John Rogers wanders the City of London’s passages and alleyways

I sometimes wonder if one of the reasons the "London isn't safe" propaganda has gained such a hold is that the city has changed so much in recent decades. I hardly recognise the skyline from the days when I worked there in the 1980s.

But maybe London has always been like that. Go back another 40 years from when I knew it well and you would find a very different cityscape of bombsites and ruins.

Still, a lot of "the old London" remains. In fact, I was surprised how much of it John Rogers found on this walk.

Here's his YouTube blurb.

Join me on a fascinating London walk through the City of London's narrow alleyways, passages and lanes, where many secrets of its past are revealed. 

We explore the rich London history, discovering historical plaques that mark sites like the Worshipful Company of Masons and Jonathan's Coffee House, a pivotal location for early stock market activity. 

This journey into hidden London offers unique facts about the city's enduring legacy from Roman London through Tudor London to the modern day.

John Rogers has a Patreon account to support his videos and blogs at The Lost Byway.

Alan Moore and Iain Sinclair in conversation

When I first discovered Iain Sinclair he was obscure enough for me to feel I had him largely to myself. That notion encouraged was by the fact that his early novels – my first was White Chappell Scarlet Tracings – were published in Uppingham by Mike Goldmark.

But that was 40 years ago. Now psychogeography is no longer a novel idea and its big beasts are getting distinctly long in the tooth. So this conversation between Sinclair and Alan Moore, who has fished in the same waters, has a valedictory touch.

I used to count Moore, along with Jeremy Seabrook and Ray Gosling, as part of a post-war Northampton working-class renaissance. Now I've discovered Henry Bird, I may have to move back the date of its commencement.

Thanks to John Rogers for posting this – you can find the earlier video he refers to on this blog too. John has a Patreon account to support his videos and blogs at The Lost Byway.

The Aldersbrook: A lost London river resurrected

Here's an inspirational video with John Rogers and Paul Powlesland. 

John's blurb on YouTube says:

A London walk with the brilliant Paul Powlesland of the River Roding Trust, discovering how the forgotten river Aldersbrook near Ilford has been rescued and revived by the local community, saving it from becoming another lost river of London. 

An ancient branch of the River Roding, the Aldersbrook was buried beneath undergrowth and silt and clogged with rubbish. 

Volunteers from The Friends of the River Roding worked tirelessly to remove the silt from the riverbed, dispose of hundreds of bags of rubbish and cut back the undergrowth to reveal what is probably the only tidal brook in London and a glimpse into London's past when meandering streams like this formed much of the landscape of London. 

John Rogers has a Patreon account to support his videos and he blogs at The Lost Byway. And you can follow Paul Powesland on Instagram and Bluesky.

John Rogers explores Acton Town, Turnham Green and Chiswick House Park

Time for another London walk with John Rogers:

A walk from Acton Town Tube Station down Bollo Lane looking at the changes taking place there, then across Turnham Green where I talk about the Civil War battle that took place there in 1642. The video ends at the beautiful Chiswick House Park.

This walking tour explores West London history, urban change, and hidden landscapes, moving through Acton, Bollo Lane, Turnham Green, and Chiswick. Along the way it touches on London regeneration, psychogeography, Civil War history, grand houses, and the last industrial London.

Most signs of the Acton Town to South Acton branch disappeared long ago. Diamond Geezer has an article about it.

John Rogers has a Patreon account to support his videos and he blogs at The Lost Byway.

The glorious story of Shacklewell and De Beauvoir Town

Another walk with John Rogers:

This East London walk takes is into the surprising hidden corners of the London Borough of Hackney. Our urban stroll explores the historic areas of Shacklewell and De Beauvoir Town, both with rich and fascinating histories. Starting on Mare Street we follow Amhurst Road to Shacklewell Lane and the site of Shacklewell House which had been an important country house from at least the 16th century. 

We then take a look at the Somerford Grove Estate designed by Frederick Gibberd in the late 1940s and winner of a prize at the Festival of Britain of 1951. Crossing Kingsland Road we then wander the streets of one of London's most beguiling hidden neighbourhoods, De Beauvoir Town. Developed in the 1830s this Victorian area was saved from demolition in the 1960s and remains one of London's true hidden gems.

It didn't make this YouTube blurb, but towards the end we also see the home of the Hackney Mole Man, who was made famous by Iain Sinclair.

John Rogers has a Patreon account to support his videos and he blogs at The Lost Byway.

Following the River Westbourne from Kilburn to Chelsea

It's time for another walk with John Rogers, and it's one of the kind I enjoy the most: a walk that follows one of London's lost rivers.

