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Haunted Britain, Sherlock Holmes and London walks

Monday, January 25th, 2010

What a  great, though snowy, week I spent in Edinburgh! But now it’s back to London and my regular Walks.

The Haunted Britain trips have been turning up some real gems and the book is set to meet the deadlines in time for its publication on Halloween. I’m off down to Somerset this week ( I couldn’t make it there the other week because I got turned back by the snow) and will be trying to count the stones at Stanton Drew Stone Circle.

The recent snow played havoc with our London ghost walks, but we soldiered on and many of our walkers chose not to take up our offer to transfer to another night. I have to say London was really atmospheric in the snow and, although sub zero, virtually all those who chose to soldier on said how atmospheric it made the old streets of London. Those who we did transfer were very impressed, not to say grateful, that we offered the transfer service. We even phoned people up and actually offered them the option to transfer, and those who had transport problems on the night were also transferred. This is something we’ve been doing ever since we started taking bookings back in 2005. Unlike other London walks we like to limit the number of people on our tours to a sensible and manageable number, which is why we ask people to book in advance. But we also understand that things can go wrong (the recent snow being a great example of this) so we always ask that people call us should they encounter any problems.

In addition we now  have  twelve top flight Blue Badge Guides conducting our tours, several of whom have done tours for other London walks, and they all say how much they prefer our system because it is far simpler and much more guide/client friendly.

A Little Sherlock Holmes Information

I was joined in Edinburgh Mark Ubsdell because part of the reason for being up there, in addition to researching my new Haunted Britain book, was to film the great new documentary we’re working on about Sherlock Holmes and his creator Arthur Conan Doyle. Did you know that when Conan Doyle wrote the first Sherlock Holmes stories he’d spent very little time in London? In fact it was the streets of Edinburgh he was  picturing when he wrote the first stories. I have to say that Edinburgh looked truly magical in the snow and we got some great location shots. We also conducted interviews with several Surgeons at the Royal College of Surgeons; filmed at  the site  of Conan Doyle’s birthplace, from which the statue of Sherlock Holmes is currently missing because of the work on the trams in Edinburgh, and even filmed Dr Joseph Bell’s grave (the man upon the character of Holmes was part based). We also looked at Conan Doyle’s friendships with J. M Barrie and Oscar Wilde.

We’ll be filming in London next week and then the documentary will be all but complete. We’ll post details of when its ready on the website.

In the meantime it’s back to the haunted London walks at weekends and, of course, our nightly Jack the Ripper tour of London.

All the best.

Richard

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London and Edinburgh Walks

Monday, January 11th, 2010

Richard is currently off in Edinburgh working on his new book Haunted Britain, and also will be filming for his new Sherlock Holmes Documentary on Thursday and Friday.

Edinburgh is, of course, the place where Arthur Conan Doyle met and studied under Doctor Joseph Bell, the man upon whom he partly based the character of Sherlock Holmes, and the film will take in  both the birth place and the grave of the man who inspired one of fictions most iconic detectives.

In London next week the documentary will take in several locations covered on Richard’s Sherlock Holmes London walks that pertain to the story of how Sherlock Holmes was created.

Robert Downey Jnr, who plays Sherlock Holmes in the new Guy Ritchie movie also played the title role in Chaplain and there is a connection between Holmes and Chaplain in that, in 1905, William Gillette reprised his role as Sherlock Holmes at the Duke Of York Theatre in London and a young Charlie Chaplain appeared on stage alongside him.

The new documentary will feature interviews with some leading Sherlock Holmes academics, Surgeons and experts on 19th century London history.

The first batch of interviews were done blue screen just before Christmas and the backgrounds of 19th century London are going to be put in later this month.

So all in all a busy and exciting month and we’ll have some more information on the new drama documentary, currently under the imaginative title ‘Sherlock Holmes’ and of Richard’s book on Haunted Britain.

Be sure to follow Richard’s Edinburgh rambles on his dedicated blog http://haunted-britain.blogspot.com.

Next week he returns to London and will again be conducting his Haunted London walks.

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Back to London and The Walks.

