Hear about past residents such as a theatrical producer, a playwright, a trade union organiser, a scout leader and a famous philanthropist. Finish at a pub which has been a theatre and a Welsh chapel.

On this tour we will discover how each group has contributed to the area – French street names , Huguenot weavers’ houses and chapels left by the French Huguenots: old synagogues, a soup kitchen and an exotic indoor market building built by Jews from Russia, Poland and the Netherlands; Mosques, textile businesses and restaurants run by the current Bangladeshi Community.

The stories, history and personalities associated with these buildings will be discovered on this walk in Spitalfields and Whitechapel.

We start at the Millwall dock, visited recently by 007 James Bond! Down by the river we’ll join the Thames path and your guide will point out some interesting sites across the river in historic Deptford. You will see the slipway from where Brunel’s “Great Eastern” steamship was launched and you’ll hear about the Isle of Dogs as a centre for shipbuilding.

As Greenwich comes into view we’ll pause to admire a vista painted by the great artist Canaletto during his London sojourn. To finish (depending on availability) we will either visit a city farm, the Island History Trust with its wonderful collection of Docklands photographs, or cross the river to see the interior of Greenwich’s Old Naval College.

Hidden behind Queen Mary College we’ll view an old Sephardi cemetery and it may be possible to visit an even older burial ground which is rarely open to view. After this we will head for tranquil Stepney Green which always comes as a revelation to visitors with its attractive terraced houses and green spaces.

Memories of the Jewish community remain with the old Stepney Jewish School, a tenement which housed a well known radical leader and a Victorian synagogue building.

This is the area to which sailors arriving at the Docks were lured in search of wine, women and song. In the shade of a magnificent Hawksmoor church we find London’s oldest surviving Victorian music hall which is still used for performances today, the Georgian Tobacco Dock with its old ships and tranquil canalside walkway, 19th century wool warehouses and a fascinating mural telling of a famous “battle” in recent East End history.

Starting on the edge of the City of London we move eastwards to the historic area of Spitalfields and Whitechapel.

Once the centres of London’s Jewish community buildings still evoke memories of the past –  a famous street market, an old soup kitchen,  synagogues, homes of famous Jewish personalities and some of the  best preserved Georgian domestic architecture in London.

Hear about the artists, writers, academics, tailors and market traders who made this area their home.

Discover its sinister past from Execution Dock to the opium dens of Limehouse. Enjoy spectacular riverside views, walk down cobbled streets lined with 19th century warehouses converted into exclusive apartments and hear about the time when these streets were bustling with activity during the heydays of the Docks

On this tour we follow the footsteps of Suffragette leader Sylvia Pankhurst, trade union organiser Annie Besant and radical politician George Lansbury through the streets of Bow.

Hear about the hunger strikes, meetings, protests and hard won victories of these courageous souls who were prepared to go to prison for their beliefs.

While hearing these fascinating human stories view a Victorian match factory, an ancient church, two old workhouses and the East End’s most elegant square where we will witness the area’s current regeneration.

A dramatic contrast comes as we view the old sugar warehouses in West India Dock. Recently refurbished, the grim working conditions have been replaced by restaurants, shops and the Museum of Docklands.

Leaving via the old “dock gateway” we see another dramatic contrast with old East India Dock Road and its remnants of the area’s sea faring past with sailors’ hostels, an old Ships Chandler and a reminder that Limehouse was once London’s famous Chinatown.

After viewing Hawksmoor’s dramatic St Anne’s church we go waterside once again in Narrow Street where Dickens set scenes from “Our Mutual Friend” and “The Mystery of Edwin Drood”. Finish with refreshment at one of Narrow Street’s riverside pubs.

After time to browse we explore the delightful early 19th century terraces behind the market and hear the story of how this area was developed by a group of North London philanthropists. Crossing Bethnal Green road we move on to the Cheshire Street and Brick Lane Markets where traditional market stalls selling a variety of goods are surrounded by the newer design led shops which have opened in recent years.

We explore the warren of streets surrounding the old Truman and Hanbury Brewery before finishing at London’s liveliest Sunday market – the Old Spitalfields Fruit and Vegetable Market which is now home to crafts, young fashion designers, furniture, cds, books and food.

This is an ideal place to shop and take Sunday lunch in one of the area’s many pubs or cafes (and this is the one East End market which is open all day!).

In the park we’ll follow the course of the historic Regent’s Canal, taking a break for sustenance at Bow Wharf with its regenerated Victorian industrial buildings. We then enter Victoria Park, opened in the 1840s as the first “People’s Park”.

Taking a relaxed stroll we discover a fountain donated by one of England’s wealthiest women, a lake, a lock, the home of the “Jewish Dickens” and the ghost of a Bishop. On leaving the park we make our way towards Bethnal Green past a historic school and hospital, finishing at the delightful Museum of Childhood.

If you do not see the subject or area you require we will be delighted to devise a tour in Your East End. Just contact us to discuss your plans and suggested date.

These are examples of what we can do to suit clients special requirements:

• We can collect your group at your work place or hotel and lead a tour finishing at a restaurant or café of your choice.
  
  
•  Tell us where your family lived in the East End and we will arrange a tour which focuses on this area.
  
  
•  If you have a minibus or coach at your disposal our guides can meet your coach and give a commentary about the places passed, stopping in areas of your choice for short walks.

Tours can be led during the morning afternoon or early evening on all days of the week throughout the year with the exception of the Sunday Morning Markets Tour which is day and time specific.

 For further details and  prices please contact us at info@goeastlondon.co.uk or telephone 020 8883 4169.