Retrace the steps of the most famous radical women associated with Bow, starting with the Bryant and May matchwomen. Sylvia Pankhurst established the Suffragette East London Federation here, campaigning not only for the right of women to vote, but also to establish their social and economic freedom. Minnie Lansbury died here, after a heroic fight for justice for local residents. We will re-locate past struggles for social justice and take a look at the modern Bow on the way.
Guide: Oonagh Gay
Meet at Bow Church DLR Station, London E3 3AA
Ivor Novello, Lawrence of Arabia, Queen Victoria and the Forgotten Father of English Sport are among the characters with connections to the area that Joanna will introduce you to on this walk around Chingford and the part of Epping Forest beside it that was a hunting ground for Henry VIII. After the Epping Forest Act of 1878 and the arrival of the railways, Chingford and the Forest became a day out for hordes of Eastenders. Following an 1838 tithe map showing footpaths which still exist today, you will hear, among other things, about a family whose actions dramatically improved the lives of Chingford residents and a World War One Aerodrome, with connections to Novello, now lying beneath a reservoir. The walk finishes at a 19th Century refreshment retreat on the edge of the forest a short walk from the station.
Guide: Joanna Moncreiff
Meet at Chingford Railway Station
On this walk we will be exploring an area of London with an infamous and violent past – the East End of the 1960s dominated by the feared Kray Twins. Who were Ronnie and Reggie Kray? Two loving sons badly treated by the judicial system? Or hardened criminals who deserved everything they got? On this walk you will see the streets where they lived, the schools they played in and the pubs they frequented, learn how they operated - the protection rackets, the robberies, intimidation and murders - and visit the site of their most notorious murder. In researching this walk, Daniella spoke to members of her own family who lived in the East End during this period and who encountered the Krays to get a unique insight into this most infamous chapter in the history of London.
Guide: Daniella King
Meet at Whitechapel Station, Temporary Exit in Court Street, London E1 1DG
Dagenham is instantly associated with the huge Ford factory that opened in 1931. However, the Dagenham Dock has an industrial history going back to the early 1800's. This walk will look at a complex history that includes explosives manufacturing, shipbuilding and power generation. You'll get to see the site where the last battleship built on the Thames was completed, London's other flood relief barrier, oil storage depots, scrapyards and a fantastic stretch of the Thames which is an empty white patch on the A-Z. This is a longer walk - around 5 miles - but fans of Patrick Keiller's Robinson films, and Iain Sinclair's books will enjoy being in this extremely off the beaten track part of London.
Guide: Rob Smith
Meet at Dagenham Dock Station, Chequers Lane
This walk reveals some of the lesser known architectural gems of the Isle of Dogs, mostly outside of the banking area at Canary Wharf, from housing – social, private and charitable -- to glistening offices to ornate buildings with important public functions. It also takes you to some natural features and green spaces that might surprise the first time visitor to this fascinating area that has retained its special charm in the face of the bombing, wholesale regeneration and massive economic change that it underwent in the 20th century.
Guides: Leigh, William and Andrew
Meet at South Quay DLR Station, east exit (Harbour Exchange side)
Ada Salter was the first female mayor in London and the first Labour woman mayor in the British Isles. With her husband, local doctor and MP Dr Alfred Salter, she made a significant impact on health, housing, employment and labour relations, helping to make Bermondsey world famous for its flowers and its Garden City estate, still occupied today. Find out about the legacy of Ada on this charming riverside walk, which tells her story from the Bermondsey Uprising of women jam factory workers in 1911, to her years as a pacifist in the First World War, and her radical policies as Bermondsey Councillor.
Guide: Sue McCarthy
Meet at Bermondsey Station, London SE16 4RX
This two-hour walk looks at the exteriors of very different buildings, all built during the 20th Century. From the Edwardian splendour of the former public baths, a school designed by Erno Goldfinger, a factory that made aircraft landing lights, to more recent works like the Geffrye Museum Extension. Guide Rob Smith will talk about the buildings and some of the social history context in which they were built.
Guide: Rob Smith
Meet at Hoxton Overground Station, Geffrye Street, E2 8FF
Blackwall in London’s Docklands has as much maritime history as Greenwich – it’s just that you have to look a bit harder to find it. In this two-hour walk, Rob Smith uses fragments of the old dockyard and street names to tell the story of the East India Company, who made Blackwall their home for almost 250 years. You will hear stories of bravery, greed and ingenuity. The walk also visits the Leamouth Peninsula, one of the most unusual places on the Thames with a maritime history of its own. Rob will also tell the stories of some of the ships built in the famous Blackwall Yard and you’ll hear how Blackwall is at the heart of communications in the 21st century.
Guide: Rob Smith
Meet at East India DLR Station
One of Rob Smith’s series of walks along the Thames going East, this takes us from Rainham where we'll visit the gardens of Rainham Hall - a house built by a ship’s captain who operated his shipping fleet from the village when it was a busy port – before crossing the site of a former military training camp until we reach the Thames, where we'll look at the history of industry in the area. Then it is a peaceful stroll along the Thames through an area that is now an RSPB nature reserve but once rattled to the sound of machine gun fire. The walk ends in Purfleet which used to be a popular destination for day trippers and Dracula!
Guide: Rob Smith
Meet at Rainham Station, Ferry Lane, London RM13 9HY
While a certain sporting event in 2012 has transformed the area west of Stratford, the Lower Lea Valley between Stratford and the Thames still retains a post-industrial feel. In this two-hour walk, Rob Smith looks at the industrial heritage of the area and the fantastic Victorian (and earlier) architecture that remains. He will talk about how the Lea was important to the development of London. You will see buildings associated with railways, printing, canals, sewage, mills, shipbuilding and gas supply, and see what is planned in the area for the future.
Guide: Rob Smith
Meet at Stratford Station, Station Street, London E15 1AZ
This two-hour walk looks at the exteriors of very different buildings, all built during the 20th Century. From the grandeur of the famous Hackney Empire, civic pride of Hackney Town Hall, and the post war simplicity of Brett Manor, to more recent buildings like Sutton Square and Hackney Academy, Hackney has a range of buildings built in response to a variety of needs. Rob Smith will talk about the buildings and some of the social history context in which they were built.
Guide: Rob Smith
Meet Hackney Central Overground Station, Amhurst Road, London E8 1LL
The Isle of Dogs had a rich history of public housing, including outstanding 1920s Homes for Heroes estates built by radical Poplar councillors in the era before the Docklands Development Corporation initiated a private sector led renewal. Private housing has come to dominate the Island in just a generation, since the creation of Canary Wharf. This walk traces the boundaries between private and public housing in this fascinating tour of the western Isle of Dogs, ending near Mudchute DLR.
Guide: Oonagh Gay
Meet at Heron's Quay DLR Station, London E14 4JB
