Nearest Underground Station - The Embankment: Bakerloo, Circle, District and Northern lines. (Nearest national rail station: Charing Cross).
The
Embankment to The Strand: Leave The Embankment Station by the northern
(or left-hand from the trains) exit. Ahead you will see Villiers Street, on your
left the entrance to the Victoria Embankment Gardens. Make your way around the
Bandstand (on your left). Straight ahead you should see The York Watergate. Walk
around the lefthand side of the Watergate (on your left you will see a
commemoration of Bazalgette. Continue round and up the steps to Buckingham
Street (behind the Watergate).
[Wheelchair users will need to go up Villiers Street (on your right you will see a blue plaque on number 43 where Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) lived. Towards the top of the street turn right into John Adam Street. Buckingham Street is on your right.]
Go up Buckingham Street and cross John Adam Street to York Place (this was formely known as Of Lane). The building that Quentin Hogg's Of Lane ragged school used is no longer there - but we can still get some sense of what the alley was like.
Return to John Adam Street and turn left. Up the slope on your right you will see The Adephi.
On your left you will see the Royal Society of Arts.
The Victoria Embankment was built as part of Sir Joseph Bazalgette's work as Chief Engineer of the Metropolitan Board. Completed in 1870, a substantial amount of land was reclaimed from the river. First proposed by Wren after the Great Fire, it allowed the creation of a new thoroughfare and gardens, as well as creating better river defences and sewage arrangements. The scale of the development can be seen from the position of the York Watergate (1626) - the river steps to York House (built sometime before 1237 for the Bishops of Norwich and later the home of the Duke of Buckingham, and demolished in the 1670s). Francis Bacon, the philosopher, essayist and statesman was born at York House in 1561.
Buckingham Street lies ahead of you. On your left you will see plaques
commemorating Samuel Pepys (1633-1703), the diarist and Secretary of the
Admiralty. He was first at Number 12 (1679-1688) and then at Number 14. Further
up on the left Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-78)
lived with David Hume (1711-76) at Number 10 in 1766.
His book
Émile, published in 1765 was the most significant book on education after
Plato's Republic, and his other work had a profound impact on political theory
and practice, romanticism and the development of the novel. On your right Number
15 was the site of a house where Charles Dickens
(1812-70) had rooms on the top floor in 1833. Previous occupants of the house
include Peter the Great (1698) and Henry Fielding (1735). Samuel Taylor
Coleridge lived at Number 21 (1799).
The Charity Organization Society, the pioneering social work organization, was founded in 1869 and had its first offices at 15 Buckingham Street
Close by in Of Lane we can find the site of a classic ragged school open by Quentin Hogg (1845-1903) in 1864/5. Hogg was later to open the Youth's Christian Institute (1870) and to pioneer the Polytechnic movement (following the establishment of the Regent Street Polytechnic in 1882)
A hundred or so metres up John Adam Street we can find The Adelphi. The current building was erected in 1938. It replaced a beautiful riverside development of 24 houses built from 1772 on by John, Robert, James and William Adam (Adelphoi is Greek for brothers). Among its occupants were David Garrick (1717-79) at No. 6 Adelphi Terace (1772-79), George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) at No. 10 (1899-1927) and Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) (he worked at No. 8 for Arthur Bloomfield, the architect from 1862 to 1867).
Hannah More (1745-1833), a key figure in the development of Sunday schools was a frequent guest of the Garricks. (In Victoria Embankment Gardens below we can also find a statue of Robert Raikes (1735-1811). It bears the inscription 'Robert Raikes. Founder, Sunday Schools 1780. Erected by the Sunday School Union with contributions from grateful teachers and scholars. July 1880').
The headquarters of the Bible and Domestic Female Mission was based for many years at No. 2 Adelphi Terrace. Founded by Ellen Ranyard (1809-1879), it sought to spread the Christian message through Bible study (and other activities) and is significant as it employed the first group of paid social workers in England and pioneered the first district nursing programme in London.
Close by the Adelphi on John Adam Street we find The Royal Society of Arts (founded 1754). It has played a key role in the promotion of good design, and education more broadly. Examples of its work include the organization of great exhibitions and the establishment of the blue plaque scheme commemorating the residences of famous people.
Opposite the RSA, at what was 9 John Street, The London School of Economics was founded in 1895. (It was later to move round the corner to 10 Adephi Terrace before transferring across The Strand to Clare Market/ Houghton Street in 1902. The Strand to Covent Garden: At the Strand turn right - walking eastwards. Ahead of you in the distance is The Aldwych.
Cross the Strand to the northern side (there is a crossing just past the entrance to the Shell building - opposite Southampton Street).