Friday, January 8th, 2010

Richard got back to London yesterday having spent four days battling through some of the most atrocious weather conditions to have afflicted the country in over 30 years.

On Tuesday he managed to get through to the wonderful Harvington Hall and Walked over the fields to find it blanketed in snow. This lovely old red brick manor house has over 13 priests hides and is a real treasure of bygone England.

Harvington Hall Covered in Snow

Harvington Hall Covered in Snow

Later that day he headed over to Hanbury House and again trudged through the snow to explore its ghostly heritage and get a few snaps of it shrouded in a blanket of pristine snow.

Yesterday, Thursday, he headed for Shipton Under Wychwood, where he reacquainted himself with an old spectral friend Brother Sebastian who haunts the Shaven Crown Hotel.

From there it was off to Burford to glimpse a somewhat gruesome reminder of what all flesh becomes.

This effigy is under one of the tombs in Burford Church.

This effigy is under one of the tombs in Burford Church.

You can see the stories about these places at Richard’s Haunted Britain Blog.

Last night he arrived back in London to allow plenty of time for him to prepare for tonight’s London Ghost Walk. Our walks have been taking place all week, well it’s only snow after all, and as we say we go rain, shine, or thick snow. However, we have offered all our clients the option of transferring to another date should they be unable to make the tour and several have availed themselves of the offer.

Tomorrow night he will be conducting his Haunted London walk around the alleyways and the shadows of the old city, and then on Monday, weather willing, it’s off to Edinburgh to visit more haunted locations and film for his new Sherlock Holmes Documentary of which more at a later date.

So, with the New Year now very much upon us it is most certainly full steam ahead on our London walks.

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Christmas Walks in London

Friday, December 4th, 2009

Looking For Something to do in London This Christmas?

You know that Christmas feeling. Christmas Eve is all about looking forward to that big day. The day itself, December 25th is about the family. Kids opening their presents. Sitting down as a family and enjoying the Christmas meal. Next, it’s  Boxing Day and still more Turkey to get through!

Then comes those few days between Christmas and New Year. What can you do to get out of the house? Well, our walks of London will be operating.

On Sunday December 27th we will be conducting our Jack the Ripper Tour and it will then take place every night until 30th December.

Our Haunted London walks will take place on December 27th, December 29th and December 30th.

This is a great period of the year to explore the darker recesses of the old City of London because, with many of the offices closed for the festive period, the streets, courtyards and hidden passageways are totally empty of their day time populace. Shades of bygone times can stir at will and intrepid ghost hunters on our haunted tours of London can well and truly seek out those who have been just dying to meet them!

Another great idea, and this time a totally free day out, is to request our Harry Potter London Tour.

This is structured as both a London walk (you get detailed step by step directions that will take you all over London) and a treasure hunt that will keep the kids occupied throughout. The beauty of the Harry Potter Tour is that, because it is a pdf that you download and print off, you can do it as and when you like. You set the pace. You can stop off at any building or location that catches your eye as you go round. In short it makes for the perfect day out in London.

So if you’re looking for something to do in London over the festive period why not give one of our walks a try, and see for yourself why London is a great place to spend Christmas.

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The Ghosts Are Here - Haunted Walks in London

Friday, October 30th, 2009

Well, there’s just one day to go now and our Haunted London walks are cranking up and getting ready for Halloween - the scariest night of the year.

So where are the good places to go for walks in London and hope that you might see ghosts.

Well,  for a London walk that is gauranteed to chill the marrow, you could start with the Tower of London.

Why not head in there tomorrow and see if a resident spook stirs in the darker recesses and manifests before you?

The Tower of London has stood on the City’s eastern fringe for almost 1,000 years.

As we explain on our City of London walks, it was begun by William the Conqueror in 1078 since when its grim, imposing walls have well and truly dominated the London landscape and the pages of English history.

Over the next five hundred years it evolved into a magnificent Royal Palace, home to successive monarchs.

But it is its reputation as a place of imprisonment, torture and execution that brings people flocking to its history steeped interior and makes it such a popular inclusion on our various London walks in the City.

