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John Wilkes was a radical politician and newspaper editor. He used poetry and  Magna Carta to mobilise public opinion, which helped him fight for many causes in his lifetime. Join Hazel Baker as she talks with City of London tour guide Ian McDiarmid to discuss MP John Wilkes and his life in London. Learn things about London that most Londoners don't even know in weekly episodes of London history, with a splash of personality. There's so much we can't fit into our tours, no matter how hard we try. This London history podcast is where we can get down and dirty with the detail! You're not going to find this level of detail in any guidebook. Let us know if there's a particular person, event or place you want to know more about in our podcast. Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/londonguidedwalks/message

Thomas Becket was one of the most powerful figures of his time, serving as Royal Chancellor and later as Archbishop of Canterbury in the 1100s. After his assassination he became Patron Saint of London all of the way up to 1532 with the Dissolution of the Monasteries under the reign of Henry VIII. To tell us more about the man, the myth and the Becket Pageant for London is James Winterbotham, Historical Consultant for the Becket Pageant for London. Show notes: http://londonguidedwalks.o.cuk/podcast/episode-90-thomas-becket Learn things about London that most Londoners don't even know in a 20 minute (ish) espresso shot episode of London history with a splash of personality. There's so much we can't fit into our tours, no matter how hard we try. This London history podcast is where we can get down and dirty with the detail! You're not going to find this level of detail in any guidebook. Let us know if there's a particular person, event or place you want to know more about in our podcast. Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/londonguidedwalks/message

Like many other places in London, Covent Garden has evolved over the years. It started from humble beginnings as a Convent garden for Westminster Abbey, it has moved through many guises over the centuries.  From a home to the aristocracy and the main centre of theatrical life in London it developed into the largest produce market in the world. The rapid expansion of the market altered the character of the area. Along with a bustling commercial market, two theatres (The First Theatre Royal on Drury Lane, and the Royal Opera on Bow Street). Each theatre had letters patent, granted by King Charles II, allowing them to be the only London theatres able to perform spoken drama. This made Covent Garden London’s theatrical centre, attracting droves of theatre-goers who thronged the streets of Drury Lane and Bow Street and brought in their wake a flourishing trade in prostitution. The residing nobility, living at a time where a respectable address was everything, moved further to London's west. And it is here where we begin today's episode. See the full transcript and show notes: https://londonguidedwalks.co.uk/podcast/89-thomas-arne-in-covent-garden/ Learn things about London that most Londoners don't even know in a 20 minute (ish) espresso shot episode of London history with a splash of personality. There's so much we can't fit into our tours, no matter how hard we try. This London history podcast is where we can get down and dirty with the detail! You're not going to find this level of detail in any guidebook. Let us know if there's a particular person, event or place you want to know more about in our podcast. Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/londonguidedwalks/message

London’s Underground railway is not only the oldest system of its kind, it’s also the world’s most famous. The Tube, as it’s also known is more than just a way of getting around the capital, it is also a symbol of the city. More than four million people use it everyday. On Tuesday this week more than 130,000 passengers piled aboard the first trains running on the new £18.9bn Elizabeth line within hours of its launch. Transport enthusiasts gathered at Paddington station and Abbey Wood, in south-east London, to be on the first morning services. The Elizabeth line is believed to help transform life and travel in London and the South East and will increase central London's rail capacity by 10 per cent. With history being made this week I thought it would be the perfect time to look at London's very first underground line and that means going back to Victorian London, Lord Palmerston is prime minister and Charles Dickens is alive. Learn things about London that most Londoners don't even know in a 20 minute espresso shot episode of London history with a splash of personality. There's so much we can't fit into our tours, no matter how hard we try. This London history podcast is where we can get down and dirty with the detail! You're not going to find this level of detail in any guidebook. Let us know if there's a particular person, event or place you want to know more about in our podcast. Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts. Show notes, including transcript, photos and recommended reading: https://londonguidedwalks.co.uk/podcast/episode-88-the-worlds-first-underground-railway/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/londonguidedwalks/message

