The trick to London is often paying attention to place names, as this walk around the precincts of Westminster Abbey amply illustrates! Exploring the Precincts of Westminster Abbey London, it’s been a while! Like I was saying recently in my review of 2023, there is far too much to see and do (although I can’t […]
At a loose end for an hour or two in Paris, I check to see whether large language models are up to the task of tour guiding by doing a walking tour with ChatGPT. What’s All This Then? You heard me, in this post I’m doing a walking tour with ChatGPT. Let’s take a step […]
An illustrated walk through historic Chiswick, exploring the changes over the years. From Hogarth’s House to Chiswick House via a riverfront walk. We follow John Wittich’s 1976 book Discovering London Villages. A Walk Through A Lost London Village It’s been a while since we did one of these. There was a time (ahem lockdown) when […]
A description of a walking tour around Battersea, following a 1970s guidebook. An autumnal stroll reveals that there is much more to Battersea than parks and power stations. Discovering Battersea It has been a while since I have published any walks from the assorted 1970s books of John Wittich, but autumn is quite a nice […]
An illustrated walk around Paddington, once a distinct village, and now very much part of the behemoth that is London. Nothing remains of Paddington prior to the late 18th Century, but the faintest traces of a lost village atmosphere are still in the air. Paddington – Not What I Would Call A Village Well these […]
A walk around the former precincts of Blackfriars Priory. There is very little left of what was once an important institution in London, but its mark on the city can still be seen today. Blackfriars? What are we talking about here? We have briefly visited the Blackfriars area, on this walk along the Thames. These […]
An illustrated walk around Mayfair, once notorious for ‘wantonness’ but now a model of respectability. Walking from Green Park Station to Grosvenor Square, we will encounter peaceful parks, historic shops and touches of luxury. Mayfair? We Are Pretty Far From The Docklands Now! Yes we are, aren’t we? Both geographically, and in terms of the […]
An illustrated walk around the City of London. With a new book of London walks in hand, we retrace the first 24 hours of the 1666 Great Fire, and see what remains of pre-Fire London and the subsequent rebuild. New Book, New Walks I think I’ve been fairly transparent with my readers. I had done […]
An illustrated walk along the Thames, taking in many of London’s historic curiosities. Theatres and sewers and docks, oh my! Picking Up Where We Left Off Today’s walk is a continuation of this earlier walk which started in Chelsea and ended in Westminster. The walk comes from John Wittich’s 1973 book Discovering London’s Curiosities. As […]
An illustrated walk along the Thames from Chelsea to Westminster, exploring various London curiosities along the way. Exploring Further Along the Thames: Chelsea to Westminster Those of you who regularly read my blog posts will be getting well-acquainted with the Docklands and City of London by now. We have been on walks around Wapping, Rotherhithe, […]
