CITY WALK TO LEARN THE SECRETS OF THE LIVERY COMPANIES

The impressive Vintners' company hall on the banks of the River Thames

The Livery Companies have an extraordinary history. Their influence and power has played a significant part in the City of London's rise to become one of the World's great financial centres. They go back as far as the 13th century - but still they are a mystery to most visitors and tourists who come to London.

Well, now there's a chance to find out why they have survived for so long. Today there are 107 companies and on a LONDON FOOTSTEPS walk you can find out more about them.

The walk is on September, 30th September and the meeting point is the forecourt

outside Fenchurch Street Railway Station at 11 am.

Why not join in this two-hour stroll through the City streets and hear

guide DAVID WILLIAMS reveal the Livery Companies story

CALL FOR MORE DETAILS - 01702 710232 - TO BOOK A PLACE OR SEND AN E-MAIL TO david@londonfootsteps.co.uk

COME ON YOU CITY STROLLERS!

July, August and September are holiday months when people get away from work and find some relaxing holiday retreat...maybe a golden beach, rolling hills, rugged mountains and so on. I've got a better idea! Why not join a LONDON FOOTSTEPS themed walk and find out more about one of the World's most intriguing cities.

Take a look at this blog and you can see just a few of the fascinating people, places and events that are woven into 2,000 years of history. The City of London - just a square mile - has a remarkable network of streets, lanes, alleys, passage ways and squares. Just walk around and you feel the hand of history on your shoulder.

I'm your guide, stopping regularly to talk about where we are and what we see. Believe me, I never get tired of taking people round the City. So if you want to be one of those who wants to know more about the City and you have a couple of hours to spare then get in touch.

There are a number of walks planned in the coming weeks on various London themes. Look down the list and see what takes your fancy. I'm waiting for your mail.

LONDON FOOTSTEPS
Join a themed walk around one of the World’s great cities led by City of London guide David Williams

SECRET GARDENS OF THE CITY
The small parks, gardens and churchyards are there if you know where to look. Take a walk through the alley-ways and side streets and high-rise you will find colour and greenery alongside towering office buildings.

INTRODUCTION TO THE CITY
This is a leisurely stroll for those who want 2,000 years of history in two hours. Wander through passages, squares and streets of the City to hear about people and events that shaped the history of one of the World’s great cities.

THE GREAT FIRE
It was the diarist Samuel Pepys who gave us a graphic account of the Great Fire in 1666. We trace the spread of the fire from its origins in Pudding Lane and find out why two-thirds of the old City were destroyed in four days.

THE FLOW OF HISTORY
Since the Romans first arrived, the River Thames has been the main trade artery into the commercial heart of the City. This walk stretches the imagination as we go from the Tower of London along the Thames Path and finish in the sight of St Paul’s at the Millennium Bridge.

THE SUFFERING CITY
Fire, plague, riots, terrorism, the Blitz. London has suffered over the centuries. The scars have gone but not the memories. The City has always bounced back to be stronger and more vibrant – and on this walk you find out the reasons for its continuing growth.

THE CITY LIVERY COMPANIES
The walled City, established by the Romans, became a commercial powerhouse in Mediaeval times and this strength could be traced back to the Livery Companies. These powerful organisations covered nearly all the old trades and crafts of the City for several centuries – and then re-invented themselves as charitable institutions.

For further details contact DAVID WILLIAMS

We cater for individuals as well as small parties and groups.

70, Hadleigh Road, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex SS92LZ
Tel: 01702 710232 Mobile: 07831 857382

e-mail: info@londonfootsteps.co.uk www.londonfootsteps.co.uk

BEAT THE FOOTY WITH A THAMES WALK

FED UP WITH THE FOOTY!

WHY NOT JOIN A LONDON FOOTSTEPS WALK ALONG THE RIVER THAMES ON SATURDAY, 1st JULY.

DUSK ON THE RIVER IS A TWO-HOUR STROLL FROM THE TOWER TO SOUTHWARK LED BY CITY OF LONDON GUIDE DAVID WILLIAMS.