Walk up Southampton Street.
Walk up Southampton Street.
Stop at the corner of Maiden Lane.
Walk on up to the top of the Street. Ahead you will see Covent Garden.
The Strand runs from Charing Cross (on our left) to the law courts (just beyond The Aldwych to our right). It was originally a bridle path running alongside the river (hence 'The Strand'). It used to be a line of large mansions and palaces (like York House and the Savoy Palace). Now it is a mix of theatres (The Adelphi is opposite), hotels, restaurants, offices and shops. In the eighteenth century there were a number of well known coffee shops at the eastern end opposite the law courts. As places of news, debate and discussion, they played an important educative role They included the Grecian Coffee House, 19 Devereux Court (which had many members of the Royal Society such as Isaac Newton [1642-1727] as patrons) and Toms.
The Street as we know it now owes much to the work of John Nash (1752-1835) who planned the improvements to the western end carried out in the 1830s. Among its residents have been William Goodwin (1756-1836) (191 The Strand), George Eliot (at No. 142 between 1851 and 1855) and William Blake (3 Fountain Court, 103-4 The Strand). Blake lived here from 1821 until his death in 1827. His rooms were described by a contemporary as 'a squalid place of but two chairs and a bed'. The building would have been close to where the entrance to the Savoy is now.
Opposite the Savoy, on the site now occupied by the Strand Palace Hotel, was Exeter Hall. This famous, nonsectarian hall (built 1929-31) hosted many important evangelical meetings and gatherings and later became part of the YMCA (being refitted in 1881). It was demolished in 1907.
Southampton Street was built between 1706 and 1710 as a residential street. It stayed that way until in the nineteenth century a number of the houses were taken over by newspapers or societies. For example, William Cobbett (1763-1835) published The Porcupine from No. 3. The Strand magazine founded in 1891 by George Newnes (1851-1910), and famous as publishers of the Sherlock Holmes stories and of P. G. Woodhouse, was based at Nos 7-12 (both on your right as you walk up the street). Another illustrious title publishing from here was Tit-Bits. (Look out for the wonderful clock designed by Lutyens for the offices).
Halfway up Southampton Street you will see Maiden Lane on your left. This was
an old track that went through the convent garden (hence Covent Garden) to St
Martin's Lane. Houses began to built along it from around 1631. Just down the
street on the left is Corpus Christi Catholic Church (1873-4). You can see two
'blue plaques' on the street. The first is dedicated to Joseph Turner
(1775-1851) the English landscape painter (21 Maiden Lane WC2). He was born here
above his father's barber shop. The second marks Voltaire's (1694-1778) stay
here from 1727 to 1728. He lodged at the White Wig Inn which stood on the site
of No.10. Voltaire, (as the plaque says, 'the French philosopher, playwright and
satirist') had to leave France because of his advocacy of religious toleration
and his his attacks on royalty. He had twice been imprisoned in the Bastille.
Later he was to have various disputes with Rousseau.
Andrew Marvell (1621-78) lived on the site of No. 9 in 1677.
Covent Garden to Trafalgar Square: Once at Covent Garden. Turn left. Henrietta Street is straight ahead. On your right is an open space where there are often performance artists and the church of St Paul, Covent Garden.
Walk down Henrietta Street. This also was a favourite site for publishers including Victor Gollancz (number 14) and Duckworth (number 3)
Go to 33 Henrietta Street WC2 (on your right next to the National Westminster Bank and currently the offices of Hempsons, Solicitors) for Robert Baden-Powell.
Continue down Henrietta Street. Look for the plaque commemorating Jane Austen above No. 10.
Turn left down Bedford Street.50 metres down the road you will come to a junction of Maiden Lane and Chandos Place.
Turn right down Chandos Place.
At the end of Chandos Place (at the junction with William IV Street cross over to Adelaide Street.
The turn quickly right down the pathway by the market in the yard of St Martin in the Fields.
At the top of Southampton Street you will see Covent Garden.
Covent Garden originates from ‘Convent Garden’. It was land owned by the Benedictine Abbot of Westminster that found its way into the hands of the 1st Earl of Bedford in 1550. The fourth earl began to develop Covent Garden in the 1630s. Arcaded terraces were built on the north and east sides of the piazza - and became very fashionable. The fruit and vegetable market was established in the central area in the 1670s. As the market grew, and other fashionable developments appeared westward, the area became rather rundown. The current central market buildings were designed by Charles Fowler and were completed at some expense in 1830.
