Where is it?

Pall Mall in Westminster, stretches in a south westerly direction from Trafalgar Square for about 600 metres to St James’s Palace. The West End (theatre land) and Piccadilly Circus are off to the north east, Mayfair is above and Green Park to the left with St James’s Park directly below. You’re more likely to encounter tourists wandering along the adjacent ‘The Mall, at the end of which is Buckingham Palace, but don’t worry, Pall Mall and its surrounding streets have much to offer.

​What’s the story?

The first major event that changed what was largely marsh land in to a Royal hotspot was when King Henry VIII knocked down a leper hospital (called St James) to build a palace of the same name, finished in 1536. The unusual name of the street ‘Pall Mall’, which leads from it, derives from the Italian game of ‘Pallo a Maglio’ (ball to mallet) which seems to have been a cross between croquet and golf, popular amongst the Monarchs and aristocracy in the 17th century.

After the Great Fire of London in 1666, many wealthy families decanted to the area and the nearby St James’s Square became the place to live. As such, many of the shops close by were set up to service the Royals and aristocrats. 

In 1807 Pall Mall became the first street in London to have gas lighting, and like much of Westminster still has a large number of gas lamps, many of which date back to the 1820s.  

How do I get there?

Green Park, Piccadilly and Charing Cross Underground stations are all just a five-minute walk from Pall Mall. 

What’s it like now?

Pall Mall still exudes a high level of grandeur, largely emanating from the large number of *gentlemen’s clubs that I will undoubtedly never set foot in, and more than likely, neither will you. There'll also be nothing to tell you they even exist. Quite a number of the shops that were founded in the 17th and 18th centuries are still knocking around too. 

I learned a lot about London and its history through curiosity rather than academic study, and as such spent a great deal of time wandering in to buildings and offices and talking to the people that work there. The imposing Athenaeum club founded in 1824 on the corner of Pall Mall and Waterloo Place was one such establishment, and I recall being rather curtly escorted out. However, do have a look at the wonderful street antiques directly outside; horse blocks requested by the Duke of Wellington himself in 1830 to aid with the getting on and off his horse when visiting the club. 

*A ‘gentlemen’s club’ in this instance refers to a private member’s (still often male dominated) club that doesn't so much involve naked women lap dancing, but wealthy old men sitting around in leather arm chairs smoking cigars.

Where should I stay?

As you can probably imagine, any hotels in this area aren’t going to be for the budget traveller, but I have been a few times to the Hotel Sofitel London St James to pick people up for private tours, and also the Cavendish Hotel, which is just the other side of St James’s Square on the corner of Jermyn Street and Duke Street St James. 

Even if you can’t afford to stay at the The Stafford Hotel just off St James’s Street, you should (especially if you’re American) pop in for a cocktail at their American Bar, which is decked with American football helmets, baseball caps, military regalia and other US based paraphernalia left by guests, including a letter from Ronald Reagan.

​What’s of interest?

Buckingham Palace

Presiding over the opposite end of The Mall from Admiralty Arch is the Queen’s residence, Buckingham Palace which will undoubtedly be on the must see list for any first time visitors to London. Since 1993 parts of Buckingham Palace including the State Rooms and garden, have been open to the public for a couple of months each summer whilst the Queen is at her Balmoral Estate in Scotland. You can check dates and availability on the Buckingham Palace website to see if opening times coincide with your visit. 

A lot of first timers like to catch a glimpse of the ‘Changing the Guard’ ceremony which takes place in and around Buckingham Palace each day in the summer and every other day during the winter months. Although I understand the attraction for visitors I personally don’t think it’s a great spectator friendly spectacle, so if you want to make sure you get the best vantage points and understand what on earth is actually going on, then Fun London Tours offer regular ‘Changing The Guard’ tours. 

Green Park and St James’s Park

When Buckingham Palace was originally built as Buckingham House back in the early 18th century it was effectively a country retreat surrounded by park land, now reduced to Green Park and St James’s Park. Of the two, I think St James’s Park is the more pleasant. As the name Green Park suggests, there’s not much going on in the way of flowers. St James’s Park not only has an abundance of flora, but offers great views from the blue bridge crossing the lake. The park frames Buckingham Palace in one direction and the almost fairy tale castle-esque rooftops of Whitehall in the other. You’ll also notice a lot of birds which have been a feature since the the 17th century when the park housed a large aviary. The road which runs along the park’s south side is still called Birdcage Walk. Keep an eye out for the Pelicans which have been resident in the park since 1664. Not the same ones obviously. 

St James’s Palace

If you walk down the Mall from Buckingham Palace, the whole area to your left is dominated by the precinct of St James’s Palace. You’ll pass Lancaster House, then arrive at a gate through which you will undoubtedly spot a couple of guards and a large white, early 19th century building. This is Clarence House, currently home of Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall. 

One of the oldest surviving parts of St James’s Palace, on Pall Mall behind Clarence House, is the original gate house, dating back to 1536. A dead giveaway that it’s an old building are the ‘loopholes’ through which arrows could be fired to protect the entrance. You’ll be amazed that you can get so close to the official residence of the Royal Family, yet you probably won’t see another tourist there.

