Guided Walk:  Fantasy Terraces and Secret Gardens

Sunday June 12 at 11:00 am

Richard and Jo will show you the most beautiful Nash Terraces on the Outer Circle and the gardens of the Royal College of Physicians with their medicinal and poisonous plants. We will walk through the English Gardens, looking their very best in early June, and the impressive landscaping of the Broad Walk. We will hear about Prince Regent’s grand scheme to make London the most magnificent city in Europe. We will look at how the buildings, gardens and open spaces of Regent’s Park act to enhance our lives. What better way to spend a summer Sunday morning?  

https://londongardenstrust.eventcube.io/events/39861/guided-walk-regents-park-fantasy-terraces-and-secret-gardens

I have organised a walk in Mayfair on Sunday 8 May.  We meet in the forecourt of the Royal Academy at 2.00 pm and finish the walk near Bond Street.  Half the money raised will go to Amnesty International to support their work providing help for prisoners of conscience and defenders of free speech around the world.  The other half will go towards the DEC Humanitarian Appeal for Ukraine.

We have all been shocked by the events that have unfolded in Ukraine since the Russian invasion began on February 24.  Millions have fled the country and millions are internally displaced.  The destruction and suffering has been dreadful.  There is a huge need for relief and supplies of all kinds to help those whose lives have been shattered by this war.

You may question why I have chosen Mayfair for this fundraiser.  There are a couple of strong connections with the current war.   We will pass a famous shop run by an extraordinary Russian entrepreneur who was lucky to escape with his life from Putin’s Russia to rebuild it in the West by establishing what is possibly the world’s most luxurious wine shop and we will end at the Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral.   These will both give ample opportunity to discuss issues of relevance to the current conflict.  Mayfair of course also offers much else of enormous historic and cultural interest.  We will meet some of the great characters who have made Mayfair their home, including Handel and Hendrix and we shall pass some of the most elegant squares in London.

Please register for this walk.  Payment is by contribution.  Please give as generously as you can.    Booking is through Eventbrite.    You can book here. 

Are you looking for something different to do on the last Sunday before Christmas to help you escape from all the commercialism?  Well I might just be able to help you.  I am leading the last of a series of walks called Follow the Yellow Brick Road.  We meet at 1.30 pm in the downstairs concourse of Tottenham Court Road station on Sunday 19 December and we will walk through Covent Garden, Lincoln’s Inn Fields, Fleet Street and some of the hidden alleys and backstreets of the City of London.  There are so many fascinating stories to tell and ancient and modern buildings to take in!  It is a great way to appreciate the wonderful variety of buildings and streets our great city offers.  The walk is free but booking on Eventbrite is essential:- https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/follow-the-yellow-brick-road-tottenham-court-road-to-bank-junction-tickets-180993334937

I have written another article for the City Guide magazine.  This is on the background to an extraordinary building on New Fetter Lane in the City of  London.  I wonder how much the students of King’s College London who use this amazing building as their main library know about the long and varied history of this huge building:-

https://richardcohentraveller.wordpress.com/2021/11/16/a-forbiddingly-functional-gothic-design/

This is a virtual tour in which we follow a route through the western edges of the City of London.  Our virtual journey starts at Holborn and ends near St Paul’s and gives us a chance to look closely at some of the great institutional buildings of the law like the great Rolls Building and some of the ancient inns of Chancery and the Old Bailey itself as well as the magnificent Twentieth Century press headquarters of Fleet Street.  It is sponsored by the Temple Bar Trust which is an organisation dedicated to the built environment and calls itself the Architectural Gateway of the City of London.  Click here to book a place through Eventbrite.

Have a listen to this podcast about a recent tour I did for the Bloomsbury Festival on the theme of the Art of Bloomsbury.

It was recorded by Bloomsbury Radio

Link here for the podcast.

Camden Guides are running a fantastic series of free walks to celebrate the West End Project and the beautiful new road crossings that have enhanced and brightened the area.  Book the walks through Eventbrite using this link:-

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/tottenham-court-road-creative-cultural-colourful-tickets-179433850477

Read about a recent fascinating visit I went on to Britain’s biggest cemetery at Brookwood.  An interesting day was had by all!

https://camdenguides.com/brookwood-blog/

Starting at Warren Street station I will lead you around the immediate environs of University College Hospital. We will pass the gracious calm of Fitzroy Square, one of London’s most beautiful city squares, to contrast the sites of some older medical facilities there with state of the art modern provision at UCH, including the Proton Beam Therapy Centre and the pathbreaking Macmillan Cancer Centre. We will hear stories of some of the great figures who have lived and worked in the area including Bernard Shaw, Virginia Woolf and Marie Stopes. This walk is part of a series celebrating the return of open air street guiding organised by Camden Tour Guides throughout the week of June 21 – 25.