MEET AT TOWER HILL UNDERGROUND STATION AT 6.00 PM

GOOD VALUE FOR £5. FOR MORE DETAILS CALL 01702 710232

SPLASH OF COLOUR ON A WET SUNDAY

Some people may think that wandering round Hackney, Hoxton and Shoreditch on a wet Sunday morning can be depressing. Wrong! The weather makes no difference if you are taking in the markets at Columbia Road, Cheshire Street, Brick Lane and Spitalfields. Try it sometime.

The atmosphere in the Columbia Road flower market was colourful - in every sense. This is where to find a bargain bloom, some eye-catching ornaments and pots for the garden and trays of bedding plants at knock-down prices. Get there early if you want to find some parking space - because by 2.00 pm it's finished.

There are some remarkable Victorian terraces around the market - at remarkable prices! Yet back in the 1970s the developers were hovering around, bulldozing large areas and putting up some pretty dreadful-looking blocks of flats. Some of the old rows of terraced houses from the late 1800s have survived - Elwin Street and Quilter Street for example - and there are other buildings - schools, churches, old industrial premises - which remind you of the days when living conditions in the East End were harsh and bringing up large families was a tough prospect.

Now in Brick Lane and Spitalfields you have glossy shops which are at the cutting edge of fashion and design; restaurants that serve a bewildering choice of Asian food and numerous stalls selling everything from mobile phones to bicycles. It's a vibrant and heady concoction of races, cultures and language. Try it one Sunday and you won't be disappointed.

If you want to know more about walking the streets of London then take a look at our special programme covering May to September. Later in the Summer there's a Spitalfields walk scheduled - and you could book a place now.

SUMMER PROGRAMME OF WALKS

Now here's where I start with a compliment and a word of thanks to a group from Bournemouth U3A who came on one of my walks in March.


"We were so delighted with the walk, even to the extent that a person who had lived in London saw places she had not seen before. What a knowledge you have."

Thanks ladies and gents from Bournemouth. Your comments are appreciated. They arrived in my e-mail box just as I was preparing the Summer programme of walks.

There are some real goodies on offer - as well as the usual favourites. Groups as well as individuals are very welcome and if you want to name the date then that's no problem. I recently had a couple from Boston who only had a few days here - and what could I offer? The answer was a special version of my "INTRODUCTION TO THE CITY" walk and they were delighted.

So remember, if there's a special area of the City you would like to visit and have a date in mind, give me a call or send an e-mail. Here's a selection of the morning walks I have to offer in May and June. They are leisurely 2-hour strolls with regular stops so that I can point of places, events and people who have made a contribution to London's history.

Saturday 13th May

THE FLOW OF HISTORY
Another chance to take a stroll along the Thames path from the Tower of London and appreciate how the river has played such a defining role in the growth of the City.

Saturday 3rd June

THE LAST BURIAL GROUND IN THE CITY
This is another secret of the City – and to find it we head beyond the Barbican to the four acre cemetery at Bunhill Fields. It is the only remaining burial ground in London, the last resting place for some of the remarkable people who have contributed to the history of the City. And on the way, we pass more of those green spaces and gardens which encourages nature to thrive amongst the high-rise buildings.

Wednesday, 14th June

THE RIVER THAMES POLICE MUSEUM and WAPPING WALK
The visit to the Thames Police Museum at Wapping (11.30 am) is a special arrangement and we have to book beforehand. There are 20 places available on the visit which is part of a walk that takes in St Katherine’s dock, Shadwell Basin, the riverside inns, Execution Dock and the old dockland heart of London.

Saturday, 17th June

INTRODUCTION TO THE CITY
For those who want a general picture of the way London has developed over the last 2,000 years then this ever-popular walk is a must. You go through the streets, alleys and narrow passageways; see some of the finest Wren churches and grand buildings and learn something about the people and events that have made the City so inspiring.


To find out more email david@londonfootsteps.co.uk You will want to know where to meet and what time.

LONDON CHURCHES WALK

LONDON FOOTSTEPS
Walking tours of the City of London by David Williams

Tel: 01702 710232 Mobile: 07831 857382

e-mail: david@londonfootsteps.co.uk www.londonfootsteps.co.uk

CITY CHURCHES WALK

Wednesday, 19th April 2006

Meet at 11 am outside the main entrance

at Fenchurch Street Station

This walk offers a chance to go inside some of the 37 City churches which are remarkable legacies of London’s amazing history.