Old shops

Clustered around the bottom end of St James’s Street where it meets Pall Mall are some of my favourite shops in London which you should definitely pop in if you have time. They all have Royal Warrants which means they currently sell a product or service to either the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh or Prince Charles and in most cases have serviced Monarchs for centuries. 

Berry Bros & Rudd

The Queen’s wine shop, Berry Bros & Rudd began selling coffee in 1698 and although they’ve been a wine shop for most of the three hundred odd years they've been in business, their sign outside still shows a coffee grinder. They’ve held a Royal Warrant since the reign of George III and amazingly, beneath the street, boast some two and a half miles of wine cellar.

Lock & Co

The oldest hat shop in the world and inventors of the ‘bowler’ hat, have been making and selling hats since 1676. They have provided hats for the likes of Winston Churchill, Charlie Chaplin, the Duke of Wellington and Horatio Nelson and once received a postcard simply addressed to ‘the best hat shop in London’. If you want to discover some of their other famous customers, check out the signed, miniature head templates they have framed on the wall.

John Lobb

A couple of doors up from Lock & Co is John Lobb, a boot maker who having been in business for just over 150 years is the new kid on the block. If you go inside, you can watch the craftsmen and women at work and see their array of wooden lasts including Queen Victoria’s. 

Truefitt & Hill

Truefitt and Hill is a barbershop that has been providing gentlemen with the finest grooming products and services since 1805, and as such, makes them the oldest barbershop in the world.

​Crown Passage

Crown Passage is a tiny alleyway running from Pall Mall, parallel to St James’s Street and I only mention it, firstly because it wouldn’t look out of place in a Harry Potter film, but secondly, if you’re peckish there’s a good amount of sandwich shops. In fact, almost all the local eateries are on this one narrow passage. There’s also the Red Lion pub and for a more comprehensive food selection go to Davy’s Wine bar at the opposite end, a cavernous basement area hidden away down a staircase. I can pretty much guarantee that you’ll be the only tourists in there. 

St James’s Square

A nice spot to sit and have a picnic in the summer (along with hundreds of office workers) is St James’s Square. Finished in 1677, the square, as was the custom, was a private garden for the wealthy residents surrounding it. The private houses are now businesses, but Nancy Astor was living at No.4 when she became the first female politician in 1919 and Norfolk House was the HQ of Anglo / American intelligence during WWII and was where Eisenhower directed the Allied Expeditionary Forces for the D-Day landings in 1944. 

ICA

At the bottom of the Mall, next to Admiralty Arch and housed in a white colonnaded building is the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), which was originally founded in 1946 as an institute to champion all contemporary arts and has regular exhibitions, talks, films, theatre and performance. 

Within spitting distance of Pall Mall are a number of other Monopoly square properties that I shall be visiting in future posts, including Trafalgar Square, Whitehall, Piccadilly and Leicester Square. 

Also in the series:

#00 – Introduction
#01 – Old Kent Road
#02 – Whitechapel Road
#03 – The Angel, Euston Rd & Pentonville Rd

Where is it?

I have included these three Monopoly board squares together as geographically (in real life) they run one in to the other, although if you were to start at Angel, as the light blue squares do, you would first reach Pentonville Road, and then Euston road rather than the other way around. If you’re looking at a map, Angel sits approximately 1.5 miles directly north of Blackfriars Bridge and the two other roads run for about 1.8 miles above the West End in central London to Regent’s Park. 

What’s the Story?

‘The Angel’ has the curious distinction of being the only property on the Monopoly board which isn’t either a thoroughfare or area. Although locals to tend to refer to the area as ‘The Angel’ rather than ‘Angel’ (Like the Old Kent Road) it takes its name from a pub which once stood at the crossroads. Apparently in 1935 when Victor Watson (of Waddington’s board game manufacturers) and his secretary Marjory Phillips came on a day trip to London to find the streets they would use for their UK version of the American game, they stopped for lunch at the Angel Café Restaurant (formerly The Angel Inn) and decided to include it on their board. Both Pentonville Road and Euston Road were originally called ‘New Road’ built in the mid 18th century as a bypass for coaches to avoid central London and whisk passengers away from the City to the western suburbs. King’s Cross where the two roads join was at that point a village known as Battle Bridge. 

How do I get there?

Using London’s Underground network:

The Angel – Angel station which boasts the longest escalators in Europe.

Pentonville Road – Either Angel to the east or King’s Cross station to the west. 
​
Euston Road – A plethora of Underground station choices beginning with King’s Cross in the east, then heading west; Euston, Euston Square, Warren Street (at the north end of Tottenham Court Road) or Great Portland Street. 

What’s it like now?

Angel is a bit of a mix, but has in recent years become more affluent. The current PM Boris Johnson lived there until last year when he sold his Georgian town house for £3.75 million. I used to know Dan Crawford who founded the King’s Head pub theatre on Upper Street in Angel. It’s a lively street full of pubs, bars, cafes, restaurants and a couple of cinemas. When Dan opened the theatre in 1970 he said that everyone thought he was crazy because the whole street was boarded up and no-one wanted to go there. King’s Cross has undergone a major revamp in the last decade (galvanised by the Eurostar terminal) and had been a red light district. Neither Pentonville Road or Euston Road are particularly pleasant; incredibly busy, choked with traffic and exhaust fumes. They actually form the edge of the congestion charge zone north of central London, so perhaps not surprising.

