church on the banks

of the Thames. Its heyday in historical terms was at the start of the 18th century when it became a

fashionable place for the well to do to escape to the country, and of course to be close to the upper

echelons of society with the various “Royals” nearby at Hampton Court, Kew, Bushy Park and

Richmond. It retains some very fine houses from that period, and has had some very interesting

residents over the past 300 years. It is always difficult for us to understand what life must have been

like in past centuries, and as in so many other places we have to rely entirely on our own imagination.

Here in Twickenham away from the High Street it is still possible to see evidence of life lived in a

very different way from our own, and to get a real idea of the lives of a few people who had a lasting

impact on our society. So step back in time to Georgian England and imagine living here in this

delightful riverside settlement.



WALK SYNOPSIS

WALK 17 – “HAM” AND “HIGH” FROM HAMPSTEAD TO HIGHGATE VIA

KENWOOD

DISTANCE: 4.5 Miles but please note that this is a hilly walk

GETTING THERE AND BACK START: Hampstead (Change at Waterloo onto the EDGWARE branch of the Northern Line)

FINISH: Highgate Village (Bus 214 to within a short walking distance of Gospel Oak Station on the

London Overground with regular trains back to Richmond)

ROUTE AND REFRESHMENTS The walk starts in Hampstead Village where there are several options for Coffee, perhaps the

most attractive being at Burgh House, although the pub in Flask Walk also serves coffee. The walk

then meanders through some of the different nooks and crannies of Hampstead Village and emerges

on to the top of the hill above the Vale of Health. From there it is a lovely walk across the Heath to

the Kenwood House, which there will be plenty of time to visit during an extended Lunch Break at the

wonderful cafe. Picnic spots abound! After lunch, the route to Highgate involves a longish uphill walk

which needs to be taken at a very leisurely pace. The reward for the effort of climbing up to Highgate

is a well earned drink at “The Flask”, or one of the many coffee shops. There will also be time explore

this fascinating Village before getting the bus downhill to Gospel Oak.

INFORMATION The rich history of “Ham” and “High”, arguably London’s most famous villages, can be said to be

inextricably entwined with the soil on which they are situated and this walk aims to give you an

understanding of the geology of the area. Don’t worry – this is not going to be an in depth study of

geology, but rather an explanation of why it is that so much of the history of the villages and the

Heath can be traced to what lies beneath them. In those famous comedy words, “I think the answer

lies in the soil!” The Northern Heights of London are part of a vast sandbank laid down 40 million

years ago deposited by a freshwater river flowing from the west of England, apparently known as the

Great Bagshot River. This is confirmed by the frequent discovery of fragments of granite from Devon.

The highest parts of the Heath are covered with an up to 25 m thick layer of Bagshot sands which has

a rich iron content. Beneath, lies another thick layer of Claygate beds which is, as its name suggests, a

much more clay like deposit. Both layers of sandy deposits are on top of the underlying impervious

basin of London Clay. So this is what we will be walking on, as have so many generations of

Londoners before us. “Ham” and “High” both have attracted the ultra rich, the artists, poets,

intellectuals and the quirky because of their wonderful location high above London on the open

expanse of heath land. The sandy soils could not be used for agriculture but were ideal for large

houses, building materials and the holding of numerous fairs, but also provided one commodity, spa

water that played a significant role in shaping the village of Hampstead, as well as adding to the

exceptional beauty of the landscape of Hampstead Heath. All of which was saved from development

by the efforts of one amazing woman Henrietta Barnett. Less of her today, but more of others whose

lives have made an impact on the area that we will be enjoying as we walk across Hampstead Heath.



WALK SYNOPSIS

WALK 18 – BETHNAL GREEN TO THE QUEEN ELIZABETH (OLYMPIC) PARK

DISTANCE: 4 Miles approx

GETTING THERE AND BACK START: Bethnal Green Station (From Waterloo – Waterloo and City Line to Bank, change to Central

line 2 stops to Bethnal Green)

FINISH: Stratford (many routes back eg. Jubilee Line to Waterloo)

ROUTE AND REFRESHMENTS The walk starts at the Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green where you will have enough time for

Coffee and a look around. Toilets are available*. The route then continues through a part of Bethnal

Green to reach Victoria Park, the hidden gem of the East End. Here there are two cafes – the first by

the lake might be busy and comes very quickly after the first stop. There is another cafe further on

with a fairly restricted menu but there are also plenty of spots where you can picnic. The route then

leaves Victoria Park by means of a footbridge over the busy A12, and continues for a short distance

through Hackney Wick to another footbridge giving access to the Queen Elizabeth (Olympic) Park.

