Down these mean streets …
Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time
Steven Wright
My Reflection this week is of Urban Walking. And a few more ‘Firsts since Lockdown’. Travelling by tube, staying in a hotel, and participating in a ‘group’ event. The ‘group’ event being a Historic Bristol walk last Saturday.
Many Art and Entertainment Enterprises such as those engaged in guided tours are struggling because of COVID restrictions. Most are still not able to offer such a service. I’m not usually one for guided tours. Not a fan of being part of large groups of tired and bored people traipsing the streets with a leader’s arm held aloft while holding something on high. However, there are one or two ‘themed’ tours I do enjoy. Usually centred around food or History.
This group walk offered the discovery of Historic Bristol with minimal COVID risk. The organisers were Bristol Open Doors and Visit Bristol. Attendees had time slots and arranged in small groups within which social distancing was at the fore. Armed with a downloaded map on our mobile phones and headphones/earpieces, we set off at our own pace walking the designated route around Bristol. Each time we came to something of historical interest, by the magic of GPS, the voice of a relevant local ‘expert’ would speak to us on what we saw. The experts weren’t all academics. Some were local people with knowledge or experience of a particular location and the lives and livelihoods of those who once lived there. The mix of narration and conversation gave the audio life and colour. The much-enjoyed tour ranged from Bristol’s earliest beginning to more recent social history. I did wonder at the end whether this use of technology might be the future of some guided walks.
It was then to London on Monday and Tuesday to complete a series of ‘Dickens London’ walks. The series started back in early December. My then plan for three days of walks came to a premature end when my wife fell ill, and I returned home at the end of the first day.
This series of self-guided walks used a good old guidebook. The intent of the writer to acquaint the reader with areas of London Dickens frequented and from which he may have drawn inspiration. Of course, the London Dickens knew once, was the London Dr Johnson (“he who is tired of London is tired of life”) knew before him. And that Samuel Pepys knew in even earlier times.
Whether famous or not, everyone who once lived in, and enjoys, London has their favourite places and familiar haunts. Most of mine are the Hyde Park area and south of the river in and around Southwark. An area much changed since my early days there. Once upon a time, it required a little caution if frequenting the area. Now it’s a tourist favourite. I confess to a hankering for the place as I once knew it, but one can’t halt progress.
The two days of walks took me around the areas of King Cross, Holborn, Clerkenwell, St Pauls, Borough and Tower Hill. Seeing sights mentioned in a guidebook is pleasing but it’s the small undocumented discoveries I most enjoy. The two small mice high up on the side of a building — London’s tiniest statue. The Umbrella shop that has kept its Victorian authenticity. The Baby Tembo elephant statue that I came upon unexpectedly on rounding a corner, almost stumbling over it. The spot near the old Customs House offering a fantastic view of Tower Bridge. I also ‘went off-piste’ at one point to visit the London of Samuel Pepys. Strolling down Seething Lane, once home to Pepys. Although his abode is long gone, a street close by his Naval Administration home now bears his name.
As can happen, historical worlds collide. Dickens was unimpressed with Pepys’ local church, St Olaves on Seething Lane. Dickens described it in an essay as the church of “St Ghastly Grim”. Inside, there is a marble bust of Elizabeth Pepys, Samuel’s wife. Installed there by Samuel after Elizabeth’s premature death to forever look down upon what was the family pew. Another little find I found touching.
London was quiet despite the beautiful weather. Few people on the streets or in shops, pubs, and restaurants. I was one of the very, very few customers in the hotels in which I stayed. It was sad to see so many places shuttered up. One does wonder how many more may go that way as so few of us are venturing out.
My final walk of the week was on a less grand scale but very enjoyable and informative, nevertheless. This was a walk created by the local museum along a historic street in my hometown. The technology in use this time was a QR code located at places of interest that stimulated the audio on one’s mobile phone. All worked well, and as with the Historic Bristol tour, it gave a fascinating insight into the houses but more importantly, the people who occupied them in times past. A glimpse of the lives of those who went before us.
When I went to school, history was the biographies of famous men (along with one or two famous women). It’s lovely to see that the history of more ordinary peoples now plays a far more prominent role. Long may that continue.
