Everything you wanted to know about London, walking, history, pubs and more. Thank you for submitting more than 200 questions for this massive Q&A. There was a huge range of topics from London history, gentrification, favourite walks, historic pubs, lost rivers, London books and so much more including walks outside London and why I make YouTube videos. Part 2 of this video will be uploaded soon.
Some Questions answered in this video:
have you considered going on a walk spanning
more than one day?
I also love reading fiction books that have London as their main setting,
I’d like to know which ones are your favourites and why.
I’m currently reading The Rivers of London Saga and I’m loving it.
Thanks for your wonderful videos.
Would love to hear your thoughts on Wood Green
and Green Lanes managing to avoid some of the gentrification
that neighbouring areas have faced in the last few years
terry :davies
If you had to make a life or death decision on which type
of last walk to take, would it be in the city or the country?
Have you ever had any ghostly experiences on your treks
as you visit many ancient places?
Any plans to complete The London Loop in 2023?
Favourite section of the loop and why?
Hi John. I’m a London cabbie and love your videos.
Have you a favourite place in London to walk?
Have you considered doing a lost river walk WITH Ben Aaronovitch
if he is interested.
Have you ever done a walk, got home and thought
well I wouldn’t do that again !.
You’ve explored some of the major “place making” new developments
in some of your videos – North Greenwich, Olympic Village,
Barking Riverside being some. Can you think of any that have come
before them that you would mark down as a success?
I am really curious to learn from whom you inherited
your clearly infinite curiosity and passion for history from?
What part of London has surprised you most,
or specifically where were you when you turned a corner
and were just awestruck.
Hi John love your videos. As you’ve done an Oxford video
would you consider doing a Cambridge one?
You once told me you’re considering walking the length of the New River.
It’s a huge task. Do you think you’ll ever do it?
What’s the lifespan of your walking boots
Which river would you be the deity of?
Do you enjoy every bit of the walk or are there parts you want to
hurry through? Or is it possible to find something to like anywhere?
I’m just enquiring if you were aware of the Friends of West Ham Park’s
campaign to stop the City of London Corporation developing the old
plant nursery site, next to the park, with a block of flats?
while making your videos over the last several years,
what ways do you feel this process has enriched your life?
John, what motivates you to keep making the videos you do
and how much planning/time does it take to make your videos?
Hello John What is your inspiration for the path you have followed ?
What are some of your favourite/most memorable pubs
that you have visited on your walks around the Herts, Essex
and North London area?
Do you think Psychogeography could have a part to play in Archaeology?
Maybe a different way of looking at past environments.
would love to see you
walk the river darent from maybe Dartford to Sevenoaks one day.
Hayes and Harlington has changed a lot since your last visit.
New Crossrail. So many new developments.
Thanks for your great videos. I love them and London.
I’m going to the Natural History Museum soon with a mate
and wanted to know if you could recommend a good pub as
I don’t know this area too well. Thanks for any advice
Is there such a thing as PUB ETIQUETTE?
Music:
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38 Comments
Where do you consider the north south divide to be, if it exists at all?
Thank you so much for this and for all your videos John. One of my great joys through my life has been urban walks. Unfortunately a disability means that it's no longer possible and I deeply miss London wanders in particular (walking from work in Bloomsbury to my then home in Wapping via Smithfield and the Barbican and the city a particular favourite) so your videos bring me such joy. So thank you!
People don't leave the Barbican because they can't find the exits.
This was great fun!
The only thing I don’t like about the change to the Brunswick Centre is that all small independent businesses have been banished in favour of chains (who can afford the increased rents), which for me detracts from the character of a place.
Lovely – thanks for the pub recommendations & etiquette!
Awesome effort, John! Deeply interesting and enjoyable! 👍
Listening in slow-mo: EVP 55:57 'Snak med The Völve' ('Speak with The Völve'). Thank you
Lullingstone Roman Villa – well worth a visit too. Good bit of mosaic!
Thanks John! Nice to have a look round Leytonstone again, I love those old residential streets. Lived in a similar house in Forest Gate once, right by Wanstead Flats, complete with roaming cows! Great mix of Q +A, I like how you tie in history, music, walking and creativity with your output, and it does feel like we, as an audience, are joining in. Your route round the Olympic Park totally befuddled me, I lived for many years off Temple Mills Lane up till 2006. I recognised nothing of the environment, despite spending a lot of time cycling Hackney Marshes and walking around the so-called "wasteland" near the Eastway. It was long time the ambition of Newham Council to create "Stratford City" next to the old town, but it took the 2012 Olympics to start the Gold Rush and provide the investment. I hope new residents are happy, I "chose" to be "decanted" away to the outer London area, although the Thames Gateway development (Barking Riverside /Beam Park) is coming ever closer. The ever changing nature of London, people need homes.. Great to watch your tours and see what is still here from history, the pockets of beautiful landscapes and the stories of our people. Thanks John!
Dot.
Thank you John for showing us your London, and beyond. Looking forward for your videos every week 😊.
I live in Sweden, and have been visiting London more times than I can remember, but I always long back (we try to visit at least a couple times per year).
Watching your videos made me make up my own city walks, researching a bit more than I used to beforehand. And thanks to you I also discovered some truly genuine London places, for example the Regency cafe, which we absolutely love!
Also looking forward to your new book, I really enjoyed the first one!
/Eva
Thank you John!
loved it John, had a music interlude half way through though…I am a Stand at the bar man, same as at the football, but I stand at the end of the bar so not to be in anyone's way….got to think of a question for your next Q and A…
My old squat in Upper Clapton sold for 1.3 million a few years ago.
