 STRAIGHT TO CURISTORIAN CLUB TICKETS I’ve thought for a long time it’d be nice to organise some events related to London history and culture and invite different speakers to share their specialist London knowledge . Well, I’ve got my arse in to gear and am delighted to announce the first three Curistorian Club events kicking off later this month. Each event will take place in the evening on the last Tuesday of the month in a room above The Devereux, a lovely pub nestled off Fleet Street, next to one of the Inns of Court. Every Curistorian Club night will be hosted by me and involve two guests either presenting their specialist subject or doing a Q and A with me. One guest will have a historical angle and the other a more cultural emphasis and all of them will be London experts of some sort. I’ve booked in the guests for January, February and March and they include: a Thames Mudlark, a crime writer, two artists, a nature writer / London tree expert. Tickets are £15 per person and available through Eventbrite, with only 30 or so tickets available for each night. Here’s the full line up: Tuesday 27th Jan (7pm – 11pm) Curistorian Club #1 Ben Wilson & Monika Buttling-Smith (chewing gum art and a Thames river finds) Ben Wilson Better known as ‘the Chewing Gum Man’, Ben Wilson has spent over two decades painting amazing miniature pictures on to discarded pieces of chewing gum so it’s entirely possible you’ve already come across him. For the last 10 years or so he’s been an almost permanent fixture on the Millennium Bridge, but you can find his tiny bits of masticated art all over the city’s streets …and elsewhere in the UK and beyond. I’ll be chatting to him about his life, his art, how he came to be ‘the Chewing Gum Man’ and encouraging him to share with us some of his adventures along the way. Monika Buttling-Smith Monika Buttling-Smith co-founded and runs the popular Hands on History Mudlarking Exhibitions, which pop-up all over London. She is a member of the exclusive Society of Thames Mudlarks and a major contributor to the London Museum's Secrets of The Thames Exhibition (ends 1st March). Monika and her museum-worthy treasures have been regularly filmed and published, and she’s ditching her muddy boots and knee pads to share with us some of her most special finds, including a rare medieval Pax, a religious artefact so demonised by Henry VIII and Edward VI that owning one could lead to your death!   Tuesday 24th February (7pm – 11pm) Curistorian Club #2 Paul Wood & Nadine Matheson (London tree hunting and not so cosy crime) Paul Wood Paul Wood is a London-based writer, blogger and photographer who bloomin’ loves trees. His book London’s Street Trees was the first book dedicated to the city's frontline trees, is now in its third edition and has not been out of print since it was first published nine years ago. He has written three other books about trees and urban nature: Tree Hunting: 1,000 Trees to Find in Britain and Ireland’s Towns and Cities (Particular Books 2025), London is a Forest (Quadrille 2019, 2022) and London Tree Walks (Safe Haven 2020), he is also the editor of the Great Trees of London Map (Blue Crow Media 2021). I’m looking forward to learning more about London as an urban forest and hopefully becoming more aware of the nature that surrounds us …even in London. Nadine Matheson Nadine Matheson is a born and bred Deptfordonian (if that’s a word) criminal defence lawyer who somehow finds time to write amazingly brilliant crime novels set in and around south east London. Her first crime novel, The Jigsaw Man was shortlisted for the Dead Good Reader and the Adult Diverse Book Awards in 2022, and has been translated into fifteen languages. Her latest book The Kill List was longlisted for the Theakston Crime Novel of the Year in 2025. Nadine is currently the chair of the Crime Writers’ Association, and host of the podcast, The Conversation with Nadine Matheson. As it happens, her fifth novel The Shadow Carver is being published in February, so I’m hoping she’ll tell us all about that, her career thus far and reveal more about her ties to Deptford and its inspiration in her novels.  photo credit - London Soul Photography  Tuesday 24th March (7pm – 11pm) Curistorian Club #3 Ed Gray & Jonnie Fielding (Painting London and fun London facts) Ed Gray For the last thirty years, Ed Gray has dedicated his life to painting London in all its grime and glory, capturing from real life Hogarthian scenes of the modern metropolis. Through attentive observation, Gray records everyday individuals in his sketchbooks, later translating these studies into multi-layered compositions that resonate with allegory and symbolism. Many of his paintings are massive, crammed with real life characters, reflecting back the ever changing cityscape and those who inhabit it. His paintings were once described as “an ongoing transmetropolitan tapestry”. He’s going to join me for a special Q and A to get under the skin of his work and to share with us his fascination for London and his ceaseless desire to commit it to canvas. Jonnie Fielding Jonnie Fielding …is me. I’ve been a tour guide in London for 16 or so years and have run Bowl of Chalk for 14. It’s been an amazingly tumultuous journey, but one which I continue to enjoy immensely through my regular walking tours and online videos. Last year I was lucky enough to have a book published, ‘Why is Downing Street Painted Black? (and 364 other fun London facts). I’ll be talking in more depth about some of the fun London facts I’ve discovered and answering any questions you might have about London and / or stories from my years guiding in London.   In a nutshell
