Footprints of London

Celebrate aspects of love in Shakespeare’s words! Photo – St Paul’s Churchyard (quote: Sonnet 116) © 2020 David Charnick Love has many aspects, and William Shakespeare probes the nature of love in his works. It may be ‘the marriage of true minds’, or grief at the loss of a child. Again it may be the…

Come explore the impact of World War Two on Bethnal Green Photo: Bethnal Green Tube Disaster Memorial (detail) © 2020 David Charnick Join me to explore the traces of the impact of World War Two on Bethnal Green. We commemorate the hardships faced on the Home Front, visiting the sites of three air raid shelters….

Come celebrate a world of inns, hops and beer! Photo: Site of Barclay Perkins Brewery – © David Charnick 2020 Join me to celebrate a time of inns and brewing. Come see traces of the hospitality offered by the inns of Borough High Street. Learn how central the hop trade was locally. And of course…

Celebrate aspects of love in Shakespeare’s words! Photo – St Paul’s Churchyard (quote: Sonnet 116) © 2020 David Charnick Love has many aspects, and William Shakespeare probes the nature of love in his works. It may be ‘the marriage of true minds’, or grief at the loss of a child. Again it may be the…

Celebrate the secret world in words! Photo: Cambridge Circus Sign – © David Charnick 2020 What’s your preference – George Smiley or James Bond? Both feature in this exploration of the shadowy world of secret agents in fiction. The tour features site-specific readings – some obvious, some much less so! Join me in a literary…

Celebrate the great defender – Rumpole of the Bailey! Photo: The Recording Angel, Central Criminal Court – © David Charnick 2020 Fortified with Château Thames Embankment, and overseen by She Who Must Be Obeyed, Rumpole of the Bailey devotes his time to keeping errant humanity out of chokey. Join me to explore Rumpole’s legal world…

Celebrate the man who brought the world to the London stage! Photo: Aldwych Theatre canopy – © David Charnick 2020 Peter Daubeny brought the world to London. He invited unprecedented numbers of overseas companies to perform here, laying the foundations of world theatre as we know it. Join me to celebrate the theatre manager who…

Explore Peter Ackroyd’s shadowy East End! Photo: St Anne Limehouse (detail) – © 2018 Alan Tucker Peter Ackroyd’s is one of the authentic voices of London: his novels, histories, biographies and so much more capture the rhythms of the city. This tour celebrates his portrayal of the riverside East End as a place of monsters…

Celebrate Dictionary Johnson with his own words! Photo: Samuel Johnson by Percy Fitzgerald (detail), St Clement Danes – © David Charnick 2022 In 1737 a teacher with an uncertain future arrived in London in the company of one of his former pupils. The former pupil was David Garrick, who would become one of the most…

Celebrate the secret world in words! Photo: Cambridge Circus Sign – © David Charnick 2020 What’s your preference – George Smiley or James Bond? Both feature in this exploration of the shadowy world of secret agents in fiction. The tour features site-specific readings – some obvious, some much less so! Join me in a literary…