St Paul - the church facing Covent Garden was designed by Indigo Jones and completed in 1633 as part of the development. It was rebuilt after a fire in the early 1800s (the columns and pillars are from the original building). John Wesley (1703-91) and many other famous preachers have given sermons here. It has a long association with the theatre and you can see a large number of commemorative plaques on its inside walls. Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) set the opening scenes of Pygmalion in the portico facing the market.
Off to the left is Henrietta Street. Number 33 was the home for the first office of the Boy Scouts - in Pearsons, the offices of Robert Baden-Powell's (1857-1941) publisher. The movement grew on the success of Scouting for Boys (first published in parts in 1908). See Baden-Powell, Scouting, Guiding and Covent Garden.
Jane Austen (1775-1817) lived for a time at 10 Henrietta Street. She stayed with her brother in a house on this site between 1814 and 1815. (In fact it was in her brother's flat above the bank he owned). She described the building as 'all dirt and confusion, but in a very interesting way'. Pride and Prejudice had been published in 1813, Mansfield Park appeared in 1814 and Emma in 1816.
At the turn of century Bedford Street was the home of many publishing houses were based here - including Heinemann (1889-1911) Macmillan and Co (1864-97) who published Maud Stanleys work as we will see later; and Edward Arnold (1891-1905). The street was originally built between 1633 and 1640.
From Trafalgar Square to Long Acre: Ahead of you is Trafalgar Square, to your right is the old St Martin's National School.
At Trafalgar Square turn right - walk northwards up St Martin’s Place, The National Portrait Gallery (established in 1856, this building opened in 1895) should be on your left. Also on your left is a memorial to Edith Cavell (1865-1915).
Continue up St Martin’s Lane (The Coliseum Theatre will be on your right).
The area to your right is Covent Garden (bounded by St Martin’s Lane, Drury Lane, Long Acre and a line running roughly parallel with The Strand.
Opposite the Duke Of Yorks Theatre you will find the Friend's Meeting House.
Continue walking up St Martin’s Lane. On your left you will pass Goodwin’s Court and New Row. The White Swan (1 New Row) is mentioned by Charles Dickens in several of his books and Nell Gwyne is said to have been a customer here.
When you come to the junction with Cranbourn Road and Long Acre, look to your left for the site of Slaughters.
To the east of the Square stands St. Martin in the Fields - a church long associated with the development of educational initiatives. In 1699 the newly formed Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge proposed the establishment of an early charity school here. In the 1850s the church sponsored the setting up of one the first art schools in London. St Martin in the Fields, SPCK and the London Connection. Next to the church is the old National School (pictured above). This now houses The London Connection (now known as the Connection after it merged with St Martin's Social Care) was a pioneering youth agency providing a range of services for roofless and homeless young people. It was the base for a large team of detached youth workers.
To the north of the Square is the National Gallery, founded in 1824 (built in 1832-8) - and it represents a key strand in informal education. Museums and galleries have long been a resource for learning. Some have actively sought to engage people as learners in the way that things are presented, and the programmes that are built around them. Others have not really come to grips with their educative role. The National Gallery and Trafalgar Square.
Walking north we find St. Martin's Place and Lane. Previous residents of the lane have included Thomas Chippendale at number 60 (the furniture maker) and Sir Joshua Reynolds. Louis Francois Roubiliac, the sculptor had his first studio here in St Peter’s Court (numbers 110-11 on the west side). It was taken over by William Hogarth who founded the St Martin’s Academy in them (1735). This was later to become the Royal Academy. Before the building of Trafalgar Square it was a narrow street running down to the Strand.
In the lane we can find Westminster Friends Meeting House (see The Quakers and the adult schools) and the site of an important coffee house - Slaughters. There were said to be over 2000 coffee houses in London by 1700 - and they were of great significance as forums for debate and diffusing knowledge. See Coffee houses and informal education.From St Martin's Lane to Lazenby Court and back: Turn right onto Long Acre and right again immediately down Garrick Street, left into Floral Street (opposite the Garrick Club).
Walk a little way up Floral Street,, and stop just past Rose Street (it is just a matter of walking a few metres). . On your right is Lazenby Court. This is close by one of the main 'rookeries' in which Maud Stanley worked.
Now walk through Lazenby Court and under the pub arch (the Lamb and Flag). Ahead of you is Garrick Street. Turn right onto Garrick Street and return to the junction with St Martin's Lane.
From St Martin's Lane we turn into Garrick Street and then left into Floral Street.
The dark stone building on Garrick Street opposite Floral Street is the Garrick Club (No. 15). The club was established in 1831 by actors. They were being refused membership of the Pall Mall clubs. In 1998 the club was paid £50 million by the Disney Corporation for the rights to Winnie the Pooh which A. A. Milne, a club member, had bequeathed.
