https://watkinswalkslondon.squarespace.com/home daily 1.0 2026-07-29 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd10c308bb286b7fc657b2/1607536497466-1E9E2DZLYBOEHT25L3XK/RichPic.jpg Home Hi, I’m Richard, and I have a passion to bring the history of London to life. I deliver original walking tours and virtual tours around London. I love showing off the great thoroughfares, squares and buildings as well as revealing the lesser known courtyards and alleyways. I like to put over the drama of historic events. But what most inspires me is bringing out the stories of the people through history who gave London’s buildings and streets life. As well as my scheduled tours I am available for private group virtual tours, walks or talks. Just send me an email with the details. Most of my tours are now also available as Virtual Tours, brought to you in the comfort of your own living room for £10.00 (£16.00 for two or more sharing one device). Walking Tours: £17.50 Adult; £12.50 concession See my currently scheduled tours on this page, with a full list under the “Tours” tab. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd10c308bb286b7fc657b2/3fc53825-4699-4497-b86f-db08b6e5bcd4/Fire+pic+3.jpg Home - Walking Tour - The Great Fire of Westminster Walk on the dramatic and farcical events of 16 October 1834 when the medieval Houses of Parliament burnt down. Wednesday 14 October, 6.00pm: Details/Book https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd10c308bb286b7fc657b2/24599726-2fed-451b-a5ee-acac087faa6e/Tyburn+pub+walk+pic.jpg Home - Walking Tour - The Route of the Condemned through Holborn … via its Pubs Following part of the route to Tyburn via fine and historic pubs and exploring the gruesome history of the Tyburn Fair and that last drink. Thursday 29 October, 2.30pm: Details/Book https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd10c308bb286b7fc657b2/325728d7-76dc-45a2-81a8-3882463a5028/St+Giles+walking+tour+image.jpg Home - WalkingTour - St Giles: In Search of a Slum Exploring the legacy of a slum through some historic social buildings, atmospheric old streets and fine churches in London's West End. Tuesday 24 November, 2.30pm: Details/Book https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd10c308bb286b7fc657b2/def9eb2a-a7e7-4255-ae54-63318e3a17d0/Soho+pub+tour+image.jpg Home - WalkingTour - Mr Blake’s Tree Full of Angels A whimsical tour in west Soho, seeing its history through pubs, including a dodgy pump, a visionary poet and an arm-less bard. Wednesdasy 2 December, 2.30pm: Details/Book https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd10c308bb286b7fc657b2/569a53dd-1457-4e1b-a5e0-b834b522a12f/Smithfield+walk+promo+image+1a.jpg Home - Walking Tour - Cows, Cloth-Sellers and the Condemned: Smithfield’s Pubs The history of Smithfield through its iconic pubs: the markets, the monsateries, executions, Barts Fair and the new London Museum. Wednesday 16 December, 2.00pm: Details/Book Monday 28 December, 2.00pm Details/Book Sunday 3 January, 2.00pm: Details.Book https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd10c308bb286b7fc657b2/1607423599954-O43TDXKMV9A5A4VXXQM6/trip%2Badvisor%2Bimage.jpg Home https://watkinswalkslondon.squarespace.com/categoriesandtitles daily 0.75 2023-01-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd10c308bb286b7fc657b2/1608028501551-HLI3495ON0Z087V9R7YA/1006119%2BSt%2BJames%2527s%2BPark%2Bimage.jpg Categories and Titles https://watkinswalkslondon.squarespace.com/talks-groups daily 0.75 2020-12-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd10c308bb286b7fc657b2/1607968452374-GM9DHKLBVL80BB7VJJIU/CP%2Bmuseum%2Btalk%2Bimage%2Bof%2Bme%2B1.jpg Talks / Groups Interested in any of my tours for a private group booking?: please do get in touch with the details. I could also tailor-make a walk to meet specific group’s interests. In addition, I provide talks to private groups - which I can do online via zoom or other platform. In the last few years, I have guided a civil service history group, a historic house Friends Society and a group of women on a hen afternoon amongst others; and conducted talks to University of the Third Age organisations and a local history group; as well as doing a number of talks at the Crystal Palace Museum (above). https://watkinswalkslondon.squarespace.com/reviews daily 0.75 2026-03-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd10c308bb286b7fc657b2/1ebbcf65-0c98-4e37-b632-486310d35e5d/2022+City+Lit+Many+Sides+of+W+E+course+group.jpg Reviews - “We went on Richard Watkins's walking tour of "A Great Political Maze: Mayfair in the Eighteenth Century". Although a Londoner myself, I learned so many new fascinating, important and often amusing things about the places and people associated with them. Richard is a very engaging guide and very well informed. Highly recommended.” Keith T May, 2025 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd10c308bb286b7fc657b2/fe2a3865-88fe-422d-9cce-60b44a962ba7/IMG_20240412_143428.jpg Reviews - ”Very enjoyable and informative walk around Dulwich with Richard Watkins whose knowledge of the area was particularly impressive. Would certainly recommend this walk.” Geoffrey R, July, 2024 “This was an excellent tour explaining part of the route, background and timeframe of the Great fire of London. Richard supported his tour with lots of quotes from contemporary sources i.e. Samuel Pepys diary. You really got a sense of the scale and rapidity of the fire; also the important societal issues of the time.” Sharon S., September, 2024 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd10c308bb286b7fc657b2/74db3392-ace7-425a-80da-ac62b713a007/2024+06+Amandas+Soho+walk+group+pic.jpg Reviews - “We had a fabulous work afternoon on a tour with Richard who was a fount of all knowledge about the history of migration into Soho He also gave us great bar and restaurant recommendations Highly recommend for tourists and Londoners.” tripadvisor, June, 2024 “Our office team did Soho: London's Great Melting Pot as a team building event. Our guide, Richard, thoughtfully guided us through Soho with giving the historical context of many areas I regularly walk through and new very little about. I recommend this tour to anyone who loves London and is keen to know more about its history. Very well done..” H.C. 2024 