After appearing on BBC 5Live I took a Sunday stroll through Central London to a WW1 memorial with special family significance. My walk starts at BBC Broadcasting House then passes through Cavendish Square where I explore the history and the architecture of the area. I continue down Wigmore Street past Wigmore Hall and the wonderful art deco splendour of the first Debenham department store at 33 Wigmore Street.

Passing Marylebone Lane we see where the buried River Tyburn passes underground. I then went down St Christopher’s Place and Gee’s Passage and briefly along Oxford Street before turning up James St with a nod to Selfridge’s. Crossing Oxford Street I walk down Duke Street and take a look at the Improved Industrial Dwellings Company buildings around Lumley Street and Balderton Street. These are fine examples of Victorian ‘model dwellings’ built in the 1880s to provide good quality housing for working people. My next stop was the former U.S Embassy building on Grosvenor Square and then turned into Brook Street which took me to Hyde Park.

I strolled along the wide paths revelling in the majestic autumn colours of the leaves. The focal point of my walk was the Memorial to the Machine Gun Corps who my grandfather, William Rogers, served with during the first world war. The memorial can be found on Hyde Park Corner near the Wellington Arch.

I then returned to Broadcasting House to talk about Welcome to New London on BBC Radio London.