Book Description

'What is this life if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare.' - W.H. Davies Walking around London is one of life's great pleasures. There is a huge amount that you can only see on foot – but sometimes it is hard to know where to look. Luckily, Christopher Winn, bestselling author of I Never Knew That About London, knows where all the hidden treasures are. This book takes the reader on a series of stimulating original walks through different areas of central London, focusing on one particular period of history, the Victorian, so ubiquitous that we take it for granted, and yet so astonishing and so far reaching in its variety, imagination, ambition and detail. Discover... ..the remarkable 300-foot bell tower at the Houses of Parliament you never knew was there.... ..the extraordinary fairytale house in Kensington where the Mikado was inspired... ..the best Victorian loos in the world near Old Street... ..a hidden chapel in Bloomsbury described by Oscar Wilde as 'the most delightful private chapel in London'... ..London's best preserved high class Victorian shop near Tottenham Court Road... ...an almost complete Victorian townscape boasting the world's oldest surviving mansion block... Walk through history and discover the hidden gems of Victorian London!