There are several drink, snack, toilet facilities in the park and a variety of attractive routes to choose

from. The Walk officially finishes at Stratford Station, via the Westfield Shopping Centre

INFORMATION This is a walk of contrasts, from the heart of Bethnal Green and its Victorian Victoria Park to the

heritage of the 2012 Olympic Games, the Queen Elizabeth Park, London’s newest eco-friendly family

attraction, which was constructed on land in the Lower Lea Valley that had been heavily polluted by

centuries of industrial usage. In Victorian times, nearby Bethnal Green was the poorest district in

London although 200 years earlier it had been a small country village with many wealthy residents.

The urban spread began at the end of the 17th C when the silk weaving industry in nearby Spitalfields

grew rapidly and the Huguenot weavers, dyers and associated skilled workers needed more workshop

space. Some shifted to Bethnal Green where there are still a few distinctive silk weaver’s houses

remaining. The houses were overcrowded and for many, other than the most highly skilled, wages

were poor. The decline of the silk industry at the end of the 18th Century was keenly felt, although

other cottage industries such as the rag trade, gave some local employment. In 1777 John Wesley

recorded in his journal that he visited those of “our Society who lived in Bethnal Green, many of

whom lived in such poverty that few can conceive without seeing it”. 100 years later Charles Booth,

the great social analyst, recorded that 45% of the population lived below subsistence level.

Throughout the Victorian era, crime was rife in the area, notably the horror of the crimes of Jack the

Ripper, but it was perhaps the Kray family in the 20th C who became the most notorious. The

infamous brothers had been born and lived in Vallance Street, Bethnal Green and they each took their

last journey past their old home in their funeral cortege! For those living and eking out a living in

poverty in the East End, their world must have been transformed by the laying out of the 290 acres of

Victoria Park in 1845. 100 years later in 1957 a very influential book about the impact of living

conditions on family life in Britain was published: “Family and Kinship in East London” by Peter

Willmott and Michael Young, which was essentially a study of the impact of moving families from

their roots in the crowded slums of Bethnal Green into the brand new post-war housing estates that

replaced them or even further out into the burgeoning new towns beyond London. Bethnal Green,

famed in story and song, is our starting point today as we walk from an area where people lived in the

worst slum conditions in all London, to the Olympic Park only just over a mile away glorying in its

21st century make-over! The walk is also about the hope inherent in childhood. Looking at toys

familiar to you in the Museum of Childhood, will no doubt bring back memories of your own

childhood. As we walk from the area in which yesterday’s children were once confined to play in

squalid city streets and continue through Victoria Park where today’s younger generation can now let

off steam on modern playground equipment, you can perhaps reflect on the massive changes that have

occurred in the all too brief years of “Childhood” even in the last decades. At the end of the stroll we

arrive at what for many children of the 21st C is the place which symbolises the epitome of their

childhood aspirations - to become a world class athlete and compete at the Olympic Games.

Updated January 2020 * Museum unfortunately to be closed for refurbishment soon.


WALK SYNOPSIS

WALK 19 –THE REGENT’S CANAL FROM KINGS CROSS TO PRIMROSE HILL

DISTANCE: 4.5 Miles

GETTING THERE AND BACK START: Kings Cross Station (change at Vauxhall on to the Victoria Line)

FINISH: Chalk Farm Station (Northern Line back to Waterloo)

ROUTE AND REFRESHMENTS Starting from Kings Cross Station there is a slight detour to the British Library for a brief

Coffee/Toilet Stop, before continuing to the London Canal Museum. There is a small charge of £2 for

entry (PLEASE CHECK WEBSITE FOR CURRENT INFORMATION). Facilities are limited with

only 1Toilet, and no Coffee Shop, but the Museum provides an interesting insight into life on the

Canal, and is well worth spending a short time to look around. The route along the canal to Camden

Market is an interesting stretch of just under 2 miles. The Late Lunch Stop will be at Camden Lock

Market - Toilets here cost 40p. Toilets are however available at the Ice Wharf pub over the footbridge

from the Market. The route then continues along the canal as far as the bottom of Primrose Hill. Yes,

you’ve guessed it – the only way to see the view is to climb the Hill. There will be time to spend in

the delightful village of Primrose Hill before finishing at Chalk Farm station.

