This is a fundraiser for Amnesty International.                             Sunday 23 February 2025 at 2.30

The National Portrait Gallery reopened last year after a four-year refit restoring it to its original architectural splendour. Its collection has been rehung and some wonderful new portraits added. We will look at the images of many famous individuals, many with local London connections, who have been champions of human rights over the centuries and have campaigned for political and social freedom. This event is a fundraiser for Amnesty International who support prisoners of conscience around the world and campaign for freedom of speech and democratic rights. We suggest a minimum contribution of £10 to come on the tour but there is no upper limit. Please contribute generously.  Please use this link on Eventbrite to book your place.

Here is a link to the blog I have written about a fantastic trip I have recently returned from in Malaysia.  Do read it if you have the time and inclination!

richardcohentraveller.wordpress.com/2024/01/08/malaysia-december-2023/

This walk is an exploration of London’s magnificent riverbank along the north shore of the Thames. We take in fabulous views of some of the most magnificent architecture in London including the Houses of Parliament, the National Theatre, Somerset House and Middle and Inner Temple. We will have the chance to enjoy the cool and shady delights of the different Embankment Gardens. We will hear the stories of the many great men and women who are honoured with memorials along the way. This is a truly monumental walk in which we follow a route linking the great centre of business in the City of London to the centre of political power in Westminster.
Meet in the ticket hall of Blackfriars Station (north bank).

This walk is part of Silver Sunday: the national day for celebrating older people.

To register for this event click here:-  https://silversunday.org.uk/event/walk-the-thames-blackfriars-to-westminster/

The Regent’s Canal – King’s Cross to Hitchcock’s Hackney

SUNDAY 17 SEPTEMBER AT 2.30 pm

This two-hour walk  is a great opportunity to explore the Regent Canal’s industrial heritage and to see some of the amazing modern architecture that has grown up along what has now become a green corridor across North London with some tranquil community gardens.  All takings from this walk will go towards  the Inland Waterways Association that protects our wonderful canals and the environment around them. We will see the wonders of the Granary Building now home to one of the world’s greatest Art Colleges as well as passing through some of the beautifully laid out streets and gardens of the Angel.   We meet at the taxi rank in front of King’s Cross station.  We also honour the memory of Britain’s greatest film-maker who worked at the studios where our walk comes to an end.  You can pay on the day but pre-booking is essential.

Find out more form the London Walks website:-

https://www.walks.com/our-walks/the-regent-s-canal-king-s-cross-to-hitchcock-s-hackney/

WEDNESDAY 13 SEPTEMBER at 12 NOON

FIVE FIRSTS IN BEDFORD SQUARE

A FREE WALK 

Join me at 12 noon for a free One Hour walk around London’s most beautiful and best preserved square and adjoining streets.  This brisk and healthy walk is part of Camden Guides’ partnership with the Association of Friends of Bloomsbury Squares and Gardens.  We will hear about two pioneering higher education ventures, we will meet an intrepid flying duchess, some visionary artistic innovators, a powerful American abolitionist and an early campaigner for civil rights in Britain.   ALL IN THE SPACE OF YOUR LUNCH HOUR! The first picture below marks the approximate spot where I will be waiting for you on Wednesday 13 September from just before noon.  I look forward to seeing you then.

On Monday May 8 I gave a short talk about Primrose Hill on Salma El-Wardamy’s show on Radio London.  You will hear my clip at 2 hours 36 minutes and about 10 seconds into her show and it lasts for 7 or 8 minutes.   It’s part of their regular Monday morning item called Somewhere in London.  They run a little quiz of 2 or 3 questions and listeners have to guess which area the questions are about and then they invite someone to talk about that area.  That someone was me.  I did manage to get a little plug in for Camden guides at the end.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0fh4djg

Walk the Walbrook, London’s mysterious hidden river and support Amnesty’s appeal to protect civilians and document war crimes in Ukraine.

We follow the Walbrook, the shortest and most mysterious of London’s hidden rivers, from its source in Shoreditch right down to the Thames. This fascinating walk starts in an area that once had a reputation as one of London’s darkest slums, the fearsome Old Nichol, but is now undergoing rapid regeneration through high-tech start-ups and its night-time economy. Shoreditch once housed the open-air theatres that flourished in the golden age of Elizabethan drama outside the city limits and then became a tough industrial area of workshops and warehouses. As we follow the course of the river into the City of London the buildings get bigger and grander as we pass the Broadgate Centre, London Wall, the Bank of England, the Temple of Mithras and a wonderful array of the architecture of many different eras. This is truly one of the most contrastive and fascinating walks you can do in London – a true cross-section of our city’s history. More information here

This walk is a fundraiser for the Amnesty International Ukraine Appeal. Your donation will help investigators document human rights abuses and finance technology to expose the war crimes being committed during Russia’s barbaric war in Ukraine. Please be as generous as possible. There is no upper limit to your contributions.

Book tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/walk-the-walbrook-tickets-576244391487

PLEASE BE AS GENEROUS AS POSSIBLE!  THERE IS NO UPPER LIMIT TO YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS.

On Sunday April 2 come on my Hatton Garden walking tour through the interweaving stories of this historic area.  It is a fundraiser for Holborn and St Pancras Constituency Labour Party.  We will have Ragged Schools and Mean Streets, cholera, rookeries, Molly Houses, early social housing and the struggle for education and better health provision.  All this is set in a historic area full of stories going back to Roman and medieval times.  We will hear about the different communities that have lived and worked in Hatton Garden over the centuries and the trades and industries that make this area famous.  There is much to interest Labour Party members.  End at Caffé Terroni.  Book here by donation on Eventbrite.  Be as generous as you can!