Overview
Our rich English and British history, including our imperial history, is well recorded in books and paintings, but there are also more visible reminders of the people who made that history, or who were part of it. London abounds with statues and memorials – over 400 in the City of Westminster alone – which remind us of days of glory, of sadness, of the creative spirit, of destruction and of the merely eccentric.
On this gentle walking tour we discuss the history represented by some of these memorials, from the Celtic queen Boudicca, freedom fighter or terrorist depending on your perspective, to ‘Chinese’ Gordon the self-proclaimed identifier of the Garden of Eden, undoubtedly mad, killed in Khartoum and an icon of Victorian muscular Christianity, to the man who designed the London sewerage system that allowed an exponential reduction in the death rate from unpleasant diseases.
Soldiers, statesmen, authors, inventors, composers, we shall visit them and their history (and even, perhaps, in some cases revise it!) while mindful of the context in which particular values and accomplishments were thought worthy of the honour of a sculpted public statue.
The day takes place amid the densest concentration of memorial statues in the country, in and around Whitehall and Victoria Embankment Gardens and adjacent precincts. The lecturer, a former army officer, is a historian, author and broadcaster. He has led several tours for Martin Randall Travel.
Start and finish
10.00am and 5.00pm, Westminster Underground Station.
Price
£180, including lunch and morning refreshments.
More information about Culture Days gift vouchers.
Group size
Maximum 12 participants.
Fitness
Walking: the distance covered is not great but you are on your feet for much of the day.
Are you fit enough to join the tour?
Cancellation
We will return the full amount if you notify us 22 or more days before the event. We will retain 50% if cancellation is made within three weeks and 100% if within three days. Please put your cancellation in writing to info@martinrandall.co.uk. We advise taking out insurance in case of cancellation and recommend that overseas clients are also covered for possible medical and repatriation costs.