INFORMATION This walk gives an opportunity to learn about the Regent’s Canal, at the Canal and Waterways

Museum. The building was once an Ice House built c1863 as an Ice Warehouse for Carlo Gatti an Ice

Cream maker who imported ice from Norway for his own business and also to provide ice for wealthy

Victorians, as well as butchers and fishmongers in the area. One vast ice well has been uncovered.

Upstairs provided stabling for the Canal Horses and there is a fascinating insight into Working Horses

in London during the early 1900s. At that time there were 300,000 horses in London. Look out for the

ramp to get them upstairs! Camden Lock was another important stabling facility. We join the towpath

just after the end of the Islington Tunnel, and walk through areas of redevelopment, Channel Tunnel

Rail link from St. Pancras – and the new development of the York Way/Kings Cross Goods Yard.

(Map on the back of this sheet.) Camden Market opened in 1972, is now fully restored after the fire in

2008, and is a must see experience being London’s 4th most visited tourist attraction. Closer to

Regents Park the houses along the canal get more gentrified and the village of Primrose Hill provides

a fitting climax. Now home to the upmarket, chic and sophisticated, the land was given to the Leper

Hospital of St. James in 13th C. It later became the Manor of Chalcot and was given by Henry VI to

the Provost of his newly formed Eton College. Soon after Victoria came to the throne, an appeal was

made for the Hill to come into public ownership, and Eton College gave up all rights to land on the

Hill in exchange for land in Eton. The list of “famous names” of residents is lengthy -Jamie Oliver,

Jon Snow, Gwyneth Paltrow, Helen Bonham Carter, Kate Moss and Jude Law, after whom the Hill

was re-named Promiscuous Hill. So watch out for famous faces! The Rolling Stones, Spice Girls, Blur

and Sting have recorded here in a studio that once housed the Museum of Everything!



WALK SYNOPSIS

WALK 20 – “ART TO ART”

DISTANCE: 4 Miles

GETTING THERE AND BACK START: Vauxhall Station

FINISH: Trafalgar Square – 10-15 minute walk to Waterloo

ROUTE AND REFRESHMENTS This is a delightful walk that starts with Coffee/toilets at Tate Britain which is a 10 minute walk

from Vauxhall Station across Vauxhall Bridge and continues through Victoria and St. James’s passing

many Art Galleries and venues associated with the arts on the way. On a fine day it is good to have a

picnic lunch in St. James’s Park, but should the weather be less kind, then there are many eating

outlets in the Cardinal Centre before reaching the park. The walk wends its way through St. James’s

and finishes at the National Gallery.

INFORMATION

The acquisition of great works of art has always been the prerogative of the very wealthy, whether

they be members of royal families, the church, aristocratic landed gentry, or entrepreneurs who have

acquired their wealth by trade or business. The assembly of collections of works or art has therefore

been confined to the rich developed countries mainly of the western world. The story of how Britain

acquired its collections is far too complex to deal with on An Exploring London walk but it is worth

bearing in mind as we pass some of London’s world famous galleries that they are the storehouses of

collections acquired by the upper echelons of society since art collecting became fashionable in the

15th/16th centuries.. It has been estimated that there may be up to 1,500 permanent art gallery spaces

in London, but don’t worry we are certainly not going to see all of them! It is an interesting

observation that art galleries are a comparatively recent phenomenon. Until the 18th century in this

country all works of art were in private collections. Across Europe since the 15th C Renaissance in

Italy, Royalty and the aristocracy acquired Sculptures, and Old Masters, and kept them in their stately

homes for their own private enjoyment. Others gave their patronage to artists such as Michelangelo

whose work was commissioned by the Medici family for the Sistine Chapel. By the end of the 18th

century however many royal, princely or aristocratic art collections were being broken up, sold off or

nationalised due in some cases to the wealth of their owners being squandered on wars, or it being

forcefully taken away from them. The collection of the Duke of Orleans for example was seized and

sold after the French Revolution. The Duke sought exile in England and lived in what became known

as Orleans House in Twickenham. The nationalisation of other collections in Europe resulted in the

formation of the Uffizi Gallery in Florence and the Louvre in Paris. The famous Hermitage in St.

