Rob Smith


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Rob Smith
Contact 07806 714006 or mail

Rob is a member of Clerkenwell & Islington Guiding Association.

“Despite my 30 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.

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:

Rob Smith (guide details)

Virtual Tour - Francisco de Miranda - A Revolutionary in London

Thu 28 Mar 8:00 pm

Your guide: Rob Smith
Description: Francisco de Miranda spent all his life dreaming of a revolution in South America, but he spent a lot of his life in London. Hear the story of his attempts to set up a democratic republic that always seem to end up in London

Walking Tour - Walking The River Lea Part One - Starting at the Source

Sat 30 Mar 2:00 pm

Your guide: Rob Smith
Description: First in a series of walks along the River Lea. Starting at the source of the River you’ll visit stone age Waulud’s Bank, a moated farmhouse and a Victorian mansion as the Lea wends its way through meadows in North Luton

Virtual Tour  - Exploring Roman London

Mon 8 Apr 8:00 pm

Your guide: Rob Smith
Description: See where you can find Roman remains on this Virtual Tour that tells the story of Londinium

Walking Tour - The Real London of Peaky Blinders

Wed 10 Apr 6:00 pm

Your guide: Rob Smith
Description: Explore the mean streets of Clerkenwell that were run by the gangster Sabini – a real person portrayed by Noah Taylor in the TV series Peaky Blinders 

Walking Tour - Walking The River Lea Part Two - Into Hertfordshire

Sat 13 Apr 2:00 pm

Your guide: Rob Smith
Description: Continuing a series of walks along the River Lea this one starts at Luton Airport and ends in the Hertfordshire town of Harpenden

Virtual Tour - Hackney's Best Buildings

Wed 17 Apr 8:00 pm

Your guide: Rob Smith
Description: Part of a series on the best buildings in each London borough. Hackney has historic churches, fine Georgian Houses, examples of 20th century civic pride and modern regeneration.

Virtual Tour - Hertfordshire - Countryside on London's Border

Thu 18 Apr 8:00 pm

Your guide: Rob Smith
Description: Hertfordshire is one of England’s smaller counties, but it has lots to see, and all within easy reach of London. This virtual tour will give you inspiration for country walks in bluebell woods, and old pubs near ancient churches.

Walking Tour - Il Quartiere - Tales From Italian Clerkenwell

Sat 20 Apr 2:00 pm

Your guide: Rob Smith
Description: Stories of love, crime, bravery and friendship from Clerkenwell’s Italian Community 1820-1950

Walking Tour - Il Quartiere - Tales From Italian Clerkenwell

Thu 25 Apr 2:00 pm

Your guide: Rob Smith
Description: Stories of love, crime, bravery and friendship from Clerkenwell’s Italian Community 1820-1950

Walking Tour - Beneath London's Streets

Fri 26 Apr 2:30 pm

Your guide: Rob Smith
Description: A tour about things underground – crypts, vaults, cellars and of course the London Underground

Walking Tour - The River Lea Part Three - To The Camp of the Catuvellauni

Sat 27 Apr 2:00 pm

Your guide: Rob Smith
Description: A walk following the River Lea through Hertfordshire, visiting the site where Julius Caesar is claimed to have fought an epic battle against the Catuvellauni

Walking Tour - Historic Hanwell

Fri 3 May 2:00 pm

Walking Tour - Czech Shoes and Mucking Flats - the Thames at East Tilbury

Sat 4 May 2:00 pm

Your guide: Rob Smith
Description: Tenth in a series of walks along the Thames, this walk looks at the Bauhaus inspired Bata shoe factory built in the 1930s with a surrounding village for workers. The walk then passes Coalhouse Fort for a walk along an isolated part of the Thames to Mucking Flats, where you’ll see many birds along the foreshore.