Bowl of Chalk’s Curistorian Club is an informal way to meet like-minded people in the cosy setting of an historic London pub and learn from experts about London, its history and how it continues to inspire writers, musicians and of course the incurably curious. I hope you’ll be able to join us for one of the events. I will be hosting more monthly events to be announced soon, so keep an eye on my website, Instagram and other channels for updates. Tickets for all three Curistorian Events are available HERE.
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My book Why is Downing Street Painted Black? (and 364 other fun London facts) is being published on Thursday 25th September and currently available to preorder. I have enlisted the help of London based street artist Ben Wilson (AKA The Chewing Gum Man) who features in the book, to create something both fun and Londony that you can get involved with …and possibly win a prize.  Ben has painted 5 unique pieces of chewing gum in secret locations around central London. Each tiny piece of masticated art depicts a fun fact from my book and your mission (should you choose to accept) is to find them. Each of the five pieces of gum have @bowlofchalk written on them (just in case you find another of Ben’s pieces of chewing gum art). Here’s what you need to do. 1. Using the clues below, see if you can find all 5 pieces of chewing gum art. 2. For each piece of gum you find, post on social media using the hashtag #WhyIsDowningStreetPaintedBlack and tag @bowlofchalk, @benwilsonchewinggumman, and @harpernonfiction. Once you’ve found and posted all 5 pieces of gum, DM me on Instagram @bowlofchalk saying “I’VE FOUND ALL THE GUM!” (If you don't use social media, then good for you. Please just take photos and contact me using the Contact Form on this website). MOST IMPORTANT – Please don’t reveal the location of the gum.  WHAT CAN YOU WIN? Grand Winner - The first person to find all 5 pieces of gum will receive a free walking tour from me, centred around whichever their favourite bit of gum is and a signed copy of the book. VERY IMPORTANT – The tour will be on a weekday or one evening during the week at a time that is mutually convenient. It will last approximately 90 mins. Runners Ups – The next 10 people to find all 5 pieces of gum will receive a signed copy of the book in the post – please do not give out your address to any other account, the DM will come directly from me @bowlofchalk.  THE CLUES Clue No. 1 I depict a building that is the same height as there are days in the year and built by a small brown bird. However, to find me you must cross the bridge of a thousand years to its once polluting neighbour that is now full of art. You will find me close to ‘liquid history’ by a small avenue of trees. Clue No. 2 To find me you must head east to an area that has lost its H and its O on the opposite end of a street to where ‘Saucy Jack’ once prowled and a pub that has quite a ring. I am close to where bricks were once made and depict a building in which many different people have prayed. Clue No. 3 I am in an area at the end of the west where hunters once called on a street that is both wide and part of a candle. Although of the same name, I have neither read the news or appeared in Game of Thrones, but you may find this refreshing. I am close by on a corner by a giant toast rack. Clue No. 4 This area once shook with printing presses, just off 'ink street'. You will find me in a place that is not round, close to where an important book was compiled in the 18th century by a man who had a ‘very fine cat indeed’ that had a penchant for oysters. Clue No. 5 There was once a hall here that was certainly not black or grey. I am opposite an address that is both famous and has a door that won’t open without help. There is a cat called Larry but be aware of the police and the guns for it is here that the First Lord of the Treasury resides. You’ll find me a short distance from ‘Monty’ ...watching on from a safe distance.  The competition ends on Monday 15th September at midnight, after which time I won’t respond to competition entries. However, if the chewing gum paintings are still there, you’re still very welcome to see if you can find them.