The long list of names who have, over the centuries, passed through its gates reads like a Who’s Who of English History.

 Anne Boleyn, Lady Jane Grey, Guy Fawkes, Sir Walter Raleigh and many others spent their final days, months or even years locked up inside its thick walls.

The sufferring of their final days can only be guessed at since few of them left any written and it was often just the cold stone that bore silent witness to their torment.

So it probably isn’t that much of a surprise that the Tower of London has the reputation of being the capital’s, if not England’s Most Haunted building. 

So pay it a visit on Halloween, walk its battlements, shiver in its cells, and who knows, maybe a ghost or two will cross the veil and appear before you.

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City of London walks

Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

The City of London features on our Walks in many different guises.

We, for example, include it on several of our secret London walks. These are the tours that delve into the old alleyways and hidden courtyards that snake their way through the centre of the one square mile.

Included on these London walks are places that seem untouched by time. These are the places that really do give you the thrill of uncovering parts of London that you would never dream still existed.

Then there are our ever popualr haunted London walks. We have several of these that take in some truly atmospheric and very spooky parts of the City.

For example, our Ghosts, Ghouls and Graveyards walk takes in the spot where William Wallace, Braveheart, was executed.

Our Alleyways and Shadows Old City London Ghost Walks take in the wonderful medieval palace of the City, Guildhalll, the walls of which have stood proud and defiant against fire and bombing for nigh on 600 years.

If you are a lover of literature then why not take one of our Charles Dickens London walks. Dickesn features London in virtually all his novels and it is great to explore the streets that he wrote about and see them through his eyes, or to be more precise through the yes of his characters.

So there really is a great deal to discover and experience on our London walks that explore the one square mile. So why not have a look around our site and choose a tour that appeals to you?

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Ghostly London walks

Tuesday, October 27th, 2009

Our ghostly London walks are getting a lot darker now!

The clocks changed on Sunday and the nip of winter is well and truly in the London air. Walks through the haunted City are a great way to explore and expereince the streets, passageways and hidden courtyards of which there are so many in London.

So for this one of our haunted London walks head over to Temple Underground Station and prepare to discover a haunted, gas-lit, oasis.

From Temple Station go left, walk up the stairs and then turn right. Go over the crossing and turn right on the other side of the road.

Keep ahead and at the very end of this section go in through the gates and enter The Temple.

You have entered the Inns of Court, the quarter of London where the be-wigged barristers of the London legal profession have their chambers.

Veer left through the second gate and go up the steps. You are now walking through one of London’s gaslit neighbourhoods. On your right in the garden is the 16th century Middle Temple Hall.

Keep going up the steps and turn right at the top. This area is haunted by a 19th century lawyer named Henry Hawkins. He strolls purposefully through this area clutching a bundle of legal papers.

Keep a keen eye peeled for him and walk ahead to pass through the arch. Keep ahead then go left up the steps and pass left through the cloisters.

Away to your right is Temple Church built in 1185 by the Knights Templar. This featured in the book and the film of Dan Brown’s Davinci Code. 

Go clockwise round the church and when you arrive in the area behind Temple Church you are standing in the church’s burial ground.

The narrow door in the corner to your left is the back door of Ye Olde Cock Tavern.

In the 1980’s an Australian bar maid at this pub opned the door you are standing outside and found her self face to face with the disembodied head of a man. She later identified him as Oliver Goldsmith, who is buried over by the railings to your right as you stand outside the door.

This gas-lit one of our London walks ends here. But the Temple is well worth exploring at your leisure before retracing your footsteps back to Temple Station.

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More London Ghost Walks

Monday, October 26th, 2009

As promised we kick off our haunted London walks week with another of our quick ghost walks.

To do this tour you need to head to Barbican Station.

Go left out of the Station and then turn left into Charterhouse Street. A little way along on the right is Charterhouse Square. The large grass garden at its centre is reputedly a plague pit which was establishes in 1348. It gives off a very creepy aura during the day,  but on a dark October night it is positively creepy to say the least!

Turn right into Charterhouse Square and proceedcounter clockwise round it. On the right, behind the high stone wall you will see The London Charterhouse.

