A watery wander around the Angel Islington
2022-05-21 11:00 - 13:15 (Europe/London) | Angel Station, Islington High Street, London, N1 8XX, United Kingdom
A circular walk from Angel tube, exploring the influences of water sources. Islington and Clerkenwell developed around a hilly area with an abundance of water from natural springs, wells and the River Fleet, all now more or less hidden. The New River – an astonishing early 17C waterworks scheme with engineering and reservoirs – and the early 19C manmade Regent’s Canal and basins followed. Meanwhile, some of the springs had been turned into risqué pleasure gardens and a famous theatre, then the residential boom of Georgian and Victorian squares and streets sprung up.

This walk traces all things watery, tells of an eccentric estate owner, an evangelical Countess and a lost cricket ground.

The walk lasts 2 to 2 1/4 hours, starts at the Angel station and ends in a historic market near the start.

Pre-book only via Eventbrite here

Clerkenwell Crime and Punishment
2022-05-28 11:00 - 13:15 | Farringdon Station, EC1M 6BY, United Kingdom
Turbulent centuries of monasteries, vengeance, courthouses, prisons, murder, social reformers, a bomb plot and more….

Clerkenwell lies just outside the old City, originally the location of the monastic houses from the late 1100s. When Henry VIII siezed these in the 1500s, some occupants met grim fates. Over the following centuries, the population increased greatly as London grew and people came looking for work, and in turn the area became overcrowded, crime-ridden and squalid. As it lay outside the City’s direct jurisdiction (part of Middlesex), the area attracted radicals, rebels and criminals. The local system of magistrates, judges and parishes in turn built prisons, courthouses and workhouses.

This walk explores the nature of crime and the various punishments meted out over the centuries in this fascinating area.

Pre-book only via Eventbrite here for Saturday May 28th, or here for an extra date on Wednesday June 8th at 2.00 pm.
