Urban Tales: Free & Social London Walks

· Join us for the second in our Highgate Highlights series — a fascinating walk through one of London’s most historic and picturesque neighbourhoods.
· Starting from Highgate Tube Station, we’ll make our way towards Parliament Hill, discovering a wide variety of architectural treasures, historic sites, hidden corners, and traditional pubs along the route.
· Highlights include:
• The Grand Parade and Jacksons Lane Community Centre
• A striking 1958 housing development alongside beautiful 18th- and 19th-century houses
• The former site of the cattle pound
• The Hillcrest Estate, built on the grounds of Park House, once a reformatory for “fallen women,” some of whom were later buried in Highgate Cemetery
• Historic pubs spanning the 16th to 20th centuries, including one established in 1547
• Highgate School, founded in 1565
• The Grove, regarded as one of suburban London’s finest early 18th-century streets and long associated with notable residents
• Witanhurst, London’s second-largest private house
• Holly Terrace and Holly Lodge Estate, offering spectacular views across London
• Holly Village, a charming collection of Gothic-style cottages
• Swains Lane’s independent cafés and grocery shops
• Parliament Hill, for one of the best panoramic views in London
We’ll finish at the Duke of St Albans Swains Lane for a well-earned drink.
Buses nearby on Highgate Road provide easy connections back towards Kentish Town and beyond.
· A detailed map and full list of points of interest can be found here:
Visit Highgate | A visitor's guide
· Please note:
• The walk is undertaken entirely at your own risk
• We will wait 5 minutes before starting
• Once the walk has begun, I may not be able to answer phone calls or messages

Bermondsey traces its origins to the establishment of the Priory of St Saviour, but it became famous as London's centre of leather tanning. This industry required vast quantities of water, and Bermondsey's marshy landscape—drained by the Priory in the 11th century—provided the ideal environment for its development.
Our walk begins with the Guinness Trust flats, Guy's Hospital burial ground, and a striking former missionary building. We will pass the impressive former London Leather, Hide & Wool Exchange, whose ornate reliefs illustrate the processes of the leather trade.
Along the way we will see the former premises of Christy & Co., once the world's largest hat and cap manufacturer in the mid-19th century, the Fashion and Textile Museum and the contemporary art gallery White Cube.
Other highlights include St Mary Magdalen Church and its historic churchyard, where members of the Rolls family—associated with Rolls-Royce—are buried. Nearby stands the old Parish Watch House, once used by local guards to deter grave robbers, or "resurrection men", and now home to a café.
Bermondsey Square and Grange Walk mark the site of the former abbey complex. Some of the late 17th-century houses here are believed to incorporate parts of the medieval abbey gatehouse.
We will then walk beneath the railway bridge of London's first railway line connecting Spa Road, Bermondsey, and Deptford, notable for its distinctive columns.
London and Greenwich Railway - Wikipedia
After passing New Concordia Wharf, St Saviour's Dock, and Jacob's Island, we will return to the railway arches for refreshments at Kanpai London Craft Sake Brewery and Taproom. Kanpai offers a range of sake as well as alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. KANPAI - Discover Our London Craft Sake Brewery And Taproom. Those wishing to continue afterwards may also visit Southwark Brewing Company, located next door.
Please Note
• Participation is entirely at your own risk.
• We will wait five minutes after the advertised start time before setting off.
• Once the walk has begun, I will be unable to answer phone calls or messages.

Join us for a fascinating walk through the hidden layers of the City of London, exploring Roman remains, vanished rivers, medieval churches, lost markets, and historic riverside lanes.
We begin at Aldgate, where our first stop is the historic The Hoop and Grapes, a pub that has been located here since the 16th century.
Nearby, we visit the impressive surviving section of London’s Roman wall at Vine Street, one of the City’s newest archaeological displays. A Visit To London's New City Wall At Vine Street - Living London History
We then continue to America Square and the Tower of London, where further remnants of the Roman wall and a medieval postern gate can still be seen.
Our route next takes us to All Hallows by the Tower, founded in 675AD by Barking Abbey and one of the oldest churches in London, with Saxon origins. We will take a brief look inside.
The walk continues past the site of the former Mark Lane Underground station, through the atmospheric ruins of St Dunstan-in-the-East, and on to the hidden church of St Mary-at-Hill.
In the old cobbled lanes nearby stands the historic hall of the Company of Watermen and Lightermen, one of the City’s ancient guilds closely tied to the River Thames.
Along Lower Thames Street we encounter the site of the old Billingsgate Market and the fascinating Billingsgate Roman House and Baths, which can usually be visited on Saturdays. Billingsgate Roman House and Baths - City of London
We then arrive at St Magnus the Martyr, the historic church standing beside the northern approach to old London Bridge. A weathered dark wooden column traditionally believed to have originated from a Roman dock stands beside it.
After crossing the modern London Bridge, we reach the site of London’s original medieval trading port. Of interest is the Steelyard near Cannon Street, where merchants of the Hanseatic League maintained their London base between the 13th and 15th centuries. Steelyard - Wikipedia
This area is also where the lost rivers Walbrook and Fleet flow into the Thames.
Having passed several forgotten sites of old London, we eventually arrive at the newly created riverside park built above the construction works for London’s “Super Sewer” project. Old super sewer building site opens as new public space on Thames - BBC News
Our walk concludes at the remarkable The Blackfriar, one of London’s finest Art Nouveau pubs. Nicholson’s Pub in London | The Blackfriar
Please Note

• The walk is undertaken entirely at your own risk.
• We will wait 5 minutes before starting.
• Once the walk has begun, I will be unable to take phone calls and messages.