Georgian London was a fascinating time and place. It was a time of great change, and the city was growing rapidly. This period in London’s history is often overlooked, but it is definitely worth taking a closer look at! In this podcast, we will explore some of the most interesting aspects of Georgian London. We will take a look at the architecture, the culture, and the people who made it their home and how some of them are remembered and others forgotten. A new type of society emerged in Britain; a more free, diverse and enlightened society. British culture at this time was a mixture of the conventional and the revolutionary. The ‘Georgian Age’ was considered to be elegant and polite. As with the sweet comes the sour; the ‘Age of Hogarth’, a time of speculation, squalor and satire. Without further ado, let’s travel back to Georgian London! Learn things about London that most Londoners don't even know in a 20 minute espresso shot episode of London history with a splash of personality. There's so much we can't fit into our tours, no matter how hard we try. This London history podcast is where we can get down and dirty with the detail! You're not going to find this level of detail in any guidebook. Let us know if there's a particular person, event or place you want to know more about in our podcast. Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts. Show notes, including transcript, photos and recommended reading: https://londonguidedwalks.co.uk/podcast/episode-87-an-introduction-to-georgian-london/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/londonguidedwalks/message

Join Hazel Baker as she continues to discuss Shakespeare’s London with Carol Anne Lloyd including the way London is shown in Shakespeare’s plays (and even non-London location plays). They discuss whether censorship, curses and real London locations used in Shakespeare's plays. Learn things about London that most Londoners don't even know in a 20 minute espresso shot episode of London history with a splash of personality. There's so much we can't fit into our tours, no matter how hard we try. This London history podcast is where we can get down and dirty with the detail! You're not going to find this level of detail in any guidebook. Let us know if there's a particular person, event or place you want to know more about in our podcast. Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts. Show notes, including transcript, photos and recommended reading: https://londonguidedwalks.co.uk/podcast/episode-86-shakespeares-london-part-2/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/londonguidedwalks/message

Join Hazel Baker as she discusses Shakespeare's London with Carol Anne Lloyd including the way London is shown in Shakespeare's plays (and even non-London location plays). They discuss whether Shakespeare has always been so "highbrow", was he always so popular? and how he make most of his money. Learn things about London that most Londoners don't even know in a 20 minute espresso shot episode of London history with a splash of personality. There's so much we can't fit into our tours, no matter how hard we try. This London history podcast is where we can get down and dirty with the detail! You're not going to find this level of detail in any guidebook. Let us know if there's a particular person, event or place you want to know more about in our podcast. Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts. Show notes, including transcript, photos and recommended reading: https://londonguidedwalks.co.uk/podcast/85-shakespeares-london-part-1/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/londonguidedwalks/message

Join Hazel Baker as she talks with Natalia Jagielska about London geology including dinosaurs and fossils! Find out why the first dinosaur was called the human scrotum, why London's buildings don't reflect its geology and the best way to fossil hunt in the city. londonguidedwalks.co.uk/podcast --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/londonguidedwalks/message

Join Hazel Baker as she talks with John Wyatt Greenlee about the dutch trade of eels in Medieval London. Find out how they were transported, who ate them and how they were cooked and how a clue in Wenceslaus Hollar's map led John Wyatt to become an eel historian like no other! See the full transcript and show notes: https://londonguidedguidedwalks.co.uk/podcast/episode-83-dutch-eels-in-medieval-london --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/londonguidedwalks/message

Covent Garden is so important in the history of English ballet. Hear why in our latest podcast episode. Learn things about London that most Londoners don't even know in a 20 minute espresso shot episode of London history with a splash of personality. There's so much we can't fit into our tours, no matter how hard we try. This London history podcast is where we can get down and dirty with the detail! You're not going to find this level of detail in any guidebook. Let us know if there's a particular person, event or place you want to know more about in our podcast. Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts. Show notes, including transcript, photos and recommended reading: https://londonguidedwalks.co.uk/podcast/episode-82-ballet-in-london/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/londonguidedwalks/message