Where would I stay?

There’s an abundance of hotels in the area, although you might want to avoid the major roads. It’s a bit further south but I seem to have picked people up to do private tours on numerous occasions from the Montague on the Gardens, a hotel right next to the British Museum. If you’re arriving by Eurostar or popping over to Paris, then obviously a hotel close to King’s Cross St. Pancras International would be a good bet. 

​What’s of interest?

The Angel

If you get to Angel and fancy a cuppa, then the Angel Café Restaurant patronised by Victor and Marjory back in 1935 is now a bank, but they do have a plaque commemorating their Monopoly fame. Instead, I’d suggest going to the Candid Café on Torren Street about a minutes walk away. It’s a great little place and is part of a larger arts organisation, accessed through an innocuous doorway on the street and up a couple of flights of stairs. It’s a quirky refuge away from the hustle and bustle outside and I can guarantee that you won’t find another tourist in there (unless of course they’ve read this). 

I’m a big theatre fan and have already mentioned the King’s Head theatre (moving to a new premises next door right now) and just around the corner from them is the world renowned Almeida Theatre. If you’ve got kids then definitely check out what’s on at the Little Angel Theatre, a puppet theatre proving kid and family friendly shows since 1961. It was founded by John Wright, father of Joe Wright; film director (The Darkest Hour, Atonement). 

If antiques and collectables are your thing, then seek out Camden Passage, and for dance enthusiasts then look no further than the nearby Sadler’s Wells, a performing arts theatre specialising in all forms of dance. 

Pentonville Road

If you walk west from ‘The Angel’ you’ll head down Pentoville Road towards King’s Cross. Probably not much to interest tourists, but if you’re a clown (and I do know a couple) then on the right hand side you’ll pass Joseph Grimaldi Park, a former graveyard, named after one of the people buried there in 1837. Grimaldi is known as the father of modern clowning and has been remembered along with musician Charles Didbin with graves adorned with bronze plates which when stepped on, play musical notes. You are quite literally encouraged to dance on someone’s grave. 

King’s Cross has recently undergone a huge period of change and redevelopment and thanks to J.K Rowling and her Harry Potter series, the not particularly exciting King’s Cross station is now a must visit attraction for Harry Potter fans who eagerly queue up to have their photo take pushing a trolley in to a wall on their way to platform 9¾. I went there years ago with some people on a tour, and there wasn’t really anyone there. Now, it’s properly organised.

St Pancras International Station next door is home to the Eurostar. It was a 19th century railway station which was saved from demolition in 1967 in no small part by the poet John Betjeman whose efforts have been rewarded with a great statue inside the station on the first floor concourse. Also look out for work by Tracey Emin and Paul Day’s huge sculpture, ‘The Meeting Place’. 

Directly behind both stations is a former Victorian goods yard which has recently been utterly transformed in to a vibrant area called King's Place, with bars, shops, restaurants and is home to St Martin’s art college. 

If you fancy a nice walk up to Camden (or further) then I can highly recommend a wander up the Regent’s Canal. Maybe visit the London Canal Museum before you do. You’ll pass close to St Pancras Old Church which I think is well worth a visit. It’s considered to be one of the oldest Christian worship sites in Europe but has a fascinating church yard which includes John Soane’s tomb which Giles Gilbert Scott used as inspiration for his winning design of the now iconic red telephone box, and is the back drop to a body snatching scene in Charles Dickens’ ‘A Tale of Two Cities’. Perhaps most intriguing is ‘The Hardy Tree’. In the late 1860s a young Thomas Hardy was working for the architect firm allocated the sensitive job of exhuming remains from the burial ground so as to build a railway line in to the nearby station. Hardy got the thankless job and arranged hundreds of gravestones around an ash tree, which remains there to this day. 

​Euston Road

The British Library regularly has paying exhibitions, but I highly recommend popping in to their free permanent exhibition, the treasures of which reveal 2000 years of human experience through books, manuscripts and sound recordings. You can expect the oldest religious texts from around the world, original scores from renowned composers, handwritten drafts of novels by your favourite authors, Shakespeare’s first folio or Beatles lyrics jotted down on the back of Julian Lennon’s first birthday card. 

The Wellcome Collection is a fascinating museum just opposite Euston Station, exploring the connection between medicine, life and art, advertising themselves as the “free destination for the incurably curious”. 

Just around the corner is the Grant Museum of Zoology, a natural history museum founded in 1828 and is part of University College London, originally formed as a teaching collection. It’s one of the oldest natural history collections in the UK and houses nearly 70,000 specimens. 

If you’re in the mood for bypassing the West End shows and sampling some theatre from innovative, early career practitioners, then why not get a ticket to a show at the New Diorama Theatre, an 80-seat theatre, nestling in the midst of a particularly unexciting modern office development. 

