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The Charterhouse and Dickens’ London – 10th September 2022 at 10:30

Location: Meet at The Charterhouse (EC1M 6AN). The walking tour will end close to London Bridge.

Cost: £70.00, Members £65.00 (Includes coffee/tea on arrival, a light lunch in The Charterhouse, and both tours.)

This event is fully booked, but you may register on the waiting list in case places become available.There is noone on the waiting list for this event at the moment.

The Charterhouse

The Charterhouse has been home to many significant moments in London’s history since 1371. It started as a monastery, then became a grand mansion, then a boys’ school and then an almshouse which, in part, it is still today. Amazingly, it occupies a 7 acre site, right in the middle of London, bordering the Barbican to the East and Smithfield to the South. Our tour of the house will be led by Stephen McGhee, one of the resident ‘Brothers’, and will embrace the Great Chamber, Museum and Chapel as well as the exquisite garden. (A full description of the garden can be found in the Feb 2022 issue of The English Garden).
We will be having a light lunch in the Charterhouse, and will begin our afternoon walk with Brother Mansel David afterwards.

Charterhouse to Marshalsea in Dickens' Footsteps

'So you were never in London before? said Mr Wemmick to me.
'No,' said l.
'l was new here once,' said Mr Wemmick. 'Rum to think of it now!'
'You are well acquainted with it now?'
'Why, yes,' said Mr Wemmick. 'l know the moves of it.'
"Great Expectations"

It is a typically interesting Dickensian notion that one comes to "know the moves" of London. It suggests a living opponent, forever shifting. Yet if anyone can be said to have pinned this opponent down, that man is surely Charles Huffam Dickens - great writer and inveterate walker, who found his inspiration in the City's streets and alleys. His walking started early at the age of 12 in 1824 when he had to walk from Camden lodgings to visit his father in Marshalsea Debtors Prison at Borough, and to work in Warren's Blacking Factory near the Strand. Our walk will not cover quite such ground, but will take in many of the sites that Dickens knew so well and wrote about so vividly. Beginning near St Bartholomew the Great, we will take in the Old Bailey, St Paul's Cathedral, Mansion House, Cornhill (Simpsons Chop House & the George and Vulture), London Bridge, Southwark Cathedral, Borough Market and the George Inn, before ending at St George the Martyr ('Little Dorrit's Church') and the ruins of the Marshalsea itself (The walk is about 2 1/2 miles and should take just over 90 minutes).

To quote The Inimitable: "Walk and be happy, walk and be healthy. The best of all ways to lengthen our days is ... to walk steadily and with a purpose." Let us follow in his footsteps!

KGT contact: Richard Stileman 07968787950