Rob Smith


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Tour guide Rob Smith at a riverside pub in London
Contact 07806 714006 or mail

Rob is a member of Clerkenwell & Islington Guiding Association.

“Despite my 35 years in London” he says “I’m always amazed how you can find a new street that’s got an amazing story to tell. The thing I like best about London is how a tiny thing, like a decoration on a building can tell a big story. When you’re walking you are following in the footsteps of Londoners from the past, it makes the history come to life much more than just reading about it”

Rob is most interested in social history, and the way that inventions have changed people’s lives, but he always makes room in his walks to tell the stories of his London heroes.

Rob’s walks take him all over London, and beyond with a series of walks along the River Thames heading out East of London towards the Thames Estuary. You can also join him on day trips out of London to places like Rochester, Reading and St Albans.

He has written a book The Industrial History of the Lower River Lea based upon one of his tours.

He has worked on TV with The Hairy Bikers on The Pubs that Made Britain, featured in a film about Barking Power Station, and appeared on a programme about the East India Company for Iran International TV, featured in a documentary about the Great Smog on French TV and worked with ITN News reporter Sally Williams. Rob has appeared on the Radio 4 programme Screenshot with Mark Kermode and on History Hit Podcast with Dan Snow.

When not out walking, Rob also teaches London History courses at Morley College, South Thames College and Bishopsgate Institute.

His current Footprints of London walks and online virtual tours are:


18Aug
18 - Aug
14:30 - 17:00
Tower Hill Station - Trinity Square, London, EC3N 4DJ

Walking Tour – Beneath London’s Streets

A tour about things under the ground, featuring a church crypt, Roman remains, underground shops and...

27Aug
27 - Aug
14:30 - 16:30
Outside National Portrait Gallery - St Martin's Place, London, WC2H 0HE

Walking Tour – John Singer Sargent’s People

This walk visits places where people who appeared in the paintings of John Singer Sargent lived.   D...

02Sep
02 - Sep
20:00 - 21:00
Online Event

Virtual Tour – The Thames Estuary

A journey along the Thames from East London to the Sea in the comfort of your own living room This f...

07Sep
07 - Sep
20:00 - 21:00
Online Event

Virtual Tour – Francisco de Miranda – A Revolutionary in London

The adventures of Francisco de Miranda who helped found modern Venezuela but who spent much of his l...

08Sep
08 - Sep
20:00 - 21:00
Online Event

Virtual Tour – Exploring Roman London

Find out what you can see of Roman London on this virtual tour While the remains of Roman London mig...

09Sep
09 - Sep
14:00 - 15:15
Angel Tube Station - Islington, London, EC1V 1NE

Walking Tour – Merrie Islington

Islington was a place of pleasure for Londoner's to escape from the City in the 1700s. Rob will...

12Sep
12 - Sep
20:00 - 21:00
Online Event

Virtual Tour – Subterranean London

Twelve underground places in London that you can visit Londoners are used to going underground, bein...

15Sep
15 - Sep
14:00 - 16:45
Chipstead Station Parade - Chipstead Station Parade, Chipstead, CR5

Walking Tour – The Heights of London – Sutton

One of a series of walks visiting the highest point in each London borough. This walk is on the edge...

17Sep
17 - Sep
20:00 - 21:00
Online Event

Virtual Tour – Stonehenge and other Prehistoric Mysteries

Stonehenge is the world's most famous structure from the Stone Age, but it is not the only preh...

18Sep
18 - Sep
13:00 - 16:00
Queenborough Station - Main Road, Queenborough, ME11 5DB

Walking Tour – Queenborough and Sheerness – Two Kent Ports

A walk between the little Kent port of Queenborough and the seaside town of Sheerness via the docks...

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