This is a guided walking tour of the City of London. Tonight's tour guide is Jenny Stuart. She is welcoming, friendly and has an encyclopaedic knowledge of the City. The walk starts off at The Monument and winds itself down to the banks of the river next to London Bridge before twisting into the alleyways of the City, ending in this instance at Leadenhall market.

The tour is designed for a group of 15-20 people. There is something to be said for slowing down and really taking a look at London. It is quite eerie to imagine Roman chariots crossing one of the predecessors of London Bridge whilst watching hoards of commuters in a sea of black and grey rushing off to catch trains.

While knowing every little detail, date and name about the monuments, churches, clocks and alleys does not make the most exciting of evenings, there are some interesting titbits. The tragic or gory ones are of course the best. The first casualty of the Great Fire of London (1666) was the maid in the baker's house where the fire started. The rest of the family escaped through the roof, but her vertigo prevented her from doing so. It is interesting to know that The Monument is the tallest free-standing stone column in the world and was erected after the Fire both to commemorate it and to celebrate the rebuilding of the City. But it's more memorable that before railings were put on the top of it, at 202 feet high - the exact distance between The Monument and the site where the fire began - it was a very popular place to commit suicide.

All in all, the walk is a little slow-going and not recommended for YouTubers with ten-second attention spans. But for anyone with a keen interest in the history of the City, it's a rather pleasant way of brushing up on historic knowledge and having any burning questions answered.

Guide Credits: (alpha order): Bernd Mueller. Mike Murphy. Bruce Panday. Judy Stephenson. Sue Stirling. Jenny Stuart. Joe Studman. Alison Brooke Turner. Sophie Wheeler. David Woosnam.

Company Credits: Organiser - John Gibson.

END

(c) Chloe Preece 2009

reviewed Monday, 20 July 2009 / City of London, UK

Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2012

www.fringereport.com