All articles by fugueur
Paris Drift / One day in Paris
A day in Paris. Just one day. To be guided by my feet and senses. Arrive on the Eurostar walk all day and depart again from Gare du Nord. I can’t say I was completely without plans. I had three:– visit Re:Voir– see the new Notre Dame– walk – and only walk, no Metro or...
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Beneath Our Footsteps – Compiler Exhibition in Leytonstone
Back in August 2024 I collaborated with Compiler and sound artist Brigitte Hart on a walk along Leytonstone’s buried river Philley Brook (Fillebrook, Filly Brook) as part of their project Beneath Our Footsteps where local people engaged with the idea of the river. The walk and the project were a fascinating project and a great...
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Walking plans for 2025
Talking about my walking plans for 2025 while walking over Wanstead Flats. So many great walks in the year ahead!...
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London’s Little Italy & the Legends of Islington
A walk through London’s Little Italy up to the fields of Islington This walk is based on the first part of Chapter 8 of my book This Other London.Starting at Chancery Lane Station on High Holborn, we go into the curious anomaly of Ely Place, owned by the Bishops of Ely and once technically part...
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Walking the City of London Churches ep.10
Starting in Old Broad Street we go looking for the Dutch Church in Austin Friars where Vincent Van Gogh Worshipped. We then go along Throgmorton Street and admire the exterior of Drapers’ Hall and Throgmorton Avenue. We emerge behind the Bank of England and get drawn into Tokenhouse Yard, Telegraph Street, Whalebone Yard and King’s...
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Walking the City of London Churches ep.7
A walk through the City of London visiting some of the city’s most historic churches. Including All Hallow on the Wall, St Botolph Aldgate, St Katherine Cree, All Hallows Staining, St Olave’s Hart Street, and All Hallows by the Tower. We explore the rich history and beguiling architecture of these sacred spaces. Along the way,...
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Walking the City of London Churches ep.6
A London walk through some of the most historic locations in the City of London We’re back to unpick more of the City of London’s stories and discover some of its treasures. This classic London history walk includes some of the City’s most important locations as well as its centres of power. We start by...
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Walking the City of London Churches ep.5
A walk linking together a series of churches and sacred sites in the City of London This is episode five in the City of London churches walks. Churches on this walk: St. Paul’s Cathedral, St. Nicholas Cole Abbey, St. James Garlickhithe, St. Mary Aldermary, Site of St. Mildred’s, St Peter’s Churchyard, St Mary-le-Bow, St. Mary...
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Walking the City of London Churches ep.4
Our walking tour starts at St Andrew Holborn before we follow Shoe Lane to Farringdon Road and Ludgate Hill where we visit St Martin Ludgate. Our next church is St Andrew by-the-Wardrobe. Crossing Queen Victoria Street we find St Benet Church. Our walk ends with what I believe to be one of the most special...
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Clerkenwell Close
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Walking the City of London Churches ep.3 – Fleet Street
The incredible stories of Fleet Street Fleet Street walking tour – one of the most famous streets in London. This continues the series on the Churches of the City of London. Our walk starts in Clement’s Lane passing through the grounds of the London School of Economics and behind the Royal Courts of Justice. We...
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Walking the City of London Churches ep.2
Our walking tour of the churches of the City of London starts at St Vedast Foster Lane then takes in: St Leonard’s (lost church), St John Zachary (lost church), The Goldsmiths’ Garden, St Anne and St Agnes, French Protestant Church (lost church), St Botolph Aldersgate, Postmans Park, St Bartholomew’s Hospital, Smithfield, St Bartholomew the Great,...
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Walking the Churches of the City of London – ep.1
A walk around some of the historic churches of the City of London In this first episode of my series exploring the churches of the City of London: starts at St. Botolph Bishopsgate, first mentioned in 1212. We then pass St Ethelburga, St Helen’s, the site of St Mary Axe, St Andrew Undershaft, St Micheal...
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New Years Day nightwalk
New Years Day. Evening home alone. Spontaneously absconded on the Overground to Crouch Hill. 25 minutes from the sofa to a new reality. Down Crouch Hill, Ally Pally glowing luminous green on the other side of the valley. The clock tower draws up the energy radiating from the ley line junction (according to legend) on...
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Walking Through 2024: The Year in Review
What an incredible year of walking 2024 was. From the ancient Black Path linking Walthamstow to Shoreditch to the various secrets of the City of London, the London Loop and the Capital Ring, the Suffolk and Sussex coasts, the Essex and Buckinghamshire countryside, the Eastern edge of London and the inner West at Paddington. I...
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Street Haunting: A London Adventure – Virginia Woolf
I have to confess to being a late convert to the writing of Virginia Woolf. But she captures the spirit of London walking perfectly. Here’s the opening page of Street Haunting: A London Adventure. “No one perhaps has ever felt passionately towards a lead pencil. But there are circumstances in which it can become supremely...
