Podcast: What on Earth is Psychogeography

I had the great pleasure of being interviewed live onstage at the fantastic Wanstead Tap about the subject of walking and psychogeography for the Tap Into Podcast. And appropriately I did ramble all over the place a bit.

Here are some of my notes.
Original definition of Psychogeography by the Situationist International:
“the study of the precise laws and specific effects of the geographical environment, consciously organized or not, on the emotions and behavior of individuals.” S.I.
dérive
A mode of experimental behavior linked to the conditions of urban society: a technique of rapid passage through varied ambiances. The term also designates a specific uninterrupted period of dériving.

Note on psychogeography from my book This Other London:
“In 1953 a young poet and activist, Ivan Chtcheglov, writing under the pseudonym of Gilles Ivain, produced an article called ‘Formulary for a New Urbanism’, in which he put forward this utopian vision: ‘Everyone will live in their own cathedral. There will be rooms awakening more vivid fantasies than any drug. There will be houses where it will be impossible not to fall in love. Other houses will prove irresistibly attractive to the benighted traveller.’

Quote about the S.I and the City
One article from 1958 sums up the group’s feelings about the city: “The world we live in, and beginning with its material decor, is discovered to be narrower by the day. It stifles us.
“We yield profoundly to its influence; we react to it according to our instincts instead of according to our aspirations. In a word, this world governs our way of being and it grinds us down.”

Video I made about Mathieu O’Neil’s Situationist Library in Paris.

Link to part of the Chris Gray Memorial Lecture at Housmans bookshop October 2012.

Extract from an article I wrote about British Psychogeography and the 90s psychogeography revival:
The revival of the London Psychogeographical Association had been announced with a statement in their first newsletter in 1993, “The revival of the LPA corresponds to the increasing decay in British culture, and indeed of the British ruling elite. It has been, in fact, an historical inevitability”. In an essay entitled ‘Why Psychogeography’ Stewart Home reinforced the point, “Psychogeography is not a substitute for class struggle, but a tool of class struggle.”

Sacred alignments of London map
Lud Heat map

London Psychogeographical Assocation NewsletterWhy Psychogeography
“There is a spectre haunting Europe, nay, the world. The spectre of psychogeography”
The publications of the London Psychogeographical Association forthrightly present a reconstruction of urban life.

Previous posts about Iain Sinclair and Psychogeography

Proto-psychogeography
The Fringe of London
“On rambling round the outskirts of London, and the unexpected turns, trials and triumphs that lie in the path of the wayfarer”. 

Discovering Maxwell’s The Fringe of London had been an epiphany for me, realizing that there was a heritage for this odd practice of wandering around neglected streets, following the city’s moods, tracking myths, retracing old paths and uncovering forgotten histories. – out-take from TOL

“The border-line between folk-lore and fairy-tales is not more nebulous than that between topographical research and “nosing about.”
The former, in either case, is but a grander name for practically the same thing. I mean the outdoor part of topography, not the many hunts in the land of books that usually follows later.”

“There are two ways of topographical hunting: one is to follow the “scent” of a clue, and the other is to go into the unknown to find what may be. Each way has its own charms and surprises. “

“The way of the topographical rambler is sometimes hard, often muddy, usually interesting; but never dull.” – Gordon S. Maxwell – The Fringe of London, 1925

England’s Character by SPB Mais 1936
“So make up your mind to be bound by no programme, to travel with complete irresponsibility, to start nowhere in particular, and the odds are that you will catch a glimpse of England that is vouchsafed only to the privileged few.”
“What you are looking for is as elusive as the faery music of the piper at the gates of dawn. What you see may be incommunicable to others, but it will provide you with a vision that may well alter the whole of your outlook on life.”

“Londoners live and sleep in places that in one’s lifetime had been remote and inaccessible”
Walter George Bell, 1926

“… I decided that these little towns must be celebrated. I would lock up, gather toothbrush, comb, and razor, and revisit them; make a Grand Tour of the true heart of London”
The Outer Circle Rambles in Remote London, Thomas Burke 1921

Some previous posts about psychogeography

Walter Benjamin on The Flâneur

“Before Haussmann wide pavements were rare, and the narrow ones afforded little protection from vehicles. Strolling could hardly have assumed the importance it did without the arcades.

