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:


14Jul
14 - Jul
20:00 - 21:00
Online Event

Virtual Tour – Shipwrecks in the Thames

Stories of sunken ships in the Thames from Roman times to the present day With so many ships visitin...

15Jul
15 - Jul
20:00 - 21:00
Online Event

Virtual Tour – London’s East India Company Legacy

Places in London you can visit that owe their roots to the East India Company, one of the most power...

20Jul
20 - Jul
14:00 - 16:00
Kingsbury Station - Kingsbury Road, London, NW9 9EG

Walking Tour – The Heights of London – Brent

One of a series of walks visiting the highest point in each London borough. This one climbs 92m to W...

27Jul
27 - Jul
11:00 - 13:00
Green Park tube (Victoria, Picadilly, Jubilee lines) outside Stratton Street exi...

Walking Tour – Prime Ministers’ Homes

The Prime Minister lives at 10 Downing Street of course! But where have they lived before and after...

27Jul
27 - Jul
14:30 - 16:30
Woolwich Dockyard Station - Belson Road, London, SE18 5JY

Walking Tour – Uncovering Woolwich Dockyard

Woolwich Dockyard was where Henry VIII's ship The Great Harry was built in 1514. This walk expl...

28Jul
28 - Jul
11:00 - 13:00
Farringdon Underground - 39 Cowcross Street, London, EC1M 6BY

Walking Tour – The Makers of Modern London

A walk looking at some of the people who transformed London into the worlds first modern city If you...

01Aug
01 - Aug
14:00 - 16:00
Farringdon Underground - 39 Cowcross St, London, EC1M

Walking Tour – Il Quartiere – Tales From Italian Clerkenwell

Tales of love, bravery, crime and friendship from Italian Clerkenwell 1830-1950   From the mid 19th...

03Aug
03 - Aug
20:00 - 21:00
Online Event

Virtual Tour – The Russells of Russell Square

The story of the family that gives its name to Russell Square Ever wonder how the streets around Rus...

07Aug
07 - Aug
11:00 - 15:00
Oxted Train Station - Southern Railway - 60 Station Road West, Oxted, RH8 9EU

Walking Tour – The Heights of London – Bromley

This is the big one - a climb up to Westerham Heights standing at 245 m above sea level - the highes...

08Aug
08 - Aug
11:00 - 12:30
Canning Town Station - Silvertown Way, London, E16 1DQ

Walking Tour – Thames Ironworks FC – the Roots of West Ham

This walk takes in some of the locations connected to Thames Ironworks FC - the football club that w...

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