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd10c308bb286b7fc657b2/e6968f1d-e260-4a70-baad-e1be178c5929/South+London+course+group+23+Haynes+Lane.jpg Reviews - “The tour was so much fun and an amazing experience! Our tour guide Richard, did a FANTASTIC job informing us of events, the history of the cities we had visited and also threw in some humour along the way and was very enjoyable!.” tripadvisor, June 2023 “The tour was an absolute delight and Richard's deep and well researched knowledge of the subject matter was astounding. We learned so much about the neighbourhood and lives of the writers and other personalities who once lived there..” tripadivsor review, May 2022 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd10c308bb286b7fc657b2/1607968753386-1SZEN8HP44V5D0L5UXTE/War%2Bwalk%2BMe%2Boutside%2BBuck%2BHouse.jpg Reviews - “A very interesting and entertaining way to spend a couple of hours. I learnt a lot about the area, heard many intriguing stories about events that have taken place at the hotels in Mayfair and interesting personalities who have stayed there. Richard is a fantastic guide and extremely knowledgeable.” tripadvisor, 2014 “Went on a wonderful walk around Oxford Circus last night with our guide Richard. The history of London and its people never ceases to amaze.” Amanda, 2014 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd10c308bb286b7fc657b2/c7e948f9-04ed-4690-9914-082aefd17343/Me+Ragged+and+Reformers+walk+1.jpg Reviews - Really enjoyed Richard Watkins' virtual tour of Soho, London's great melting pot. The visuals brought it to life and the maps made it easy to work out where things were. There was a bit of time for questions too. I can't wait to visit Soho again in reality and look for all the landmarks that I had been unaware of on previous visits and definitely to have a glass of wine in the French House.” Cool Caro, tripadvisor, 2020 “Thank you, Richard and Steve, for a most splendid walk. Your innovations for presenting the walk brought it to life and provided impact and entertainment…it was a great success.” Richard 2014 https://watkinswalkslondon.squarespace.com/westend daily 0.75 2025-09-11 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd10c308bb286b7fc657b2/5c6a0b99-631f-46e5-abce-4aacc6ea8de5/WPthe+Ynger+promo+image.jpg West End - Walking Tour - A Great Political Maze: Mayfair in the Eighteenth Century Mayfair was built up through the eighteenth century. This was a time when democratic systems were evolving albeit marked by corruption and nepotism and impacted by wars, trade and the development of empire. Politics got everywhere including in music, satire and fashion. We trace a diagonal course through Mayfair including three of its grand squares, passed some of its great surviving eighteenth century buildings and Parish church and the statues to and homes of some of the most powerful players in this theatre such as William Pitt, the Younger, Charles James Fox and Robert Clive. We include great international wars, urban riots and a mysterious suicide. This walk is especially relevant in 2025 on the 250th anniversary of the beginning of the War of American Independence. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd10c308bb286b7fc657b2/fd049a6b-ca88-4fc2-8477-777a7eb8a129/20231022_152749+2.jpg West End - Walking Tour - From Sherlock’s Sitting Room to Nell Gwynn’s Denn Richard's pub tour brings you the strange tale of one pub named after an eighteenth century naval disaster; why one is named after a famous literary sleuth and another after a real maverick policing outfit. We pass a pub frequented by a highwayman; ones related to Dickens and Turner and a glamorous theatre star turned king's mistress along with one where rough bare knuckle boxing was staged (spoiler alert: no fighting today, in fact it's a lovely boozer). It's all too easy to take Covent Garden's pubs for granted as just nice drinking holes . But they are so much more: they hold hundreds of years of west-end life within their walls; housed in some terrific old buildngs, some listed; with names redolent of that local history and they attracted historic drinkers. As well as purveying some gorgeous drinks! And Richard will have a mid-walk stop in one of these fine historic hostelries.. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd10c308bb286b7fc657b2/27778549-6214-4022-a4c9-ceeb5587300e/Aldwych+tour+1+image+5.jpg West End - Walking Tour - From Slum City to Empire Avenue: Aldwych and Kingsway The Aldwych and Kingsway was a major road connection scheme, a grand new royal avenue and a statement of Edwardian Britain at the height of Empire. It also cleared away London’s last west end slum – an area of dilapidated tenements, some dating before the Great Fire of London, notorious for crime and prostitution. It also contained some fantastic idiosyncratic characters and was reflected in Dickens, Pope et al. Richard’s walk tells how the road scheme developed with its monumental bankers’ baroque architecture with striking statuary adornments, including prestigious hotels, theatres and diplomatic buildings. He also delves into the neighbourhood that was swept away uncovering some surprising remains of it in buildings, plaques and old streets. Note: This tour merges parts of two Virtual Tours Richard did of the history of the area converted into a walking tour. difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd10c308bb286b7fc657b2/b0d45a31-8f97-4195-8b3c-c3c6681ec2b4/Aldwych%2Bpart%2B2%2Bposs%2Bpromo%2Bpic%2B2.jpg West End - Virtual Tour only Aldwych and Kingsway: London’s Imperial Avenue Aldwych and Kingsway was a major road scheme - one of London’s greatest planning accomplishments of the twentieth century. It connected the Strand to Holborn and beyond to north London and cleared the last west-end slum. And it provided a new royal avenue, adorned with eminent baroque buildings. And it makes for a fantastic story which covers some fabulous architecture and their adornments, world trade and diplomacy, newspapers, a prestigious hotel and a flourishing mini theatre-land. And perhaps it provides a snapshot of how Britain saw itself at the beginning of the twentieth century. Note: This is part two of my Aldwych pair of tours, following, “The Old Curiosity of a Lost London Neighbourhood”, but it works perfectly well without seeing the first. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd10c308bb286b7fc657b2/27fe75d0-45a9-4df2-9bf0-61dc0fca538a/Aldwych%2Btour%2Bimage%2B3.jpg West End - Virtual Tour only “The Old Curiosity” of a Lost London Neighbourhood. If you walk around the streets to the north east of the Strand and Aldwych today, you can see hardly a hint of a fascinating old area. It was a notorious London slum, the last of the west-end, centre of prostitution and Victorian pornographic literature. It had a vibrant street market where the butchers became local grandees, and some prestigious theatres. It also attracted some idiosyncratic characters and contained some rare surviving architecture going back to the sixteenth century. Using old maps, images, extracts from Dickens and Pope et al and remaining signs today, Richard’s virtual tour leads you through the history of an area long swept away. Note: This tour deals with some adult themes. This is the first in a pair of tours, the second one of which features the grand Aldwych, Kingsway road development that replaced this neighbourhood. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd10c308bb286b7fc657b2/1609515749274-O9JMJBCOK708ETK0GID1/IMG_6129.jpg West End - St Giles: In Search of a slum. St Giles was once one of the most squalid, insanitary and criminal areas in the country; it was said to contain, “the lowest conditions under which human life is possible.” It grew from the early 1600s as a colony of new arrivals, those expelled from the city, the sick and the poor. And it became an urban forest of overcrowded courts, alleys, open sewers and gin shops. Fielding, Hogarth and Dickens chronicled its conditions and campaigned for its improvement. Richard’s tour explores this area caught between Bloomsbury and Covent Garden, finding some fantastic historic social buildings, fine churches, atmospheric old streets and posh shopping thoroughfares which reveal a great legacy of an appalling slum. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd10c308bb286b7fc657b2/1609515828482-KGV2S6Y9Y7CLP984AJ0K/TeaAtRitz.jpg West End - Not Just Tea at the Ritz Hear the story of London's grand hotels: of how one of the world's grandest hotels was founded by two embezzlers, which hotel became a refuge for deposed European monarchs, and why one hotel was "bomb-proof, earthquake proof and fire proof". We hear about the historic figures and events and workers' protests which are all part of the story as well as the opulence; and include mafia, espionage and assassination. We stroll through Mayfair, taking in some of its history and three of its fine open spaces. Please note: as much as I would love to, I cannot actually offer tea at the Ritz within the price of the ticket. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd10c308bb286b7fc657b2/0a60e65f-ecb9-4bfd-a866-dd620373c644/Soho%2Bimage%2Bwebsite.jpg West End - Soho: London’s Great Melting Pot Foreigners flocked to Soho as it was being built up: French, Italians, Germans, Dutch, Chinese and many others brought their crafts, culture, style and sometimes scandal to Soho’s streets. While Britain is leaving the EU, Richard’s walk celebrates 350 years of Soho immigration. We hear about great success stories, personal stories behind big historic events and meet larger than life characters including one reckless “king”! The walk takes in Soho Square, an atmospheric graveyard, an unexpectedly lovely period street and some of Soho’s iconic eating and drinking venues. See five star review of this tour here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd10c308bb286b7fc657b2/1607702474636-O1F7RFMGCS4Y4V43L010/FPOL_150305%2BHogg%2Bpic.jpg West End - London’s Ragged and Reformers London in the nineteenth century became the largest city in the world and the centre of the greatest empire in history. However, not everyone shared the glory! Richard’s walk uncovers the underbelly of Victorian London surprisingly in Marylebone: the slum housing, the workhouse, the hard lives of the street kids. We meet the heroic men and women who worked to improve the lot of the poor: from a chimney sweep turned property magnate to those who taught the semi-criminal, ragged children to a grand statesman obsessed with prostitutes. The walk also takes in some lovely green spaces, characterful Victorian social housing and a fine parish church. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd10c308bb286b7fc657b2/9faa7c17-437b-4ad7-bb4c-397fb0cae2f0/1966%2Bimage%2B4.jpg West End - 1966: The Year of Swinging London It was 1966 and London was exploding with new, young, cutting edge movements in music, fashion, film and photography. America’s Time magazine called London “the swinging city”! And to cap it all there were the joyous events In July on a football field at Wembley. But just how much was London swinging?: Homelessness and poverty was still a big problem in a still largely bombed out city. The first protests were staged against American action in Vietnam. Disturbing gangster crime was rife. These things were all part of the Swinging London world. Richard’s walk takes in some of the streets and alleys of Soho and Mayfair to tell the story of 1966 and swinging London. See five star review of this tour. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd10c308bb286b7fc657b2/1607512887097-X9SPCKZBXYY0YQ9R7MCL/Soho+pub+walk+image2.jpg West End - Mr Blake’s Tree Full of Angels: Soho Pub Tour Richard’s frothing brew of a historic pub walk takes in a department store that had its own local, a pub that didn't actually serve alcohol and one with a secret tunnel. We plot a course around west Soho: Carnaby Street, Golden Square, Brewer Street (appropriately) down to Piccadilly Circus. We find gorgeous gin palaces, curious pub names and see how the pubs reflect the area's trade and industry and social development. And we meet some great artistic geniuses who may well have liked the odd tipple themselves. And on the actual tour of the streets, we of course sample the wares of at least one of the subject sites! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd10c308bb286b7fc657b2/1607702588218-IE2CGPCAASWKPV5W4M6W/016.jpg West End - The Mad World of Marylebone The Mad World of Marylebone: From the terrible hangings at Tyburne Tree to some of the loveliest squares in London, great writers, artists and scientist of the C19th century, a lost Pleasure Garden and assorted eccentrics... we explore the historic lanes of the village of St Mary on the Bourne.