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The Jack the Ripper walk - London

Tuesday, November 10th, 2009

Join us for our acclaimed Jack the Ripper Tour and get to see the places and the area where the infamous crimes occurred in 1888.

The Jack the Ripper murders took place over a twelve week  period in the autumn of 1888  in the districts of Spitalfields and Whitechapel In the East end of London. Five local prostitutes were murdered by an unknown killer who, thanks to a letter sent to a London News Agency in September 1888, became known as “Jack the Ripper”.

Our Jack the Ripper Tour explores the very places where the infamous murders occurred. It starts right in the heart of the area and visits more of the actual murder sites than any other Jack the Ripper London walk. Our guides are all experts on the subject who are familiar with every twist and turn in what is, without, doubt, the world’s most famous whodunnit.

You will hear about the horrific living conditions in the areas of Whitechapel and Spitalfields in 188.

You will learn of the police investigation as the officers of the Metropolitan Police, faced with a new type of criminal, tried to catch the killer in what was one of the most densely populated quarters of the Victorian metropolis.

You will visit the murder sites themselves and ponder how it was that the killer was able to commit these murders and then, apparently, melt away into the darkness.

You will hear of the contemporary suspects who, from time to time in the course of the investigation, were taken in  by the police only to be released again when no evidence against them was found.

So for a Jack the Ripper Tour that is both informative and enjoyable  be sure to join the experts and let them guide you through the abyss of London’s sinister east End.

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Why Not Try a Jack the Ripper London walk?

Friday, August 7th, 2009

Are you looking for something to do tonight which is a little bit different?

Why not try something that is chilling, atmospheric and yet at the same time truly fascinating?

Our Jack the Ripper London walks tick all these boxes.

Step by step you wend your way through the old streets of London’s East End on a Walking Tour that leads you round the sites where the Jack the Ripper murders took place in 1888.

The great thing about exploring these streets is just how little they have changed since that long ago autumn when and unknown killer stalking their shadows succeeded in terrorising not just this area but the whole of London.

Walks are a great way to explore these streets as, if you want to get the full atmosphere you have to stray away from the busy main roads.

We have been conducting our jack the Ripper Tour since 1982 and have really got to know the back streets of Whitechapel and Spitalfields.

Our walk not only offers you an expert guide, but also the opportunity to view contemporary photographs of the very streets through which you are walking as they were in 1888.

A Jack the Ripper London Walking tour offers a great way to spend an evening as it will both educate and entertain you.

You can book places on the tour at our Jack the ripper tour website.

But be careful… the shadows will most certainly get darker!

Back to out London walks page.

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East End London walks

Sunday, June 7th, 2009

Many of our London walks are led by experts in their field and we pride ourselves on the quality of guiding, and in depth expert knowledge that you will find when you join us for our tours.

Several of our guides are published authors on subjects as diverse as Dickens London, Haunted London, Jack the Ripper and Mystical London.

Indeed when it comes to Jack the Ripper London walks, no other tour company can offer you the guiding  expertise that we can.

Richard Jones, for example, wrote the books Uncovering Jack the Ripper’s London and Jack the Ripper:- The Casebook. He also wrote and presented the acclaimed drama documentary Unmasking jack the Ripper which he produced with mark Ubsdell, another of our top flight Jack the Ripper London walk guides.

Philip Hutchinson wrote the much applauded Jack the Ripper’s London Then and Now for which he uncovered several previously unpublished photographs of the murder sites.

And now John Bennet, a legend in Ripper circles, has contributed to the bookshelves of all those who are interested in East End London walks, with the superb E1: A Journey Through Whitechapel and Spitalfields.

There was a well attended book launch this Thursday just gone at the East End Bookshop on Brick Lane. The audience included local historians, people who had grown up in the area and others who simply had an interest in what is a fascinating distrcit of London.

John Bennett is an extremely popular London tour guide, and he has been studying the East End and its streets for many years. His knowledge of the area is second to none and there is hardly a kerbstone or cobblestone that he couldn’t tell you a story, or two, about.

The book itself is a fantastic read and is destined to become a true classic amongst East End History books.

So be sure to get yourself a copy. John has a few for sale on his Jack the Ripper London walks, or you can do a search on Amazon for E1: A Journey Through Whitechapel and Spitalfields.

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Jack the Ripper - London walks

Friday, May 29th, 2009

One of the questions we frequently get asked on our Jack the Ripper London walks is “would Jack the Ripper be caught if he were murdering today?”

The consensus amongst the participants on our London walks is that modern forensics and detecting methods would most certainly result in his apprehension.

It has to be said that if he were to murder in the same district (i.e. the relatively small geographic area of Spitalfields and Whitechapel) then the chances are that he would be caught.

However, changes to the streets and layout of the district would probably play a more prominent role in his apprehension than any modern innovations in forensics or detection.

The streets have changed a great deal. On our Jack the Ripper London walks we take participants through some of the old backstreets that have remained relatively unchanged since Jack the Ripper stalked them.

It was these unlit, narrow alleyways that provided the perfect location for Jack the Ripper to carry out his murderous reign of terror.

In 1888 there were hundreds of these tiny alleyways and passageways snaking through the district. Each one of them was well known to the local prostitutes that Jack the Ripper chose as his victims. These ladies knew the perfect places to take their clients to where they would be safe from interruption. In other words it was they, not their killer who, inadvertently, chose their murder sites. As one senior detective put it “it’s not as if he has to wait for his chance, those woman make that chance for him.”

Furthermore, Jack the Ripper only ever left one clue behind, a piece of bloody apron taken from the body of one of his victims that he used to clean his hands and then discarded in a doorway.

It has to be said that this wasn’t much of a clue. Even today, if the police had no clues to go on they would be hard pushed to find a killer who was not known to his victims and who was working alone.

It could be argued that DNA or fingerprinting would lead the police to him today. But in order for that to happen they would have to have his DNA or his fingerprints on record to match them.

If not the modern police would be in, more or less, the same situation as their Victorian counterparts.

All that they could do in 1888 was flood the area with police officers and hope that, the next time Jack the Ripper struck, their would be a policeman around to catch him. But the killer’s luck held, that never happened and, in consequence, Jack the Ripper evaded capture.

All this makes a great deal of sense when you explore the streets where the murders took place on our Jack the Ripper London walks.

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