You might think that Cheapside today looks rather bland apart from the gleaming Number One New Change and a few historic churches – and a great deal of it was flattened in the blitz – but this impression belies its former glory!

It runs through the heart of the City of London, and for centuries formed its main economic artery. From the early medieval period, all goods essential to life were sold here, with its side streets famously named for the products they traded in. A much broader, grander avenue back in the day, from the eighteenth century it morphed into a centre for luxury goods vying with Bond Street and later Regent Street. And it’s also been a ceremonial street connecting the way from St Paul’s and Westminster to the Tower of London for royal occasions and the Lord Mayor’s Show.

Richard’s walking tour explores Cheapside’s commercial history, including signs of its former status, magnificent processions, stories of apprentice riots, great manufacturers of high-class goods and furious rows over recent controversial developments.