John,a walk along at least part of The Ridgeway would be great but please NO TENTS. Comfort has priority. Book yourself into a nice b+b every night. One reason of your films being so compelling is that you have a kind of wizard spirit in you that communes with the "psychogeography" of places. A book I'd recommend is "The World My Wilderness" by Rose Macaulay. I found it in a charity shop. The author paints what is I feel sure an accurate picture of a bombed out and not yet restored London in 1946 with people actually living among the ruins. And despite having watched soaps etc all my life I didn't guess the twist at the end. Its really good.
Also an author called Gillian Tindall has written lots of books bringing areas to life from the old documents and several are about London. Lots of "gentrification" where I live. I'd like to revile it but it does make areas nicer,of course it pushes the not nice elements somewhere else and those are ones who often need help and support but in this world you don't get it.Thats just how it is
John, I have followed you for quite a while and you were a godsend in lockdown for me and the wife. All these questions you are being asked, I've not heard anybody or yourself mention about the state of your legs, ankles or knees after these walks. Do you need to recover after all of these exertions?
Great Q&A John.. When you did the Portobello Live stream I recommended the Earl of Lonsdale.. also a Sam Smith pub!
When Virgin Megastores went bust, the buying teams were based at Blyth Road, in the EUK offices in Hayes – We were told it was all over by Deloitte and that we were out of work as of now, clear your desk and go… we all trouped out with as many freebies, CDs DVDs Games Stereos etc. we could bag up (and there were some very big bags) and congregated at the Hayes Wetherspoons for a farewell libation or two ..
John, firstly thank you very much for answering my question, much appreciated! secondly… the strangest part – literally the night BEFORE you released this video I had been to our "spoons" with my wife (up ere int' north – my profile pic actually reveals which one) and after plenty of umming and ahing over the menu, for the first time ever i ended up ordering… a Tennesee burger. thirdly – keep up the good work, i have zero affiliation with London but I find your walks really interesting and theraputic, and now also bizarrely coincidental!
Thanks
At first I read the title of this video incorrectly and thought you’d started your own urban jungle walking posse club or something.
Interesting to see a Zetland Arms in Kensington. There is one on the seafront at Kingsdown near Deal in Kent .
I don't know why they should call the pubs Zetland but apparently Zetland was the original Danish name for the Shetland Isles ✌️.
Thanks John, valued your work is. Got a Brother in London & passed you onto him upon last visit.
Regards from an old Roman Town in the West of Scotland.
48:00 as a young person looking to hopefully have somewhere to live in London, this kind of sentiment annoys me a bit- why should the current local people get to block housing being built for future generations
All the redevelopment is a lot of square boxes with balconies
Pub etiquette: say thank you / goodbye to the staff as you leave!
Great video John as always
Thank you so much, John; I just want to tell you how much I appreciate your channel. Your content is a source of constant joy. ❤
Hi John ,have any knowledge of the SWISS CHALET which was in
the area near where you live?
I'm so grateful for all the walks and videos you create! They are just so awesome. Thank you for sharing your wealth of knowledge and love for London. What a joy to watch!
Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my question, despite it being maybe too vague. Walking with someone when feeling uneasy/not completely safe is a very good piece of advice. I had thought of that too, but it is just not the same. And that leads me to a new question, for another time, whenever that may be: do you prefer walking by yourself or with other people?
John’s videos are great. If you would like to see a similar channel, but from up t’north, check out Rambling Remedies. Lovely bloke commentating on his country walks and inner thoughts!
always weirds me out when I hear 'your' music on other channels
Great questions and answers! Got me thinking about my Top 5 pubs in London for an alternative if anyone wants more London pub tips:
– Prospect of Whitby (Pub on the Thames in Wapping that was a regular for pirates and smugglers just a few hundred years ago) you can access the "beach" under the pub where there's still a hanging noose where pirates were hung. There's also Captain Kidd down the road which shares a similar history or The Mayflower on the opposite side of the River.
– Hawley Arms (Pub in the heart of Camden with a rooftop terrace where many rockstars and musicians have been through)
– Ship and Shovell Pub in Charing Cross 2 small pubs either side of an alleyway just before the arches of the station
– Gordon's Wine Bar just down the Embankment maybe not fitting the pub criteria but for a quaint place full of history and good wine it is worth at least 1 visit
– City Barge or The Bull's Head both on Strand on the Green great riverside pubs where you forget you are still in London
Absolutely wonderful.When i get the chance to pop out for a walk i say i'm going for a John Rogers ! 😃
Regarding London literature, the first thing that springs to mind is Sherlock Holmes. Actually, its the second: the first is Virginia Woolf but since I'm always banging on about her (and how wonderful her 'The London Scene' essays are! They are!) I thought I'd mention Holmes first. Never got into Will Self until he wrote the Umbrella Trilogy, which I think is fantastic. Perhaps I can relate to it because my job used to take me to some of the large mental hospitals around London, but I think it's a cut above everything else he's done. Mentioning Bloomsbury as I just did, reminds me I was going to comment about them on one of your videos a while back. You described them – dare I say it, being a great fan of your films! – a bit dismissively ('fops' I think). The key members of the group were workaholic giants: Leonard Woolf, a major figure in the setting up of the League of Nations, Maynard Keynes the economist, Virginia Woolf herself, etc. Another point: the Ridgeway, which I walked years ago, really has your name on it. I do hope you get round to it – as much for your benefit as ours. If I were you, what I'd find daunting about filming it would be the nagging feeling at the back of my mind that I might be filming the best film I'd ever done!
Lovely, heart-warming, soul-bearing Q&A John.
Pubs: Back in day; The Green Man, Luthers, Kirkdales, The Charleston and the Crown.
I really enjoyed this Q&A session 🙂you should do a walk in Edinburgh that would be a great watch or even Glasgow it has great old stories and architecture too and plenty of pubs for a nice pint. Anyway keep up the good work John 🤙