Petersburg was started from the collection of Catherine the Great and housed in her imperial Winter

Palace where it remains to this day but after the Revolution was opened for the benefit and enjoyment

of everyone. In Britain however the Royal Collection has never been nationalised and still remains the

property of the Crown. 450 works of art from the Royal Collection are on display on a rotating basis

in the Queen’s Gallery at Buckingham Palace, but the Gallery was not opened to the public until

1962. The oldest public art gallery in London is at Dulwich and this was opened in 1817. Sir Francis

Bourgeois bequeathed some of the paintings from the same Duke of Orleans collection to his old

school Dulwich College and those paintings formed the basis of the Dulwich Picture Gallery’s

collection. The first Tate Gallery only opened its doors in 1897 thanks to the generosity of Henry Tate

who had made his fortune from the sugar trade and had invested in British works of art. In 1824 the

government bought 38 paintings from the banker John Angerstein to form the basis of an English

national collection which was initially displayed in his Pall Mall house. The Government were

ridiculed by the French who compared the building unfavourably with the Louvre in Paris and they

were eventually pressured into constructing a purpose built gallery to house the fledgling collection.

Trafalgar Square was chosen and the National Gallery opened in 1838. The Royal Academy the oldest

society of art in the country was founded in 1768.


SPELTHORNE U3A K2 EXPLORING LONDON

WALK SYNOPSIS

WALK 21 - BLACKHEATH TO GREENWICH

“KEVIN’S WALK”

DISTANCE: 4.5Miles


START: Blackheath Station (change at Waterloo to Waterloo East)

FINISH: EITHER – Maze Hill Station OR – Centre of Greenwich with many alternative routes

home ROUTE AND REFRESHMENTS

The route explores Blackheath Village where there are many coffee shops and pubs. There are

two choices – either stop for coffee first and then continue the walk – or explore the village first and

then have lunch in Blackheath before entering Greenwich Park. The circular route around the village

will take about 45 minutes and comes back to the centre where all the watering holes are situated. The

walk then continues downhill through Greenwich Park passing the Observatory (part of which has

free entry). The return from Maze Hill is only if the walk needs to be cut short, the best finish is to

continue through the Maritime Museum via Greenwich Market, and end up by the Cutty Sark. Here

you can get the Clipper Service back to the London Eye – or use another route to get back to

Waterloo.

INFORMATION Blackheath is one of London’s most desirable up-market villages situated within 20 minutes of

Central London and on the plateaux above Greenwich. Whilst the village itself is comparatively

modern, the heath itself was crossed by the Roman road of Watling Street en route to Londinium from

the Kent coast. The road became the Old Dover Road and crossed the high point of Shooters Hill at

132m. Over the centuries it became the notorious haunt of highwaymen and a dangerous route for

travellers. One fictional character, Jerry Cruncher, appeared in the opening scenes of a Tale of Two

Cities by Charles Dickens. Blackheath has been the site of many historic events including: the

gathering in 1381 of the Kentish Peasants under their leader Wat Tyler before marching to London to

“Revolt” against their appalling conditions; the welcome of the victorious Henry V hot from

Agincourt in 1415, the historic welcome afforded to Anne of Cleves by Henry’s (the VIII one) on

her arrival in England amidst great pageantry on January 1st 1540 (although I have since read that the

meeting actually took place in Rochester in Kent). the arrival in 1660 of Charles II on his return

from exile. In later years the Heath proved a popular venue for large gatherings such as the great

religious Revivalist Meetings of John Wesley and George Whitefield. The space has been used for

military reviews which in more modern times gave way to massive fireworks displays and fairs.

Today of course it is most familiar to us as the gathering place for the start of the London Marathon.