Finally, as you reach Great Portland street Station you’ll find yourself on the edge of Regent’s Park, one of London’s Royal Parks, at the north end of which you’ll find ZSL London Zoo. 

Russell Square

If you walk directly south of Euston Station for about 10 minutes, you’ll get to Russell Square. Much of the area just to the west is dominated by the British Museum, which many people I meet factor in to their time in London. I often get asked questions during correspondence with people who have booked a tour with me. One such question was “How long will it take us to se everything in the British Museum?” There’s about 8 million artefacts, so I wouldn’t worry about trying to see everything. They do offer ‘Around the world in 90-minute’ tours which take in the biggies as well as a few less known objects, so joining one of those might be a good start. 

I just wanted to mention a few other museums that are very close to the British Museum and perhaps not on every visitor’s radar. The first is on Russell Square itself and is situated in a house. It’s called the Weiner Holocaust Library and formed in 1933 is one of the world’s most extensive archives on the Holocaust and Nazi era. A great many people use it for research purposes, but on the ground floor they have a small changing exhibition which if you ring the buzzer they’ll be more than happy for you to view. A bit further down the road is the Foundling Museum, established in 1739 by Thomas Coram as Britain’s first home for children at risk of abandonment. If their display of ‘tokens’ (which parents left as a way of identifying their child should they wish to return and reclaim them) doesn’t bring a tear to your eye, then I don’t know what will. Close by is the Charles Dickens Museum on Doughty Street; a former residence of the great author and his family, and as you might expect is a mine of Dickens paraphernalia and treasures. Close by in Clerkenwell (a fascinating area in its own right) is the Postal Museum which along with other post related exhibits, gives you a ride along a 1km stretch of mail rail. 

Also in the series:

#00 – Introduction
#01 – Old Kent Road
#02 – Whitechapel Road

Where is it?

Whitechapel Road is in the borough of Tower Hamlets and runs east from Aldgate, once the eastern gate out of the City of London, eventually becoming Mile End Road. The area is generally referred to as the East End.

What’s the Story?

The area of Whitechapel, and the road included on the Monopoly board gets its name from an ancient church which once stood just south of the Whitechapel Road, but was badly damaged during WWII, later demolished and is now the site occupied by Altab Ali Park. 

Historically, east London has been a poorer cousin to west London which coupled with its proximity to the docks lead to it becoming a migrant area; French Huguenots in the 17th century and Jewish immigrants in the 19th and early 20th century. More recently it became a Bangladeshi area. Whitechapel however, will be forever associated with the Jack The ripper murders which took place in and around the area in 1888.

In recent times, Brick Lane, which runs north, on a site occupied by the Truman Brewery, has been gentrified, and on Sundays when the markets are in full swing, it’s a hot spot for hipsters. It is also festooned with street art. 

How do I get there?

Whitechapel Road and Whitechapel High Street are dotted with tube stations including Aldgate, Aldgate east and Whitechapel. Just north in trendy Shoreditch there’s an Overground station as well as an Underground and mainline station at Liverpool Street. 

What’s it like now?

Like a lot of London, there’s a great deal of development going on and the rough edges often associated with Whitechapel are, for better or worse being gradually filed down. It sits within one of the two poorest areas of London, but within the same borough is Canary Wharf, the second big financial hub, so again, as with much of the city, an interesting dichotomy of people living together. Whitechapel is incredibly diverse with a large Muslim population and Bangladeshi community, which you’ll certainly get a feel for around the markets on Whitechapel Road and the familiar waft from the numerous curry houses. 


Where should I stay?

Like Old Kent Road, it’s unlikely you’d want to stay on Whitechapel Road itself (although not beyond the realms of possibility), but more likely in one of the numerous hotels popping up in and around Hoxton and Shoreditch (just north) or near to the Tower of London to the south. 

What’s of interest?

Whitechapel

Whitechapel Road itself might not be a No.1 priority for visitors to London, but has far more going for it than the previous Old Kent Road and a host of things to see and do within a stone’s throw. 

For culture vultures, just at the south end of Brick Lane on Whitechapel High Street you’ll find the Whitechapel Gallery, a contemporary art gallery which has been premiering world class international artists for well over 100 years and is a key part of London’s cultural landscape. 

A short walk further east you’ll pass the monumental east London Mosque which I visited a number of years ago and the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, which ceased trading in 2017 but had been making bells in Whitechapel since 1570. They not only cast the famous ‘Big Ben’ but amongst many others, the Liberty Bell. An American investment firm bought the premises but their application to turn it in to a boutique hotel is currently under review by the government. If you’re feeling peckish then Tayyabs, a family run Punjabi restaurant since 1972 is the go to curry house in the area for Londoners, despite a plethora of them on Brick Lane. 

For those with an interest in medical history, you should definitely check out the Royal London Hospital Museum. It's a fascinating and eclectic mix which among many other things includes a model of John Merrick's (the elephant man) skeleton who lived and died at the hospital in the late 19th century.

