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
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 Guided 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 walk explores areas just outside the City of London boundary which, in their character and history, are worlds apart from their upmarket neighbour. Beyond the reach of the City’s rules, they becaome fertile territory for new businesses to grow, for non-conformism and creativity. We will head straight from the City’s administrative centre past remains of the old Roman City Wall to the north, through the extraordinary 1960s futuristic vision which is the Barbican, into vibrant areas where the streets, despite creeping City expansion and gentrification, still bear witness to a past when they teemed with light industrial activity – furniture manufacturing in Shoreditch and silk-weaving in Spitalfields among others – and were home to theatres where Shakespeare’s early plays premiered.
a Spitalfields Music Festival 2025 event
Guide: Andrew Parnell
Meet outside the City Art Gallery, Guildhall Yard, London EC2V 5AE
This Guided Walk follows the route taken by Charles Booth in 1898 to research his famous poverty maps and includes a wider history of Whitechapel. Along the way we experience one of London's most historic and vibrant quarters, coloured by 400 years of immigration. The voices of writers such as Jack london, Israel Zangwill and Samuel Pepys vie with contemporary accounts to paint a picture of a constantly changing environment and population. As the City of London encroaches onto the ancient land of Whitechapel and Spitalfields we discuss the implications for present and future populations.
a Spitalfields Music Festival 2025 event
Guide: Sean Patterson
Meet at Middle of Altab Ali Park, Aldgate East, Adler Street, London E1
Spitalfields lies right next door to the City, London’s financial district, but the contrast between the character and history of the two areas could hardly be greater. Today, Spitalfields is a place of street markets, not financial markets, of lively clubs, restaurants and bars. In the past, like the rest of London’s East End, Spitalfields’ dark streets and alleys discouraged visitors. It had a reputation for lawlessness, but also for creativity, radicalism and humour. It was a place where businesses grew, using cheap labour and skills provided by waves of immigrants who settled in the area. On this walk, we will see some of those immigrants’ homes – from hostels to grand Georgian houses – and their places of worship. We will pass through atmospheric alleyways which recall the past and along a street world famous for its markets, clubs and curry houses!
a Spitalfields Music Festival 2025 event
Guide: Andrew Parnell
Meet at Aldgate Underground Station, London EC3N 1AH
On this walk, Sue will take you to the site of a Tudor royal house which became an asylum before being destroyed by bombs; the evidence that remains of the Salvation Army’s dominance over the area, including the Mothers’ Hospital and Congress Hall and a site which has been a girls’ school since the 1600s. You will also hear about the many characters of the area – prison reformers, actresses and playwrights – as well as learning about the pond and the chapel.
a Spitalfields Music Festival 2025 event
Guide: Sue Doe
Meet at Clapton Pond, E5 0QA
This two-hour guided walk looks at the exteriors of very different buildings, all built during the Twentieth Century. From the grandeur of the famous Hackney Empire, the 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.
a Spitalfields Music Festival 2025 event
Guide: Rob Smith
Meet at Hackney Central Overground Station, Amhurst Road, London E8 1LL
This walk with Rob Smith along the River Lea takes us through the Olympic Park, passing London Stadium and many former industrial sites before reaching the beautiful tide mills at Bow. It then takes us to Canning Town to see the last loops of the Lea before it joins the Thames at Trinity Buoy Wharf. The Lea is one of the longest and most important tributaries of the Thames. It has formed the boundary between the Saxons and the Danes, been home to medieval mills and numerous other industries. This is one of series of walks by Rob which will look at the history of the River Lea, tracing its 42-mile course to the Thames.
Guide: Rob Smith
Meet at Hackney Wick Station, Wallace Road, London E9 5LH
