Bristol man plots walks around London
A series of self-guided walks around London written by a Bristolian are proving a big hit with visitors to the capital this summer.
As a result of the pandemic many people who might have taken a city break to one of Europe’s popular destinations such as Paris, Barcelona or Venice are instead taking a city break in London.
This has resulted in a big increase in the numbers of people downloading free, self-guided walks from a website created as ‘post-retirement’ hobby by Kevin Abbey.
Kevin, who started off his career at the Bristol Evening Post, before setting up the travel agency chain Dolphin Travel, which later became Bakers Dolphin with over ninety branches throughout the west country, says he has always had a fascination with London and in particular its history.
After retiring from the travel business Kevin says he decide to share his love and knowledge of the capital by developing a website dedicated to exploring the city on foot.
The website currently has thirteen individual walks around different areas of London, which as Kevin explains are designed to look ‘closer behind the scenes’ at places and buildings you might normally just pass by.
“All too often we just hurry past places without ever really understanding the part they might have played in history or even acknowledging their architecture”.
“The walks are not designed for people who simply want to see the top tourist sites such as the Tower of London or Westminster Abbey, interesting though they are. Instead, they are for visitors who want to learn more about the background and history of both popular areas, such as Westminster, as well as the lesser well-known areas of the city such as Farringdon, Clerkenwell and Islington.
Two walks concentrate on exploring what is known as the ‘Square Mile’ within the City of London, which as Kevin explains probably contains as much history as you’ll find anywhere in Britain, whilst another looks at the fascinating area of St James’s, famous for its long-established and extremely ‘posh’ little shops, popular for centuries with royalty and the well-heeled, as well as its palace.
For those who enjoy walking beside water there are two walks that follow the Thames Path, starting Tower Bridge and following the river through the once dockland communities of Wapping, Limehouse and into Canary Wharf, whilst another starts in Canary Wharf and takes you on an almost circular route around the Isle of Dogs.
A third walk with a ‘watery’ theme starts close to Paddington Station, and follows the Regent’s Canal through Little Venice, Regent’s Park and London Zoo and finishes at the famous Camden Market.
Finally, for those whose idea of a walk is to combine it with shopping, there’s a Sunday morning walk that visit several of London’s famous East End Markets.
Kevin was asked whether he felt he had now covered enough areas of London, but he said there were more to come.
“Each walk takes many months of research, both to establish the most practical and interesting route as well as write the relevant notes on what to see”.
As a result of the pandemic, I haven’t been able to visit London as often before, so I am now rather behind with publishing new walks”, he said.
“However, I am hoping that my next walk, which will include Soho and Covent Garden, two areas which attract many visitors looking for night life or shopping, have a wealth of fascinating history and architecture, which many tourists never see”.
The walks can be found at www.mylondonwalks.com
Image: Heidi Fin on Unsplash
