Is the Gothic a thing of the past? Or does our contemporary culture haunt us the same way that the anxieties of the Victorian age bled out onto the pages of titles such as Frankenstein or Dracula? How do our worries about the future connect with those who lived through the Age of Reform? You…
Tag: Stoke Newington
Hidden Hackney: Changemakers & Joie de Vivre
Changemaker? Sick of Doom & Gloom and National Politics? It’s grim on the national stage politically, but Hackney has the antidote! On an intimate walk with a few friends come and explore the inspiring local initiatives that are tackling national and even global issues. Meet your new friends and neighbours at the market and connect…
Hidden Hackney: Walking in Wonder with Champions & Changemakers
Depressed by the news? Hackney has the antidote. Hackney Tours offers a collection of tours distilling 10 years experience of exploring this exceptional and exciting borough (#HackneyDecade on social media). The walks join the dots between the famous Hackney radicals and reformers who pushed for a better world for hundreds of years and the dynamism…
Focus on the Positive – IWD 2019
This International Women’s Day, I will be offering another walk featuring the heroic Mary Wollstonecraft and other inspiring female writers and fighters in Hackney for social justice who don’t get the recognition they ought to, like
Finding the Gold in Hackney
Finding the gold on the streets of Hackney with William Blake and the curious of London…
Changing Bermondsey, Gothic Abney After Dark
As winter draws in and it’s tempting to hibernate, there are still reasons to get out and exercise. This Saturday sees another free out-of-borough walk for Hackney Council. We’ll be having a little walk around
Never the Bride: Mary Wollstonecraft and the Crash of Wedding Symbols
Symbols matter. There’s a serious bit of state theatre going on this weekend apparently (Hackney Tours is too busy being out on the street to follow the media) and it’s all about reinforcing the ancient (feudal?) concept of monarchy. Apparently we’re paying for an elaborate spectacle that is designed to reassure us that being Subjects…
Mary Wollstonecraft: Transcending Gender
Why is a man leading walks about Mary Wollstonecraft in Stoke Newington and Newington Green and why does he think it’s important that she has a monument? Saturday’s walk (see below) sees half the funds go to two local causes including the campaign for a statue of Mary Wollstonecraft. Why? Many of us broadly accept…
Frankenstein, Freedom and Suffragettes: Forged in Hackney
Like a little radical history? Love books? Enjoy big ideas from famous Hackney figures who rocked the boat for reform? On London Bookshop Crawl Weekend, we celebrated 100 years since women entered Parliament for the first time, 200 years since Mary Shelley published Frankenstein and
Really Discover East London!
Radical History Lover? Curious Local? Love Photography? Something for Everyone… It’s been a busy summer, so you may have missed the Hampstead Heath walk for Hackney Council or the literary adventure that was our trip to a Margate book festival in the guise of Half Day Holidays. I took some Wickers around Hackney Wick to…
Stay Closer, Shop Local – Travel Deeper
Our ‘Food & Culture’ tour of Dalston and its markets is a labour of love – and a product of love for the area. It just got a great review on Funzing this week; but it’s not really about us it’s really about connection to the community. We’ve been hanging out at the places involved…
Regeneration Game: Margate 1 – 0 London
The exodus is on. If once London attracted the avant garde, does it now repel them? This week arts accessibility champions Open School East joined the artists heading to the south coast, Bristol continues to pull the permaculturists and environmentally ambitious while ‘startup centre’ Berlin is a no-brainer for the entrepreneur.
Hackney Tours: East LDN Creative Exploration 