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George & Dragon Wanstead – opening date
The George is re-born My Christmas morning wander took me past the old beloved George pub on Wanstead High Street. It was brightly lit inside – was this an unexpected Christmas gift? The new signage was up with the pub reverting back to its older name (or possibly the original name) The George & Dragon....
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London Christmas Lights Walk
You can’t have it all your own way. Wednesday evening I joined the end of a very long queue outside St Bartholomew the Great in Smithfield that stretched all the way down Cloth Fair, hoping to see the Dickens Christmas Carol performance. A nice lady told us that around 150 people were queuing for just...
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Future ghosts
Just back from a stay on the Suffolk coast exploring Hauntology (in Felixstowe – more of that to come). Open Iain Sinclair’s Pariah Genius in the pub and this is the first passage I read....
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The hacienda must be built
“All cities are geological. You can’t take three steps without encountering ghosts bearing all the prestige of their legends. We move within a closed landscape whose landmarks constantly draw us toward the past. Certain shifting angles, certain receding perspectives, allow us to glimpse original conceptions of space, but this vision remains fragmentary. It must be...
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Seville notebook
A year ago today I was in Seville at the end of a fantastic trip with my eldest son. These are some of the notes I put down on the hoof in my pocket notebook. (video at the end of this post) 23rd November 2023The smell of jasmine draped over an old sandstone wall near...
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The Black Path talk at Wanstead Tap
Fantastic night at brilliant Wanstead Tap in collaboration with the essential Newham Bookshop to talk about my new publication with Three Imposters – The Black Path. Hopefully be announce my next publication with Three Imposters in the New Year. A video of the full talk is available on my Patreon page (exclusive to Radical Ramblers)...
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Exploring the History of Plaistow & West Ham Park
Two suggestions in a recent Q&A video led to great East London day out. I started with a walk from the Gurney obelisk on Stratford Broadway to the Black Lion pub in Plaistow to meet Tweedy Pubs, an 18th century coaching inn. It is indeed a great pub, an authentic London boozer as had been...
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Werner Herzog quote
“Why is walking so full of woe?” Of Walking in Ice (1978)...
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Beguiled by Leuchtturm1917 notebooks
I’ve developed a real affection for these Leuchtturm1917 notebooks. My wife bought me one originally, and it got me instantly with its pocket-size, soft cover, and cream dotted pages, with page numbers. It’s the small details that can make all the difference. I’m now on my fourth one. And you get pen loops that go...
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Livestream – Sunday West End Wander
Livestream walk from Trafalgar Square down the Mall to Horseguards Parade then through St James’s Park and along St James’s....
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Autumn Walk on the Capital Ring
Walk 3 – Crystal Palace to Beckenham Place Park About twenty years ago I collected the whole set of free Capital Ring leaflets from Thornhill Square Library in Islington. We used to go there for the ‘Stay and Play’ sessions in the basement and to use the Children’s Library. But as these things often transpire...
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The Black Path – launch at Broadway Bookshop
Last Thursday, 24th October, saw the launch of my text, The Black Path, as part of the London Adventures series at The Broadway Bookshop published by Three Imposters. It was a perfect place for the launch sat right on the course of the Black Path in Broadway Market, Hackney. I’d walked this ancient drovers path...
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Islington’s Lost River and the source of the Walbrook
Islington the Watershed It feels apt to be posting the blog on the day of the launch of my text, The Black Path, in the London Adventure series published by The Three Imposters. Walking the Philley Brook (Filly Brook, Fillebrook) with the brilliant Compilerzone in August that sound artist Brigitte Hart put me in touch...
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Walking in London’s Wonderland
This walk follows the first section of the walk in Chapter 1 of my book This Other London which starts at the majestic Gunnersbury Park in West London. The Park was originally the grounds of Gunnersbury House, a Georgian mansion built for King George III’s aunt Princess Amelia. Today it’s home to Gunnersbury Museum and...
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Looking for the Lost Rivers of Roman London
This London walk takes us to the City of London looking for the lost rivers and streams of Roman London on the western edge of the old Roman City. A number of channels were excavated at 7-10 Old Bailey that indicated this area was a major tributary valley of the River Fleet. Our Roman London...
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Exploring Historic Rye, East Sussex
The Perfect London Day-trip Once one of the medieval Cinque Ports and an important harbour, changes to the coastline and the course of the River Rother altered not just the landscape but the town’s fortunes and it became a haunt of smugglers. Many of the buildings in the town centre date from the 15th and...
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Final night of The George, Wanstead
Closing time for this popular local pub Last night at midnight, Sunday 13th October, Time was called for the final time at The George, Wanstead, as a Wetherspoons pub. There was a sense of occasion from the time we arrived at 10pm. It was packed and stayed that way til midnight when drinks were no...
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Discover London: 35 Questions About Its Pubs, Architecture, and Rich History
Here are the questions I covered in this YouTube Q&A video about London walks:...