Virtual Tour - Along The River Lea

Thu 9 May 8:00 pm

Walking Tour - The River Lea Part Four - Brocket Hall and Welwyn

Sat 11 May 1:30 pm

Your guide: Rob Smith
Description: Following the River Lea on its journey through Hertfordshire, including the pretty estate at Brockett Hall

Virtual Tour - Treasures of the Isle of Wight

Wed 15 May 8:00 pm

Your guide: Rob Smith
Description: A virtual tour around the diamond shaped island that has everything from Roman mosaics to rare telephone boxes. You’ll see why the Isle of Wight is a favorite place for Rob, and some of the less well known places on the island to visit

Walking Tour -  Essex Estuaries - The Stour from Manningtree to Mistley

Sat 18 May 1:00 pm

Your guide: Rob Smith
Description: A walk along the Stour Estuary in Essex, looking at the links with Witchfinder General Matthew Hopkins, Mistley Quay a site of shipbuilding in the 18th century, and remains of a Robert Adams church.

Walking Tour - Beneath London's Streets

Mon 20 May 2:30 pm

Your guide: Rob Smith
Description: A tour about things underground – crypts, vaults, cellars and of course the London Underground

Virtual Tour - Brent's Best Buildings

Sun 26 May 8:00 pm

Your guide: Rob Smith
Description: A look at the best buildings in London Borough of Brent including the domestic buildings of Metroland, old churches and Wembley Stadium. Part of a series looking at the best buildings in each London Borough

Walking Tour - Uncovering Woolwich Dockyard

Tue 28 May 2:00 pm

Your guide: Rob Smith
Description: Exploring old dry docks, store houses and chimneys that made up the Royal Navy’s Woolwich Dockyard

Virtual Tour - Barking and Dagenham's Best Buildings

Sun 2 Jun 8:00 pm

Your guide: Rob Smith
Description: Part of a series looking at the best buildings in each London Borough. Barking and Dagenham is home to the ruins of medieval Barking Abbey, historic Valence House and beautiful Eastbury Manor House and lots of other interesting buildings too.

Walking Tour - The Heights of London - Croydon

Mon 3 Jun 2:00 pm

Virtual Tour - Churches, Castles and Country Towns - a Lincolnshire Journey

Sun 9 Jun 8:00 pm

Your guide: Rob Smith
Description: A virtual staycation in one of England’s largest counties. From the splendour of Lincoln Cathedral to the rolling hills of the Lincolnshire Wolds, visiting historic castles and pretty market towns on the way, you’ll see why Lincolnshire is such a great place to visit

Walking Tour - Wandsworth Industrial History

Mon 10 Jun 11:00 am

Walking Tour - Exploring the Solar System in Otford

Tue 25 Jun 2:00 pm

Your guide: Rob Smith
Description: The pretty village of Otford in Kent is home to a mind blowing model of the solar system set out around the village. Come and walk the country footpaths on the way to Pluto, and see some historic medieval buildings on the way

Walking Tour - The Heights of London - Greenwich

Mon 1 Jul 2:00 pm

Virtual Tour - First Flights Over London

Sun 22 Sep 8:00 pm

Virtual Tour - Castles Around London

Sun 29 Sep 8:00 pm

Your guide: Rob Smith
Description: This Virtual Tour hosted on Zoom is about Castles that you can visit that are a short journey from London. Some still have substantial remains, some are more like bumps in the ground, but all have a story attached. Rob will talk about the sieges, the royal residents and treacherous deeds that took place in them.

Virtual Tour - Christmas in Georgian London

Thu 5 Dec 8:00 pm

Your guide: Rob Smith
Description: Christmas tradidions evolve in Georgian London – masked balls, twelth cake and celebrations on St Nicholas Day

Virtual Tour - A Victorian Christmas in Islington

Thu 19 Dec 8:00 pm

Your guide: Rob Smith
Description: Readings from the local newspapers of the 1870s illustrate how Christmas was reinvented by the Victorians. Hear about Christmas in islington from wealthy shoppers to Christmas Day in the workhouse

Walking Tour - A Victorian Christmas in Islington

Sat 21 Dec 2:00 pm

Your guide: Rob Smith
Description: A walk looking at how Christmas was celebrated between 1840-70 with readings from the Islington local newspapers of the time. What was on at Collins Music Hall? What did the Boot Black Brigade have for Christmas dinner? And what was Christmas in the workhouse like?

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