Footprints of London

  The building on the right used to be the printing works for the Great Eastern Railway at Stratford, producing the companies posters, timetables and tickets. As the Victorian railway system was run by many different companies, it was important to track which company’s trains a passenger had travelled on, so tickets became increasingly important…

If you are going on any of Walk London’s Winter Wanders this weekend look out for Footprints of London members Neil Sinclair, who will be leading ‘The Amazing History of the Banks of the River Thames’ and ‘London’s hidden alleyways and courtyards’ and Diane Eccles who will be leading “St Paul’s and the Secret Corners…

Two view of Leadenhall Market, one of the most photogenic buildings in the City of London. You can visit them on Robin’s Walking A Christmas Carol on Saturday 21st December. Brian (who took these photographs) also has some walks on Christmas Day and Boxing Day – see the schedule for details.

London is starting to look particularly festive at the moment and our series of Christmas walks continues with Walking a Christmas Carol, SoHoHo , Alun’s Christmas themed look at the pubs and restaurants of Soho, Dickens After Dark and Churches, Corners and Corridors (and mince pies too) Don’t forget that Brian will also have some…

There are lots of London buildings that I would have love to have seen built, but for one reason were never completed – Sir Edward Watkins tower in Wembley for instance, that would have been taller than the Shard if it had not run out of money during construction in 1894. Or Thomas Wilson’s pyramid…

I like the new look for Mount Pleasant sorting office, the new coat of paint smartens the building up and they have proudly added the names of London postal districts and towns that are/were important to the postal network. Although the Mount Pleasant site is due to undergo drastic redevelopment in the coming years, it’s…

Jenni Bowley writes about why she finds the Bloomsbury Group so interesting: The Bloomsbury Group are often referred to as an artistic and intellectual circle who lived in squares and loved in triangles.  In the early 20th Century, Bloomsbury was a relatively unfashionable district that has become known for this group of writers, artists, intellectuals…

Another look at books that have inspired Literary Footprints. This time Jill talks about Pamela (or Virtue Rewarded) by Samuel Richardson     Another famous literary resident Fleet Street was Samuel Richardson an author who also had a printing establishment here where Oliver Goldsmith (Vicar of Wakefield & She Stoops to Conquer) read proofs.  Richardson’s…

Continuing the series on books that have inspired the walks in our Literary Footprints festival. This time Rob talks about “The Angel of the Revolution: A Tale of the Coming Terror” by George Chetwyn Griffith In the late 19th century a genre that has been described as Invasion Fiction became popular in Britain, stories that…

With our Literary Footprints Festival starting soon we asked our guides about the books that inspired their walks. First Sean talks about “The Children of the Ghetto” by Israel Zangwill. Israel Zangwill by Walter Sickert Israel Zangwill is one of the great chroniclers of London at a particular time. A Jewish writer, scholar and journalist he…