The interior of many churches, including those re-built at the Great Fire of 1666 or restored after the bombing in World War Two, are spectacular. The architectural genius of Sir Christopher Wren, the man who gave us St Paul’s Cathedral, has survived in the churches which share the streets, lanes and passageways of the City with the modern office blocks of Lord Norman Foster and Lord Richard Rogers.

Among the churches to be visited are St Mary Aldermary, with its recently restored fan-vaulted ceiling, St Stephens Walbrook, one of the finest parish churches in England and St Mary Abchurch, which retains much of original character and atmosphere of a 17th Wren designed church.

THERE ARE STILL PLACES
AVAILABLE ON THIS WALK

Call now to confirm your place.

The walk will be led by David Williams, a registered

City of London guide

and Associate Member of the Institute of Tourist Guiding

AUSSIES SHOULD SPARE A MOMENT TO SAY G'DAY TO LONDON SEA-FARER.

If any Aussies out there wonder how it all began for you then come on a LONDON FOOTSTEPS walk and you'll find out. I'll introduce you to Admiral Arthur Phillip - because if it wasn't for him you wouldn't be around.

The Admiral Phillip statue in Watling Street is there to celebrate the life of a man who took the first convicts to Australia in 1787. There were 11 ships on this perilous voyage with a total of 778 convicts. Those poor souls, some women, some children just 12 and 13 years old, many of them guilty of petty crimes - all herded below decks in what must have been a hellish eight month voyage.

One of them may have been George Jones who was caught after stealing two pewter pots in the Cock Inn, Bow Lane on December 23rd 1786. For this first offence he was sentenced to seven years transportation by an Old Bailey jury. The value of the pots was just three shillings.

Admiral Phillip sailed into Sydney Cove - naming it after the British Home Secretary at the time - and unbloaded his human cargo who were expected to fend for themselves. They weren't farmers; they had no agricultural skills - so they nearly starved.

By the time Arthur Phillip left Sydney two years later, the convict colony had survived and was beginning to trade and farm. The rest, as they say, is history. So Phillip continued his nautical career - and the founder of New SOuth Wales is remembered by a statue which stands in the shadow of St. Paul's Cathedral.

It's worth a visit, especially from those thousands of Aussies who come to Britain every year. Here's a man who deserves a bit of respect - even if the whole Australian adventure started with a group of criminals.

CHILL OUT IN THE CITY GARDENS

One of the remaining sections of the Roman Wall, near Salters' Hall, one of the stops on the 'Secret Gardens' walk.

The walking season is now in full swing and there was a good turn out last weekend. I travelled into London by coach from Southend with a group from the Custom and Excise Social Club and they were treated to the "INTRODUCTION TO THE CITY" walk.

The following day, Saturday, March 18th, it was "THE FLOW OF HISTORY" and 24 hours after that I had a last-minute call from the Bournemouth U3A who were spending a weekend in the Capital and fancied a short walk through the back-streets of the City.

The Madiera cafe in Dowgate Hill had our custom on Friday and Saturday - and their excellent coffee was just what was needed in the unseasonal Spring chill.

The next walk - SECRET GARDENS OF THE CITY - is planned for Saturday, 1st April and I hope the rise in temperature will see the Spring flowers making a colourful appearance. Usual times for those who want to join us - Leigh-on-Sea Station at 9.45 am or at Fenchurch Street Station at 11 am.

Ring me - David Williams - on 01702 710232 if you would like to come along.

SPRING WALKS START WITH A TOUCH OF SADNESS

It was a successful start to the season of Spring walks...but a little sad! THE SUFFERING CITY theme looks at the places and recalls some of the events which have caused pain and suffering over the last 2,000 years - and there were plenty of them.

Riots, plagues, fires, wars, terrorism.....London has had its fair share. The mood was set right at the beginning of the walk when we paused on the forecourt of Liverpool Street station to see the small statue of the child who represents the 'Kindertransport'.

For two years just before the start of World War Two, Jewish parents in Germany, Czechoslovakia, Austria and Poland sent their children to England to escape the menace of the Nazis. These children, 10,000 altogether, arrived alone in a strange land and were dispersed around the country - to foster homes, orphanages, farms - to stay in relative safety for the rest of the war. Most never went back. Their parents died in concentration camps and the children were alone - and sometimes unwanted.