This was originally a monastery set up in 1381 for monks to pray for the souls of the plague victims buried close by. It is haunted by several ghosts including a shadowy monk and a headless nobleman who is said to stride down the staircase inside with his head tucked under his arm!

This one of our haunted London walks continues by returning to Charterhouse Street. Turn right and then left into Lindsey Street. At the end go over Long Lane, via the crossing, bear right and walk down to the phone box. Here turn left in to Rising Sun Court. 

On your left is the Rising Sun Pub where ghostly footsteps are sometimes heard pacing back and forth in the upstairs bar after it has been locked up for the night. When staff go to investigate there is nver anybody there!

Continue to the end of Rising Sun Court and go right into Cloth Fair. Go in through the gate of the churchyard opposite and make your way into the church.

This is the church of St Bartholomew the Great. It dates from 1123 and is the oldest parish church in London. There is an admission charge of £4, but it is well worth it.

For many years this church has been a highlight on our various London walks, from the Secret City to our Friday night Ghosts, Ghouls and Graveyards Tour.

To the left of the altar is the tomb of the church’s founder Rahere. His ghost is said to haunt the darker recesses of the church.

To get back to Barbican Station go back to Long Lane, turn right along it, go left at the traffic lights at the end and Barbican Station is on your left.

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Ghost Walks In London

Sunday, October 25th, 2009

Tonight, Sunday 25th october 2009, the Woman in Black kicks off our week long haunted London walks ghost fest with a journey through the streets of the ghostly city.

Tonight’s tour, like all our London walks leading up to Halloween - such as The Jack the Ripper Tour, The Alleyways and Shadows Tour and the Ghosts, Ghouls and Graveyards Tour - has been sold out for many weeks now.

But those who booked early can look forward to a night exploring a corner of London that is a time capsule.

From the crumbling wall where the Black Dog of Newgate slithers its way into the realm of infamy, to the gas lit graveyard where the fearsome spectre of the She Wolf of France lurks. This tour has it all.

The route the Haunted London walk with the Woman in Black takes is guarenteed to be both nerve jangling and fascinating. There will be an old execution pot, a tumble down church yard where a lone monk keeps his weary vigil, not to mention the whistling wraith that haunted one of the City’s most esteemed buildings.

Of course, if you weren’t fortunate enough to get onto our Halloween London walks this year there’s always next year.

But with our free London walks you can also do your own ghost tour of London. From tomorrow we’ll be taking you on little jaunts through the streets of the old City and introducing you to the places where ghosts have been seen.

So be sure to check us out over the next few days and see what treasures of ghostly London we will introduce you to.

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Haunted Walks in London

Saturday, October 24th, 2009

It’s getting closer. Can you feel the chill in the air? Do you sense the feeling of trepidation as the veil between this world and the next gets thinner and thinner?

Yes, we’re seven days, one week away from the night of nights, Halloween, and on Monday we go into overdrive with our Haunted London walks ghost week.

Day by day we will tell you about haunted locations around London. Places you will be able to visit to get the real thrill of exploring the ghostly streets of the Most Haunted capital City in the World.

We’ll tell you about the perfect spot for Halloween. Suggest haunted pubs that you can visit to contact (and also drink!) the spirits.

Our Halloween week will also consist of several London walks that you will be able to do at your leisure.

You will also be able to purchase copies of Richard Jone’s ultimate guide to the ghostly Metropolis Walking Haunted London.

So get out the winter wear ( have you noticed it has begun to get colder with each day that passes?), put on your sturdy and faithful walking shoes or boots. Be sure to buy yourself a clove or two of garlic.

And then prepare to abandon all hope as you set of into the streets where the ghosts of London have been seen.

We can’t gaurantee that you will actually see a ghost, because, of course, no-one can gaurantee that. What we can gaurantee is that we will get you to the places where ghost have been seen in London.

Our Walks will include plaque pits and graveyards, haunted houses and even haunted hotels. So be sure to join us from tomorrow when the capital’s premier Haunted London walks pull out all the stops and take you on a week long extravaganza into the darker recesses of the ghostly City.

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