Roughly following the line of the Greenwich Meridian, this east London Guided Walk incorporates modern art alongside the old industrial heritage. From the Bow Back Rivers at Pudding Mill Lane, we trace the industrial heritage of lower Lea Valley from fine porcelain in the 18th century through gasworks, gin, cosmetics and explosives to film studios. As we go, we follow part of The Line, London's first dedicated modern and contemporary art walk, finishing at the now green oasis of Gasworks Dock with the chance for refreshments before a short walk to Star Lane DLR station.
Guide: Sue McCarthy
Meet at Pudding Mill Lane DLR Station, Pudding Mill Lane, London E15 2NH
Women reigned in Rag Fair, which extended from Tower Hill along Rosemary Lane into Cable Street in the 17th-19th centuries. Poorer women sold old clothes, thieved and worked in the brothels of Damaris Page, called by Samuel Pepys 'the most Famous Bawd in the Towne’. We wend through back-alleys to one of the first London Docks, around whose walls a myriad of small businesses set up to service ships and sailors. Fans of Call the Midwife will be interested to see where young Mary escaped from one of the notorious brothel-cafés of Cable Street in the 1960s era of decline. We see where two local women lived who were accused of witchcraft and where the artist JMW Turner spent romantic - and unmarried - weekends. In short, on this walk we focus on a lot of residents rarely mentioned in histories of the docks. Great pubs await near the final stop.
Guide: Laura Agustín
Meet outside Tower Hill Station, London EC3N 4DJ
When industrial Hackney Wick declined the artists moved in. Across the River Lea institutions including the V&A, Sadlers Wells, BBC and Universities are transforming the area. Our walk follows Carpenters Road from Stratford through the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park to Hackney Wick. On the way there is sculpture and street art, a memorial to the victims of 9/11 and intriguing glimpses of the area's industrial past.
Guide: Sue McCarthy
Meet at Stratford Underground Station, 99 Gibbins Road, London E15 2HU
Shadwell, developed to equip ships for imperial interests and explorations in the Age of Sail, was home to wealthy merchants and many small businesses. To make those possible, large numbers of ordinary folk provided services, making the area a multicultural hub where escaping slaves hid out, fed-up sailors started new lives, river pirates spied opportunities and women provided the comforts of home in lodging-houses, taverns and brothels. Of course, women were also seamen, pirates, slaves and merchants. Outsiders came to experience the many opium-dens that were standard places of unwinding for seafarers. Shadwell Basin is the only one left of three early docks located in the area. On this walk we pass remnants of all these phenomena as well as river stairs, imposing warehouses, green spaces, the Thames Path and numerous appealing pubs.
Guide: Laura Agustín
Meet at Shadwell Overground Station, outside exit on Cornwall Street, London E1 2QE
In the 1980 classic thriller The Long Good Friday, Bob Hoskins’ character, Harold Shand, gives his view on the future of Docklands: “I believe this is the decade in which London will become Europe's capital. Having cleared away the outdated, we've got mile after mile and acre after acre of land, for our future prosperity. No other city in the world... has got right in its centre, such an opportunity... for profitable progress.” While things don't go well for Harold - his vision of the future proves fairly accurate and the old docks are redeveloped and London does host the Olympics. On this Guided Walk, Rob visits many of the East London locations from the film -- some recognisable, some changed beyond Harold's wildest dreams -- and also talks about the recent history of Docklands that brought the changes about.
Guide: Rob Smith
Meet at Tower Hill Tube Station, Trinity Square, EC3N 4DJ
There's more to Barking than you might think. Join Sue to find out more. This circular walk takes us past landmarks associated with its medieval abbey, its once huge fishing fleet, the noxious industries and civic pride of the 19th and 20th centuries, right up to today's riverside regeneration. Along the way we learn where Capt. Cook was married and where a local suffragette entertained Mrs Pankhurst. We find out what links prison reformer Elizabeth Fry to Barking's stunning Sikh temple and why there is a memorial to the victims of asbestosis.
Guide: Sue McCarthy
Meet at Barking Station, Station Parade, London IG11 8TU