The gothic style building on the corner of Garrick Street and Floral Street was a mission house and school (1860) but soon became a stained glass manufacturers (1864).
Just beyond this building is Rose Street. John Dryden, the poet laurette, was famously attacked here in 1679 by a gang paid by the Earl of Rochester. They (wrongly) believed that Dryden had written an essay satirizing Rochester and the King.
This area was one of the poorest slums in London. It appeared in various guises in the work of Charles Dickens. The area was also an important target for social reformers and workers. Maud Stanley (1833-1915) was an important example of these workers - setting up a refuge, developing Sunday Schools, night classes and a 'club'. Her work grew out of 'district visiting'. See Maud Stanley and work around the Five Dials.
A diversion up Long Acre (if you have time): Walk up Long Acre. On your right you will find a wonderful 1930s building designed for St Martin’s School of Art (Nos 27-29).
Further on up - two doors past the tube station you will find 48-49 Long Acre (currently occupied by Abbey National). This was the site of the Youths Christian Institute.
Turn back and walk west past the tube station - and down Long Acre.
A slight diversion. If you have the time and energy you can make a detour up Long Acre.
On Long Acre you will find what was St Martin’s School of Art (27-29 Long
Acre, also 16-17 Greek Street and 
Charing
Cross Road WC2). Thought to be one of the oldest art schools in London -
originating from one of the mid-eighteenth century art academies in the
district. It was sponsored by St Martin in the Fields in the 1850s but became
independent in 1859.
From St Martin's Lane to Chinatown: Cross St Martin’s Lane and go down Great Newport Street. Then cross Charing Cross Road, turn right, and then take an immediate left up Newport Court.
Great Newport Street was built in the early 1600s. In the eigtheenth century it began to be a centre for artists. Joshua Reynolds (1723-92) lived there from 1754 to 1760 (on the site of Nos 10-11 - now the Photographer's Gallery) having moved from 104 St Martin's Lane, George Romney (1734-1802) lived there in 1768-9 and Josiah Wedgewood (1730-95) had a showroom on the corner of Upper St Martin's Lane and Great Newport Street.
The Unicorn Youth Theatre can be found next to the Photographers Gallery. They put on children's theatre for around 8 months of the year, having taken the theatre over in 1967. It was previously the Arts Theatre (a club theatre formed in 1927 and known for putting on new, avante garde and often unlicenced plays.
You can also see a plaque to Ken Colyer
(1928-88) the English jazz musician at 11-12 Great Newport Street. He played
regularly in the basement here - Studio 51 (1950-73).
Follow Newport Court to Newport Place. Turn right, then turn left onto
Gerrard Street. (This is all a matter of a few metres).
Once in Gerrard Street look our for The Chinese Community Centre (on your left), 44 Gerrard Street, W1.
Carry on west along Gerrard Street.
On the other side of the street, marked by a green plaque - and currently occupied by the Loon Moon Supermarket - you will find:The Literary Club.
At the junction with Macclesfield Street turn right (north). At the top of Macclesfield Street (a matter of a few yards) you will find Shaftesbury Avenue.
Soho is rich in in examples of current, recent and older informal education and welfare initiatives. The area around Newport Place was the location of the old Newport Market. By the 1850s it had become a particularly pernicious slum. The old market house was turned into the Newport Market Refuge (Gladstone was one of the committee members). As well as being a refuge there were also training programmes for boys and girls.
Gerrard Street was built in 1677-85 and was initially distinguished by its aristocratic inhabitants. From the mid eighteenth century it was better known for its taverns and coffee houses. In the first half of the twentieth century it became well known for its night clubs, in the 1950s for its striptease clubs and from the mid 1960s on as a centre for Chinese cuisine and culture. On Gerrard Street we can find an example of current informal education work: The Chinese Community Centre and the growth of community associations.
Number 39 (ground floor currently occupied by the Phoenix Takeaway) was one of the first working men’s clubs - see below. The basement of this building was the original setting for Ronnie Scott’s jazz club (it opened on October 31, 1959 - and cost 2/6 to get in).
We can also find the site of The Literary Club, at what was the Turks Head Tavern, 9 Gerrard Street, W1. The Literary Club was founded by Joshua Reynolds and Samuel Johnson in 1764 and was probably the most famous of the literary and theatrical clubs in London. Members include Oliver Goldsmith and Edmund Burke. The Club met on Monday evenings at 7.00 - the only matter of conversation excluded being politics. Similar clubs and societies had appeared since the early 1700s - many of those outside London had rather more of an overt educational agenda.