Please take care when taking part in the treasure hunt. Please use road crossings, beware of traffic and also take care of your phone. I wish you all the best, keep your eyes peeled and most of all I hope you have fun. Jonnie PS – If you haven’t already pre-ordered my book, you can do so HERE. The masticated artworks by street artist Ben Wilson, who paints pictures on to bits of chewing gum that people have spat on the floor, are firm favourites amongst people who come on my walks. I would perhaps venture as far as to say, they are often, the highlight. I posted last year in May, mentioning that Wilson had been busy painting gum in Shoreditch (east London), and for a short while, my walks in the area were significantly improved. After only a few weeks though, someone came and stole them all. I've noticed recently some really lovely, detailed chewing gum paintings that Wilson has completed, so have included a few here. Most are approximately the size of a 10 pence piece, a few, more like a fifty pence piece.  This one is a night scene on Rivington Street (Shoreditch) where the gum is situated.  I happened to be cycling along Kingsland Road one day and spotted Ben Wilson lying on the pavement painting. The next time I passed, I stopped to see what he had created. It was the above painting showing the view from where he was lying.  A handful of lovely landscapes have appeared on the walkway on the south end of the Millennium Bridge (Wilson's favourite spot) depicting St Paul's cathedral, the bridge and pedestrians.  A night scene, with St Paul's cathedral.  This one I think reads 'Rolo on the Millennium Bridge'.  'Tent Man'. I'm assuming Mr. Wilson knows the significance of this.
I've mentioned chewing gum artist Ben Wilson on a number of occasions over the last few years. For the uninitiated, Mr. Wilson paints tiny pictures on pieces of chewing gum that people have spat on the floor. He's been making masticated art on London's streets for over a decade, but if you walk over the Millennium Bridge, and look down, you'll be sure to see his handy-work adorning what Londoner's call 'the wobbly bridge'. On today's east London walk, which has been previously described as a street art walk with a few other bits about London thrown in, we soon discovered that in the last week or so, Ben Wilson, (the chewing gum man) has been on what Gary (one of the walkers) described as a 'chewing gum painting bender'. I'm sure there are more recent additions, but these are the ones that we spotted today around Old street, Shoreditch and Rivington Street.            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. A few years ago I was standing outside St Paul's cathedral, just next to the statue of Queen Anne. We were coming to the end of my regular Saturday morning walk, and I was busy boring everyone to death with stuff about Christopher Wren, the architect who built it and whatever bits of scintillating information happened to spew forth from my mouth. I looked down and noticed that exactly where I was standing was a bit of chewing gum painted by a guy called Ben Wilson (who I've actually mentioned previously). It looked very much like this:  This particular bit of painted chewing gum has since been stolen (that's right ... stolen), but the artist, Ben Wilson spends a great deal of time painting tiny miniature landscapes (amongst other things) on bits of chewing gum around the capital. There's nothing to give you any idea about scale, so you'll have to take my word for it, that it was approximately the size of a ten pence piece. When I pointed it out to the group I was with, it was very obviously the most interesting thing I'd mentioned in about 3 hours, so ever since, like to include bits of Ben's chewing gum art ... if I find them on my walks. He's been doing it for over ten years, so they now run in to their thousands. Above is a picture of the area where I was standing at the time I saw this particular art work ... it depicts the front of St Paul's cathedral with a black cab driving across the front. The cathedral seems to be a particular favourite subject of Ben Wilson, and you'll find it rendered perfectly in bits of masticated and well trodden gum on the Millennium Bridge, the pedestrian bridge that joins St Paul's to the Tate Modern ... if you care to look. The Millennium Bridge seems to have become a bit of a pet project for him, and apparently there are now over 400 painted bits of gum on it. You might even encounter Ben himself lying there painting one. I found a nice piece recently which includes the bridge itself with the dome of St Paul's in the background, which is below, plus a few more I found in Old Street and just generally around.      