Paris Arcade

“The arcades, a rather recent invention of industrial luxury,’ so says an illustrated guide to Paris of 1852, ‘are glass-covered, marble-panelled passageways through entire complexes of houses whose proprietors have combined for such speculations. Both sides of these passageways, which are lighted from above, are lined with the most elegant shops, so that such an arcade is a city, even a world, in miniature.’ It is in this world that the flâneur is at home; he provides ‘the favourite sojourn of the strollers and the smokers, the stamping ground of all sorts of little métiers’,’ with its chronicler and its philosopher. As for him-self, he obtains there the unfailing remedy for the kind of boredom that easily arises under the baleful eyes of a satiated reactionary regime. In the words of Guys as quoted by Baudelaire, ‘Anyone who is capable of being bored in a crowd is a blockhead. I repeat: a blockhead, and a contemptible one.’ The arcades were a cross between a street and an intérieur. If one can speak of an artistic device of the physiologies, it is the proven device of the feuilleron, namely, to turn a boulevard into an intérieur. The street 4a becomes a dwelling for the flâneur; he is as much at home among the façades of houses as a citizen is in his four walls. To him the shiny, enamelled signs of businesses are at least as good a wall ornament as an oil painting is to a bourgeois in his salon. The walls are the desk against which he presses his notebooks; news-stands are his libraries and the terraces of cafés are the balconies from which he looks down on his household after his work is done. That life in all its variety and inexhaustible wealth of variations can thrive only among the grey cobblestones and against the grey background of despotism was the political secret on which the physiologies were based.”

From Charles Baudelaire by Walter Benjamin published by Verso which comprises of extracts from The Arcades Project

First review of Welcome to New London

“With “Welcome to New London,” Rogers has not only penned a compelling read but also seamlessly linked it to his digital journey. The book beautifully marks another milestone in Rogers’ ongoing odyssey through topographical and psychogeographical terrains, captivating the spirit of the modern urban flâneur — an urban shaman who traverses the liminal spaces of a city brimming with concealed secrets, apparent only to those with discerning eyes to perceive them.”
Massively chuffed with this glowing review by Marco Visconti – read the whole article here

Welcome to New London book launch

Welcome to New London

I’m delighted to announce that my new book, Welcome to New London – journeys and encounters in the post-Olympic city is being launched at the brilliant Wanstead Tap on 10th & 11th October. Tickets can be purchased here and books will be available on the night.

Book synopsis

Iain Sinclair has described Welcome to New London as, “An invaluable and informed super-tour by the Cobbett of YouTube. As immediately readable and engrossing as a Rogers film.”

After the 2012 Olympics London once again entered a period of radical change, one that some people came to see as a battle for the very soul of one of the greatest cities in the world. John Rogers embarked on a series of journeys and encounters in a quest to understand what was going on.

In ‘Welcome to New London’ John Rogers invites us to join him on a captivating voyage through the ever-changing landscapes and communities of this iconic city. As a follow-up to ‘This Other London,’ ‘Welcome to New London’ continues Rogers’ exploration of the city from a unique perspective.

The story begins in 2013 as the Olympic village in Stratford transitioned to become a new permanent settlement, and the Stratford City plan became a reality. This excursion sparks an exploration of the Olympic Park and its surrounding areas, where a wave of development is reshaping the Lower Lea Valley.

The narrative seamlessly weaves through various facets of London’s transformation, from the Focus E15 Mothers’ occupation of homes on Carpenters Estate, a poignant symbol of the housing crisis, to the global attention garnered by campaigns like Save Soho and Save Tin Pan Alley. The book also chronicles the author’s involvement in efforts to help residents of the Sweets Way Estate and other housing campaigns, offering readers an intimate look at the human stories behind London’s changing landscape.

