Every Sunday we’ll pluck just one walk from the vast London Walks repertoire and put it centre stage.
But if you only
take one walking tour this week, why not make it…
WILLIAM MORRIS & FRIENDS
Saturday 31st January 2015
at 2:30pm
Meeting Point: Stamford Brook
Tube
Arts and Crafts in Hammersmith. Yes, that's the
sub-title for this Tour du Jour. And what I'm telling you is, whatever you do
don't be fooled by it. This walk is a walk that banishes bland. It's a
well-I-never from first to last. The man, his circle, the neighbourhood, the
history – they're all so worth getting to know. Our man was the
anti-parliamentarian who wanted to turn the Houses of Parliament into a
dung-house. Designer. Artistic entrepreneur. Radical. Traditionalist. Founding
father of British Socialism. Poet. Story teller. Best seller. Dreaming boy.
Bearded patriarch. Translator of Icelandic epics. Husband of a Pre-Raphaelite
icon (whose affair with Dante Gabriel Rossetti was a Victorian show-stopper).
This is his London. A couple of particulars. 1.) We're usually able to visit
WM's riverside house. 2) He spent the last 18 years of his life here – this was
his neighbourhood. It was an arts and crafts hot-house: bookbinding,
calligraphy, silversmithing, printing... there was creation here, there were
beautiful things here. 3) Still are, not least because we'll be walking along
one of the loveliest stretches of the Thames. Guided by Ann. N.B. the walk
takes about two hours and ends near HammersmithTube.
To go on the William Morris & Friends walk meet
Ann just outside the exit of Stamford Brook Tube.
A London Walk costs £9 – £7 concession. To join a London Walk, simply meet your guide at the designated tube station at the appointed time. Details of all London Walks can be found at www.walks.com.
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