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Since I began Bowl Of Chalk London walking tours five and a half years ago I have continued to offer three set walks each weekend which operate on a 'pay what you want' basis. Each walk generally lasts about 2.5 / 3 hours. They are as follows: Saturday morning - Trafalgar Square to St Paul's cathedral. This walk begins in the tourist hot spot of Trafalgar Square, taking in the square itself, Nelson's Column and the National Gallery building. Although we don't venture around the 'sights' of Westminster, Big Ben is visible at the bottom of Whitehall. After visiting the statue of Charles I next to the official centre of London, we have of late, passed Benjamin Franklin's House, threaded our way through Victoria Embankment Gardens and up in to the bustling Covent Garden and St Paul's, the Actors' church. From here we make our way around Aldwych, passing the church of St Clement Danes and the Royal Courts of Justice, in to the City of London via Fleet Street. We usually veer off through the maze of alleyways that brings us to Dr Johnson's House, the famous statue of his beloved cat, Hodge and past the famous Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese pub. Back on Fleet Street, we pass the church of St Bride's, and up towards St Paul's cathedral.  Saturday Afternoon - St Paul's to Monument (via Bankside & Borough) This walk begins by St Paul's cathedral, through the churchyard and on to the Millennium Bridge, taking us over the River Thames towards the Tate Modern on the south side. Here we pass by Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, the site of the original Elizabethan Theatre which opened on Bankside in 1599, and along to the usually heaving Borough Market. We usually pop in to the 17th century George Inn on Borough High Street before heading up on to London Bridge, which offers a great view of the iconic Tower Bridge, the Tower of London and the H.M.S Belfast before finishing at the Monument, commemorating the Great Fire of London, 1666.  Sunday - East London The Sunday walk is very street art heavy, but does include historical elements. We often begin near Old Street, including Bunhill Fields Cemetery, where the likes of Daniel Defoe, William Blake and John Bunyan are buried. We pass the Wesleyan Chapel on City Road before heading in towards Shoreditch, which although is now a plethora of cafes, boutique shops and clubs, was in the 19th century, the centre of London's furniture trade. We usually stop off at Arnold Circus, the UK's first ever council estate, then bypassing the incredibly busy Brick Lane make our way towards Spitalfields with its fascinating Huguenot, Jewish and Bangladeshi heritage. Obviously the street art changes pretty regularly, but I tend (as with all my tours) to talk about things that interest me, and street art is no different. I'll undoubtedly point out and talk about Banksy, Ben Wilson (the chewing gum man), Christiaan Nagel, Bambi, Roa, Jimmy C and Thierry Noir ... amongst others.  If you're in London one weekend and think that one of these walks might appeal (or fit in with your schedule) then please send me a message via the contact form. You won't actually know where we're meeting until I send you all the details confirming the walk and how many places you'd like to book. I do this so I can keep an eye on numbers. Please don't try just turning up. You'll see from the photos that it could be just you, two people, four, eight or more. Unless someone books loads of people at once, it probably won't be that big a group.
Please check the dates on the website homepage to make sure the walk you'd like to join is running, as although it is pretty continuous, there are occasional changes.
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It took just over three months, but this weekend, the sun (actually) came out for pretty much the first time this year. Having said that, it was still pretty cold on Saturday morning when I met Stefanie and Lea from Germany for the walk from Trafalgar Square to St Paul's, but was still nice to feel a few rays of sunshine. Here they are standing next to one of the old Routemaster buses. 
No. 15 - Routemaster Bus
I think I've mentioned the Routemasters before, so just in case you don't know, they're the old iconic 'hop on, hop off' buses that have been ferrying people around London for over 50 years. Only parts of two routes, the No.9 and the No.15 still operate Routemaster buses, having been phased out a few years back. Something which Stefanie mentioned, and is quite true, is that if you pick up the No.15 near Trafalgar Square, it takes you down Fleet Street, passed St Paul's cathedral, and finishes up by the Tower of London, so doubles up as a bit of a sight-seeing bus too. Although they perhaps regretted it by the end of the day (due to the cold, and perhaps hanging around with me for too long), Stefanie and Lea stayed for the afternoon walk and were joined by Carys, Philip and Julie, who all came from London, from the confusingly named Southgate in north London. Here they are outside a sun-kissed St Paul's cathedral. 
St Paul's cathedral
We headed over to Bankside, the area on the opposite side of the Thames from St Paul's cathedral; home to the Tate Modern art gallery, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre and much more besides. The Tate Modern was originally a power station called Bankside Power Station and was completed in 1963. The large imposing chimney is 325ft (99m) tall and was designed to deliberately be shorter than St Paul's cathedral on the opposite bank, which was very thoughtful. Anyway, Philip and Julie told us that they had their first ever date back in the 1980's at a disco that was taking place in the old Power Station, before it was converted in to the art gallery. I love hearing little stories like that. On Sunday, I met Doyle and Gary from America for the east end walk, and again, it was a wonderful clement day, which meant that Columbia Road flower market was in full swing by the time we got there. Here they are on Brick Lane, which on Sundays is utterly transformed from the rest of the week, full of markets and people. They're standing outside the Jamme Masjid Mosque, which I have written about previously and completely encapsulates the immigrant history of the area in one fell swoop. 
Brick Lane - Spitalfields
So thanks to all who came on a walk with me this weekend.
Some Awards Most hardy 'double whammy' Germans - Stefanie & Lea Most American - Gary & Doyle Best moustache - No winners Most camera knowledge - Julie Most likely to be good at Scrabble - Philip Unofficial, official clown - Carys |
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