Ben Wilson - Chewing Gum Man - Millennium Bridge On Saturday morning for the regular guided walk I do from Trafalgar Square to St Paul's cathedral, the group of four were all on their second walk with me. Janet & Mitch from Toronto had done their first walk a year ago, whilst Nick & Selina from Australia had come for the first time, just last weekend. Here they are in Trafalgar Square next to what was once the smallest prison in the UK; a tiny lock up (or drunk tank) secreted within a pillar on the south east corner of the square.  Nick & Selina carried on for the afternoon walk that takes in Bankside & Borough on the south side of the river, thus joining the illustrious group of people that have completed 'The Trilogy' (all 3 weekend walks). Here they are on the Millennium Bridge talking to Ben Wilson (The Chewing Gum Guy) painting a bit of chewing gum on the bridge, and then later towards the end of our day together on London Bridge, with Tower Bridge just visible in the background.  For Sunday's east London walk, the small but perfectly formed group hailed from Norway, Italy, Gloucestershire and even Camberwell in south London. Here they all are at the end of the walk (complete with flowers from Columbia Road flower market) outside one of the Georgian houses on on Wilkes Street in Spitalfields.  Some Awards
Yellowest footware - Viviana Completing 'The Trilogy' - Nick & Selina Best moustache - No winners Most likely to be able to tell a guy's age from his ear hair - Lucy Keenest answerer of questions - Kat Last weekend, clement(ish) weather prevailed and there was a reasonably robust turn out for all three walks. James actually booked the Saturday morning walk from Trafalgar Square to St Paul's cathedral at about 12:15am that morning (or the night before). I received the email whilst driving with my friend Dave in a van back to London from Newbury having seen our friend Adam in Arthur Miller's play 'All My Sons' at the Watermill Theatre, which is very good as it happens and on until the end of the month, should you wish to see it. Anyway ... James directed his mum Rona and two aunts to find me on Saturday morning, although it turned out they had no idea what we were going to do. Luckily for everyone involved, the idea of a walk, guided by myself didn't seem to strike them as too offensive an idea. Either that or they were very polite. James turned up too and they were joined by Renata and Tufan. Here they are in Covent Garden, shortly after passing St Paul's church, sometimes known as the actor's church. 
Covent Garden
On Saturday afternoon, a group of ten joined me for the walk from St Paul's cathedral over to Bankside. Ever since I started pointing out the plethora of bits of tiny masticated street art on the Millennium Bridge; miniature canvases painted by Ben Wilson (the chewing gum man), the walk has started taking much longer. If you are mildly intrigued, then you can watch a short film about Ben Wilson painting chewing gum on the Millennium Bridge if you like. Here are the group on the south side of Norman Foster's 'wobbly bridge'. As you can see, Johanna there at the front is having a whale of the time, whilst John was keen to show his best side. 
The Millennium Bridge
Sunday was another pretty big group, which included one of my sisters, Sarah, on her first ever walk ... with me, in an official guided type capacity. I would say they were a pretty international bunch, with a smattering of English and Northern Irish, peppered with Russian, Mexican, German and Australian. Quite often as we wander around east London on Sunday mornings, we stop off at Columbia Road Flower Market, and I've realised that I often take the group photo here before everyone heads off to have a mooch around. This is probably in case they don't come back. On Sunday, they did, and we headed down to Spitalfields where we finished the walk. I recently watched a fascinating programme online about the restoration of the incredible Georgian houses in Spitalfields, which happened in the 1980s, and also one by Dan Cruickshank about the rather eccentric Dennis Severs and his house at 18 Folgate Street, entitled 'The House That Wouldn't Die'. 