Until the 18th century there were just a few cottages and two public houses. Speculative building

began and the centre of the village that we will explore today grew up in the 1820s. During the 1840s

and 50s there was a period of rapid expansion of houses for the well to do upper classes. The railway

came in 1849 making access to Central London very easy for rich city workers. The community was

intellectual and had a close life of its own. Many schools were established including one that was the

model for Salem House in David Copperfield. Blackheath had a large assembly room which was the

focus of community activities and it was here that Stanley lectured on his experiences in Africa. The

hall was however too close to the railway line for music and in 1881 the well established musical

fraternity built the Conservatoire of Music and by 1896 the completed buildings housed a school of

art as well as a Concert Hall. Blackheath Halls is the oldest surviving purpose built cultural complex

in London and was saved from demolition in the 1980s. The Blackheath Preservation Trust ensures

that the unique character of the village is maintained, and today we will be strolling around the village

which has been the home of many famous people, including Sir Terry Waite and Ross the polar

explorer. Today as you cross the “bleak heath” that was claimed to be where golf was first played, just

think that it was also (according to rumours amongst Blackheath residents) reputedly the location of

missile launchers during the Olympic Games! Additional Notes about Greenwich have been provided

by Kevin and Gill Tuck, and this walk has been dedicated in Kevin’s memory.



WALK SYNOPSIS

WALK 22 – CLERKENWELL TO ST. PAUL’S or “FOR ALL THE SAINTS!”

DISTANCE: Less than 4 Miles

GETTING THERE AND BACK START: Waterloo station, then walk to Festival Hall for Coffee/Toilets Bus 243 to Hatton

Garden FINISH: St.Paul’s Cathedral (or Fleet Street if the extension to the walk is added)

ROUTE AND REFRESHMENTS This is a fascinating walk through hidden Clerkenwell which only has one drawback - there are

very few facilities for refreshments en route. It is therefore a very good idea to start at the Festival

Hall for Coffee/Toilets since the bus stop is on the southern end of Waterloo Bridge. Clerkenwell is

very quiet at the weekend but the museum of St. John of Jerusalem is always open and has an

excellent exhibition and good toilets. The best place for lunch is in the Barbican where there is a great

cafe and plenty of places to eat a picnic outside. The extension to St,Bride’s is worth doing but the

walk can be curtailed at St. Paul’s Cathedral if you wish. (The Crypt is good place for a cup of tea)

Bus 26 and others takes you back to Waterloo.

INFORMATION

Clerkenwell is arguably the most fascinating of all the parts of London. However sadly

Clerkenwell is as dead as the proverbial dodo on a Saturday and so it takes a great stretch of the

imagination to imagine that the quiet streets we will walk along have witnessed some extraordinary

events in history over the centuries. One major factor has determined much of this history is that

because Clerkenwell lies on the northern edge of the City of London, it has always been OUTSIDE

the jurisdiction of the City Authorities. In mediaeval times several religious establishments were

established just beyond the northern boundary wall of the City of London. Clerkenwell grew up

around a number of natural springs that emerged from the slightly higher ground along the banks of

the Fleet River. In the 12th C the land around one of these fresh water springs was donated by a

Breton Knight for the foundation of an Augustinian Nunnery which became one of the wealthiest in

the country. The well was on the edge of the Nunnery and it could be used by the public, because it

was deemed to be a holy place, parish “Clerks” from London came to the well to perform scriptural

plays. Thus: “Clerk’s Well”. The same knight also gave land for another important ecclesiastical

foundation, the Monastic Order of St. John of Jerusalem, and in 1371a plot of land was set aside for

the burial of Black Death Victims, which then became the Carthusian Monastery of Charterhouse.

The other great order was that of St. Bartholomew founded by Rahere in gratitude for his life being

saved. After this three major events shaped the area, the Dissolution of the Monastries in 1537, The

Black Death in 1665 and the Fire of London the following year, and then the great social upheaval of

the Industrial Revolution. Since Clerkenwell was ‘beyond the bars’ of London, and officially part of

Middlesex it became the home of those wishing to live outside the law. The area harboured Jesuits,

Papists and libertarian Quakers, (and even the way out Methodists!) as well as a host of political

radicals and outcasts. When Charles Dickens wrote Oliver Twist and cast Clerkenwell Green as the

training ground for Fagin’s crew of pick-pockets, the area was commonly known in the press as ‘the

headquarters of republicanism, revolution and ultra-non-conformity”. So we are going to stroll over

places that have witnessed both tremendous religious fervour, but also the radical fervour of those

fighting for whatever cause seemed at that moment in time to be worth fighting for.



WALK SYNOPSIS

WALK 23 – SUGAR AND SPICE BUT NOT ALL THINGS NICE!