It is a poignant memorial on Liverpool Street Station - the place where they all stepped off the train to a new life in a strange country. Today those children are in their 70s and 80s and have children and grandchildren of their own. They still remember the time when they said goodbye to their own parents - and the stories on their web site are a sad reminder of an horrific past.

London is full of stories of triumph and despair, glory and tragedy, bravery and drama. You can hear about them on a LONDON FOOTSTEPS walk.

JOURNEY'S END WAS MISERY AND POVERTY

Thousands of City commuters arrive each day at Liverpool Street Station but few will be aware of the sad and painful past associated with this part of the City. This was the original site of Bethlem Hospital where human beings experienced poverty, pain and misery. It was a grim existence for the under-class of London; little wonder that the name Bedlam - a curruption of Bethlem - and its association with madness and mental illness has remained with us.

The Hospital was part of the Priory of St Mary of Bethlehem in the 14th century and was known to treat 'distracted patients'. They were kept chained to the wall with leg and ankle irons and ducked in cold water or whipped when violent. The City Corporation took it over as a lunatic asylum in the 16th century before it finally moved in the 17th century to Moorfields.

But the poverty and misery remained in the area. A workhouse was built close-by in Bishopsgate where children under-10 worked spinning wool for 12 hours a day, six days a week. The grim surroundings were also home for beggars and thieves as well as those Londoners who were at the very bottom of the social scale.

It existed until the 1870s and one of the few reminders of this grim past is the tomb of Sir William Rawlins, a City Sheriff, in the churchyard of St.Botolphs without Bishopsgate. (pictured). He was the workhouse treasurer for many years in the early 19th century.

So next time you arrive or leave Liverpool Street Station, think of the thousands who were going nowhere.

JOIN THE EARLY SPRING LONDON WALKS

How about booking up now for the first two walks of the LONDON FOOTSTEPS Spring Programme. After the dull weeks of January, a walk through the City streets is something to look forward to. So make a date on one - or both - of these walks.

THE SUFFERING CITY (Saturday, 18th February) sounds all doom and gloom but it's actually a fascinating look at some of the sad, tragic or heroic events and people that have made an impact on London's history over the past 2,000 years. This walks starts at Fenchurch Street Station (11am) and finishes at Paternoster Square about two hours later.

INTRODUCTION TO THE CITY (Saturday, 4th March) sounds straight-forward enough - but prepare to be surprised. This is a walk which winds its way through alleys, passageways and along streets. We shall stop to admire some of the great City buildings, the wonderful Wren churches and learn about the men and women who have earned their place in the history of the Square Mile.

So to find out more details, call 01702 710232 or email info@londonfootsteps.co.uk It's just £5 a walk and you pay on the day.

SAVE THIS VICTORIAN MUSIC HALL

Take a look at this....it's a back alley in Wapping, East London which I discovered last week. I was looking for a building which once offered a noisey, bawdy, beery night out. It's Wilton's Music Hall but sadly it is now in desperate need of a large injection of cash to save it from collapse.

Imagine a night out here. Everything from opera to saucy sing-alongs went on here; sometimes as many as 1500 were inside; Prostitutes, sailors, merchants, street-sellers, rich and poor, young and old - they packed the gas-lit hall from six in the evening to six in the morning. If you fancied musical debauchery then Wilton's was the place.

Those days of 150 years ago are part of the fast-disappearing Victorian heritage of the East End. This is one of London's last surviving music-halls and should be saved so send some donations to Wilton's Music Hall, Graces Alley, London E1 8JB. And to find out more visit www.wiltons.org.uk

Less than a mile away the City of London is booming. Wiltons also had a period of prosperity but not any more. It doesn't deserve to be lost forever.

LONDON CITY WALKS FEBRUARY-MAY 2006

January 2006

JOIN US FOR A WALK THROUGH HISTORY

Programme for February-May 2006

In the cold days of Winter it is difficult to imagine walking the streets of London. But the Square Mile will always warm the visitor with its fascinating history and remarkable stories.

So join your official guide, DAVID WILLIAMS, on a leisurely two hour walk round the City streets. It's fun and informative.

The following programme covers February-May 2006. If you are interested in joining one of these City of London walking tours then please let me know. You can either come along as an individual or with a few friends or we can arrange to take a group from a club or society.

