The Wonderful Wimbledon Virtual Tour

Tour details:
Cost is £10 payable via the following link in advance:
https://monzo.me/loonahazarika?h=Da9wab
1.5 hours
Via Zoom

Join us as we explore the fascinating history of Wimbledon, one of the richest of London’s suburbs

How did a small village on a hill outside London, become one of the most famous places in the world?

Originally an old Anglo-Saxon settlement, Wimbledon’s seen its fair share of action; a place for gun fights and duels (where a Prime Minister missed his opponent); a place where stagecoaches would set off for London from old Georgian pubs and a place where highwaymen would give chase to catch them along today’s A3.

The manor of Wimbledon was owned by prominent people throughout English history, Thomas Cromwell, Catherine Par, Mary I, Cardinal Reginald Pole, the Cecil family, Sarah Churchill and the first Earl Spencer.

And there’s weird history on the way: the man who deliberately set fire to a house with the king and queen in it and got away with it; bizarre tennis matches like the man who asked for champagne (it helped his power, but apparently he fell over every time he tried to turn).

And of course we’ll cover the history of the most famous, oldest, tennis tournament in the world which dates from 1870s from a sport called Sphairistiké, from an eight-page instruction booklet, invented by a Welshman and played on an hour-glass shaped lawn.

By 1922 King George V opened the new courts in Wimbledon Park and with three blows on a gong the first match started – and the rain came down. Rain or shine, there’ll be no rain delays to this tour as you can log in on zoom from the dry comfort of your own home.

How do I join the tour?
Once you have paid we will email you the link.

Who is the tour guide?
Loona is a tour guide of 20 years' experience, a historian and storyteller from www.letsdiscoverlondon.com who’s guided thousands of people around London and beyond since 2006.

He is a regular speaker on the History Forum, the Joy Club, and Restless and is a voice actor.

He has made several appearances on TV documentaries (e.g. BBC1’s The Repair Shop, The Hairy Builder, SKY's Urban Secrets and is also also a voice actor and regular speaker for The History Forum.He loves bringing history alive with energy and lots of stories and hold a Masters degree from the University of Cambridge.
He is currently on BBC iPlayer for the show The Repair Shop Link here

What is a virtual tour like with Loona?
It's interactive with Google earth, site maps, paintings, photos and diary entries, and of course the stories live-streamed to bring it all alive.