THE EAST AND WEST INDIA DOCKS

DISTANCE: About 4 miles

GETTING THERE AND BACK START: Limehouse Station on the DLR (Waterloo – Bank, DLR to Limehouse)

FINISH: Canning Town Station Jubilee Line to Waterloo

ROUTE AND REFRESHMENTS Leaving Limehouse station we walk around the Limehouse Basin to reach Narrow Street and the

Riverside Path heading towards the Museum in Docklands on West India Dock. There are no viable

Coffee/Toilet Stops until reaching the Museum. My suggestion therefore is to stop at the Museum for

an extended lunch break giving sufficient time for the group to visit the museum and to have lunch

either at the museum or in the nearby Canary Wharf complex. (Nb. Top floor of Museum has an area

devoted to the Sugar and Slave Trade). After lunch the route continues by getting back on to the DLR

from West India Dock to East India Dock where the second short section of the route begins. There is

an unusual facility on this section and a choice of two very different cafes!

INFORMATION

This walk looks specifically at the West and East India Docks and the aim is to understand a little of

the history that has shaped the area of London that we know today generically as “Canary Wharf”.

The story of the West India Docks, that were the first docks on the Thames to be dug out of dry land,

is both fascinating and shocking. It all began in the 1700’s when London was at the heart of the ‘trade

triangle’ that fuelled the slave trade. Ships left London with manufactured goods, such as guns, and

exchanged them for slaves in Africa. The slaves were then taken across the Atlantic (the ‘middle

passage’) and sold to plantation owners in America and the Caribbean for sugar, tobacco, rum, rice,

cotton, coffee and tea, all of which were shipped back to London. It is estimated that 11-12 million

Africans were transported across the Atlantic for slavery. During the 1720s alone, nearly 200,000

Africans were transported in British ships. In 1803 the West India Dock was opened and Warehouse 1

was the first docklands warehouse built to hold the fruits of this trade. It now houses the Museum in

Docklands and displays the table on which William Wilberforce and other abolitionists drafted the

Abolition of Slavery bill. The whole of this dock area, built specifically for the West Indies sugar

trade covered 30 acres. It was the biggest engineering project in the world. East India Docks: In the

year 1803, the principal proprietors of East-India shipping, seeing the improvements derived from the

West-India docks, followed their example, by having docks made for the accommodation of East-

India ships. The Company dealt in commodities imported from India – tea, spices, indigo, silk and

Persian Carpets. The tea trade alone was estimated to be worth £30m a year. They suffered from the

same problems as traders to the West Indies, the overcrowded state of the river, the lack of security,

and theft on a vast scale. They needed to protect the security of their East India Men (the elegant

clippers that brought the expensive tea and spices to London). The merchants succeeded in carrying a

bill through parliament for these purposes, and paid a subscription of £300,000 to become directors of

the newly formed East India Dock Company. They purchased the Brunswick dock at Blackwall, with

a view to converting it into a dock for loading outward-bound shipping. The construction of the dock,

which received its name in honour of the ruling royal family, was begun and executed by entrepreneur

and public spirited Mr. Perry, from his private fortune. In addition to this, the East-India Dock

Company built a large dock of eighteen acres, for the purpose of unloading the homeward-bound

ships, with a commodious basin and a strong a wall surrounding it. This great dock was begun in the

end of 1803, and the works were completed by 1806. All East-India produce coming to the port then

had to be unloaded in these docks. The business was conducted by thirteen directors of the East-India

Company. However the East India Company who established the docks also had a murky past which

is too detailed to go into – suffice to say that it was built on the exploitation of India by the British.

Wealth gained from what today would be regarded as evil practices. Interesting isn’t it that in the 21st

C we see the great complex of Canary Wharf standing as a shrine to finance - built on the site of the

docks built from the wealth generated by dubious practices in the 19th C!!!



WALK SYNOPSIS

WALK 24 - HOLLAND PARK TO SOUTH KENSINGTON


GETTING THERE AND BACK START: Use the northbound Overground from Clapham Junction to Kensington Olympia

FINISH: South Kensington, District Line to Richmond.