There are usually 15-20 people in the group and you are invited to meet me outside Fenchurch Street railway station which is just a short distance from Tower Hill Tube station (District and Circle Line).

The cost is just £5 for the walk, pay on the day.

LONDON FOOTSTEPS
70, Hadleigh Road, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex SS9 2LZ
Tel: 01702 710232 email: info@londonfootsteps.co.uk
www.londonfootsteps.co.uk

Saturday, 18th February:

THE SUFFERING CITY (meet at 11 am Fenchurch Street station)

This walk will take in the events and places that have featured in some of the tragic moments and episodes in London’s long history – plague, fire, riots, poverty, the Blitz, and terrorism.

Saturday, 4th March

INTRODUCTION TO THE CITY: (meet at 11 am Fenchurch Street station)

For those who want a general picture of the way London has developed over the last 2,000 years then this ever-popular walk is a must. You go through the streets, alleys and narrow passageways; see some of the finest Wren churches and grand buildings and learn something about the people and events that have made the City so inspiring.

Wednesday 8th March:

THE RIVER THAMES POLICE MUSEUM and WAPPING WALK

The visit to the Thames Police Museum at Wapping is a special arrangement and we have to book beforehand. There are 20 places available on the visit which is part of a walk that takes in St Katherine’s dock, Shadwell Basin, the riverside inns, Execution Dock and the old dockland heart of London.

Places are restricted on this walk and Museum visit so please contact us beforehand to confirm availability.

Meet at Tower Hill underground station at 10.30 am.

Saturday 18th March:

THE FLOW OF HISTORY (meet at 11am outside Fenchurch Street station)

We set off along the Thames Path to the Millennium Bridge, cross over to Southwark then go the South Bank and back over London Bridge. The story of London is really the story of the River Thames and has influenced the wealth and development of the Square Mile.
Meet at Leigh-on-Sea station at 9.45 am or 11 am outside the main entrance of Fenchurch Street Station.

Saturday 1st April:

SECRET GARDENS IN THE CITY

Meet at 11 am outside the main entrance of Fenchurch Street Station.

This walk reveals one of the City’s hidden secrets. At this time of the year there is colour in the small parks, gardens and green spaces that flourish among all the high-rise buildings. See them – and see how the City gardeners have transformed what were once derelict sites and overgrown churchyards.


Easter Holiday Walk

Wednesday 19th April:

CITY CHURCHES (Meet at 11 am outside Fenchurch Street station)

An opportunity to see some of the fine churches which were designed by Sir Christopher Wren after the Great Fire – and those that date back to Saxon and Roman times. We visit St Olave’s Hart Street, All Hallows by-the-Tower, St Michael Paternoster, St Stephen’s Walbrook, St JHames Garlickhythe, St Mary Aldermary, St Mary Le-Bow, St Mary Woolnoth, St Peters Cornhill.

Saturday 13th May

THE FLOW OF HISTORY (Meet at 11 am outside Fenchurch Street Station)

Another chance to walk along the banks of the Thames from the Tower of London to the Millennium Bridge and then over to Southwark. It is incredible to learn how much this stretch of river impacted on the development of London over 2,000 years.

OTHER DATES

Some clubs or groups like to arrange a walk on a special date. It could be on a weekday or a weekend. That’s fine. Give us a call and we’ll see what can be arranged.

YOUR GUIDE

DAVID WILLIAMS is a qualified City of London guide, a member of the City of London Guide Lecturers Association and Associate of the Institute of Tourist Guiding.

London Footsteps
Tel: 01702 710232 Mobile: 07831 857382
Email: info@londonfootsteps.co.uk

davidwilliams@dwmedia.co.uk

THIRD TIME UNLUCKY FOR THE PIRATE WHO WENT TO THE GALLOWS

Captain William Kidd, the 17th century 'Privateer' who became a notorious pirate, came to an unceremonious end in Wapping. It happened at Execution Dock - so you know his fate!

It wasn't very nice either. Twice the hangman's rope snapped so it wasn't third time lucky for the pirate who had made his reputation in the Caribbean and strutted arrogantly around New York spending his wealth. Unfortunately, he took a gamble and refused to hand over some of his huge bounty to the English Crown - and that sealed his fate.

