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About Jane's London Walks

I offer alternative guided tours that encourage people to be a little bit more aware of their surroundings – a sort of physical version of Jane's London (my blog/website).
My walks are friendly strolls about the things that inspire and intrigue me, not just lists of facts, figures and dates, although I do pride myself on my research and cross-referencing. I am especially interested in social and local history and how our high streets have changed over the centuries.

To find out more about individual walks and how to book them just click here. 
Please see my Facebook and Twitter links below (Follow me! Like me!) and/or subscribe for occasional updates here.

Feedback always welcome.

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Scheduled walks – info and booking.

All enquiries: jane@janeslondon.com

Please also see TripAdvisor, Facebook and Twitter @janeslondon #janeslondon 

To keep up to date with new walks and relevant info, please subscribe for updates.

I am part of Footprints of London where you'll find many more walks led by other equally enthusiastic guides.

A ghostly Hallowe'en walk – Wednesday 31st October

Thanks to everyone who came along on my Hallowe'en ghost-themed walks on Wed 31st October as part of the Islington Council event on Navigator Square.

I got some really great feedback including this tweet from Flora: "Loved loved loved the #Archway Files! Thanks @janeslondon for the tour. And a great use of our fab new space at Navigator Square."

Walks Schedule Nov-Dec 2018

This schedule is updated/amended regularly

NOVEMBER 
15th (Sun) – 11am – Art Deco Holloway

15th (Sun) – 2pm – Art Deco Arsenal

17th (Sun) – 11am – Gin, drugs and Shopping (Camden Ghostsigns trail)

DECEMBER 2018 

5th (Wed) – 11am –The Oxford Street of the North (Holloway Heyday) 

10th (Mon) – 1.30 – The Estate We're In (philanthropy & social housing)

12th (Wed) – 11am – Sculptures of The Strand (delightful decoration)

12th (Wed) – 2pm – Leather and Lubrication (Ghostsigns CovGdn+Soho)

16th (Sun) – 11am – Lyrics & Limericks, Fantasy & Fraud (Literary Holloway)
20th (Sun) – 11am – 1930s Art Deco architecture in Shoreditch & Hoxton
20th (Sun) – 3pm – Behind Spitalfields Art Deco Facades

27th (Thu) 11am – Green and Pleasant Islington 

27th (Thu) – 2pm – The Diary Of A Nobody (Mr Pooter's Victorian Holloway) 

30th (Sun) – 11am – Gin, Drugs and Shopping (Camden Ghostsigns trail)

Some times and dates shown above may be subject to change – please check the Eventbrite listings
Or visit the events section on my Facebook page.

January 2019 dates to be announced soon 

...............................................................................................

Scheduled walks – info and booking.

All enquiries: jane@janeslondon.com

Please also see TripAdvisor, Facebook and Twitter @janeslondon #janeslondon 

To keep up to date with new walks and relevant info, please subscribe for updates.

About me

I have lived in Islington, North London, since 1988. I am intrigued by its vibrant and layered history and, as an avid local historian, I have come to know the area very well.
My guiding style is inclusive, open and friendly – I like to engage with the group I am leading and this leads to a marvellous knowledge exchange.
Every walking tour I offer is designed and thoroughly researched by Yours Truly – in fact, the research never stops with walks getting amended or added to as new information comes to light.
The varied subjects covered in my tours highlight the different facets of my personality and the things I am genuinely interested in such as art and design, sculpture and architecture, pubs, parks, ghostsigns and advertising, all of which I use to tell the social history of an area.
I am forever coming up with new ideas for walking tours – a list of 'works in progress' can be found here. Enquiries and bespoke commissions are always welcome.
And I do venture outside of Islington – please check my listings on Eventbrite.

I hope to see you soon,
Jane

Also see my blog Jane's London which is about "the wonderful little details on, around and above London's streets" though it's fair to say that I do have a have a few rants on there too, mainly about what I call the Dubaiification of London.

Jane Amelia Parker
Accredited and insured Clerkenwell and Islington CIGA guide 
Member of Footprints of London.
Feedback always welcome 

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Info and booking for all scheduled walks here

All enquiries: jane@janeslondon.com

Please also see TripAdvisor, Facebook and Twitter @janeslondon #janeslondon 

To keep up to date with new walks and relevant info, please subscribe for updates.