Intriguingly, the Rogers delves into the city’s ancient history following a chance conversation with a Pearly Punk King on the rooftop of the old Foyles building. This encounter takes him through Epping Forest to the prehistory of London in the Upper Lea Valley, unearthing Bronze Age burial mounds and their significance in understanding London’s historical roots and its enduring connection to its past.

Rogers embarks on a series of walks with acclaimed writer Iain Sinclair, providing a thought-provoking commentary on London’s future. And then somehow the United Nations sent him to Peckham to explore the concept of the ‘Open City,’ tying together the book’s themes and returning to the Olympic Park as a focal point.

“Welcome to New London” is not just a book about a city; it’s a vivid, personal account of a city in flux, where the author’s passion for exploration and his commitment to bearing witness to change converge. With its richly detailed chapters and thought-provoking commentary, this book is a must-read for anyone seeking to understand the dynamic and ever-evolving nature of one of the world’s greatest cities.

Please contact me via the contact form above for further info, events, interviews and any other enquiries.

Mighty London Q&A: Best walks, pubs, books, days out

Here are the questions answered in my mighty YouTube Q&A video:
@jacquelinemacleod9699
Hi John, What made you decide to do these videos and podcasts ? Don’t ever stop – they are fantastic! I look forward to them each week
@michaelessig6376
have you ever thought of returning to a past walk but at a completely different season or weather to get a different feel for the walk
@danspencer862
John I’ve always wondered what you keep in that rucksack of yours? Your videos are just the best.
@Jim196819
I’d love to see a walk around Canterbury or York with so much history. Have you ever considered one of those cities ?
@mrbensharman
Would you consider recording a podcast series of London walks that people could follow whilst listening.
@CharlieGeorge_
If you could spend a month walking around another city anywhere in the world, where would you choose and why?
@jpingram966
I was wondering if you’ll ever feature neighbouring Queenstown Rd ? It always seemed to me so underappreciated and full of history.
@_richie
I’d like to ask if you have a favourite modern London building – maybe one constructed in the last 20-30 years?
@alib344
Out of all the historical figures in London’s history, who intrigues you the most and why?
@miqueln1996
Hi John, would you be able to elaborate more on the concept of psychogeography?

Would a video about pagan London be a possibility? Thanks, Tom.
@helenshiner6793
I would love to see a walk including the history of the Huguenots in London
@paulfrancis8764
Hello John. Would you be up for a sideline in guided walks?
@lindsaymanary9150
My question is how do you determine which areas you start your walk in.
@TXMEDRGR
I love your London walks but would you consider doing some other cities?
@niels.brouwer
What has been the most meaningful or thought-provoking conversation you’ve had during your walks?
@marylaplante7261
Hi John, Is there any area of london that makes you feel a bit sad when considering how much history/architecture has been lost to modern development?
@WoodsideWalker
Have you recently found something out about London that’s surprised you and made you say “well I never knew that?”
@dpeastman
If you were to draw the route of all of your walks around London onto a map, what do you think would be the two most distant points that you could connect with a continuous line?
@williamrobinson7435
Hi John. Have you done much on the various Guilds, Worshipful or otherwise, of old London Town? What is the historical relationship between the Guilds and The City Of Westminster? Or Guilds vs Church? How do The Guilds fit into the great 3D jigsaw that is London?
@timgallivan1614
What’s your scariest experience while walking in London or surrounding area?
@edit511_channel
What is/are your favourite pub/pubs in London . What walk/pub crawl would you recommend?
@michaeldillon3113
If for some unforeseen reason you were granted one last walk wish – which of the many perambulations you have completed would you choose to do ? As an extra feature what would be your preferred pub and pint at the end of said walk ?
@robertgarvey5652
A few days ago, I was reading an online article about the Essex Way. It runs from Epping out to Harwich. Are you aware of this route or covered any part of it yet?
@princegears8673
Hi John what is your favourite tube station ?? Favourite Underground tube line ?? And favourite bus route?? And why??
@bnpandsc
Have you considered walking the historic River Wey from it’s rising at Haslemere to confluence with the Thames at Weybridge?
@paddyharvey6101
Do you miss the walks through larkings orchards and fields, I can remember you and your dad and the jack Russell trotting off for your evening walks
@robertcollins1583
Could you recommend a Sunday afternoon walk within zones 1 and 2
that ends in a great area or place for lunch.
@battleoftheelements
Are you planning to do a walk with those two chaps, can’t remember their names, but they joined you at Maiden Bower and at the huge barrows in Essex some years back.
@NorthernCitrusParrot
Have you had any issues with your knees? I recently started with arthritis in mine and I’m less inclined to walk. Any tips?
@lewiswalker7803
Why not once a month do a ‘Notorious’ walk, depicting the atrocities that happened there, for example, the blitzed east end, Jack the Rippers Whitechapel/Spitalfields, area of 10 Rillington place, Plague pits, Dickens Victorian squalor walks
Devils acre etc. Just a thought.
@user-gu1we4si4z
Hi John can you please visit Cornwall and do a late summer coastal walk ?