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd10c308bb286b7fc657b2/1607702624399-9SDG8CIMXKDF5IW0SVX0/CG%2Bwalk%2Bimage2.jpg West End - Slums to the Stars: Covent Garden in the Nineteenth Century Covent Garden in the nineteenth century was the largest fruit and veg market in the country, was London’s red light district, had a maverick police force, had the most notorious slums in and around the area and the theatre woven into its DNA. Richard’s virtual tour shows you some great surviving signs of the time, focussing especially on the life of the market and the theatre: from the piazza, grand theatre buildings and great tales of their stars to atmospheric back roads, drinking and dining haunts, and little remembered period factories and storehouses. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd10c308bb286b7fc657b2/1607702692171-TZ075032DV1DXBORO99X/027.jpg West End - A Trafalgar Square Travesty It’s one of the most famous Squares in the world. It lies at the geographical centre of London. And its hosted some great national celebrations. But how much do you really know about Trafalgar Square?!: Its slow and contentious development, adornment with controversial kings and dubious generals, along with polluting pigeons, pointless plinths and political protests all equally part of its tumultuous and at times just silly history! This is a fun, whimsical one hour walk taking a sideways view at our great capital town square. Note: I normally do this walk to raise money for The Connection at St Martin’s in the Fields: www.connection-at-stmartins.org.uk, doing fantastic work to help homeless people get back on their feet. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd10c308bb286b7fc657b2/1607967652307-XMFI28GEKB4H6M00HBF3/Harley%2Bstreet%2Broad%2Bsign.jpg West End - Healers and Hoaxers (Medical history in Marylebone) Marylebone is full of medical history. It is famed for the exclusive private clinics which developed on and around Harley street. A number of distinguished medics lived and practised here, including Joseph Lister and Florence Nightingale. And the area contains the Head Quarters of a number of medical professional bodies. But there were also a few oddballs with rather maverick treatments including one “doctor” who taken to court over the death of his patients. Come with Richard to discover the hoaxers as well as the healers in Marylebone https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd10c308bb286b7fc657b2/1607617209261-OOCV2HJUI98SW2W76MSU/131010+BBCGillSmall.jpg West End - Mr Gill’s Precious Ornament (Whimsical walk around Oxford Circus) Right at the heart of town around Oxford Circus, I have uncovered some scandals, secrets and straightforward historic silliness. We meet a murderous doctor, an over-sexed sculptor, a secret tunnel, a public toilet that's been transformed into a swanky bar, and a royal processional route that would have once connected a palace that was never built with another that was demolished. https://watkinswalkslondon.squarespace.com/westminsterwhitehallstjamess daily 0.75 2026-01-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd10c308bb286b7fc657b2/89ddc991-5059-4461-a483-9036ccf53574/140714+banquetting+House+3.jpg Westminster, Whitehall, St James's - Return of the King: Westminster in the 1660s The restoration saw the return of Charles II, a very “merry monarch”, with his glamorous mistresses, flamboyant court and strange “touching” ceremonies. It brought in a new power settlement, the flourishing of science and the vast expansion of London to the west: in many ways, the transition to a modern country. Richard’s walk leads you through the action-packed time of Charles’ II first ten years on the throne, the main players and nation-changing events. We plot a course through Westminster and Whitehall and St James’s Park into St James’s and end at Burlington House. See five star review of this tour https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd10c308bb286b7fc657b2/1607704045875-56N0HXHVM3OLQV24J57E/Fire%2Bwalk%2Bimage.jpg Westminster, Whitehall, St James's - The Great Fire of Westminster Everyone’s heard about The Great Fire of London, but who's heard of the Great Fire of Westminster? Few people seem to know about the epic blaze on the night of 16 October 1834 which almost entirely destroyed the Houses of Parliament! On my walk around Whitehall, I tell the story of that apocalyptic night. I take you virtually along the streets and onto the bridge where thousands gawped at the destruction in horror and awe. An event marked equally by farce as by acts of heroism, the fire took place on the cusp of the Victorian age. And arising from the flames... the iconic, though currently somewhat dilapidated, Houses of Parliament we know today. See five star review of this tour https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd10c308bb286b7fc657b2/1607704097975-HMFP7F46JDF7ITPTBAXH/150417%2BTom%2BCribb%2Bimage.jpg Westminster, Whitehall, St James's - The Extreme Pleasures of Wellington’s London The Battle of Waterloo marked the end of a series of great wars determining the fate of Europe and balance of power for the next 100 years. Meanwhile, London society indulged in extravagant diversions: gambling which could lead to rack and ruin, outrageous balls known as routs, public exhibitions which virtually led to riots and fierce bare-knuckle boxing which was seen as an expression of British culture. Richard’s “alternative” Waterloo walk around St James’s explores these Regency entertainments and others, whilst showing Wellington’s stomping grounds and places where the battle was reported and commemorated. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd10c308bb286b7fc657b2/1607704130956-XAUX8K7UCE1I0VQKKSHS/041.jpg Westminster, Whitehall, St James's - Palaces, Pelicans and Prostitutes St James’s Park has had quite a roller coaster existence. In the middle ages, It was marshy land used by leprosy sufferers to care for pigs. Henry 8 seized it to form part of his great hunting ground. It was Charles II’s ornate back garden and into the eighteenth century developed a double life, with prostitution rife in the evening. Today, [REVISE] Richard ‘s tour brings out the sauciness as well as the ceremony of the history of St James’s Park. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd10c308bb286b7fc657b2/1607616656020-MHRG3UYYD26HT5UT5EBG/009.JPG Westminster, Whitehall, St James's - London, the War and 1916 1916 was a momentous year for the progress of the war. The Battle of the Somme looms large in the public consciousness due to the appalling numbers of lives lost. The year also saw the introduction of conscription, a new Commander-in-Chief of the British army on the western front and intensified food shortages and blackouts with the constant fear of German air raids at home. My walk takes in the war memorials and important sites in Whitehall and around St James's Park to tell the story of these events. I also take in some of the history of St James's park, the first and one of the finest London Royal Parks. https://watkinswalkslondon.squarespace.com/belgraviavictoria daily 0.75 2020-12-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd10c308bb286b7fc657b2/1607704364644-4ARQ3LWK940AM3MNUWBE/wellfoch3.jpg Belgravia, Victoria - The Peace Makers of Belgravia 2019 marked the centenary of the Paris Peace conference, a history defining event, to sort out the aftermath of the first world-war. Richard’s walk in Belgravia visits historic residences and memorials of “peacemakers”, including those related to the Paris conference: men and women fighting to live in a stable, peaceful world. It features generals, princes, politicians, exiles and revolutionaries, and challenges a few long held truths. We also take in the history of the grand stuccoed streets, squares and mews of one of the most exclusive areas in the country. And of course, we end the walk in a characterful and hopefully "peaceful" pub. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd10c308bb286b7fc657b2/1607968235724-792207A02VY3RPX89JU4/022.jpg Belgravia, Victoria - In The Shadows of Victoria Street Victoria street is just a monotonous parade of gleaming steel and glass office blocks: a “window cleaners’ paradise”, right?… Not so! The street and its immediate surrounding area is steeped in history. It contains heritage of former Victorian squalor, one of London’s great theatre buildings, perhaps our most neglected cathedral and possibly the grandest Georgian street in London. And more recently, it has been galvanized by extensive redevelopment. https://watkinswalkslondon.squarespace.com/lambeth daily 0.75 2026-03-04 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd10c308bb286b7fc657b2/0d31a242-86b5-4948-b61d-d04400adb517/Vauxhall+walk+title+pic.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd10c308bb286b7fc657b2/8cf315c0-4946-4eb2-8fbb-b3ce5855eb62/south%2Bbank%2Blion.jpg Lambeth - Pots, Glassware, Stone and Beer: Lambeth’s Lost Industry (virtual tour only) If you look along the Lambeth front of the Thames today you see the Royal Festival Hall, the London Eye, County Hall and down to the MI6 building by Vauxhall Bridge amongst others. There's no hint of the pot houses, boat-making yards, machine shops, glass factories, and brewers that crowded the marshy banks for around two hundred years. And from these marshes emerged world famous products such as Eleanor Coade's stone, Lambeth delftware, Royal Doulton ceramics and Lion beer. Richard's virtual tour explores the fascinating story of this lost industry, why it was attracted to that location and shows some striking signs of remains today. See five star reviews of this tour here: and here https://watkinswalkslondon.squarespace.com/greatexhibition daily 0.75 2020-12-31 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd10c308bb286b7fc657b2/1607614021038-M5ZQYNN3NTCOIHLJE1JN/Crystal%2BPalace%2Bimage.jpg Great Exhibition - The Great Exhibition (as a talk / virtual tour only) The Great Exhibition of 1851 in Hyde Park displayed the marvels of C19th industrial progress in an epic glass and iron edifice. It was a spectacularly popular London event, and the first truly international exhibition in the world. Where did the idea come from? How was it organised?: The story behind it is as bizarre as it's brilliant. The items on display ranged from Stephenson's Rocket and the Koh-i-Nor diamond to oddities such as a penknife with 80 blades. Richard Watkins' virtual tour relates the story of how the Exhibition was staged, how it wooed the world and what its legacy is. As a long-time resident of Crystal Palace and tour guide for the local museum presenting the history of its successor site, Richard has held a long interest in the Great Exhibition. See five star review of this tour. https://watkinswalkslondon.squarespace.com/tyburnexecutionsite daily 0.75 2024-11-11 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd10c308bb286b7fc657b2/8f5b73e5-3cad-405b-a154-8ef63dd1c66e/tyburn+plaque+image.jpg Tyburn Execution site - Virtual Tour - The Journey to Tyburn: On the Trail to the Fatal Tree It’s one of the most infamous walks in English history… the procession of the condemned from Newgate Prison to the site of execution at Tyburn, now Marble Arch. This was justice presented as theatre: with pantomime-like villains, heroes of the people and dramatic final speeches. And it was a free public fair attracting sometimes crowds of over ten thousand. Richard’s Virtual Tour leads you on the course of the route, sets out the weird rituals and superstitions of the day and introduces you to a gallery of those executed from the traitors to the petty thieves. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd10c308bb286b7fc657b2/c283e608-2619-4a8a-a1cf-0a31d49468f9/Tyburn+pub+photo+2.jpg Tyburn Execution site - Walking Tour - The Route of the Condemned through Holborn… via its Pubs. Public hangings at Tyburn were carried out for hundreds of years. The condemned would be led there in a procession from Newgate prison as part of a gruesome public fair put on eight days a year. One legendary aspect of that day was the ritual of the prisoners taking a final drink in one of the many inns along the 2 and ½ mile route. Walking through Holborn, Richard takes us along the first half of that route, joining up 10 fantastic present and a number of past pubs. We hear about the rituals of that procession and the final drink which would have been taken in at least two of the subject pub sites and pass three historic sites of execution. The walk also explores the history of the pubs (and some wider history through them), which are some of the finest and most historic in London such as the Olde Mitre, the Cittie of York and the