It's all in the details

My walking tours are a natural progression of Jane's London – my blog/website where for the past decade I have been writing about my London observations and marrying them with collections of my photos such as this collection of 'white' places in to tie in with the snowy weather we had in March 2018. 

Press coverage

Islington Tribune Great hints on history

Islington Gazette Business of the week

Islington Now People have turned into pigeons

Art Deco

What is Art Deco architecture?
We’ve all got a different take on it.

The simple lines, smooth tiles and geometric shapes of the 1930s Jazz Age continue to inspire.

Join me on a walking tour to see a cross-section from this motivational design era.

My Holloway, Arsenal, Shoreditch and Spitalfields walks can all be found here.

Other areas coming soon – please see schedules 

Ghostsigns

Ghostsigns are the faded advertisements of yesteryear still visible above today's streets mostly in the form of hand-painted letters on brick walls although. In my view, the term can also apply to other types of defunct signage for brands or businesses which no longer exist there in the form of embedded names in masonry and metalwork.

On my ghostsign tours you'll hear fascinating stories behind these old forms of advertising such as bogus potions, big brands, small traders and clever marketing.

Info and booking here for walks in Camden, Covent Garden & Soho, Kings Cross, Holloway, Archway and Angel/Upper Street.
Other areas coming soon.

See here for more about ghostsigns.

And, can you help me to decipher this one in Islington?

Coming soon

I am brimming with ideas for more walks.
I just need more time!

Listed below are some tasters of some of my works-in-progress, yet to be completed.
Please also see the News and Events section. 

• Art Deco – Highgate/Camden
• Parks and Recreation (Islington North)
• Pop Goes The Weasel – up or down the City Road 
• Fabulous Fonts and Friendly Faces – the printing and clock-making industries of Clerkenwell 
• Cally to Camden (highlights)
• Islington On The Edge (walking the border of the borough, though in sections) 
• A Slice of Islington
• It's Hip to Be Square – Bloombury/Fitzrovia/Barnsbury squares etc 
• Bury me in Islington – inc Canonbury, Highbury and Barnsbury 
• Hackney Brook – Holloway to Arsenal 
• New River Walk – Islington to Tottenham (4hr walk either way) 
• Tufnell Park to Kentish Town (highlights) 
• Pubs and Taverns of Kentish Town
• Little Red Bus – a series of five walking tours following the route of the 153 bus (Finsbury Park to Finsbury Square) with a few deviations to see some interesting and not so well-known places along the way. The route will be split in route into 90-minute walking sections.

If you are interested in any of the above and can organise a group of people* please do get in touch for more info as most of the above can swiftly pulled together and arranged at a mutually convenient date.

If you have ideas of your own, perhaps a particular subject or theme that you are interested in that would make a good walking tour, then please do get in touch. Here are a few ideas – women, artists, animals, shops, churches, children, music, health...

I occasionally provide commentary on Hidden Depths canalboat tours which moor at Granary Steps, Kings Cross. 
Many tours go through the 200-year Islington Tunnel – a wonderful experience through a marvellous feat of clever engineering. 
Boat trips can be booked for parties and events. Please contact Hidden Depths for more information 

*minimum group size 5 people (adults) or 6 people inc concessions

A month of literary-themed guided walks with Footprints of London

This October, get your walking shoes on and come and join a literary-themed walk led by one of Footprints of London's professional and enthusiastic guides.
Throughout the whole of the month we'll be hosting our Literary Festival, taking people out of the pages and onto the streets of London, sort of like a walking-talking bookclub.
There's sure to be something for everybody, from Sherlock Holmes to Samuel Pepys via Charles Dickens and the Bloomsbury Set.
For my part, I am including my Limericks and Limericks, Fantasy and Fraud tour and my Diary Of A Nobody – Mr Pooter's Holloway.
Walks are bookable via the FPoL website.
We are offering a fantastic saving in the form of a Season Ticket for the event. This is, quite frankly, a ludicrous bargain – for £49 you can go on as many of the LitFest walks as you like – hell, why not go on them all...?!