John describes it in his YouTube blurb as a:

walking tour of London’s lost river Westbourne from Kilburn to Chelsea via Maida Vale, Paddington, Bayswater, Knightsbridge, and Belgravia. The Westbourne is one of London’s most celebrated lost rivers and wasn’t fully buried until the mid-1800s. Consequently its course is very well documented and is famously carried over Sloane Square tube station in a pipe that can be seen from the platform.

John has a Patreon account to support his videos and he blogs at The Lost Byway. 

Walking Charles Dickens' London with John Rogers

Here's a seasonal treat: a tour of the areas of London associated with Charles Dickens – or at least some of them -– in the company of John Rogers.

John's YouTube blurb for this walk explains:

This Charles Dickens London Walking tour starts in Southwark where Dickens lived as a child while his father was held in Marshalsea Prison on Borough High Street. This influenced much of his writing, most notably Little Dorrit. There are also multiple references to character in The Pickwick Papers around Borough. 

After stopping by The George Tavern where Dickens used to drink we cross London Bridge which is mentioned in multiple Dickens novels - most strikingly in Oliver  Twist, we walk through the City of London, The Magic Lantern, visiting various locations mentioned in the works of Charles Dickens including St Peter's Cornhill, The Guildhall, The Bank of England, Mansion House. We also look for the site of the first address the Dickens family stayed at on Wood Street when they arrived from Chatham. 

From here we go via St Bartholomew's Hospital, site of the Fortune of War pub (A Tale of Two Cities) before going to Bleeding Heart Yard (Little Dorrit), Saffron Hill (Oliver Twist) and finishing at The Dickens Museum in Doughty Street.

John has a Patreon account to support his videos and he blogs at The Lost Byway.

John Rogers discovers the lost city of Winchelsea

This is a lovely walk – I've done the stretch from Rye to Camber Castle myself. 

John's blurb on YouTube says:

This walk takes on a journey into England's medieval history on the south coast in East Sussex. Starting at Rye, one of the ancient Cinque Ports we follow the Saxon Shore Way past Camber Castle to the medieval walled city of Winchelsea. Originally planned by Edward I in 1288 it replaced the old port of Winchelsea which was swept away by the sea but had once been one of the most prosperous ports in the whole of England.

This is part of a series of walk in places within easy reach of London by train and one of the best day trips from London.

And he even finds the blue plaque on Chelsea Cottage, which was Malcolm Saville's last home.

John has a Patreon account to support his videos and blogs at The Lost Byway.

A ley line quest in Shropshire takes us to Caus Castle

Ley lines? An old Guardian article explains:

On 30 June 1920, a respected businessman and photographer was visiting the Herefordshire village of Blackwardine, the site of a Roman settlement with the distinctly Celtic name of Black Caer Dun. He noticed that a straight line on the map he was carrying passed through a number of local landmarks: a croft, a hilltop, the site of a Roman camp, a straight stretch of lane. Taking his map to the top of the hill, he observed that other similar alignments lay all around him. 

The man was Alfred Watkins, and the observation led initially to a lecture he delivered to the Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club in Hereford the following September, on the subject of what he had come to call ley lines, a network of straight alignments taking in cairns, standing stones (many of which had been converted to village crosses), mounds, camps, castles, ancient church sites, prominent stands of trees, hilltops and other high places. 

Watkins believed his ley lines were ancient trackways, but he never convinced professional archaeologists that his work was of any value. So it was rarely thought of after his death in 1935. But in 1969 it was taken up by the counter culture, particularly John Michell in his The View Over Atlantis.

Michell transformed the lines, as the Guardian says, into "a sort of mystical national grid, lines of so-called earth energy linking the great religious sites of prehistoric Britain". This did nothing to impress another generation of archaeologists, but it did make the concept popular again for a while.

I suppose the killer question for a sceptic to ask is whether ancient sites lie along straight lines any more than you would expect from a random scatter of points on a map.

All that admitted, as this video says, following a supposed ley line - this one just happens to be in Shropshire - is a great way of exploring the countryside. It reminds me of John Rogers' walks following the course of lost London rivers and what he says about them taking him to parts of the city he wouldn't otherwise visit.

John Rogers walks through 1300 years of London history in Fulham

This is such an appealing video that it makes me want to visit Fulham myself.

Its billing on YouTube explains:

Our walk starts Fulham Broadway and the old Walham Green Station. We then cross Eel Brook Common to New Kings Road and Parson's Green. 

After a quick browse in the brilliant Hurlingham Books we look inside All Saints Church Fulham before entering Bishop's Park. The park was noted for its fabulous plants and trees as far back as the 16th century and today is still one of London's finest parks. 

