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:


13Jan
13 - Jan
14:00 - 16:00
Royal Victoria DLR Station - Seagull Lane, London, E16 1BZ

Walking Tour – London’s Port History – Part 3 The Royal Docks

The 3rd of 4 walks telling the story of the port of London looks at the huge docks built for steamsh...

13Jan
13 - Jan
20:00 - 21:00
Online Event

Virtual Tour – South Wales – Landscape and Industry

A virtual tour through South Wales from Chepstow to Worm's Head looking at industrial history t...

15Jan
15 - Jan
14:30 - 16:15
Outside The Lady Mildmay Pub - 92 Mildmay Park, London, N1 4PR

Walking Tour – Dissenters of Newington Green

In the 18th century Newington Green was home to a group of religious dissenters who discussed politi...

16Jan
16 - Jan
11:00 - 13:00
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...

19Jan
19 - Jan
20:00 - 21:00
Online Event

Virtual Tour – Ealing’s Best Buildings

Rob talks about his favourite buildings in the Borough of Ealing, from the Art Deco Hoover building...

23Jan
23 - Jan
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...

02Feb
02 - Feb
20:00 - 21:00
Online Event

Virtual Tour – Hillingdon’s Best Buildings

Hillingdon is one of London's biggest boroughs and one of the most architecturally varied - fro...

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

Virtual Tour – East Coast Shipwrecks

The sad tales of ships that have met their fate on England's treacherous North Sea Coast With s...

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

Virtual Tour – The Battle of Waterloo Remembered

This Virtual Tour looks at how the news of the Battle of Waterloo reached London and how Londoners r...

06Feb
06 - Feb
14:00 - 16:00
Elstree and Borehamwood Station - Allum Lane, Borehamwood, WD6 3LS

Walking Tour – Elstree Remember Me – Borehamwood’s Film History

A walk around the former sites of the Elstree studios in Borehamwood, where some of the most famous...

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