LMA Walks
Walks with London Metropolitan Archives
The Lost History of Elephant & Castle
Saturday 13 April at 11am (2 hours)
Meet at the Elephant & Castle tube station, Northern line exit (Northern & Bakerloo lines)
Even in early times, the Elephant & Castle was a traffic junction as old roads from the south and from the west joined the road to London Bridge and the City. Between the 1890s and the 1940s, the Elephant & Castle really began to come to life. The area was home to a diverse mix of people, living in everything from modest almshouses to traditional terraces, all of which are now gone. This circular walk will explore this lost history including the Elephant’s top quality entertainment venues (known as the “Piccadilly of the South London”) and hear about 1960 developments, see the major redevelopment which replaced them and learn about projects planned for the future.
Georgian London
Wednesday 24 April at 11am (2 hours)
Meet at Green Park tube station, southside exit (Piccadilly line)
Long associated with the aristocracy and the wealthy, we will explore the fashionable area of St. James’s and learn about Georgian London. Sometimes called the Age of Elegance, we will see where our Georgian ladies shopped, discover why hairstyles forced them to sit on floors of their coaches and where the men gambled outrageously at the exclusive Gentlemen’s Clubs. We will meet Beau Brummell, see the smallest square in London and finally walk through St James’s Park to learn about Princess Diana’s ancestors – and how fireworks were particularly dangerous in Georgian London!
The Changing Face of Battersea
Saturday 11 May at 11am (2 hours)
Meet at Battersea Power Station station (Northern Line)
Battersea has evolved over time from an agricultural area in Anglo Saxon times, a place of pleasure and entertainment in 1600s, an industrial hub in 19th and 20th Centuries, to the regenerated area of offices, homes and high-tech industries we see today in the 21st century. On our walk we will discover the now lost Pleasure Gardens created for the Festival of Britain in 1951, look at the restoration of the Grade II* listed Power Station with its challenging history of redevelopment and hear about the latest planned regeneration projects for the area.
Victorian London
Wednesday 22 May at 11am (2 hours)
Meet at London Metropolitan Archive, 40 Northampton Road, EC1R 0HB (nearest stations: Farringdon (Circle, Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan, Elizabeth lines and Thameslink) and Angel (Northern line)
10-11am: come early and view some specially selected material from Archives about Victorian London.
What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear “Victorian London”? Images from Dickens of mean streets and squalor, or the grand engineering of Bazalgette’s sewers and the new Houses of Parliament? During the 60 years of Queen Victoria’s reign London was transformed into the world’s largest city as its population expanded from 1 million to nearly 7 million. This walk will explore the city’s transformation as we look at the new roads, railways, houses, churches, schools and civic buildings – and, of course, those all-important sewers!