The mile-long moat was said to have been built by Danes in the 9th century to protect their camp from flooding. The land has been in the possession of the Bishops of London since 691 and was their country home from 704 to 1972  - an incredible 1300 years. The current Fulham Palace boasts a magnificent Tudor courtyard and a beautiful walled garden. 

From the palace we stroll and the Thames riverside walk to Craven Cottage home to Fulham FC. 

Talking of the football club, it's worth noting the asymmetry of the relationship between Chelsea and Fulham. Chelsea fans have a soft spot for Fulham and may go to watch them if their club doesn't have a game. Fulham fans hate Chelsea.

John has a Patreon account to support his videos and blogs at The Lost Byway.

From Sherlock Holmes to Mandy Rice-Davies: John Rogers explores Marylebone

A walking tour around the London district of Marylebone, made famous by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories, in the company of John Rogers.

His blurb on YouTube says:

The fictional detective lived at 221b Baker Street and we visit the address, now home to the Sherlock Holmes museum. But our historic London walk starts The Langham where Conan Doyle dined with Oscar Wilde in 1889. We then turn into Wigmore Street and pick up Marylebone Lane where the buried River Tyburn runs beneath the street. 

This ancient thoroughfare recalls the time when Marylebone was owned by the Knights Templar. The name is derived from the presence of the river and the church of St Mary - St. Mary-a-le-Bourne or St.Mary by the Tyburn. It was developed in the 1700s and gained a reputation as a medical area around the famous Harley Street and Wimpole Street. 

One such medical practitioner was the osteopath Dr Stephen Ward who lived in Wimpole Mews with Christine Keeler and Mandy Rice-Davies. The Profumo Affair that involved Ward, Keeler and John Profumo MP became the biggest British political scandal of the 20th Century.

Our walking tour also takes in Manchester Square and the Wallace Collection, Marylebone High Street, Daunt Books, Paddington Street Garden and Marylebone Station.

John blogs at The Lost Byway and has a Patreon to support these videos.

John Rogers takes a stunning walk along the White Cliffs of Dover

John Rogers forsakes psychogeographic London and walks along the white cliffs from Dover to Deal.

As his blurb on YouTube says:

The glorious walk takes us over the famous White Cliffs of Dover. We get amazing views across the Channel to the coast of France around Calais. I stopped for lunch at South Foreland Lighthouse then strolled through St Margaret's Bay, Kingsdown Beach, Walmer with its castle and the site where Julius Caesar led the Roman invasion of Britain in 55BC. Our beautiful South Coast Kent walk ends at Deal.

John blogs at The Lost Byway and has a Patreon to support these videos.

London’s Bohemia: A walking tour of fantastic Fitzrovia

Another great video from John Rogers. Here's his blurb on YouTube:

A stroll around historic Fitzrovia in Central London - the area bounded by Tottenham Court Road, Oxford Street, Great Portland Street and Euston Road. We visit the pubs which were a magnet for writers, poets and artists including George Orwell, Dylan Thomas, and Augustus John. 

The landlord of the Fitzroy Tavern was one of the people who is said to have coined the term Fitzrovia in the late-1930s along with Tom Driberg. We also see The Newman Arms which George Orwell used as the setting for the Proles pub in his novel 1984. Percy Street was another location in 1984. The Wheatsheaf pub in Rathbone Place was another of Orwell's favourite Fitzrovia pubs. Around the corner is the Bricklayers Arms. 

From Charlotte Street we pass through Newman Passage into Newman Street where some of London's most notable sculptors worked in the 18th Century. We visit the Fitzrovia Chapel, the address where Charles Dickens lived in Cleveland Street, the King & Queen pub where Bob Dylan played, the BT Tower and Fitzroy Square. 

The final location in this Fitzrovia walking tour is the possible location of The Midnight Bell pub from Patrick Hamilton's novel published in 1929.

John blogs at The Lost Byway and has a Patreon to support these videos.

A pilgrimage to a lost holy well in Muswell Hill

Another walk with John Rogers. His blurb on YouTube runs:

A north London walk in search of Muswell Hill's lost holy well - the Moss Well, or Mossy Well, Mouse Well that gave its name to the area. A chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Muswell became a resort of pilgrims after a King of the Scots had been divinely directed there and was miraculously healed by the waters of the well. It is recorded as early as 1112. 

Our walk starts on Crouch Hill, goes down Crouch End Broadway, Park Road, Muswell Hill, Muswell Hill Broadway, Colney Hatch Lane looking for the first Wetherspoons pub, then Muswell Hill Road via Highgate Woods.