ROUTE AND REFRESHMENTS The Route begins with a stroll from Olympia to Holland Park where there is a small Cafe which it

would make sense not to all try to get into at the same time! (The Design Centre is also close by if the

group wants to detour for a visit). Once in the Park however, it is a good idea to take time to explore

the immediate area around the Cafe, fit in a coffee or early lunch stop, have packed lunches, and make

use of the “facilities”. After Holland Park, the walk continues through to Kensington High Street

where there are also plenty of coffee shops. The next viable sit-down stop is in the grounds of Holy

Trinity Church Brompton but if you want tea and toilets, then it would be better to call into the V & A

next door – however be warned it can get VERY BUSY. A further short but interesting detour leads

back to South Kensington Station.

INFORMATION I have given this walk the sub-title “Exhibitionism”, since today’s route explores the interesting

connections with the theme – from the obvious Exhibition Centres, the Great Exhibition, Exhibitions

of Art, Opera, and Design, and the Exhibitionism of the rich and wealthy in their extortionately

expensive houses on ultra exclusive estates –this walk has it all. The Royal Borough of Kensington

and Chelsea was formed in 1965 covering only 12.2 sq miles, one of the smallest Boroughs in Greater

London but also one of the most densely populated. The southern part of the borough contains many

world famous tourist attractions, several significant educational establishments, embassies, museums,

world renowned department stores and A Palace; North Kensington includes Notting Hill, Portobello

Road, the Carnival and David Cameron’s London home! The name Kensington is of Saxon origin and

mentioned in Domesday as Chenesit. The small settlement was probably near to St. Mary Abbots

Church on high ground above the flood plain of the river! The manor was granted to the de Vere

family after Domesday and when they gained the title of the Earls of Oxford, their London land

became known as Earl’s Court. The area remained rural until several large houses, including Holland

House, were built by other landed gentry in the 1600s and were surrounded with market gardens until

the 19th Century when the spread of London made the land more profitable for house building. What

we will see today reflects that process. Enjoy the Walk!


SPELTHORNE U3AK2 EXPLORING LONDON

WALK SYNOPSIS

WALK 25: WAPPING AND SHADWELL

DISTANCE: Approx 4.5 miles

GETTING THERE AND BACK START AND FINISH: Tower Hill station, which can be reached either on the District Line

from Richmond, or by bus from Waterloo

ROUTE AND REFRESHMENTS The walk begins in St. Katharine’s Dock (well not IN it but beside it, where there is an

opportunity to have Coffee and find Toilets. It then heads north through Shadwell, and after some

very interesting stops, arrives at Shadwell basin. Nearby is the historic pub, The Prospect of Whitby,

where you can have lunch if it is not too heaving. Picnics can be had nearby. The walk then meanders

through the sanitised area of Wapping to eventually get back to St.Katharine’s Dock for Tea.

INFORMATION The emphasis today is on the changing social conditions of this part of the East End. Quite

obviously it is impossible to do justice to such a subject on one short stroll. The aim is just to paint a

general picture of the changing fortunes of the area around the London Docks, and the forces that

influenced the lives of its inhabitants. The secure enclosed London Docks were built in the late 18th

century, (after the construction of the West and East India Docks on the Isle of Dogs), and specialised

in high value expensive goods such as ivory, spices, coffee, wine and tobacco. In order to construct

the docks, a vast swathe of housing had to be demolished. In Wapping alone, 11,300 inhabitants lost

their homes and the hospital of St. Katharine was demolished. In the 20th century after the demise of

the docks, a vast swathe of housing was built to cover them over!! The housing of the 20th century in

a way masks the desperate living conditions of the workers who were employed (if they were lucky)

in the docks or in the associated trades during the period between 1800 and 1960. Over the centuries

the area had become an eclectic mix of many different cultural groups. As the British Empire

expanded under Queen Victoria, so did trade and heavy industry. In 1827, when the new St Katherine

Docks opened, there was a need for large numbers of dock workers. Alongside a swelling local

population, the area had long attracted immigrants fleeing political unrest and religious persecution:

most notably, Jews and French Huguenots in the 17th century. Between 1870 and 1914 they were

joined by thousands of Jewish settlers from Poland, Romania and Russia who fled to England to

escape Tsarist pogroms. Wages were pitiful, thanks to unscrupulous employment practices such as

casual labour and piecework. Prostitution and disease was rife: in 1866, a cholera epidemic swept the