Princess Louise. Ofcourse we take an interval drink half way. Meet at the Viaduct Tavern, a short walk from St Paul's, Blackfriar's and City Thameslink stations. We finish the walk at the Angel pub, St Giles, just round the corner from Tottenham Court Road. https://watkinswalkslondon.squarespace.com/crystalpalace daily 0.75 2024-02-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd10c308bb286b7fc657b2/82162505-afc3-44f6-96b8-72d629bc2a28/Dulwich+walking+tour+image.jpg Crystal Palace and Dulwich - London’s Last Toll Road and Other Dulwich Stories Dulwich Village has a very distinctive look and feel with its wide verges, quaint finger post signs, olde part timbered houses and grand villas. It was a manor bought by a famous Shakepearean actor in the seventeenth century inspiring a set of historic London schools; an area attracting the moneyed classes as an escape from the City; a home to England’s first purpose-built art gallery and a hub for artists; but also an old path through ancient woods and later a route up hill to the Crystal Palace exhibition site. And there is the oddity of London’s only remaining Toll-gated Road, how come that survives? Richard’s walk plots a very scenic way from the centre of the village running south up College Road. The walk includes some wonderful architecture from the College buildings and grand villas to humble cottages; features names such as Charles Dickens, Camille Pissarro and Ernest Shackleton; includes a curious connection to the historic telephone box design and attempts to explain the surviving Tollgate Road. Photo: Copyright: Peter Trimming licenced for reuse under creative commons through Geograph.org. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd10c308bb286b7fc657b2/c34c8af3-aa02-45a1-9d20-1e4063e1b011/CP+walk+image+3.jpg Crystal Palace and Dulwich - Hitting the Heights: the History of Crystal Palace When most people think of the history of Crystal Palace, it is the world-famous exhibition site they imagine – the successor to the Great Exhibition. But there is so much more: in the C19th it was a fashionable shopping area just on the capital’s southern outskirts. Emerging from the historic Great North Wood, it was built on and around one of the highest areas of London, it had attractive spas and gardens near-by even before the exhibition, with rising grand villas and lovely churches. Hear the stories of how the great realist novelist Emile Zola and god father of Impressionism Camille Pissarro end up here, and of the first great black actor, your guide’s historic neighbour. Come and discover the “heights” of Crystal Palace with tour guide and local, Richard Watkins. Please note, there will be two short, steep hills to walk up. See five star reviews of this tour here and here https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd10c308bb286b7fc657b2/d6a5e593-88dd-4a75-bb4a-04384da48edf/Dulwich+part+two+walk+image.jpg Crystal Palace and Dulwich - Dulwich: Hamlet Village and Suburb On Richard’s second tour of Dulwich, he shows how it developed through the nineteenth century and onwards, with new transport links, a new Parish church, new park, new suburban streets, houses and shops springing up while retaining its rural character and charm. Richard goes beyond its famous wide verges, grand villas and legacy of prestigious schools to find the story of its development is far more interesting than it at first seems. Walking south from North Dulwich station, we take in a fantastic array of building styles, a wonderfully atmospheric graveyard, an iconic Victorian south London boozer and great Dulwich characters from a diminutive grocer-artist to a Nazi rabble-rouser. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd10c308bb286b7fc657b2/1a5fd18a-1033-477e-acda-c1f72e91f2ed/poss+promo+pic+CP+walk+2.jpg Crystal Palace and Dulwich - Circling the Triangle: Continued History of Crystal Palace Richard’s second tour of Crystal Palace explores the Triangle and the streets around. He tells the story of the area’s social development emerging from an historic wood (which is remembered in street and pub names) becoming a fashionable cultural and shopping district (even before the exhibition site arrived) with sweeping views. Richard shows the site of a lost grand Victorian railway station, old boundary marker and course of a lost river. We see some of the photographic record in situ of a great nineteenth century French writer and homes of a great French artist and English movie star. We discover curious shops, pubs and churches both past and present and a massive orphanage which Dickens praised. This tour involves a few steep but short hills. Also, the tour does not take in the Crystal Palace exhibition site. Come to the Crystal Palace Museum to learn about that. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd10c308bb286b7fc657b2/3599bdf7-3af0-48ba-bfce-8278fdedccf9/IMG_1421.jpg Crystal Palace and Dulwich - Crystal Palace: Walking the Historic High Level Railway When the Crystal Palace exhibition site opened in June 1854 it was served by one railway line to a station half way down the hill carrying thousands of visitors a day... But another private railway company wanted a piece of the pie! 10 years later the Crystal Palace High Level Railway opened bringing visitors to the top of the hill to a very grand castillated station with an ornate entrance right into the exhibition halls! This line and station have now long gone. So what happened? My walk traces the remnants of the southern half of the line up to the Lordship Lane station site. We find elegant butressed station walls, north and south portals to two major tunnels, pass the site of the Crystal Palace subway (currently under a fantastic restoration), walk along the track bed in Sydenham Woods to find that "Pissarro view" and take in other surprises such an historic ventilation shaft, a surviving station building and other historic buildings. Note: this is a three hour walk but there is the chance for a break at the Wodehouse pub. Sensible footwear is recommended for walking through woods. We will finish by the beginnings of the Horniman's nature trail. It is a short walk from there down to Forest Hill mainline station or there are plenty of buses going from there and along London Road. https://watkinswalkslondon.squarespace.com/about-richard-1 daily 0.75 2023-11-29 https://watkinswalkslondon.squarespace.com/contact