Tower Hill

Just south west of Whitechapel Road you’ll find the mighty Tower of London, a must visit London attraction which after 1000 years of history, needs no introduction. Whist there, make sure you pop in to the often over looked church of All Hallows by-the-Tower, which quite remarkably pre-dates the Tower by 400 years, has an intriguing museum (including some Roman floor) and a couple of historical titbits that Americans might find interesting. 

On the opposite side of the Tower you’ll find the serene St Katherine Docks, central London's only marina, where you’ll often find the Queen’s Royal Barge parked up, and then a bit further on, Wilton’s Music Hall; one of only two surviving Victorian music halls in London, which has shows on regularly. It’s a real delight.

Brick Lane

Brick Lane, running north from Whitechapel Road is just over half a mile long and on Sundays gets transformed so that every nook and cranny of the Old Truman Brewery which dominates the central portion gets turned in to a market of some form or another, whether it be street food, vintage clothes or people just selling stuff off the back of a lorry. It’s a vibrant and culturally diverse area and its rich migrant history is perhaps best encapsulated in the Brick Lane Jamme Masjid Mosque, which opened in 1743 as a Huguenot chapel, has been used as a Methodist chapel, a Synagogue and a Mosque. As such, it's an anomaly and stands on the corner of Fournier Street, lined with beautiful early 18th century houses and well worth a look.

The abundance of curry houses has waned slightly in recent years due to the extortionate business rates, but they’re not the only food people flock to Brick Lane for. At the Bethnal Green Road end are two famous 24-hour bagel shops which no-one ever seems to know the names of, but can tell you the colour of the facade of their favourite.  

Spitalfields

Old Spitalfields market which had been a fruit and veg market from 1637 until 1991 (when it moved further east) got cut in half by uber-architect Norman Foster and gentrified beyond belief. Still worth checking out the stalls of vintage wear and it’s lined with generic epidemic restaurants. Just outside is the famous Ten Bells pub, synonymous with Jack The Ripper as it was where he picked up his final victim, Mary Kelly.

If you're looking for a quirky, historical, under the radar museum, then look no further than Dennis Severs House at 18 Folgate Street; a time capsule of an 18th century weaving house.  

Shoreditch and Hoxton

Just north of Spitalfields and otherwise known as Hoxtditch, is the epicentre of hipsterdom. It’s where the cool kids go to get drunk, eat kebabs and throw up. Lots of bars, coffee shops and clubs. If you get a chance, do seek out Arnold Circus, a quiet enclave and the UK’s first council estate.If you're in the area on a Sunday, then a stop off at an east end institution, Columbia Road Flower Market will give you a real flavour of London life. You’ll find, in all these areas I’ve mentioned, LOADS of street art and it often feels like wandering around an open air art gallery. You can still see an original Banksy in the beer garden of gig venue Cargo on Rivington Street, amongst many others artists like Eine, Roa, Bambi, Thierry Noir and one of my favourites; the chewing gum artist, Ben Wilson.

I do regular Sunday morning ‘pay what you want’ tours around these areas most weeks, so please do get in touch if you’d like to join. 

Also in the series:

#00 - An Introduction
#01 - Old Kent Road

Where is it?

Old Kent Road, the first stop on the Monopoly board and the cheapest property is in south east London, and cuts diagonally from Southwark (just south of Tower Bridge) in a straight line of just over two miles to New Cross. 

It is also the only square on the London Monopoly board south of the river Thames. 

What’s the story?

As the name suggests, the Old Kent Road was an ancient road used by the Romans and formed part of the famous Watling Street which ran from Dover to Holyhead. Geoffrey Chaucer’s pilgrims travelled down the road on their way to Canterbury in ‘The Canterbury Tales’, written in the late 14th century. 

This once rural thoroughfare, was by the late 19th and early 20th century a mix of housing and industry, including gas works. Much of the surrounding area was heavily bombed during WWII and the old terraces were replaced with high rise council estates and new industrial developments. 

How do I get there?

I live not far from Old Kent Road, so can safely say, that as a tourist it’s reasonably unlikely you’d be wanting to go there. However, the nearest stations are Elephant and Castle to the west and New Cross Gate to the east. Having said that, there’s loads of developments afoot and a couple of new stations will be popping up along the road as part of the Bakerloo Line extension which will run to Lewisham. So you never know, in twenty or thirty years, maybe it will be a tourist destination. 

What’s it like now?

A not particularly pleasant road, choked with traffic and lined with high rise flats, big stores and depots. 

Where would I stay?

You’re probably better off staying around London Bridge, although if you’re into Air BnB’s and fancy staying somewhere less central, then Peckham is a vibrant area, just south of Old Kent Road.

What’s of interest?

On the Old Kent Road itself …not much. South London does actually boast the greenest space of anywhere in London and there are lovely places to visit, but in keeping with the Monopoly board theme, you could wander around Burgess Park. Seeing as this is the only spot included on the board south of the river, I’ll mention a few places around London Bridge for starters. 