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The Black Path – launch events
I’m doing two events to launch my new publication – The Black Path 24th October 7pm – The Broadway Bookshop, Hackney – RSVP books@broadwaybookshophackney.com 21st November 7.30pm – The Wanstead Tap – book via the Eventbrite link below: The Black Path is published by Three Imposters as part of the London Adventures series. The shades...
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Jack Kerouac in London
In February 1957 (On the Road was published in September 1957) Jack Kerouac boarded a ship from Brooklyn to Tangier in Morocco. He traveled back to the U.S via France and England. An account of this trip was published in Lonesome Traveler. Below is his record of his few days in London waiting to catch...
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Secret Islington Walking Tour around Canonbury
This walk takes into a magical realm just off the hustle and bustle of Upper Street Islington as we take a walking tour around the streets of Canonbury. Ed Glinert described Canonbury as ‘The best preserved and most picturesque suburb in inner London’ (The London Compendium). In The London Nobody Knows, Geoffrey Fletcher wrote that...
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A stroll through the colourful story of Paddington
Paddington – more than just a station My previous experience of Paddington was simply as a place of transit, passing through to catch the westbound train to Devon. But I knew there was more to this historic area than Brunel’s steam age dreams and a cute Peruvian bear with a thing for marmalade sandwiches. Turning...
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The sound of the rain at Nottingham Station
Saturday night at Nottingham Station. The heavens opened and the rain lashed down. The over-excited Hen Night parties singing Abba anthems piled onto regional services to other cities. On the way to the station we passed over the Nottingham Canal illuminated by a light installation....
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‘Bound by no programme’
Starting from Leyton I headed out for a walk with no destination in mind in the spirit of a classic dérive or drift following my nose and being guided by my feet.Filmed 22nd August 2024 “So make up your mind to be bound by no programme, to travel with complete irresponsibility, to start nowhere in...
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Walking Roman Stane Street
Walking Roman London Stane Street was the Roman road that linked Londinium to Noviomagus Reginorum (Chichester). In use by AD70, It starts its journey at the southern end of London Bridge and ran for 57-miles. I decided to walk the first 10 miles from Borough to Tooting. Stone Street led me through Elephant and Castle, Kennington,...
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Classic East London Walk
Chrisp Street, Limehouse Cut, Bow Locks, River Lea, Stratford Last summer I recorded a podcast with sound recordist Joel Carr with the intent of capturing the environmental sounds experienced on a walk along with my usual natter. This recording was broadcast on Resonance Fm as ‘Sonic Perambulation: Chrisp Street Market to Stratford’. I also shot...
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Inside St Bartholomew the Great, Smithfield
I was walking through Smithfield the other day and took shelter from the sun in the churchyard of St Bartholomew the Great. I noticed that the church was open so decided to pop inside for a look around this majestic historic building. St Bartholomew the Great was founded in 1123 by a courtier of Henry I...
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Marrakech
That excitement in the airport that comes with the realisation that we were embarking on a much bigger adventure than our recent European jaunts. I was using a Lonely Planet for the first time in over 20 years. Arriving at night in Marrakech and that first experience of the maze of the Medina trying to...
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The Stonebridge Brook in Tottenham
I received this brilliant email from Barry Parker with information about the Stonebridge Brook around Culvert Road and Seven Sisters Road. “As a child I lived in Greenfield Road,N 15. The area where Culvert Road met Seven Sisters Road would flood when there was heavy rain in Hornsey. This flooded houses in Culvert Road, Durnford...
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Is this the Only Road in the City of London?
In a recent video I repeated a statement I’d been told by a Freeman of the City of London, and somebody who’d worked in the Lord Mayor’s office. He’d declared that there are ‘no roads in the City of London’. In the comments of that video several people countered that in fact the lower section...
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Trip to Norwich for the launch of W.G Sebald’s Shadows of Reality
Writing starts with a photograph, W.G Sebald said on a German TV arts magazine programme about the publication of his book The Emigrants. This clip was played under the looming 15th Century timbered roof of the Dragon Hall in Norwich on Wednesday at the launch of Shadows of Reality – A Catalogue of W.G. Sebald’s...
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Visit to the Marx Memorial Library
I was passing the Marx Memorial Library on Clerkenwell Green at lunchtime and realised that I’d never actually been inside. Not even as an eager Politics student in my youth. The papery smell in the reading room instantly transported me back through the years. It was intoxicating for a brief moment. The Library was established...
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Sniggs Alley & the Oldest Pub in England
“Every town on the multiverse has a part that is something like Ankh-Morpork’s Shades. It’s usually the oldest part, its lanes faithfully following the original tracks of medieval cows going down to the river, and they have names like Shambles, the Rookery, Sniggs Alley …”Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett A walk to find a location...
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Pub Chat from the George, Wanstead
London Pub Chat – Old Traditions, Best Walks, Tube Problems etc. Sunday chat over a pint in the historic George pub in Wanstead, East London. There’s been a pub on this site since at least 1716 (see the shot of a historic sign on the side of the pub) and it’s reported that Wetherspoons have...
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