walk/tour
The Bloomsbury Hotel, 16-22 Great Russell Street, WC1B 3NN
what3words: pints.panic.loaded
Discover the many ordinary and working class people who lived and worked in Bloomsbury. Join me on a tour of Bloomsbury's mews and back streets to learn about slum quarters and social housing, street traders and factories, listening to marginalised voices from the time along the way.
Tottenham Court Road
24, 29, 73
We will meet outside The Bloomsbury Hotel. The walk will finish in Marchmont Street.
The tour will be just over a mile.
Beyond the many well-known Bloomsbury squares and institutions the area has always had a large residential population. On this tour you will discover the many working-class people who lived and worked in the area, as street traders, servants, shop assistants and factory workers. You will walk past some of the oldest social housing, learn about slum quarters, and staff hostels for upmarket drapers' shops. Throughout the walk we will listen to lesser known and marginalised voices describing their own experiences of the area, from the 19th century to the post-war decades.
Meet in Great Russell Street, at the top of the alley to the West of The Bloomsbury Hotel, leading to Bainbridge Street. The second stop will be in Bainbridge Street.
The Golden Key Academy is a course training up insightful and engaging guides dedicated to explaining London and bringing its many stories to life. This tour is part of a wider collection of tours created by Golden Key Academy guides for the Open House Festival celebrating their conclusion of the eight month course.
Further information on the Golden Key Academy can be found here https://open-city.org.uk/golden-key-academy
If you would like to attend this tour, please ensure you have booked a ticket before turning up.
Drop in / Guided tour
community/cultural, library, museum, art in the public realm, concert/performance space, education
Grade II-listed Georgian domestic building c.1760, formerly part of the Bedford Estate. Interior refurbished 1925 to form lecture hall (restored 2014), library, bookshop and offices. Oak woodwork and green Doulton tiles line the staircase.
Unknown, 1760
Guided tour
The area post 1700 became very cosmopolitan with immigrants mainly from Europe, and their influence on food and drink became increasingly important. This tour is based on food and drink, passing by restaurants, pubs, coffee bars, pâtisserie and delis that have been present for decades, finishing at a relatively new site.