Bankside and Borough 

A big draw is the famous food market, Borough Market, which has also doubled up as film locations for the Bridget Jones films and Harry Potter. Southwark cathedral is a wonderful cathedral that often gets usurped by St Paul’s cathedral and Westminster Abbey. You’ve got the Golden Hinde; a replica of Francis Drake’s ship that circumnavigated the world in 1577, Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre and the Tate Modern. You should also definitely stop off for a drink at the George Inn, the only surviving galleried coaching inn in London, which dates back to 1676. If you’re interested in medical history, then the Old Operating Theatre is a must. I do lots of tours around this area, so can show you around, should you so wish. 

Lambeth

If you’re interested in military history then you should definitely visit the Imperial War Museum. 

Bermondsey

In recent years, Bermondsey Street (in between London Bridge and Tower Bridge) has become trendified beyond recognition with a host of restaurants, gastro pubs and coffee shops. For a cultural hit you’ve got the White Cube Gallery and the Fashion and Textile museum and whilst you’re there I highly recommend popping in to Peter Leyton: London Glassblowing and watching some expert glassblowers in action. For foodies, you should definitely seek out Maltby Street Market. 

Down by the river you can visit the HMS Belfast, a WWII war ship used during D-Day in 1944 or if you have kids and fancy some theatre, then I can highly recommend, the Unicorn Theatre which just does shows for kids. 

The River Thames

I realise that people visiting London for a short period are unlikely to do this, but I always recommend a wander along the river Thames. You can uncover so much. I should know, I’ve walked the entire length of it. Tower Bridge is one of the most iconic sights in London, but many people don’t realise that the entire structure is a museum. From there you can walk through Shad Thames; 19th century warehouses turned in to apartments. You’ll pass the Brunel Museum which housed the Engine Room for Marc Isambard Brunel’s Thames Tunnel, finished in 1843, the first tunnel to be built beneath a navigable river and the historic area of Rotherhithe which is lovely and of particular interest to Americans with a connection to the Mayflower as it collected 65 people from here. The pub of the same name is lovely and well worth a visit. 

Greenwich

Further to the east is Greenwich, which you can get to by boat from central London if you’d rather not take the train. It’s a lovely area which includes the Cutty Sark, the Old Royal Naval College and its Painted Hall, the Maritime Museum, the Royal Observatory, the Fan Museum, Greenwich Park and loads of other things. 

And finally, if for whatever reason you are actually looking for Old Kent Road, do say 'THE Old Kent Road' making sure you use the prefix 'the'. No one in London calls it 'Old Kent Road'. 

PLEASE NOTE - There are obviously far more places of interest in south London including museums and galleries, but as Old Kent Road is literally the only road in the whole of south London included on the Monopoly board, it's a bit limiting, so have stuck to more instantly tourist friendly suggestions. 

Also in the series:

​#00 - An introduction

​The current Coronavirus pandemic has obviously affected everyone in many different ways, and like most of the world, we are currently in ‘lockdown’.

Board games which had previously been languishing at the back of a cupboard have resurfaced, been dusted down and played once again. One of these is the UK version of Monopoly which, as I’m sure you know, is based around streets and areas in London. As we were playing the game the other day, it dawned on me that under the current climate and restrictions, this Monopoly board is as close as I’ll get to wandering London’s iconic streets for quite some time. Most of them I would ordinarily be showing people on a tour; Piccadilly, Trafalgar Square, Fleet Street, Whitehall, Pall Mall and Mayfair to name a few. 

I also recalled how many times over the last decade on my walking tours that as I’ve walked down Strand, for instance, people have said “Oh, I only know the Strand from the Monopoly board …it’s red isn’t it?” The same comments have been made about Leicester Square (yellow), Bow Street (orange), Pall Mall (pink), Whitechapel Road (brown) and so on. 

I had realised a long time ago that for first time visitors to London, planning their trip from somewhere on the other side of the globe, or even for UK residents coming down for a weekend, it’s a daunting prospect. London is a vast metropolis with a population of just under 9 million people living in 32 boroughs (and the City of London), across just over 600 square miles. There are hundreds of museums, a host of tourist attractions spread far and wide, a myriad of hotels, bed and breakfasts and Air BnBs, thousands of restaurants, pubs and cafes, off the beaten path hidden gems, must-see tourist hot spots, super trendy hipster areas and places you might just want to avoid altogether. 

In my correspondence with people who have contacted me about doing private walks, if appropriate, I’ve attempted to help them sift through some of this stuff and steer their decision making in terms of which areas they should stay in or which museums and attractions they should visit, explaining where the places are that they want to visit, how to get there and how best to structure their time. I’ve always thought I should endeavour to create something practical to help visitors to London who might be sitting at home trawling through the internet thinking “Where do I start?”, but never known how best to structure it or indeed had the time or inclination.

As I was sitting looking at the Monopoly board the other day, I realised that this was the structure that had eluded me. The board is by no means exhaustive and omits vast swathes of London, but the streets and areas that are included are actually wonderfully suited to visitors to London and the things that might interest them.

