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 also see my Facebook and Twitter feeds Like me! Follow me!  
And/or subscribe for occasional updates here.
Feedback always welcome: TripAdvisor

Schedule 2019

I try to offer each walk at least once per month on different days at different times. However, if the schedule doesn't suit you and you have a group of five or more I would be happy to arrange an alternative date and time – please do get in touch.

The list below is just a quick overview for reference – please click here to see more in-depth information

This list is updated regularly – please do keep checking in

MARCH

Sat – The Irish in Islington – FREE – click here for info

Sat 23 – 2pm – The Diary of a Nobody (Holloway)
Sat 23 – 5pm – Oxford Street Of The North (Holloway)
Wed 27 – 11am – Art Deco Arsenal
Wed 27 – 2pm – Art Deco Holloway
Wed 27 – 5pm – Literary Holloway 
Sat 30 – 11am – Look at the Estate We're In (Islington) 

APRIL
Thu 04 – 11am – Wharves, Waterways (Regents Canal, Islington)
Tue 09 – Creative Islington – FREE – TBC – more info to follow
Tue 09 – 3pm – Regent's Canal Ghostsigns (Islington)
Wed 10 – 3pm – Camden Deco – Cigarettes and Alcohol
Wed 10 – 6.30pm – Camden ghostsigns – Gin, drugs and shopping 
Sat 13 – 11am – Green and Pleasant Islington
Sun 14 – 11am – Islington Ghostsigns (Upper St area)
Sun 14 – 2.30pm – Inns and Taverns of Upper Street 
Sun 14 – 5pm – The Only Way Is Essex Road
Thu 18 – 4pm  – Art Deco Shoreditch and Hoxton 
Thu 18 – 6.30pm – Art Deco Spitalfields and Aldgate 
Sat 20 – 11am – Sculptures of the Strand
Sat 20 – 3pm – Ghostsigns of Covent Garden and Soho
Sun 21 – 11am – Look at the Estate We're In (Islington)
Mon 22 – 11am – Oxford Street Of The North (Holloway)
Mon 22 – 2pm – Literary Holloway 
Mon 22 – 5pm – The Diary of a Nobody (Holloway)
Sun 28 – 10.30am – Kings Cross Ghostsigns
Mon 29 – 3pm – Camden Deco – Cigarettes and Alcohol
Tue 30 – 11am – Art Deco Holloway
Tue 30 – 2.30pm – Holloway Ghostsigns 
Tue 30 – 6.30pm – Art Deco Arsenal 

MAY
Sat 04 – 11am – Green and Pleasant Islington
Sun 04 – 2.30pm – coming soon – Cally to Kentish Town 
Sun 04 – 5.30pm – coming soon – Kentish Town ghostsigns – coming soon
Sun 05 – 11am – Camden ghostsigns – Gin, drugs and shopping
Mon 06 – 11am – Sculptures of the Strand
Mon 06 – 2pm – Ghostsigns of Covent Garden and Soho
Tue 07 – 6.30pm – Waterways, Wharves (Regents Canal, Islington) 
Wed 08 – 11am – Islington Ghostsigns (Upper St area)
Wed 08 – 6.30pm – Inns and Taverns of Upper Street 
Mon 03 – 11am  – Art Deco Shoreditch and Hoxton 
Mon 03 – 2pm – Art Deco Spitalfields and Aldgate 
Wed 12 – 6.30pm – Art Deco Shoreditch and Hoxton 
Thu 13 – 6.30pm – Waterways, Wharves (Regents Canal, Islington) 
Fri 17 – 6.30pm – Regent's Canal Ghostsigns (Islington)
Sat 18 – 11am – The Only Way Is Essex Road  
Sat 18 – 2pm – Look at the Estate We're In (Islington)
Sun 19 – 11am – Art Deco Spitalfields and Aldgate 
Mon 20 – 6.30pm – Literary Holloway 
Tue 21 – 4pm – The Diary of a Nobody (Holloway)
Tue 21 – 6.30pm – Oxford Street Of The North (Holloway)
Wed 22 – 6.30pm – Kings Cross Ghostsigns
Thu 23 – 11am – Holloway Ghostsigns 
Thu 23 – 4pm – Art Deco Arsenal
Thu 23 – 6.30pm – Art Deco Holloway
Sun 26 – 11am – Camden Deco – Cigarettes and Alcohol 

