Word2013 presents a series of walks and events with Apples & Snakes writer Helen East. – Listen to her tales about various locations en route, and discover the secrets behind some of the buildings or places that are part of your day-to-day life.
WALKS: 18, 19 & 25 MAY:
WALK 1: Footsore and Fortunate – Dreamers, Drovers and Leaders – When: Saturday 18 May, 11.30am
From Whittington Stone to Noel Baker Peace Gardens
This is a walk through land that was once the Bishop of London’s “healthful” hunting park, beginning on a road built by a solitary hermit, now one of the busiest in the UK. After a steep start up steps* we will be hopping from park to park, following the footprints and stories of people that rang the changes – charlatans and visionaries – legends even in their own lifetimes. And hooves in shoes, horns, claws and paws that made their mark as well!
(*to avoid the steps, wheelchair users might like to join us at 11.50 on Hornsey Lane, above the Archway Bridge).
All walks take approximately an hour and are just under 2 miles. Not suitable for under 5.
Where: Archway Library, Hamlyn House, Highgate Hill, London N19 5PH (meet outside)
Tickets: FREE
Booking: no booking required, limited to the first 20 people arriving at the meeting point.
WALK 2: Ghostly Traces and Lost Places – When: Sunday 19 May, 2pm
From the “Back Road” to “The Cally”
A north westerly wander through streets, squares and green spaces zig-zagging from the Angel to Barnsbury Square and on to Caledonian Road. We’ll follow forgotten packhorse routes and lanes where only the names remain… and the whispers of lives and unlikely passers by, from Roman (perhaps) to present day.All walks take approximately an hour and are just under 2 miles. Not suitable for under 5.
Where: Angel Tube Station, London (meet outside)
Tickets: FREE
Booking: no booking required, limited to the first 20 people arriving at the meeting point.
WALK 3: Water and Wells for Wealth, Health and Stealth – When: Saturday 25 May, 11am and 2pm
From Turnmill Street to Spa Fields, this walk winds round Clerkenwell, following the route and influence of the water running under our feet – once the ‘River of Wells’ or Turnmill Brook’ or ‘Fleet Ditch’. As many names as points of view, reflecting how the water was used…
For drinking, cleaning, healing and worship (a source for many religious foundations) well cared for water became Fagges Well, Skinners Well, Tode Well and the Clerks Well which gave its name to the area. Fast running, it was good for business, including the turning of mills. And being deep it swallowed up rubbish and unsavoury secrets, until what was fleet grew so sluggish and disgusting it was covered over and hidden – spawning then a dangerous dark underworld ..…
Such watery variety gave rise to a wide diversity of lifestyles, which gives us tales of every kind.All walks take approximately an hour and are just under 2 miles. Not suitable for under 5.
Where: Farringdon Tube Station, London (meet outside Cowcross Road entrance)
Tickets: FREE
Booking: no booking required, limited to the first 20 people arriving at the meeting point
STORYTELLING, 20, 23, 27 MAY:
1.Strange stories of a place you thought you knew… with musical storyteller Helen East.
All kinds of creatures, helpful and hateful – from the light hearted laughing ghost of Lamb himself to the sorrowful ‘Bridge of Sighs’ – this nights tales touch on the Other Side (and underside) of Islington life where even bricks and mortar might have opinions of its own…
When: Monday 20 May, 6.30pm
Where: The Charles Lamb Public House and Kitchen, 16 Elia Street, Islington, London N1 8DE
Tickets: FREE
2. A Feast of Islington Stories, with a few songs too – some tasteful, some touching, some hard to swallow; a new view of Islington on the eastern edge, guaranteed to whet your appetite for more…
When: Thursday 23 May, 6.30pm
Where: The Acoustic Café, 60 Newington Green N52JG
Tickets: FREE
2. Tales and songs of high life and of low life from Helen East “a mistress of storytelling” as spendthrift kings meet honest publicans and songs of the “long way to the pawnshop” are proved untrue by royal short cuts. But what else can you expect from an area as doubtful as this -where a street of baths was no match for pests, sicknesses may be preferred to cures, and even the dangers of Hookey in the Hole are nowhere near as dreadful as the lucky chances offered down below. Never mind, love is blind and even the nastiest twist might lead to a happy ending.
When: Monday 27 May, 7pm
Where: The Castle Pub, 34-35 Cowcross St, London EC1M 6DB
Tickets: FREE
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