London is synonymous with the Big Ben, Tower of London, Tower Bridge, London Eye etcetera, right? But there’s a lot more than you have seen or heard. From a tour led by the city’s homeless to visiting the rebellious streets of Brick Lane saturated with graffiti, here’s to opening the door to eccentric London.
Tailing the Homeless
Walking tours are easy to join but they can never offer the intimacy that people like Henri, a homeless man, can extend. Having spent many roofless nights on the streets, Henri undertakes tours through Shoreditch that besides all the graffiti shocks you with a Mafia bank and a secret MI5 detention centre.
For bookings: Walk@sockmobevents.org.uk.
Colours of Rebellion
Once the shutters come down, Shoreditch transforms into an open-air street art gallery screaming nonconformity. A lot of the art is illegal so its presence is a testimony to their rebellion against free expression. You’ll find lots of Jimmy C and Banksy works in addition to some nameless ones. The roughness of the area is seen in its ghetto-like habitation and dim alleys.
Where: Shoreditch near Hoxton
Sweet Experiment
Welcome to Chin Chin Labs, an industrial themed parlour where flavours such as Valrhona Chocolate, Burnt Butter Caramel and Tonka stick out in everybody’s hands. It is a laboratory of ice cream treated with liquid nitrogen. Launched in 2010 the outlet had humble beginnings with the ice cream being made in a ramshackle shop in Camden. Why liquid nitrogen? It is easier to churn ice cream with it. Where: Camden, Soho and Dinerama Shoreditch
Obscure Underground
The wooden double-doored entrance takes you down a winding stairwell into London’s mysterious alley, the abandoned Aldwych tube station that came into existence in 1907. It served as a bomb shelter during the Blitz, a German bombing campaign against Britain in 1940 and 1941. As you reach the ground you see a map of London’s tube on the left and old lifts, rather big for its time, on the right. You make your way through the secrecy of the erstwhile ticket area crossing a men’s lavatory, displaying an old construction style rarely seen in London today. The ladies’ room have what you call modesty screens. It shut in 1994 owing to high maintenance costs. Where: Victoria Embankment
Dennis Severs’ House
You walk into an 18th-century house left the way it was back then. The food is uneaten, the beds are untidy, the wine decanter is topped over the white table cloth and the porcelain bowl has food sticking out of it. Your host is late artist Dennis Severs, the owner of the house. Correct, according to some, his spirit is still around and if you’re lucky (or unlucky), you’ll hear from him. Where: Folgate Street
Ghost Walk
This one is sure to send shivers down your spine as you walk through London’s haunted sites, including a plague pit, haunted houses, and palaces. Listening to the story of the screaming nuns and their thrashing doors by the Royal security guards will give you chills.
For bookings: www.freettoursbyfoot.com
More Quirks
Other places to visit include The Museum of Brands, Packaging and Advertising with its 12,000 artefacts dating back to the Victorian era and Attendant Fitzrovia, a coffee place resembling a vintage Victorian toilet.