And Did Those Feet

Saturday March 30 2019 The City of London Architecture Walk Sat 14:30 · Tower Hill tube station · London     Pub Crawl up the River Fleet on May 18 London Bridge to Bermondsey on July 13 The Archaeology of London Bridge on July 14 City Backstreets on Oct. 5Roman Archaeology and Culture on Aug. 3 Chelsea on Sept. 28 Decline and Fall of Roman London on Sept. 28 Myths and Legends and the Origins of London on Oct. 5 The City and the Blitz on November 23

First time I've had time to post about a walk for a long time.  But tomorrow I am doing a pub walk which explores, in depth, a small part of the City of London. I am looking at Castle Baynard Ward which is south of St Pauls and west across the Fleet river into Fleet Street. Do feel free to come along.   Castle Baynard Ward 7.15 St Pauls Tube Exit 2    

I gave a walk for the London Festival of Archiecture on Medicine - good turn out and it went well.  I tried to give a medical, architectural, historical and to add in various ideas of health and well-being. London Bridge Revealed – Medicine (Guided Walk) During June the Museum of Walking will lead an eclectic series of walks focusing on some of the key characteristics that make up London Bridge’s past, present and future: its riverside, railway and greenery, and its unique heritage medical and leisure heritage. Both the provision and education associated with Guy’s Hospital and Kings College has a huge legacy in the area, and has attracted private hospitals as well. Not only is the Guy’s tower a significant landmark (purportedly the highest hospital building in the world both at the time of its construction in the 1970s and in the present day), but as one of the largest employers, holds the key to many personal and col...

Triarchy Press has a set of authors who are developing the idea of walking as a radical art form. To find out more, follow this link: https://www.triarchypress.net/walking.html

The next in my series of Ward Walks of the City of London, I am doing Cornhill Ward.  We will look at the archaeology and history of the Ward from the earliest times to the present day. 10th March 18 Cornhill Ward of the City of London 2.30 Bank Tube. Exit 3

I tested a museum's izi.travel guided tour. These were my conclusions. The app worked very well as far as navigation was concerned. It provides a GPS based mapped route around the system.  There was a slight uncertainty as to how to start the tour but otherwise, mechanically, it looked professional and worked well. The scripting was very professionally read by actors.  I think the main problem was that each stop was too long.  Some of them were 10 minutes long and this seemed like a bit of a slog to get through. I think it should be split up into 2 - 3 sections with optional extras if any one wants to explore.  I don't know if this is possible with the app. I would have liked to have seen more images and less audio. The script did not make it clear whether the spoken material by the characters was made up by the script- writer or quotes from a contemporary source.  I guess a mixture of both but the uncertainty devalued the quotations. Another problem ...

These are the walks I am doing for London Walks for the forthcoming winter season: Sat 10.45 4th Nov 2017 The Archaeology & History of the Bankside - from London Bridge to the Globe  - London Bridge  Tooley Street Entrance A walk  looking at the Archaeology and History of Southwark and the Bankside.  This area, to the South of London Bridge, has more prehistoric remains that the City of London and a set of important Roman buildings that suggest it was more than just a suburb of Roman London.  On the walk we look at the origins and history of London's most famous Bridge, and its importance for the development of London's most famous suburb.  The walk will explore the Roman settlement, its decline in the so-called 'Dark Ages' and its reappearance in the 9th Century as a new Bridge was erected.  We investigate the area in and around Southwark Cathedral. The walk ends  looking at the archaeology of Shakespeare's Stage. Sat 2.30 18...

Some, and only some, walking tour companies don't follow good practice. Crackdown spells the end of 'free' walking tours where the guides force you to tip London Walks by contrast are brilliant.

Ghostsigns. This site is dedicated to  'the typically fading remains of painted advertising on walls. The aim is to raise awareness and understanding of ghostsigns through a variety of projects, including research, publishing, tours and events.  '

Interesting web site that sees the Art in Walking. They say: 'Museum of Walking | the art is in taking part : We are a family run business that develops and delivers walking events. Our walks are mainly artist led, depending on the event you choose there will be a mix of drawing, bricolage and learning. Our focus is to be creative using walking as the art form. Participants come and explore an area, learn something new and develop skills. Group participation is fun and stimulating and you will be part of a walking performance. ‘The art is in taking part’ which we call ‘walking creatively‘.'

I wrote this quick tour for one of my students for her M.A project. She will be creating a much better framework for it. https://www.nationalgallery.co.uk/products/the-virgin-and-child-enthroned-with-narrative-scenes-print/p_NG564 The Virgin and Child Enthroned, with Narrative Scenes Margarito of Arezzo. C 1263 This is a typical 'Byzantine' style of medieval painting. It is a story-telling painting with scenes from various saints lives. The figures are static and the spaces unreal. It is very beautiful with copious use of Gold Leaf and the main role of the painting is to tell the stories of the Saints. http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/giotto-and-workshop-pentecost Pentacost. Giotto c 1310 In this Florentine painting, you can see Giotto groping towards an understanding of perspective. The room is not quite 3 dimensional, but he has created a sense of space. The people similarly are becoming more realistic, and clearly...

Here are a couple of methods of creating a free guided tour.   Whitepoint | Virtual tour software for smarter, mobile-ready virtual tours. Whitepoint | Virtual tour software for smarter, mobile-ready virtual tours. izi.travel.app https://izi.travel/en is another platform that is free to create tours.

This is my contribution to London Walks 'Tips for Winter Walkers' The Daily Constitutional from London Walks®: #London Walks Guides' Tips For Winter Walkers No.3

The Roman City 10:45  Sun 10th Jan 2016   Bank Tube, exit 3 (by the war memorial in front of the War Memorial An archaeologist-guided exploration of Londinium (Sic Transit Gloria Mundi).   The Walk will look at the anatomy of the Roman City of London and investigate how our view of  Londinium has changed.

A review of one of my walks Londinium loses its monopoly on power | Past In The Present

 Courtesy of Ian Visits here are some interesting events in late Oct - early november Guided tours of the Albert Memorial - Kensington Gardens - The Royal Parks 17th-century-revolution in Book reading The king in the Car Park - Gresham Lecture Virtual Autopsy -  Death of a king  - the Old Operating Theatre Museum The Great Exhibition and Steam Punk

I'm doing a couple of walks for Team London Bridge on 15th October - On Chaucer, Shakespeare and Dickens Team London Bridge and the London Bridge Business Improvement District

This was part of the plot of  a book I was writing - the idea is now ripped apart! Are Jack the Ripper tours blighting London? - Telegraph

The first Zeppelin Walk I have done when it was not raining or dark. This one was just cold! I was taking around a group of logisticians, very nice group and we had a couple of drinks in the Dolphin and in Smithfield. I discovered that I had been pointing out the wrong clock in the Dolphin Pub to survive the bombing.  Both were set to the right time for the bombing so I guess I can forgive myself.  lovely quiet pub the Dolphin, just across the road from Lambs Conduit St. The Dolphin Clock (the right one) (photo Steve Bowen)

Now this is the sort of thing I should have done with my walks, years ago! Unreal City Audio