And so it is …over the coming weeks and months (or however long it takes) I will post here my ‘Monopoly Guide to London for Tourists’. Due to the real world geographical proximity of a number of the squares I will undoubtedly group some together, but will aim to provide an informative guide to each Monopoly square (property) and answer reasonably succinctly the following questions: Where is it? What’s the story? (a brief historical note) How do I get there? Where would I stay? …and What’s of interest? The last category will include museums, galleries, hidden gems, eateries, pubs, attractions or anything else I think you should see and do in that particular area. I’m going to include some hand drawn maps and at the end, a larger one to hopefully give some context of where all these places are in relation to each other and by proxy, their associated sights and places of interest.

I will approach each square on the board in the order they appear when playing the game and my intention is rather than each post being an in depth historical account, to be a fun, informative and useful tool for first-time visitors to London, as after all, it is these people I often have the pleasure of showing around London, and hope that in the not too distant future, will have that opportunity again.

In the meantime, I realise that this is a particularly challenging time, so wish everyone well.

If you pick up a copy of this weeks Time Out London magazine, you'll discover that I contributed a small column entitled Hidden Landmarks.

​London is a multi-layered city and there are loads of little details hiding in plain sight which both Londoners and tourists alike pass every day and don't notice. They're the kind of things I talk about regularly on my walks and are often a great way of helping to explain a much larger topic. Time Out asked me to include some of my favourites, all of which I've mentioned on this website previously. 

​Metropolitan Police hook

On a building on Great Newport Street (just by Leicester Square Underground Station) close to a busy intersection is a large hook, above which is written ‘Metropolitan Police’. Before traffic lights, a Policeman would stand directing traffic. The story goes that one Policeman had taken to hanging his coat on a nail protruding from the wall during building work. When the work ended and the nail was gone, the impromptu coat hook was sorely missed, so an official one installed.

​Fossils

When Christopher Wren rebuilt the City of London following the Great Fire of London (1666) he used 6 million tonnes of Portland Stone which is quarried in Dorset. This area is known as the Jurassic Coast due to the sheer number of fossils found there from the Jurassic period. Although Wren chose not to feature the fossils, the stone is still being used today and the 150 million-year old fossils are used as decorative features, meaning you can fossil hunt all over London.

​Stretcher Railings

During the Blitzkrieg attacks of WWII, mass civilian casualties were anticipated and therefore numerous A.R.Ps (Air Raid Precautions) were put in to place. One such action was to make loads of sturdy metal stretchers which could also easily be quickly washed down (gas attacks were a real danger too) if contaminated or bloodied. It would seem that a great many of these were taking up valuable space after the war, combined (I’m guessing) with the fact that many fences and railings had been melted down for the war effort. The stretchers became fences themselves. A few examples survive around ex local authority buildings, particularly in east or south-east London.

It's been a while since I've posted anything about the actual walking tours I do in London, so as January draws to a close, thought I'd rectify that and include some photos of walks I've done this month. 

If anyone reading this is interested in joining a walk, then this is pretty much how it works. 

Most weekends (please check the dates on the homepage for availability) I do x3 'pay what you want' walks. Each is about 2.5 / 3 hours long and are as follows.

Saturday AM - Trafalgar Square to St Paul's cathedral (via Covent Garden and Fleet Street) which looks a bit like this:

Saturday PM - St Paul's to Monument (via Bankside & Borough) and looks a bit like this:

Sunday AM - East London (around Old Street, Shoreditch and Spitalfields including LOADS of street art) which looks a bit like this:

Incidentally, these tours don't have a theme, I literally warble on about things I find interesting. If you'd like to join one, please send me a message via the Contact Form letting me know which walk you'd like to join and how many places. I'll reply with the details of where we'll meet etc. 

Then, during the week I do 'private tours' (for which I have set fees) and are tailor made where possible to the people on that walk and could be anything from just a couple of hours to six hours. A lot of these walks are for first time visitors interested in getting a bit of a London overview, whilst seeing a lot of sights, or as was the case this month, two groups of students from Buffalo and Singapore, some other students from the States in London on a study semester abroad, and a couple who have lived in London for 20 years and thought they'd explore an area they weren't too familiar with ...amongst others 

So, if you're visiting London and would like to do what Time Out says is one of 'The best London Walking Tours' which I'm obviously milking for all it's worth, whether it be a weekend 'pay what you want' walk, or would like to discuss a private tour ...please do get in touch. 

Greenwich is a fascinating area of London, with a host of museums and places of interest for tourists to visit; not least the Cutty Sark, the Royal Observatory and the National Maritime Museum.

The area is dominated by the Old Royal Naval College, an impressive complex of riverside buildings designed by Sir Christopher Wren and Nicholas Hawksmoor at the behest of Queen Mary in 1694 as a Royal Hospital for men invalided out of the Navy. The buildings might be familiar with those even yet to visit London, as this World Heritage Site has formed the backdrop to many a blockbuster film; Pirates of the Caribbean, Les Miserables, Cinderella, The King’s Speech, The Dark Knight Rises and Skyfall …to name but a few. 

I recently visited the Painted Hall, known as the UK’s ‘Sistine Chapel’ and originally conceived as a dining room, but soon became a ceremonial space reserved for special functions. Once you go inside, it’s not hard to see why. 

As the name suggests, the Painted Hall is covered in frescos, totalling about 40,000 square feet and took Baroque artist James Thornhill (and his team of assistants) nearly twenty years to complete. They began work in 1707. 