John has a Patreon to support his videos and blogs at The Lost Byway.

The secrets of Hawksmoor's St Anne's, Limehouse - the Cathedral of the East End

No psychogeographic rambling with John Rogers this month: rather, a visit to a single church to hear about the plans for its restoration.

But then St Anne's, Limehouse - the Cathedral of the East End - is one of the  Nicholas Hawksmoor churches that inspired the London writings of Iain Sinclair and the Peter Ackroyd. The latter's Hawksmoor remains a terrifying novel.

I once went to a comedy performance in the crypt of another Hawksmoor church - St George's, Bloomsbury. Sitting there, I couldn't help being aware of the tremendous weight of stone above our heads, but Hawksmoor obviously knew what he was doing as I'm here to tell the tale.

John has a Patreon account to support his videos and blogs at The Lost Byway.

"Paris is a woman but London is an independent man puffing his pipe in a pub"

So said Jack Kerouac in his Lonesome Traveler. We join John Rogers as he retraces a walk the Beat Generation novelist once took through London.

As the blurb on YouTube says:

American Beat Generation author Jack Kerouac, visited London in April 1957 while on a big trip just before the publication of his most celebrated book, On the Road. He recorded his trip in his book, Lonesome Traveler. 

This video follows the walk he took when he arrived by train at Victoria Station and walked past Buckingham Palace, up the Strand to Fleet Street to St Paul’s Cathedral. He then went to the King Lud pub for a ‘sixpenny Welsh rarebit and a stout’, before taking the bus back to Buckingham Gate. 

In Lonesome Traveler Kerouac wrote, ‘Paris is a woman but London is an independent man puffing his pipe in a pub’.

John has a Patreon account to support his videos and blogs at The Lost Byway.

You may also enjoy a post on Kerouac and Lonesome Traveler by C.G. Fewston.

A Suffolk hauntology: John Rogers walks from Felixstowe to the River Orwell

From the blurb on YouTube:

A Suffolk walk through the town of Felixstowe and along the coast path past the pier to Landguard point and Landguard fort. We see the enormous container port - the largest in the UK and the Harwich Haven. From here we pick up the Orwell and Stour walk around the dock and along the River Orwell and around Trimley Marshes.

The walk was inspired by the writing of Felixstowe resident Mark Fisher who popularised the term 'Hauntology' and wrote about this coastline on his influential blog k-punk as well as in the books, Ghosts of My Life, and The Weird and the Eerie.

John has a Patreon account to support his videos and blogs at The Lost Byway.

John Rogers meets the dinosaurs of Crystal Palace Park

John Rogers posted this walk at the end of October. His description on YouTube says:

A beautiful autumn walk in South London. Walk 3 of the Capital Ring starts at Crystal Palace Park and goes through Penge, Alexandra Park Sydenham, Cator Park Beckenham, and our walk ends at the wonderful Beckenham Place Park with sensational views. 

The Capital Ring is 150-mile circular walk divided into 24 stages. This walk was around 7.5 miles with rail and bus connections at either end starting at Sydenham Station and ending at Beckenham Junction.

Best of all, we get to see the Crystal Palace dinosaurs near the start of it.

John has a Patreon account to support his videos and blogs at The Lost Byway.

John Rogers walks the Walbrook from Islington to the City

Another walk with our favourite psychogeographer, John Rogers. This time it's:

A walk from the Angel Islington to the City of London exploring the northern branch of the River Walbrook, one of the lost rivers of London. We start on Amwell Street then go to the White Conduit in Barnsbury Road. 

From here we locate the possible source of this branch of the Walbrook in White Conduit Street near Chapel Market. The route then basically follows City Road to Moorgate where it meets the branch of the stream that rises around Shoreditch. 

John has a Patreon account to support his videos and blogs at The Lost Byway.

Fascinating Paddington London history walking tour

I've gone down with a cold, so I'll leave you in the excellent company of John Rogers:

A London walking tour exploring the ancient village of Paddington, famous for its railway station (and Paddington Bear of course). Originating as an Anglo-Saxon village, Paddington has a long and rich history. We cross the Grand Union Canal, Harrow Road and the Westway to visit Paddington Green and St. Mary's Church. 

From here we have a mooch in Church Street Market and wander down Edgware Road. In Praed Street we see the place where Alexander Fleming discovered Penicillin  at Saint Mary's Hospital. We then look for the Tyburn Milestone and the burial ground where Laurence Sterne was laid to rest. 

Finally our walking tour takes us to Bayswater Road and the Smallest House in London, the Tyburn Convent and the site of the Tyburn Tree.

John has a Patreon account to support his videos and blogs at The Lost Byway.