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Please meet the
guide in Hampstead
at 10.30am for
morning coffee
included in the tour
fee (or come at
noon to start with
an early lunch).
Blood sugars topped
up we begin with a
gentle stroll through
the compact lanes
of old Hampstead.
This was London’s
Montmartre – artists
on Hampstead Heath
(along with those
of the Westbourne
and the Tyburn)
were fresh, clear
and sparkling. Until
London grew. The
Fleet started as a
river, declined to a
brook, dwindled to a
ditch and was finally
demoted to a drain
incorporated into
Joseph Bazalgette’s
great Victorian
To God & The
Bridge
In the God-fearing walled
mediaeval City there were
over 100 churches but only one
bridge. Old London Bridge
was so important that people
left money in their wills “To
God and the Bridge”. Enjoy
entertaining tales of the River
Thames and its bridges and
the Great Fire of London with
visits to two city churches.
Includes morning coffee and a
carvery lunch on Fleet Street.
The walking tour parts of the
day should be suitable for
all those reasonably fit for
walking. Available weekdays
all year except in December.
Weekend bookings are possible
with an alternative meal.
Adults & Seniors: £19.95
Coach Mileage: 15
lunch. The main meal is included in the tour
fee and individuals can choose and pay on
the day for hot or cold drinks or desserts if
they’ve room!
The afternoon is all about the Great Fire
of London and we head by coach to the
precincts of the Tower of London to visit
two City churches: one of just eight (out of
a hundred) that survived the flames and the
other a Wren church built after the fire.
There will be time to buy tea locally before
heading home at 4.45pm.
Please meet the guide on Fleet Street at
10.30am for morning refreshments included
in the tour fee. For centuries Londoners
relied on the watermen to ferry them across
the mighty Thames and our tour begins with
their story told on a short but fascinating
trail through Somerset House, one of the last
survivors of the grand riverside mansions.
You’ll see the old Watergate, learn about
the ancient world of the watermen and hear
about how the River Thames was moved by
the Victorians!
Then on a coach tour we cross the four City
bridges to tell their stories. We discover the
secret mark of the bottomless fund of “bridge
money” and reveal the best way to preserve
the head of an executed traitor so that it lasts
as long as possible on a spike! Then it’s back
to the pub for a carvery or vegetarian roast
Hampstead &
London’s Lost
Rivers
Select and opulent, the old
village of Hampstead sits high
above the rest of London.
On the famous Heath rises one
of London’s Lost Rivers – the
Fleet. Enjoy a short walking
tour of old Hampstead,
morning coffee and a roast
lunch in as near to a country
pub as London gets and in the
afternoon a Lost Rivers coach
tour following the course of the
Fleet to the Thames. Includes
morning coffee and a roast
lunch.
Available weekdays all year.
Adults & Seniors: £19.95
Coach Mileage: 15
and writers drawn here by the clean air and
the cheap rents! Cheap no longer! There
are more millionaires in Hampstead than
anywhere in the capital and they live in
beautiful Georgian and Victorian dwellings
clustered around Hampstead old church.
Eternal residents include a galaxy of notable
folk from John Constable and the
du Mauriers, to Kay Kendal, Anton
Walbrook and Joan Collins’ mum.
Back to the pub for a roast lunch or
vegetarian meal included in the tour fee.
Individuals can choose and pay for any
desserts, bar drinks or coffees as required.
The waters of the Fleet that rise from springs
sewers after London’s Great Stink of 1858.
This afternoon, by coach, we follow the
course of the River Fleet to the Thames.
Along the way we encounter the very story
of London itself stopping off at a curious
little bit of old London tucked away behind
St Pancras Station where a church, first built
on the banks of the Fleet in the 4
th
century,
still stands at the heart of another of
London’s old tapestry of villages. And on to
Blackfriars where, at low tide, you can still
see the River Fleet empty into the Thames.
We stop to buy tea
here
before heading home
at 4.45pm.
City & Village Tours: 0845 812 5000