JUNE
Sun 02 – 11am – Camden ghostsigns – Gin, drugs and shopping
Sun 02 – 2.30pm – coming soon – Kentish Town ghostsigns
Wed 05 – 11am – Ghostsigns of Covent Garden and Soho
Wed 05 – 4pm – Sculptures of the Strand
Thu 06 – Noon – Look at the Estate We're In (Islington)
Thu 06 – 3pm – Green and Pleasant Islington
Thu 06 – 6.30pm – coming soon – Cally to Kentish Town
Sat 08 – 11am – Islington Ghostsigns (Upper St area)
Sat 08 – 6.30pm – Regent's Canal Ghostsigns (Islington)
Tue 11 – 4pm – Kings Cross Ghostsigns
Wed 12 –  6.30pm – Art Deco Shoreditch and Hoxton 
Thu 13 – 6.30pm – Waterways, Wharves (Regents Canal, Islington) 
Sat 15 – 11am – Literary Holloway 
Sun 16 – 11am – Holloway Ghostsigns 
Sun 16 – 4pm – Inns and Taverns of Upper Street 
Mon 17 – 11am – Art Deco Arsenal
Mon 17 – 2.30pm – Art Deco Holloway
Mon 17 – 6.30pm – Camden Deco – Cigarettes and Alcohol
Wed 19 – 4pm – The Only Way Is Essex Road  
Thu 20 – 6.30pm – Oxford Street Of The North (Holloway)
Sun 23 – 11am – The Diary of a Nobody (Holloway) 
Sun 23 – 3pm – Waterways, Wharves (Regents Canal, Islington) 
Sun 30 –  3pm – Art Deco Shoreditch and Hoxton 
Sun 30 – 6.30pm – Art Deco Spitalfields and Aldgate 
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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.

Please enquire re bespoke walks and commissions

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

Feedback

Comments and feedback welcome via jane@janeslondon.com or post your comment on TripAdvisor

Andrew, part of a group from @SpiceManchester 26Dec2018:

Hi Jane,
Just a quick email to thank you for your guided walk round parts of Islington on Boxing Day. It was excellent!  I did not know the Islington area at all and was surprised how interesting a lot of the buildings were around the main streets. Also some fascinating back streets.

What's new? What's happening?

Please just click here to be taken to the News and Events section
Updated regularly, so please keep checking in
Or click here to subscribe for occasional email updates.

1930s Art Deco and Modernism

What is Art Deco?
We’ve all got a different take on it.
The simple lines and geometric shapes of the 1930s Jazz Age continue to inspire today's architects.
Join me on a walking tour in Camden, Shoreditch, Spitalfields, Holloway and Arsenal/Finsbury Park to see a cross-section from this motivational design era. We'll look at many kinds of fabulous façades and I am confident that you'll find your own special 'wow' factor.
I'll be announcing new Art Deco tours in other areas soon – Please see the schedule for more information or subscribe for updates here.

A big thanks to everyone who came along to the Archway and Whitecross Street Christmas lights switch-on events in December 2018.
Despite the cold weather and gusty winds in both locations, we had a marvellously jolly time with Santa and the Mayor of Islington plus some great live music and entertainment.

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.

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."

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

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, Kentish Town, 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. 

• More Art Deco tours in the making for Highgate, Clerkenwell, Holborn and Central London
• 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 
• Islington On The Edge (walking the border of the borough, though in sections) 
• A Slice of Islington
• It's Hip to Be Square – Bloomsbury/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) 
• 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 also provide guided commentary (when required) 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

Every year in October we host our Literary Festival, taking people out of the pages and onto the streets of London, sort of like a walking-talking bookclub.
There's something for everyone, from Sherlock Holmes to Samuel Pepys via Charles Dickens and the Bloomsbury Set.
For my part, in 2018 I offered my Limericks and Limericks, Fantasy and Fraud and my Diary Of A Nobody (Mr Pooter's Holloway) and these will be available again in 2019, indeed they are still available outside October so do check my listings.
There is usually a fantastic money-saving voucher offer in the form of a Season Ticket. so do look out for that because, quite frankly, it's a bargain and you get to attend as many of the LitFest walks as you like – hell, why not go on them all...?!
More info once the 2019 event is announced.