Some Awards
Tallest - Sam Best moustache - No winners Best trainers - Alfonso Highest visibility jacket - James Most sisters on one walk - Rona, Alison & Sheila The funny thing about doing my regular weekend guided walks in London is that there's no knowing how much interest there'll be. Last weekend was a great example of this, as on Saturday morning I only had one person booked, but she decided not to come, as it was just her. On Saturday afternoon there were nine people, and on Sunday morning for the east London walk, there were seventeen, which I think was the biggest group of the year so far. So, here are the Saturday afternoon group at Borough Market, which on Saturdays gets pretty busy with people descending on the 1000 year old food market, which began life on the old London Bridge and has occupied its current site since 1755. 
Borough Market
The group on Sunday morning was a truly international affair, including people from Germany, New York, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Italy, South Africa, Boston and even the Lake District and Lichfield. Here they all are on Rivington Street in Shoreditch, which is festooned with artwork by street artists such as Ben Wilson, Banksy, Eine and Christiaan Nagel to name but a few. 
Rivington Street - Shoreditch
However, there's far more to Shoreditch than just street art ... including Elizabethan theatre, Victorian power stations, Columbia Road flower market and of course the intriguing area of Spitalfields. Talking of Spitalfields ... as I was ... I never actually did my weekend roundup from the previous week. The Sunday walk included Richard whose ancestors had all worked in Spitalfields market from the 1700's right up to his father, just a generation ago. He was able to add some fascinating insights to the walk. 
Columbia Road
The previous day, Saturday 15th Feb, I was joined by Annie & Peter who were back from Lancashire for their third walk with me, so was lovely to see them again. They were joined by Molly and Paul and I took the below photo just near Covent Garden. If you look closely at the street sign behind them, you might spot the work of French street artist Clet Abraham. 
Some Awards
Special Award for completing 'The Trilogy' - Annie & Peter Surname most likely to make you think of a device that generates an intense beam of monochromatic light by stimulated emission of photons from excited atoms or molecules - Laser (Jasmin) Tallest - Rob Best moustache - No winners Song title for a name - Joeleen On Saturday morning I had the pleasure of meeting Victor and Arancha from Spain. It turned out that after a few cancellations, it was just the two of them for the walk from Trafalgar Square to St Paul's cathedral. It was Victor's first ever visit to London so in a way was quite nice they got to have their own private tour. Here they are outside Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, having just passed by Dr Johnson's House.  Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese In the afternoon, Viv, Sue and Karen came along for the St Paul's to Monument walk. I've mentioned a guy called Ben Wilson before, who paints on to discarded pieces of chewing gum and we found him on the Millennium Bridge, where he is currently painting a series of tiny previously masticated pictures. Funnily enough, I had spoken to him the previous day and he said that he has about 60 miniature works of art on the bridge at the moment. Here he is at work, and also a view of St Paul's cathedral with people walking across the bridge, painted on to a bit of squished chewing gum.  Ben Wilson - Millennium Bridge Having crossed the river, we then made our way along Bankside to Borough Market, where I took the below photo of Saturday afternoon's walkers.  Borough Market For Sunday's east London walk there was a rather larger contingent, bolstered by a group of friends from Coventry, Flora and Andras from Hungary, Samantha from New York, and Erin and Susan from Australia. It was in fact, Erin's third walk with me, so she is a veritable Bowl Of Chalk veteran. Here they all are in Shoreditch, standing in front of street artist Eine's 'Scary' bridge on Rivington Street.  Eine's 'Scary' Bridge - Rivington Street - Shoreditch Some Awards
Most Spanish - Victor & Arancha Best moustache - No winners Smallest - Samantha Most Londony - Viv & Sue Most flowery name - Flora |
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