It was a reasonably quiet weekend as walks go, but none-the-less, still very enjoyable. On Saturday morning I did the walk from Trafalgar Square to St Paul's with Margriet, from Holland. Aside from stopping for a drink in Covent Garden, we popped by the 12th century Temple church en route to St Paul's, which if you've ever seen the film adaptation of The Da Vinci Code, is where Tom Hanks comes when he arrives in London.

There are lots of other things I could have said about it other than mentioning Tom Hanks, but there you go. I've mentioned it before, but think I'll write a brief post about it soonish. Here's Margriet at the end of the walk outside St Paul's cathedral.

On Sunday, Triona and Martin who were over from Ireland came for a wander around the east end. Here they are standing in front of street artist Stik's piece on Princelet Street, just off Brick Lane.

I'm not sure what the official number is that constitutes a 'group', but if it's one, then this weekend I had three groups for my guided tours around London.

Saturday morning kicked off with Chris and Sasha who are over from Australia and joined me for the walk from Trafalgar Square to St Paul's. Covent Garden and Soho are often just referred to as 'Theatre Land' due to the density of theatres in the area. Just behind them on this photo is the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, which I think is officially the oldest (still used) theatre site in London. I say 'site' because although it opened in 1663, they're now on their fourth building. The most recent incarnation opened in 1812.

We also managed to get a peak of Temple Church along the way, the 12th century church, built by the Templar Knights that nestles between Fleet Street and the Thames.

In the afternoon, Veronica, Sam and Chris came along for the afternoon walk that starts at St Paul's cathedral. They were also joined by stalwart Keith from Canada, a veritable Bowl Of Chalk veteran, returning for his third walk with me. Here they are down in Borough, close to Cross Bones Graveyard, the unconsecrated ground where the Bishop of Winchester's Geese, otherwise known as prostitutes, were unceremoniously dumped, until it was covered over in 1853. Although 'The Friends of Cross Bones Graveyard' are campaigning to turn the land in to a memorial garden, the land is owned by TFL. Here they are standing in front of a rather large London Underground sign.

London Underground is celebrating its 150th birthday this year. The first line to open was the Metropolitan Railway and the inaugural journey on the 9th January 1863 took passengers between Paddington and Farringdon, just over 4 miles.  Today, 3 million passengers are ferried around 253 miles of track in London every day.

Sunday was the mighty group of ... one; Erin from Australia, who although an individual in her own right (quite literally on that particular walk) also happens to be the sister of Robb, instigator of the coveted 'Best Moustache' award. Here she is on Hackney Road, standing in front of a piece by Paul Don Smith, who when not stenciling guys in bowler hats with a tap on their head, paints pretty natty portraits all over east London.

On Saturday morning I met Kate and Dave for the walk from Trafalgar Square to St Paul's. It was actually Kate's second walk with me, having already been on the east end walk. As they were both Optometrists, I was keen to take them to see the Worshipful Company of Spectacle Makers, who reside within Apothecaries' Hall, but unfortunately it was closed. However, we did manage to nip in to Inner and Middle Temple to see the amazing 12th Century Temple Church.

In the afternoon, I met Jay and Angel (Angelique) who came for a wander from St Paul's to the Monument. Here they are outside the Anchor Pub on Bankside. They've currently got some measurements on the floor showing you the distances jumped by both the Olympic and Paralympic Long Jump record holders, so it's quite fun watching people trying to see how far they can jump. You can also see the Shard rising up in the background.

On Sunday I met Anne Marie and Vincent, who had come to have a look around the east end from Germany, via France. Here they are standing in front of one of street artist Eine's shop front letters. You'll see these everywhere around Shoreditch, Hoxton and Old street.

Thanks to everyone who came on walks last weekend.

Some Awards

Most Australian - Dave

Most Mauritian - Angel

Best Moustache - No Winners

Most Multi Lingual - Anne Marie & Vincent

Repeat Offender - Kate

Due to either people not turning up, or cancellations I only have one walk to report on from this weekend, which was Saturday morning's Trafalgar Square to St Paul's wander. But, what a splendid group they were, so I thought I'd splash out and furnish you with a few more details than I normally do. How lucky you are. 

So, there were five people in all. Tess and Monique from Holland, Rita from Lithuania, (who came on the Sunday east end walk a few months ago), George who came from a variety of places, but predominantly Austria and last by no means least, Dave who came from London, via London. 

I missed a trick here, because right before I took this photo we'd walked past the 12th Century Temple Church, which nestles just off Fleet Street. The whole area is pretty much closed off on weekends, but fortunately Monique happened to be really strong and somehow effortlessly pushed open an otherwise locked gate. Naughty. 

Soon after this, we went for a drink at Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, which is what is generally referred to as a 'historic pub'. We were sitting in the new pub because the old pub burnt down in a massive fire. So, this one was built in 1667 and if you look at the photo below, you'll see a small list of the various Monarch's that have reigned since the new pub was built.

A short while later, we were passing the Bridewell Theatre, which stands in the shadows of the infamous steeple of St Bride's church. I won't go on about it too much, but the building survives from the late Victorian period and was once a swimming pool, wash room and general education and P.E type place for the children who's parents were busy keeping all those printing presses on Fleet Street going. The swimming pool has since been made in to a theatre, and quite craftily, we managed to get down to the bar, which was once the wash room. (by-the-way, it's not actually a pub/bar tour). Here we met a very nice bar manager who very kindly explained the history of the place to us, complete with photos they'd recently found of its transformation and previous Victorian life. 

Whilst the group were talking to the nice bar manager I took this photo of an old wooden washing machine which still stands rather obtrusively in the bar. They've also got a pretty antiquated dryer and some industrial size Victorian drying racks/radiators. 

Anyway, we saw lots of other things along the way, and gradually wound our way up to St Paul's cathedral where we finished. Thanks very much to the group. I really enjoyed it.

Some Awards

Bowl Of Chalk veteran - Rita

Tallest - George

Most Dutch - Tess & Monique

Most Snap Happy - Dave