Last weekend I led a new walk for Walk London* entitled The Real West End which was in the vicinity of the Jubilee Walkway and included parts of Covent Garden and Soho.  Taking up to 50 people on a walk where previously I had only led half that number (and in a less busy part of town) initially filled me with trepidation.

However I purchased an amplifier (a bargain at £5) and planned the walk so we only stopped at places where there was enough room for us and  passers by without anyone having to step in the road.  It meant a bit of forward guiding eg talking about the House of St Barnabas before we arrived there – but there were also places where we were able to stand with a big group opposite the building in question and everyone could hear me too.

Over the course of the weekend I led the walk 3 times and from the applause at the end together with some tips plus two 5 star reviews on Trip Advisor it was a great success. 

There were a couple of challenges to overcome on the walk – Seven Dials was busier than normal with a shopping day and people picnicking in the middle of what is normally the road, meeting another tour group halfway along Goodwins Court (a very narrow passageway that links St Martin’s Lane with Bedfordbury – see picture below), and a disinterested elderly man on the 3rd (and hottest) walk of the weekend who in retrospect I now wonder if he had signed up for the walk by mistake and was really one of the film extras that we encountered at the beginning of the walk – the co-ordinators there were similarly dressed to us.

After the success of last weekend’s walks my Foodie History Tour of Soho this coming Saturday for up to 15 people (especially finishing at Imli Street with some Indian-inspired cocktail samples) should be a doddle!