@ianjohnson2198
Hi John. Where do you think is the most relaxing place in all of London? Or maybe even top three?
@AndrewDickson-bb1jl
Would you consider doing a meet and greet/talk in a pub at some point?
@re_patel
How tired are you after a walk?
@christineduke6096
Hello John,just wondered if you would be interested in some facts of Leyton around Skeltons Lane.
@donniedarkomtb7048
You must do a piece on Hill Hall in Theydon Mount, Epping. Stunning mansion with tons of history which has now been converted into luxury £1m+ flats. Go see it!
@sianwarwick633
Would you ever do a night walk, provided its safe and moonlit or streetlit or torchlit enough ?
@robbojax2025
I can’t remember you doing a Marylebone area walk.
@chrisprobert5340
If you were going to take a couple of kids out on a London trip ( I only know Soho) where’s something interesting, they’re about 7 I think, my girlfriend’s little ‘uns…love your shows…
@CliveMarchant
How many pairs of walking boots do you
get through each year?
@minijames2777
Do you have a driving licence, if no have you ever driven a car or do you dislike cars. Thanks for the great walks

Iain Sinclair on Walking

This clip was taken from my walk with Iain Sinclair and Stephen McNeilly tracing the footsteps of the Swedish visionary Emanuel Swedenborg through London. Iain beautifully nails what the act of walking does to you:
“What John does with his walks is that essentially he’s adding new layers to himself by adsorbing these pieces of London. You go into them free-flowingly and the camera is the magical instrument of the moment that can help you to do this but as you do it there are things coming at you that you can’t predict, that you don’t know, the journey becomes something else, you become richer and richer each time you do it.”

Kensal Rise Has A Story – video

At the beginning of 2020 I was commissioned to create a project by Brent 2020 London Borough of Culture in collaboration with Kensal Rise Community Library. The resulting project, Kensal Rise Has A Story, launched in September 2020 as part of the inaugural Brent Biennial. This is how I described the project in an interview with Art Review:
“It’s a geographic sound map or trail of Kensal Rise. The form the project takes has partly been informed by the COVID-19 restrictions. I had planned this beautiful archive inside the library and some of the sound works were going to be burnt onto vinyl which could be listened to within a listening booth. We’ve not got those, but its ok, those were outcomes, they weren’t really the work itself which is a portrait of the community in their own words. By ‘community’ I mean the community of the library. Where it becomes geographic is that the emphasis is on the subjective responses to the environment and the changes within that environment rather than looking for some objective, dry, historical overview of the area, or even contemporary commentary on the area.
The ethos of the Kensal Rise Library is at the heart of the project. About 60 percent of the contributors are connected to the library, as users or in some other way. You can’t listen to any of the clips without feeling the presence of the library.”
You can read the rest of the interview here

It gave me enormous pleasure putting this video together with snippets of footage captured on some of the walks with local residents and some of the 51 audio clips that made up the audio trail.

You can listen to the full list of audio clips here

Massive thanks to everyone who contributed interviews, Brent 2020, Kensal Rise Community Library, curator Henry Coleman, designer Joe Hales, Willesden Local History Society, Winkball (James, Tom, Gideon), and Brent Borough Archives.