Tired of London, Tired of Life - A website about things to do in London

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31 March 2009

Take a Jack the Ripper Walk

There are hundreds of guided walks around London, but the market leaders (and even then there are countless different options) are definitely the Jack the Ripper walks which stalk the East End telling the tale of some of London's most gruesome murders.


Of course, much of the East End has since been altered by bombings and developments, but there's still a real sense, helped by good story tellers, that you're walking the streets which Jack himself walked.

Anyone who thinks this is just for the tourists really should think again. Obviously there's a story to be told but this is almost just a means to an end. It's great for your London history to be based around a theme and thankfully mass murder is a good hook on which to hang a story, but the tours are also about how much of the East has changed from being London's hotspot of criminality to the trendy edge-of-the-City neighbourhoods which exist today. And the story of Jack the Ripper is a gripping one, which at the time kept London intrigued for many months, and has done for over a hundred years since.

Whilst the story itself is gruesome, it really does help to realise what life was like for the criminals and prostitutes of 19th century London in a way which would probably be less compelling in ordinary story-telling. So why not give it a try.

Your author went with London Walks which leaves every night at 7.30pm from Tower Hill tube, and costs of £7. No need to book and for more information visit http://www.walks.com. Other walks are available. Your walk may be at risk if you do not keep up repayments on your walk.

Click here to see the start point on a map.

^Picture from flickr courtesy of Wolfiewolf^

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