East End, killing 3,000 people. Those who could claw their way above the poverty line soon moved

out – aided by the arrival of the railways – leaving behind the highest concentration of the poor and

underprivileged anywhere in London. When social reformer Charles Booth produced his extensive

survey of the living conditions of the poor in 1887, he concluded that 13% of the East End population

was chronically poor and, of those, “a part must be considered separately, as the class for whom

decent life is not imaginable”.. In 1888 Jack the Ripper struck the East End followed in 1889 by a

month long Dock Strike. The Dockers strike is outside our brief except to say that it was fuelled by

the changing pattern of dock work after the coming of the railway threatened the livelihood of the

casual dock workers and it was their grievances about pay that triggered the strike. The foundations of

political unrest, anti-Semitism and the rise of fascism were therefore laid, and eventually, as we shall

discover, erupted in the 1930s. Don’t be put off however – there are some other delightful corners of

Shadwell and Wapping that you will be passing through.



WALK SYNOPSIS

WALK 26: SLOANING AROUND CHELSEA


GETTING THERE AND BACK:

START AND FINISH: Sloane Square Station District Line via Richmond

ROUTE AND REFRESHMENTS The best place for lunch is in the delightful new cafe in the grounds of the Royal Hospital. Since

this might be a bit early, the route begins with a short walk around the vicinity of Sloane Square

where toilets are available close to the station.

Another alternative is to have both Coffee and a Toilet shop in Peter Jones. The route then continues

through the Duke of York’s Place, where there is often a farmers market, before reaching the grounds

of the Royal Hospital where toilets are also available. After lunch the route continues through the

hospital buildings, but whilst this is quite permissible I would not encourage you to do so in one large

group. It is really worth looking into the Chapel and the Dining Room as you walk through, but please

respect the residents if it is a meal time! The route then continues through the streets close to the river

which are full of interest. En route there are a couple of pubs, and lots of cafes but no toilets until

close to the end of the walk back in the complex of the Duke of York’s Place

INFORMATION It would be absolutely impossible to do full historical justice to this fascinating part of London on

one walk so you may need to visit the area again on your own. Chelsea has always been an

“upmarket” part of London! It first appeared in the historical record in 785AD when King Offa held a

Synod at Chelsea, as later on did King Alfred perhaps in a royal palace or minster. There have been

30 variations in the spelling of Chelsea. The village originally clustered on the riverside around the

old church. It was here that Thomas More, Lord Chancellor to Henry VIII, made his home at Beaufort

House in 1520. More opposed the King's separation from the Catholic Church, refusing to

acknowledge Henry as Supreme Head of the Church of England and the annulment of his marriage to

Catherine of Aragon. After refusing to take the Oath of Supremacy, More was convicted of treason

and beheaded in 1535. One year later Henry in a remarkable act of insensitivity bought the Manor of

Chelsea, which lay to the east of Beaufort House, and proceeded to marry Jane Seymour there - one

day after the execution of Anne Boleyn. He later gave the Manor House to Katharine Parr as a

wedding present! Royal patronage attracted other aristocrats to build houses nearby and Chelsea soon

became known as the “Village of Palaces”. The crown leased the manor until 1638 and it was then

sold off to a succession of wealthy landowners. After several financial disasters, the manor was

bought by Charles Cheyne in 1657, who paid £13,626 for the estate in instalments over 4 years. Sir

Hans Sloane, purchased Henry VIII’s Manor House from William Lord Cheyne in 1712, and thus

became the next Lord of the Manor of Chelsea. He left the eastern part of his estate to his daughter

Elizabeth who had married Lord Cadogan in 1712. The Cadogan estate today is the 2nd largest of the

surviving aristocratic freehold estates in London. Many streets are named after Cheyne, Cadogan and

Sloane family members. Complicated isn’t it!! .In 1682, Charles II laid the foundation stone for the

Royal Hospital modelled on the Hotel des Invalides in Paris. Christopher Wren designed the building

which was finished in 1692. Charles II also purloined the road between Westminster and Fulham

Palace and the King’s Road as it became known remained as a private road until 1719. In that year

privilege ticket holders only were allowed to use it! It only became completely open in 1820. As if

that wasn’t enough to take in – the whole area is plastered with blue plaques, littered with literary

associations, and adorned with an assortment of artistic studios. You might manage to see a few of

them en route so I hope you enjoy this Sloaney Walk!


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