TWISTS & TRANSFORMATION: Dicken’s London Borough.

Tonight TWISTS & TRANSFORMATION: Dicken’s London Borough.

Meet at John Harvard Library, near Borough tube at 6pm, to finish near London Bridge 8pm

This walk through the streets of Old Borough, follows the ‘Twists and Transformations’ of Dickens’s early childhood, revisiting early Victorian London South of the River. By encountering the traumatic twists in Dickens’s early years, as he took his first tentative steps into this new city of opportunity, we reveal something of his restless spirit, manifest in his compulsive night-walking and his feelings of ‘houselessness’.

We imagine again the old ground of the Borough, around the debtors prison of Marshalsea and in the places Dickens frequented: the quiet graveyard of St George the Martyr, the bustling fruit and veg market, Horsemonger’s Lane Jail, and Old London Bridge. These places where his imagination grew, fed by the energy and incident of this rapidly growing city. We become aware of his acquaintance with Victorian ‘low life’, and with the frequent twists in life, those unexpected hardships. These grand themes and encounters that he later transforms into some of the most vivid characters and plots in London’s celebrated literature: Little Dorrit, Oliver Twist, Nancy, Bill Sikes. By exploring these concealed aspects of Victorian London we come face to face with the inspirational back stories that gave birth to Dickens’s extraordinary fiction.

Transport to Start: Borough Tube (Northern Line)  Buses: 35, 40, 133, 343. C10

John Harvard Library John Harvard Library Entrance – 211 Borough High Street  SE1 1JA  is 1 minute from the tube exit across the junction and by St George's Church.
Edited Walk as  part of Southwark Hidden Stories Walks in partnership with CoolWalks.  Tel: 020 77012696        

Rebels & Revolutionaries Friday 26 August 2.30 - 4.30pm.

CoolTan Arts CoolWalks invites you to join us on a free guided walk around Kennington and beyond to learn about the area's rebellious past and some of its famous revolutionaries.  Learn new things, make friends, get fit and have fun.

Start at Brandon Library at 2:30pm and finishes near Lambeth Palace.

Dates: 26 August 2016 starting at 2.30pm

The walk is approximately 2 ½ miles and we would ask participants to wear sensible walking footwear and weather appropriate clothing. 

If you have any queries or would like any further information, please check the blog

contact Charlie on 020 7701 2696, or via email coolwalksinfo@gmail.com or tweet @CoolWalks.

CoolWalk's Southwark Library tour continues.

This month CoolWalks visits Blue Anchor Library & Bermondsey. 

We explore Bermondsey, an area that contained many factories that turned the raw ingredients landed at the near by docks into our family stock cupboard favourites. 

Walk with us to learn new things, have fun and get in a bit of exercise whilst together we discover which jams, biscuits, chocolates, custards, pickles and much, much more besides, helped make Bermondsey the pantry of London; the pantry of the UK and almost each and every corner of the globe.  

We take in the site of the chocolatier's swimming pool, try not to get in a pickle about pickles and discover the cracking story of the of the great egg-stink of World War 1. 

Together we'll go on a walk of fun, fresh air and picnics. Hopefully, we'll not get too hungry.

Starts inside Blue Anchor Library at 11am and finishes around 12:30pm.

Dates:
·         Thursday 31st March 2016

The walk is approximately 3 miles and we would ask participants to wear sensible walking footwear and weather appropriate clothing.  Participants can leave at any time.

Meet:  Blue Anchor Library, Market Place, Southwark Park Road, SE16 3UQ
Bus: 1, P12, 381
Tube: Bermondsey

Many smells!
A Poem by Leslie Davidson

Smells that vary with the weather,

Smell of hops and smell of leather,

Smell of jams and smell of glue,

Smell of chocolate at the Blue,

Smell of frying fish and chips,

Smell of heavy oil that drips,

Smell of stale ice left to trickle,

Smell of vinegar and pickle,

Smell of foreign bales and bags,

Smell of damp and steaming rags,

Smell of sweat and smell of dirt,

Smell of many an unwashed shirt,

Smell of humanity

In Bermondsey.

TWISTS & TRANSFORMATION: Dicken’s London Borough

This is a walk through the streets of Old Borough and London Bridge following the ‘Twists and Transformations’ of Dickens’ early childhood. 

This walk revisits the highways and byways of early Victorian London encountering the traumatic twists in Dicken’s early years as he took his first tentative steps into this new city of opportunity starting with the debtors prison of Marshalsea and in the places Dickens frequented: the quiet graveyard of St George the Martyr, the bustling fruit and veg market, Old London Bridge. 

These places were  where his imagination grew, fed by the energy and incident of this rapidly growing city. We become aware of his acquaintance with Victorian ‘low life’, and with the twists in life, the unexpected hardships. These grand themes and encounters that he later transforms into some of the most vivid characters and plots in London’s celebrated literature: Little Dorrit, Oliver Twist, Nancy, Bill Sykes. By exploring these concealed aspects of Victorian London we come face to face with the inspirational back stories that gave birth to Dickens’ extraordinary fiction.

This free guided walks reveals something of his restless spirit, manifest in his compulsive night-walking and his feelings of ‘houselessness’.

Meet: Borough Tube (finish near London Bridge station)
Walk: Free
Date: Saturday 13 February
Time: 11am –1pm

Part of Southwark Hidden Stories Walks with CoolWalks.

CoolTan Arts CoolWalk Blue Anchor Library - Fun, Fresh Air & Picnics

CoolWalk's Southwark Library tour contines.

Hot on the heels of two successful Canada Water Library walks, CoolWalks moves from the Docks to nearby Blue Anchor Library & Bermondsey. 

Having explored the industrial history of Canada Water, we explore Bermondsey, an area that contained many factories that turned the raw ingredients land at Canada Water's quays into our family stock cupboard favourites. 

Walk with us to learn new things, have fun and get in a bit of exercise whilst together we discover which jams, biscuits, chocolates, custards, pickles and much, much more besides, helped make Bermondsey the pantry of London; the pantry of the UK and almost each and every corner of the globe.  

We take in the site of the chocolatier's swimming pool, try not to get in a pickle about pickles and discover the cracking story of the of the great egg-stink of World War 1. 

Together we'll go on a walk of fun, fresh air and picnics. Hopefully, we'll not get too hungry.

Starts inside Blue Anchor Library at 12:30pm and finishes around 3pm.

Dates:
·         Saturday 13th, June 2015
·         Thursday 25th, June 2015


The walk is approximately 3 miles and we would ask participants to wear sensible walking footwear and weather appropriate clothing.  Participants can leave at any time.

Blue Anchor Library, Market Place, Southwark Park Road, SE16 3UQ
Bus: 1, P12, 381
Tube: Bermondsey

Many smells!
A Poem by Leslie Davidson

Smells that vary with the weather,

Smell of hops and smell of leather,

Smell of jams and smell of glue,

Smell of chocolate at the Blue,

Smell of frying fish and chips,

Smell of heavy oil that drips,

Smell of stale ice left to trickle,

Smell of vinegar and pickle,

Smell of foreign bales and bags,

Smell of damp and steaming rags,

Smell of sweat and smell of dirt,

Smell of many an unwashed shirt,

Smell of humanity

In Bermondsey.