Walking Tour around Spitalfields in the East End of London

What a wonderful way to spend an afternoon. A walk around Spitalfields - such a lovely area, brought to life with tales of history, architecture and change and of the people, past and present, who have lived and worked there. I applaud those who strive to preserve this wonderful place and who work to protect it from destructive development. The Gentle Author was an engaging storyteller and followed up the tour with more information and tales - a brilliant addition to a great tour.

This was one of the very best walking tours we have ever taken. Spitalfields is a historic neighbourhood in East London with fascinating tales and characters from the past. This tour tells some of those tales (and characters) as well pointing out many architectural highlights (and lowlights!) - in a neighbourhood that has been constantly changing over the century. The tour leader also shares many of his own insights as a long-time resident, in an interesting and engaging way during the tour. He particularly focuses on some of the key characters of Spitalfields, which really brings the history alive. The group is quite small, so it's an intimate experience and a lot of fun, as well as providing a fascinating window into a slice of London history. And the tea and cakes at the end of the tour provide a fitting finish! There's plenty to do in the area before or after the tour (restaurants, cafes, bars, shopping, etc.) so this walk makes for the centrepiece of a day spent exploring a part of London that many visitors would likely otherwise miss. Highly recommended for both locals and visitors to London.

I urge you to take this tour which completely breaks up the 'point and talk' model of city tours. It is more like going to the theatre, placing the tour-goer into the imaginative space of the East End while using the copper bottom of documentary social evidence. The Gentle Author is an erudite speaker who has done an immense amount of research, including from his own family's genealogy, and embeds the tour in the people of the area -- which makes the experience a complete departure from 'great man' history or Wikipedia-type thumbnails. Drawing from his vast stock of brilliantly researched stories and interviews, the GA uses photographs and his own verbal portraits of people and places to telescope the tour-goer right into the soul of this world-famous district. He also locates the historical aspects of the tour as a part of a continuum, so the stories have a very pleasing circularity, from Roman London to the present day -- indeed, the conclusions are often 'plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose'... At the same time, his dynamic stories contain hope -- plus, the 2hr tour ends in a gorgeous 18C panelled house with tea and cake made to an old recipe. Just go already!