Each walk has a theme. For example, the first one focuses on London’s buildings. They go from Roman ruins to skyscrapers. This richly detailed and beautifully illustrated book provides a miscellany of historic features and curiosities to spot as you wander around the capital. Whether you’ve always wondered why there are cattle troughs on your route to work, why bollards often look like upside-down cannons or wanted to know what a Victorian stink pipe is – this book will provide the tools to decipher London’s secret code and introduce you to a treasure trove of hidden spots to explore.

In April 2023 I published a book called London: A Guide For Curious Wanderers! It is my guide to London’s quirks, oddities and often overlooked details. It is beautifully illustrated and contains self-guided walking maps to discover the city for yourself. Find out more here! London is famous for its museums, each one full of treasures and relics – but the biggest museum in the capital is the city itself. From the stories behind unusual street names to the trees in our parks; railings made from recycled WWII stretchers to shrapnel damage on walls; the hidden symbols on post boxes, to prehistoric tree trunks – there is a rich history hidden in the oft-overlooked details of the city's streets, gardens, parks and buildings. This richly detailed and beautifully illustrated book provides a miscellany of historic features and curiosities to spot as you wander around the capital. Whether you've always wondered why there are cattle troughs on your route to work, why bollards often look like upside down cannons or wanted to know what a Victorian stink pipe is - this book will provide the tools to decipher London's secret code, and introduce you to a treasure trove of hidden spots to explore. So, pop on a sturdy pair of shoes and get ready to turn the city into the museum you never knew you had. What makes this book stand out are the detailed illustrations by Katharine Fraser instead of expected photos. Although some actual photos to provide a bit more “street” context would have been nice, I suppose that context would be supplied by actual walk to the places Chesher describes.

Summary

The book comes complete with maps so you can spot these details yourself on walks through the capital. In the introduction, the author states that he wants to show explorers lots of hidden corners. He also want to provide an “ability to read London.” Sounds good. London is famous for its museums, each one full of treasures and relics – but the biggest museum in the capital is the city itself. From the stories behind unusual street names, to the trees in our parks; railings made from recycled WWII stretchers, to shrapnel damage on walls; the hidden symbols on post boxes, to prehistoric tree trunks – there is a rich history hidden in the oft-overlooked details of the city's streets, gardens, parks and buildings.

This richly detailed and beautifully illustrated book provides a miscellany of historic features and curiosities to spot as you wander around the capital.Readers are offered four walks through London. The first goes from Tower Hill Station to Liverpool Street Station. Next is Tottenham Court Road Station to Trafalgar Square. Third is London Bridge Station to Borough Station. Finally, there is a walk from Westminster Station to Berkeley Square.

This richly detailed and beautifully illustratedbook provides a miscellany of historic features and curiosities to spot as you wander around the capital. Whether you've always wondered why there are cattle troughs on your route to work, why bollards often look like upside down cannons orwanted to know what a Victorian stink pipe is this book will provide the tools to decipherLondon's secret code, and introduce you to a treasure trove of hidden spots to explore. See London in a completely new light in this guide to the city's hidden secrets, untold stories and special places laden with history which you can discover for yourself! This was so fascinating to read! London for the Curious Wanderers is just that - a guide to help you spot all the little gems the city has to offer, that you might just walk by otherwise! This book is here to help you out. It even has a walking tour map, at the end of each section, so you can go and spot quite a few of the curios for yourself. See London in a completely new light in this guide to the city's hidden secrets, untold stories and special places laden with history which you can discover for yourself!There are two versions of this book on Goodreads that I cannot combine...hopefully it will be remedied soon by the request that I put through to their librarians. As you would expect all entries have been indexed, but curiously an additional list of postcodes with their locations within the book is also included. London is famous for its museums, each one full of treasures and relics – but the biggest museum in the capital is the city itself. See London in a completely new light inthis guide to the city's hidden secrets,untold stories andspecial places laden with history which you can discover for yourself!

I started this blog to share my journey discovering London’s fascinating past, by walking its bustling grand streets, diving down its mysterious alleyways and strolling along the banks of the Thames. I believe that the city itself is the greatest and most interesting museum of all.The book comes complete with maps so you can spot these details yourself on walks through the capital.