He was eventually sent back to London, tried and sentenced to death. His body was covered in tar, clamped in an iron cage and displayed on the riverside at Tilbury. It was a clear warning to other sea-farers not to change sides!

Not until the 20th century did some papers come to light which suggested that Kidd's argument and defence of his actions could have been valid. They were never heard at his trial and the rest, as they say, is history.

This is one of the stories you will hear on a LONDON FOOTSTEPS walking tour along the river path around the streets of Wapping, once an area alive with merchants, dockers, sailors but now the home for another kind of trader - city financiers who can afford the sky-high prices of apartments overlooking the river.

Why not find out more about LONDON FOOTSTEPS. http://www.londonfootsteps.co.uk

THE FLOW OF HISTORY

Creating a new walk is always a challenge. I can spend a long time searching through books and browsing the internet to get details, facts and anecdotes about a proposed route. I go out and walk the route by myself, just to make sure it works. Invariably I finish up with more than I need for a two hour walk - and THE FLOW OF HISTORY is no exception.

The River Thames is like a ribbon of history, wrapping itself around the centuries of London life in a way that no other geographical feature does. Other cities have dominating mountains, harbours, ancient ruins etc...London has the Thames.

If you ever want to know just how influential is has been then take THE FLOW OF HISTORY WALK - along the Thames Path from the Tower, over the Millennium Bridge to Bankside, along to Southwark Cathedral and back over London Bridge.

The small group of enthusiasts who enjoyed this walk on a cold, bright November morning were in no doubt - it was fascinating. I shall be doing it several times over the next few months because it has that magic forumula - fascinating history as well as familiar images of London. The casual tourist will enjoy the picture postcard aspects of this walk - but so too will someone who likes more historical meat on the bone!

If you want to know more then get in touch. I'd like to see you on a LONDON FOOTSTEPS walk around the Square Mile. Groups as well as individuals are welcome so have a look at www.londonfootsteps.co.uk.

MOVING DOWN RIVER

There are places in London which are off the main tourist route yet always worth a visit. One area is Wapping, just a mile downstream from Tower Bridge. This was once the bustling heart of the Pool of London, busy with ships loading and unloading their cargoes, hundreds of dockers working on the quayside and in the wharves; the cranes swinging out over the river lifting goods from the far corners of the globe and loading some of products which carried the 'Made in Britain' badge to distant lands.

All that is now consigned to the history. These scenes of 50 years ago have been replaced by the quiet calm of affluence. The warehouses have been converted into smart, expensive apartments; no more noise and dirt. People here eat in trendy restaurants, have expensive tastes and count their money.

Yet it's still worth going to have a look at Wapping. The High Street doesn't have any shops - just converted, towering warehouses. The D3 Docklands bus bounces over the cobbles and the estate agents sit in spacious offices waiting for people to come along with £500,000 to spend on one of the glossy properties advertised in the windows.

On a fine day you can see why people want to live here. If you're lucky enough to to be on your balcony overlooking the river and enjoying a pre-dinner drink, the money will seem well spent. Or you may pop along to the pub for a pint, places with dockside traditions and memorabilia like the Prospect of Whitby, the Town of Ramsgate or Captain Kydd.

Dinner? Well maybe a stroll up to St Katherine's Dock where you can have a budget Pizza or spend a lot more; there's always the London Hydraulic Company restaurant in Wapping, one of those much-loved themed eating places, where you sit surrounded by 19th century heavy machinery while enjoying the fish speciality.

This is affluent Wapping - but go less than a mile away from the river towards Shadwell and Cable Street and the taste buds really come alive. This is where the Bangladeshi community live - and the streets are bustling, the shops busy, the schools noisy, the food exotic and cheap and the restaurants inviting. It's a remarkable contrast - and shows how the diversity of London and its people is one of its great attractions.

Don't turn down an invitation to Wapping. The walk along the Thames Path from the City will amaze you. Wapping is a place where cash and culture collide. The docks are consigned to memory. What we have now is very different - but fascinating in its own way.

QUEENHITHE

It's hard to imagine that this was probably the busiest place on the river in the 16th and 17th century. The small inlet, Queenhithe, was one of the Legal Quays on the northern bank of the River Thames. Ships waiting to load and unload were jostling each other as they waited for a berth. There was a forest of sails and masts. Pilfering and smuggling was rife and even when the ships eventually tied up alongside at Queenhithe or the other wharves, the customs were waiting to collect their taxes and duties.