The Painted Hall comprises three connected spaces; the domed vestibule, the Lower Hall and the Upper Hall. Thornhill’s compositions, which include a cast of over 200 characters presents a vivid and suitably biased picture of early Eighteenth Century Britain, beginning with King William and Queen Mary, then Queen Anne and her consort Prince George of Denmark, and finally the arrival of the Hanoverians with King George I sitting in the midst of a large family portrait. 

Baroque painting is not really my cup of tea, but the sheer scale, skill and audacity of the project cannot be disputed. Also, Thornhill’s masterpiece has only recently re-opened to the public following a two year (and £8.5 million) restoration, so is particularly striking and bright. 

For those interested in Naval history, you can stand on the exact spot where Admiral Lord Nelson’s body lay-in-state after his death at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 before being moved to St Paul’s Cathedral for his burial in January 1806. You can also view a copy of the maquette made by E.H. Baily for the statue which now stands on the top of Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square. 

Over the last few years I’ve been joined on a couple of walks by Naomi Clifford, a writer of history books specialising in telling the forgotten stories of women in history.

After our most recent wander around London Naomi presented me with one of her recent books; Women and the Gallows (1797 – 1837) which delves in to the stories of 131-female “unfortunate wretches” hanged in England and Wales. Naomi has also published ‘The disappearance of Maria Glenn’ and most recently ‘The Murder of Mary Ashford’ and is already beavering away on a new book about an auxiliary ambulance driver in London during WW2 called June Spencer. 

As if she hasn’t got enough to do, Naomi and producer Lena Augustinson have launched a podcast series called ‘The Door’, which through conversations with historians, writers and the like and keeping with the theme of Naomi’s books, aims to further unlock little-told stories of women in history. 

The episodes (all of which are under 30 minutes long) thus far include topics such as discussing Maria Branwell (mother of the Bronte sisters) and A Stitch in Time: Women, Needlework and Art. 

The City of London recently hosted a temporary outdoor exhibition about forgotten businesswomen of 18th century Cheapside in the City of London. Naomi invited me along to look at the exhibition with her and talk a little bit about the development of the City, its Guild system and endeavour to put in to context the environment and world in which these women operated. So, on a rather wet and windy Friday afternoon in October, we did just that, the fruits of which can be heard under the title ‘Businesswomen of 18th century London’. If you do listen, perhaps ignore the fact that I was evidently having a competition to see how many times I could say the word ‘basically’. 

The exhibition is no longer in situ but can still be viewed Online. 

If you enjoy the content of Naomi and Lena’s podcast series, please do subscribe so as not to miss their future offerings. 

The Rugby World Cup 2019 is about to kick-off in Japan on Friday and as I come from the town of Rugby (where the game was invented) and happen to be a fan of the sport, thought I’d take a visit to Twickenham Stadium in west London to mark the occasion. It is the home of England rugby and with a seating capacity of 82,000; the largest dedicated rugby union venue in the world.

Twickenham rugby ground had pretty humble beginnings, when in 1907, members of the Rugby Football Union (RFU) purchased for the grand sum of £5,500 12s 6d a 10-acre market garden used to grow cabbages. It’s still affectionately known today as the ‘cabbage patch’. The first club game took place at the newly built stadium in 1909 and the first international match to be played there was between England and Wales on the 15th January 1910. The capacity back then was 20,000, and the stadium has been constantly re-developed over the years and is now unrecognisable from its first incarnation over a century ago. 

Although you can take stadium tours, I went to peruse the World Rugby Museum which is housed there and through a collection of 38,000 objects, tells the story of the games' origins through to the present day. Although slightly shrouded in myth, the story begins in 1823 when a schoolboy at Rugby School called William Webb Ellis was playing football and with a healthy disregard for the rules, caught the ball and ran forward towards the opposition goal, sowing the seeds for an entirely new game which became known as rugby.

The first ever international rugby match took place in Edinburgh in 1871 between England and Scotland and the museum has on display the only surviving jersey (and therefore the oldest international jersey) from that game, which belonged to England’s John Clayton (himself a pupil at Rugby School). 

The museum charts the spread of the game across the globe and has a vast array of memorabilia reflecting the different countries in which the game is played, establishment of the rules, the development of the women’s game, rugby’s role in the First World War and the players who lost their lives, World Cups, iconic players, memorable moments and so on. Perhaps my favourite artefact was commentator Bill McLaren’s meticulous commentary notes from a match in 1979; a work of art in itself.

If you’re in London and a rugby enthusiast, then the World Rugby Museum at Twickenham could well be worth adding to your ‘To Do’ list. 

This year’s Rugby World Cup final will take place on the 2nd November and whichever nation is victorious will lift the Webb Ellis Cup, named after the young schoolboy who may (or may not) have inadvertently invented the game all those years ago.

After graduating from Oxford university, Webb Ellis joined the church and for a time was rector of St Clement-Danes, a church which I wrote about a few years back and pass on my regular Saturday morning walk from Trafalgar Square to St Paul’s cathedral.