daily 0.75 2020-12-14 https://watkinswalkslondon.squarespace.com/city-of-london daily 0.75 2025-09-11 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd10c308bb286b7fc657b2/4a3b0205-08e9-45fd-bd3b-37ef80fb295a/Punch+pub+sign+image+3.jpg City of London - Walking Tour - The Devil to the Old King: Pubs on and around Fleet Street Fleet Street is one of London’s most famous thoroughfares. And it contains some of London’s most legendary pubs. They have served as the watering holes of journalists, lawyers, tourists, intellectual and artistic types and just ordinary Londoners. Richard’s tour knits together some of the best pubs in the Fleet Street area (and associated history), bringing you stories of writers (Pepys, Johnson, Dickins, Edgar Wallace), drunken journos, disgraced courtiers and a sadly short-lived crown prince. He shows off some of the finest pub buildings, the sites of great pubs of Fleet Street past and two pubs whose names are not all that they seem - one of which packs quite a punch! A pub interval stop will be included. The walk will end at Ludgate Circus, not far to walk to St Paul's, Thameslink and Blackfriars stations. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd10c308bb286b7fc657b2/be237c77-637c-4e08-84e1-a5e1f8e3acf0/Cheapside%2Btour%2Bimage.jpg City of London - Bread, Milk, Fish and Gold: Cheapside’s Great Market Much of Cheapside today looks rather bland but it was virtually flattened in the blitz and retains only a shadow of 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, it morphed into a centre for luxury goods vying with Bond Street and 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 tour explores Cheapside’s commercial history, including signs of its former glory, magnificent processions, stories of apprentice riots, great manufacturers of high-class goods and recent controversial developments. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd10c308bb286b7fc657b2/85550d05-fcee-4867-9b4a-a9963032d44e/City+Livery+Company+walk+image.jpg City of London - The Pattern of Human Existence: The City of London’s Livery Companies We might think of the City of London Livery Companies today as overblown, rich, dining clubs with weird, ancient ceremonials. But for hundreds of years they made the City tick: They regulated and protected trade, provided welfare and retirement services and formed an essential part in the machinery of the City’s government. Richard’s walk connects together a number of the Companies’ Livery Halls, many of which are fine, protected buildings on sites impacted by fire and bombing. He also shows how they sometimes played a role in national and international politics and managed conflict between Companies leading to riots and death. Plotting a course to the north of the City, up and down walkways and passed City gardens, we also take in some of the fantastic historic remains of the City’s Roman and medieval wall, fortifications and gates. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd10c308bb286b7fc657b2/63d9139d-e9e2-4554-8927-2ca873a74b6b/Great+Fire+Promo+pic+eventbrite.jpg City of London - A Dreadful Bow of Flame: The Great Fire of London In September 1666 a great conflagration swept through the City of London. It destroyed over 13,000 houses, making nearly 100,000 homeless. It ripped through the buildings that made the City work: the churches, the Livery Company Halls and the trading centres and truly was an epoch making event in the City’s history. But in the retelling of the events of those 4 – 5 days of devastation, much myth and muddle has come down to us. Richard’s walk attempts to see through the smoke and unravel the true drama of those days: We start where the fire broke out. We visit some of the great churches and other sites affected as we follow the fire’s course. And look at the roles of some of the great players in the events from Pepys to Mayor Bludworth to James, the Duke of York. Starting point: Monument Station, outside exit on Fish Hill Street. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd10c308bb286b7fc657b2/4ebbd1ca-6bdf-4bcb-a364-a1d890dd7c1d/Royal+Exchange+Pediement+promo+image.jpg City of London - The City of London’s Forgotten Transformation Everyone knows the City of London was almost completely rebuilt and rose again after the Great Fire and that there was massive redevelopment after the devastation of the blitz. But what about the transformation of the second half of the nineteenth century?!: There was an exodus to newly rising suburbs shrinking the City’s residential population as commuting was enabled by great new transport connections. Broad new thoroughfares were driven through old medieval courts and lanes. A new breed of finance clerks was squeezing out manufacturers. And a re-building boom took on. Richard’s tour explores these dramatic changes through some fantastic Victorian buildings, plaques and statuary and he explores historic streets and vistas as well as medieval courts and lanes and atmospheric pubs.. https://watkinswalkslondon.squarespace.com/kensington daily 0.75 2022-02-09 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd10c308bb286b7fc657b2/fed5852a-74d0-452a-8c9b-e01e73c4783c/IMG_0018+%282%29.JPG Kensington - Kensington High Street: The Golden Age of Shopping. For over 100 years Kensington High Street was a prestigious shopping street. It leaves a legacy today of the soaring Barkes and Derry and Toms department store buildings, along with a great array of other architectural styles. It grew from an unpromising windy Georgian street lined with domestic trades, albeit a main west road passing a royal place. Then John Barker came along - his business created the longest shop front in the UK, ground breaking department store displays and exotic roof gardens - the first of their kind in the country. Richard tells the story of the rise of the Street with some fabulous buildings, larger than life characters including one "Big Cheese" and not forgetting a number of smaller Georgian and Victorian shops and later 60s and 70s fashion hubs. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd10c308bb286b7fc657b2/9380d5a1-05d2-40ba-bbfd-b1255ee1e840/IMG_0167.JPG Kensington - Radical Works, Turbulent Lives: Great Kensington Writers. .Kensington has a rich bohemian history, with many great writers and artists having been attracted to the area. Richard’s tour includes a number of its historic writers: including those who wrote radical, epoch-making work while in Kensington, as well as works of widely-loved popular fame. He looks into their lives whilst in the area: writers who sometimes scandalized society, but also experienced personal tragedy. Plotting a course from High Street Kensington up into the area to the north of the High Street, he includes Kenneth Grahame, James Joyce and GK Chesterton. And on the course of the tour, Richard outlines some of the history of its development as it’s such a lovely area of diverse striking eighteenth and nineteenth century buildings, and finds one very direct link between that development and its literary life. Note: It will not be necessary to have read any of the works which Richard will talk about, and he will not divulge any spoilers for those wishing to follow up on those books. https://watkinswalkslondon.squarespace.com/pubhistory daily 0.75 2025-09-11 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd10c308bb286b7fc657b2/427a9166-a400-4d04-85b3-5ba003eef21f/Smithfield+walk+promo+image+1.jpg Pub History Tours - Walking Tour - Cows, Cloth-Sellers and the Condemned: Smithfield’s Pubs There is so much history flowing through Smithfield: the markets and monasteries, a great London hospital, the grim site of executions, an infamous London Fair and a revolutionary railway. And the prestigious new London Museum is now openng here, rising out of the delapidated western courts of the market. Richard plots a walk from Farringdon underground station around the site using its pubs to tell the story of the area. We take in great gin-palace of pub buildings and other diverse architecture; convey the tumultuous nature of the livestock market; the culture of the meat market, its workers and "early houses"; and the raucous Barts Fair with its performing pigs and conjurors. It includes the great builder of the meat market, Horace Jones, Dickens, William Wallace, John Betjemen and not forgetting William Harris, the Sausage King! The walk includes a pub interval stop. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd10c308bb286b7fc657b2/4a3b0205-08e9-45fd-bd3b-37ef80fb295a/Punch+pub+sign+image+3.jpg Pub History Tours - Walking Tour - The Devil to the Old King: Pubs on and around Fleet Street Fleet Street is one of London’s most famous thoroughfares. And it contains some of London’s most legendary pubs. They have served as the watering holes of journalists, lawyers, tourists, intellectual and artistic types and just ordinary Londoners. Richard’s tour knits together some of the best pubs in the Fleet Street area (and associated history), bringing you stories of writers (Pepys, Johnson, Dickins, Edgar Wallace), drunken journos, disgraced courtiers and a sadly short-lived crown prince. He shows off some of the finest pub buildings, the sites of great pubs of Fleet Street past and two pubs whose names are not all that they seem - one of which packs quite a punch! A pub interval stop will be included. The walk will end at Ludgate Circus, not far to walk to St Paul's, Thameslink and Blackfriars stations. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd10c308bb286b7fc657b2/24599726-2fed-451b-a5ee-acac087faa6e/Tyburn+pub+walk+pic.jpg Pub History Tours - Walking Tour - The Route of the Condemned through Holborn… via its Pubs. Public hangings at Tyburn were carried out for hundreds of years. The condemned would be led there in a procession from Newgate prison as part of a gruesome public fair put on eight days a year. One legendary aspect of that day was the ritual of the prisoners taking a final drink in one of the many inns along the 2 and ½ mile route. Walking through Holborn, Richard takes us along the first half of that route, joining up 10 fantastic present and a number of past pubs. We hear about the rituals of that procession and the final drink which would have been taken in at least two of the subject pub sites and pass three historic sites of execution. The walk also explores the history of the pubs (and some wider history through them), which are some of the finest and most historic in London such as the Olde Mitre, the Cittie of York and the Princess Louise. Ofcourse we take an interval drink half way. Meet at the Viaduct Tavern, a short walk from St Paul's, Blackfriar's and City Thameslink stations. We finish the walk at the Angel pub, St Giles, just round the corner from Tottenham Court Road. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd10c308bb286b7fc657b2/fd049a6b-ca88-4fc2-8477-777a7eb8a129/20231022_152749+2.jpg Pub History Tours - Walking Tour - From Sherlock’s Sitting Room to Nell Gwynn’s Denn Richard's pub tour brings you the strange tale of one pub named after an eighteenth century naval disaster; why one is named after a famous literary sleuth and another after a real maverick policing outfit. We pass a pub frequented by a highwayman; ones related to Dickens and Turner and a glamorous theatre star turned king's mistress along with one where rough bare knuckle boxing was staged (spoiler alert: no fighting today, in fact it's a lovely boozer). It's all too easy to take Covent Garden's pubs for granted as just nice drinking holes . But they are so much more: they hold hundreds of years of west-end life within their walls; housed in some terrific old buildngs, some listed; with names redolent of that local history and they attracted historic drinkers. As well as purveying some gorgeous drinks! And Richard will have a mid-walk stop in one of these fine historic hostelries.. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fcd10c308bb286b7fc657b2/1607512887097-X9SPCKZBXYY0YQ9R7MCL/Soho+pub+walk+image2.jpg Pub History Tours - Mr Blake’s Tree Full of Angels: Soho Pub Tour Richard’s frothing brew of a historic pub walk takes in a department store that had its own local, a pub that didn't actually serve alcohol and one with a secret tunnel. We plot a course around west Soho: Carnaby Street, Golden Square, Brewer Street (appropriately) down to Piccadilly Circus. We find gorgeous gin palaces, curious pub names and see how the pubs reflect the area's trade and industry and social development. And we meet some great artistic geniuses who may well have liked the odd tipple themselves. And on the actual tour of the streets, we of course sample the wares of at least one of the subject sites!