Now the river traffic is mainly pleasure launches. The River Police, formed in 1798 to cut the rising crime on the river and the quayside, are not likely to face any violent characters these days - just the odd drunk who jumps into the water from a riverside restaurant.

OPEN HOUSE IN LONDON

It was a great weekend for thousands of London enthusiasts who had a chance to visit places which are not normally open or accessible. Open House is a great idea - and a terrific success. Once again, people were travelling all over the capital and taking an opportunity to learn more about this great City.

Pat and I were interested in the livery companies - so we planned to visit four of them, starting off with the amazing Vinter's Hall down by Southwark Bridge. This building, built around 1670, has some great treasures, remarkable paintings, elegant rooms and a sense of history and tradition everywhere you look. The Vinter's are one of the great 12 senior livery companies with a charter dating from 1364

Then we went onto the Painters Hall in Little Trinity Lane. A new hall was built after the great fire of 1666 and it was badly damaged by an air raid in WW2. There are some fine paintings here - as you would expect - including two by Sir Joshua Reynolds. From there we went to Butchers' Hall, also rebuilt after bomb damage, and from there to the most recent, Haberdasher's Hall.

Haberdashers' is an excellent example of how a stylish building, light and airy and using modern building materials in a sympathic and effective way, can enhance the historical importance and tradition of a fine organisation (see picture) Dating from the 14th century, this Livery company controlled the making and selling of ribbons, beads, purses, gloves, pins, caps and toys and has survived since then to become one of the great charitiable institutions of the City of London.

All livery companies saw their power and influence beginning to fade away in the 15th and 16th century, yet they managed to retain their wealth and used it to finance education and support a wide number of small charities. Today, this role has earned the Livery Companies great respect and they are an integral part of City life.

Yes, Open House is a great day out. A bit tiring on the feet...but well worth the effort.

NOT A PRETTY SIGHT!

Come back here in 2012 and you won't see anything like this! It was taken near the River Lea, close to the Olympic site at Stratford. On a wet and dreary August day it was a glimpse of the derelict under-belly of London - and certainly not a place for a picnic! I shall keep going back to record the changes that take place over the next seven years.
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COOLING OFF BY THE RIVER

It was hot today - but strolling through the City and along the River Thames path was yet another reminder that London is a great City with so much to see and enjoy. I couldn't have chosen a better day to take Sarah and the grandchildren for a walk through some of the paths and passageways on a route from the Tower to St. Paul's.

There were no complaints from Henry (8), Molly (7) and Isabelle (6) . No moans, no tears. As long as they were kept fed and watered, the interesting sights and historical snippets of London did the rest. The Guide was quite good as well!

We started near the Tower, saw the original Roman wall, the execution site on Tower Hill and then went on to St Margaret Pattens church in Eastcheap and rebuilt by Wren in 1686. We went inside and saw the pattens which the ladies wore on their feet to raise them above the muck and debris of the market streets. (pictured) The children wandered around the church, into the churchwarden pews and the pulpit. They were enthralled - so credit to the staff in the church who made it all possible.

We looked at the Monument, London Bridge and then took the Thames Path to the Millenium Bridge (pictured). After going over to the south side and back, we went up to St Paul's and into Paternoster Square - where we met their Dad, Stuart, during his lunchtime break. Everyone was eating out, enjoying the sun and chatting; it wasn't crowded...maybe recent events have kept people away from our City.

Then it was back down Cheapside, into the Royal Exchange, through the alleys near St Michael's, Cornhill and on to the vibrant Leadenhall Market where everyone was eating and drinking outside. The stalls were busy and the whole atmosphere was alive under this remarkable iron structure designed by Sir Horace Jones.

On the train back from Fenchurch Street, we had a little quiz. Who founded Toc H? Where did Samuel Pepys live? Name the two fresh-water rivers flowing into the Thames? What does Resurgam mean? Who created the statue in Paternoster Square? Where was the first coffee shop in London? And so it went on.

The journey back to Leigh went quickly - and three tired little people, with their Mum, knew a little more about London life, traditions and history. But it was worth it...so maybe I should organise another of these "Walking Classrooms"