What would Voltaire make of London today? The great enlightened thinker spent a couple of years enjoying London's charms. Of course, London has changed a lot since then, but some things never change and Voltaire would doubtless appreciate the city's sense of irony and humour. Join Hazel Baker as she talks with City of London tour guide Ian McDiarmid to discuss Voltaire and his life in London. Learn things about London that most Londoners don't even know in a 20 minute espresso shot episode of London history with a splash of personality. There's so much we can't fit into our tours, no matter how hard we try. This London history podcast is where we can get down and dirty with the detail! You're not going to find this level of detail in any guidebook. Let us know if there's a particular person, event or place you want to know more about in our podcast. Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts. Show notes, including transcript, photos and recommended reading: https://londonguidedwalks.co.uk/podcast/81-voltaire-in-london/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/londonguidedwalks/message

How much of our thoughts about those with disabilities comes from the Victorians? Join Hazel Baker as she talks with Phillipa Connelly and disability in the Tudor period. This podcast explores the world of disability in Tudor times, and highlights some of the challenges faced by those living with a disability as well as the successes of a few remarkable individuals. Learn things about London that most Londoners don't even know in a 20 minute espresso shot episode of London history with a splash of personality. There's so much we can't fit into our tours, no matter how hard we try. This London history podcast is where we can get down and dirty with the detail! You're not going to find this level of detail in any guidebook. Let us know if there's a particular person, event or place you want to know more about in our podcast. Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts. Show notes, including transcript, photos and recommended reading:  https://londonguidedwalks.co.uk/podcast/disability-in-tudor-times/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/londonguidedwalks/message

Join Hazel Baker as she talks with Dr Gillian Williamson as they discuss what it was like to be a landlady in Georgian London and how our view of them may be warped by those who held a pen. Find out why Mary and Charles Lamb were outraged when they received an unexpected bill from their landlady and who would have been the worst lodger to have in your home. Learn things about London that most Londoners don't even know in a 20 minute espresso shot episode of London history with a splash of personality. There's so much we can't fit into our tours, no matter how hard we try. This London history podcast is where we can get down and dirty with the detail! You're not going to find this level of detail in any guidebook. Let us know if there's a particular person, event or place you want to know more about in our podcast. Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts. Show notes, including transcript, photos and recommended reading: https://londonguidedwalks.co.uk/podcast/episode-79-landladies-of-georgian-london/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/londonguidedwalks/message

Join Hazel Baker as she talks with Dr Gillian Williamson as they discuss what it was like to be a lodger and a landlord in Georgian London. How living conditions encouraged the rise of coffee houses and how lodging houses had their own micro hierarchy. Find out what James Boswell did to get kicked out of his lodgings in Downing Street and how a fire in Soho provided a real life account of the assorted neighbours. Learn things about London that most Londoners don't even know in a 20 minute espresso shot episode of London history with a splash of personality. There's so much we can't fit into our tours, no matter how hard we try. This London history podcast is where we can get down and dirty with the detail! You're not going to find this level of detail in any guidebook. Let us know if there's a particular person, event or place you want to know more about in our podcast. Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts. Show notes, including transcript, photos and recommended reading: https://londonguidedwalks.co.uk/podcast/episode-78-georgian-lodgers-and-landlords/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/londonguidedwalks/message

Join Hazel Baker as she talks with Lesley Russell about the DeLaune family who has researched connections to several Huguenot families who came to England as refugees from religious persecution in 1572 and who made their home in the ruins of the former Blackfriars Priory. Learn more about the families, the area the in which they lived and their community. Learn things about London that most Londoners don't even know in a 20 minute espresso shot episode of London history with a splash of personality. There's so much we can't fit into our tours, no matter how hard we try. This London history podcast is where we can get down and dirty with the detail! You're not going to find this level of detail in any guidebook. Let us know if there's a particular person, event or place you want to know more about in our podcast. Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts. Show notes, including transcript, photos and recommended reading: https://londonguidedwalks.co.uk/podcast/delaunes-of-blackfriars/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/londonguidedwalks/message

