Tim's Walks: Dickens by Gaslight

Dickens is the most evocative writer of Victorian London. His descriptions of the city, dark, mysterious and foreboding, are illuminated by the flickering glow of gaslights.

In this walk, Tim will take you through Dickensian London trying to recreate the atmosphere which the great author so memorably described. We'll see some of the sites most associated with his life and works; the blacking factory where the gaze of onlookers shamed the young Charles, the places he played as a boy, the inns of court where he started out on his working life and the place he lived and worked as an older man now separated from his wife. We'll also see where some of his great novels were set including Martin Chuzzlewhit, A Tale of Two Cities and David Copperfield. Along part of the way we will be lit by gaslight adding to the atmosphere.

This will be a walk of great expectations; to make the most of it you will need to have gone on my first gaslights walk from Green Park to Covent Garden. This will give you all you need to know (and more) about the history of gaslighting. So please make sure you go on that one first

Most of all, though, you'll need to bring your historical imaginations along so you can strip away the modern trappings and get to the heart of the old city that Dickens once knew.

We meet at All Bar One, 19 Henrietta Street WC2E 8QH at 4.15 to start walking at 4.30. Please note this is the correct address, the meetup app can be very clunky in fixing places to meet. I’ll be there waving a copy of my guidebook around

We will end in a pub which Dickens certainly knew near Holborn Tube around 6.30

Cost is £15 (this will be another smaller walk restricted to only 14 people) payable by cash or card on the day or by PayPal or bank transfer. Phone is 07846899156.