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

Inspirational Islington

Thanks to those of you who joined me for my walk on Tuesday 9th April –  I think we all had a marvellously inspirational time despite the wet weather.
Here's a pic from the day – thanks to Brian – find the whole set on Facebook here.

Inspirational Islington continues until June 3rd with other events, walks and talks.
I will be offering a revised version of my creative walk from July – please keep checking my schedule. 

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
Click here to see more in-depth information

This schedule is updated regularly – dates and times may change – please do keep checking in

JUNE

Sat 15 – 11am – Literary Holloway 

Sun 16 – 11am – Holloway Ghostsigns 

Sun 16 – 4pm – Inns and Taverns of Upper Street 

Tue 18 – 6.30pm – Covent Garden & Soho Ghostsigns 

Wed 19 – 4pm – The Only Way Is Essex Road  

Thu 20 – 6.30pm – Oxford Street Of The North (Holloway)

Sat 22 – 11am – The Diary of a Nobody (Upper Holloway) 

Sat 22 – 4pm – Waterways, Wharves (Regents Canal, Islington) 

Sun 23 – find me selling my cards, prints and guided tours at Cally Festival
Mon 24 – 11am – Art Deco Arsenal 

Mon 24 – 2.30pm – Art Deco Holloway 

Tue 25 – 6.30pm – Art Deco Camden – Cigarettes & Alcohol
Wed 26 – 4pm – Upper Street Ghostsigns 

Thu 27 – 4pm –Sculptures of The Strand (CharingX to Aldwych)

Sun 30 – 10.30am – Kings Cross and The Ladykillers

Sun 30 – 3pm –Art Deco Shoreditch/Hoxton /
Sun 30 – 5.30pm –Art Deco Spitalfields/Aldgate (my personal fave)

JULY

Mon 01 – 6.30pm – Look At The Estate We're In (Social housing, Islington)

Tue 02 – 6.30pm – Ghostsigns Camden – Gin, Drugs and Shopping 

Sat 06 – 11:15 and 13:45 I'll be doing tours of Caledonian Park clocktower. FREE throughout the summer
Sat 06 – 5pm – Covent Garden & Soho Ghostsigns 

Sun 07 – 11am – Green and Pleasant Islington

Mon 08 – 6.30pm – Canal Ghostsigns, Islington

Wed 10 – 6.30pm – Art Deco Camden – Cigarettes & Alcohol

Thu 11 – 11am – The Only Way Is Essex Road  

Thu 11 – 6.30pm – Waterways, Wharves (Regents Canal, Islington) 

Weekend 13-14th – TBC –  Planning to have a stall at Whitecross Street Party

Sun 21 – find me selling my cards, prints and guided tours at Archway Summer Market

Mon 15 – 6pm – Kings Cross and The Ladykillers

Thu 30 – 10.30am – Waterways, Wharves (Regents Canal, Islington) 

AUGUST

Sat 03 – 2pm – Kings Cross and The Ladykillers

Sat 10 – 11:15 and 13:45 I'll be doing tours of Caledonian Park clocktower. FREE throughout the summer 

Sat 24 – 11:15 and 13:45 I'll be doing tours of Caledonian Park clocktower. FREE throughout the summer

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Some times and dates shown above may be subject to change  Please check the Eventbrite listings for further information

Or visit my Facebook page – Follow/Like for news and updates

Please enquire re bespoke walks and commissions

To be informed of new walks, offers etc please subscribe here for updates.

Feedback

It's always pleasing to get good feedback from happy customers either via email jane@janeslondon.com or on TripAdvisor

... Thank you! We enjoyed the walk so much, and found it so interesting, and appreciated all the information and enthusiasm you had. We have signed up for your newsletter.

... I have taken a number of London walks with Jane and always find them highly interesting and engaging. Her knowledge of London past and present is exceptional.

... Very informative and interesting by a guide that is local and knows her stuff. You can tell her enthusiasm for the subject and the buildings by the tone of her voice.... things that I would not normally have noticed had I had tried just going by myself ... I expect to be going on further walks.

... My 3rd walk with Jane and the best yet. Nice group and interesting subject. Jane has this knack of engaging well with her audience. She's fun to be with and very knowledgeable. 

... Thank you for your guided walk ... 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.

... Consistently great walks. Jane is a passionate and fun guide. She researches her walks thoroughly. I've done several with her and they've all been fabulously quirky. I look forward to the next one!

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.

Alternatively, check the Eventbrite listings for further information

Or visit my Facebook page – Follow/Like for news and 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.

Christmas events 2018

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.