Join Hazel Baker as she talks with Dr Daniella Gonzalez about the latest exhibition at the British Library: Elizabeth and Mary: Royal cousins, rival queens. In this episode we look at two of the most powerful women in Tudor history; Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots. Their relationship was a complicated one. They were royal cousins and rival queens. Extraordinarily the women never actually met and yet their lives were entwined. We take a look at their story as presented in the British Library's latest exhibition. Learn things about London that most Londoners don't even know in a 20 minute espresso shot episode of London history with a splash of personality. There's so much we can't fit into our tours, no matter how hard we try. This London history podcast is where we can get down and dirty with the detail! You're not going to find this level of detail in any guidebook. Let us know if there's a particular person, event or place you want to know more about in our podcast. Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts. Show notes, including transcript, photos and recommended reading: https://londonguidedwalks.co.uk/podcast/elizabeth-and-mary/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/londonguidedwalks/message

Join Hazel Baker as she looks at how the tradition of Christmas Crackers began and developed to become the traditional event we repeat each year. Learn things about London that most Londoners don't even know in a 20 minute espresso shot episode of London history with a splash of personality. There's so much we can't fit into our tours, no matter how hard we try. This London history podcast is where we can get down and dirty with the detail! You're not going to find this level of detail in any guidebook. Let us know if there's a particular person, event or place you want to know more about in our podcast. Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts. Show notes, including transcript, photos and recommended reading: https://londonguidedwalks.co.uk/podcast/christmas-cracker/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/londonguidedwalks/message

London is a bright and eventful place all year round, but especially during the build-up to Christmas. Streets and squares fill up with elaborate light installations that transform urban spaces while changing their atmosphere for Christmas time!  Join Hazel Baker as she looks at how the tradition of Christmas Street lights began and evolved and became fixed within children's literature. Learn things about London that most Londoners don't even know in a 20 minute espresso shot episode of London history with a splash of personality. There's so much we can't fit into our tours, no matter how hard we try. This London history podcast is where we can get down and dirty with the detail! You're not going to find this level of detail in any guidebook. Let us know if there's a particular person, event or place you want to know more about in our podcast. Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts. Show notes, including transcript, photos and recommended reading: https://londonguidedwalks.co.uk/podcast/christmas-in-london/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/londonguidedwalks/message

Join host Hazel Baker as she speaks to guest Helen Baggott about postcards from the past she has found and researched, showing the early history of Great Ormond Street Hospital. Learn things about London that most Londoners don't even know in a 20 minute espresso shot episode of London history with a splash of personality. There's so much we can't fit into our tours, no matter how hard we try. This London history podcast is where we can get down and dirty with the detail! You're not going to find this level of detail in any guidebook. Let us know if there's a particular person, event or place you want to know more about in our podcast. Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts. Show notes, including transcript, photos and recommended reading: https://londonguidedwalks.co.uk/podcast/great-ormond-street-hospital/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/londonguidedwalks/message

The Hunter brothers may be names you know but how much do you know about their London lives? Join Hazel Baker and Ian McDiarmid discuss these talented brothers whose individual skills and expertise lead to significant progress being made in anatomy, dentistry and obstetrics. Learn things about London that most Londoners don't even know in a 20 minute espresso shot episode of London history with a splash of personality. There's so much we can't fit into our tours, no matter how hard we try. This London history podcast is where we can get down and dirty with the detail! You're not going to find this level of detail in any guidebook. Let us know if there's a particular person, event or place you want to know more about in our podcast. Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts. Show notes, including transcript, photos and recommended reading: https://londonguidedwalks.co.uk/podcast/william-john-hunter/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/londonguidedwalks/message