Edmund Burke (1729-97) lived at No. 37 (from 1787-90). He wrote his famous critique of the French Revolution here: Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790). John Dryden (1631-1700) lived in a house at the site of No. 43 between 1687 and 1700 and James Boswell (1740-95) lodged with a tailor at No. 22 in 1775
Shaftesbury Avenue to Greek Street: Cross Shaftesbury Avenue to Dean Street. Number 57 Dean Street (on the corner) are some flats and rooms associated with St Anne’s Church (which lays behind these buildings on Wardour Street).
From Gerrard Street we take a few steps to Shaftesbury Avenue - home to a good number of London's theatres. Completed in 1886, the road was part of the redevelopment that flattened the infamous 'rookeries'. It was named after the social reformer who had so much to do with child protection, ameliorating the conditions of the poor in the area and the development of ragged schooling. See Lord Shaftesbury and ragged schooling.
Crossing Shaftesbury Avenue we find Dean Street and at number 57 the old home of St. Anne's - and the origins of some important youth work initiatives of the 1960s - Centrepoint, New Horizons and the Rink. St Anne’s has long been a centre for social action in Soho (certainly since the 1880s). The church was severely damaged in the Blitz but was rebuilt in 1991 and includes flats, a community centre and offices. These buildings and the church tower lie behind No. 57. See St Annes and youth work in Soho.Walk on up Dean Street. Go past Romilly Street and Compton Street. On your right you will see the Quo Vadis Restaurant (number 28) founded in 1926.
Turn back down Dean Street and right into Bateman Street. On your right you will pass the Chinese Workers Association and then you will find Frith Street.
Turn left (north) up Frith Street. Immediately on your right at number 8 you will find the former home of Lily Montagu's West Central Club.
Look to your left and you will see the former home of William Hazlitt (number 6).
Having looked at numbers 6 and 8 walk south (over Bateman Street). Further down Firth Street (on your left opposite Ronnie Scott's) you can see where Mozart lived (number 20), and where John Logie Baird gave the first demonstration of television (number 22).
Walk back up Frith Street. Turn right (east) onto Bateman Street. At the end of Bateman Street there is T junction with Greek Street. Further up Dean Street (above the Quo Vadis Restaurant) is where Karl Marx (1818-1883) lived with his family while researching Das Kapital (1851-56). Three of his children died there. At this time it was one of the poorest area in London. There was considerable over-crowding in the district - and a major outbreak of cholera in 1854. This helps to explain the number of hospitals (six) and philanthropic initiatives in the area that date from 1850 -1890.
Round the corner on Frith Street (where it meets Bateman Street) you can find the site of some early girl's work undertaken by Lily Montagu (1873-1963).
At the southern end of Frith Street is house where John Logie Baird (1888 - 1946),worked on the development of television. The building now has the Bar Italia on the ground floor.Greek Street to Soho Square: At No. 14 is the St James and Soho Working Men's Club.
Walk on up Greek Street. On your left you will find The Soho Club and Home, 59 Greek Street W1. Check our the plaque by the side of the door
You now walk back a couple of steps and turn up Manette Street (almost opposite the Soho Club and hostel). Under the archway, on the wall of ‘The Pillars of Hercules’ you will see a notice outlining the history of the pub and the street. On your left you will see the chapel of St Barnabas in Soho. on your right is Foyles Bookshop.
Running
parallel with Dean Street is Greek Street. Greek Street has always had a
colourful air. Indeed, a police inspector reported to Royal Commission in 1906
that it was 'the worst street in the West End'. Casanova stayed here in 1764,
Thomas De Quincey (writer of Confessions of an Opium Eater) lived here in the
early 1800s. Josiah Wedgewood had his London showrooms at numbers 12-13 from
1774-1797 (marked by a plaque). Next door (and opposite the end of Bateman
Street) you will see a wonderful facade from the St James and Soho Working Men's
Club - erected when it moved here from Gerrard Street. The Club was an
early and important example of the movement in London. See
Working Men's Clubs and Soho.
Close by is The Soho Club and Home founded by Maud Stanley (1833-1915) in 1880. Stanley went on to write the first substantial text concerning work with girls, Clubs for Working Girls (1890) and established the Girls Club Union in 1880. See Maud Stanley and the Soho Club and Home.
Look through the arch opposite and you will find Manette Street. On our left is the chapel associated with The House of St Barnabas (see below). On our right is Foyles Bookshop - one of many along Charing Cross Road - and a reminder of the expansion of book ownership at the turn of the century. Foyles and book buying.
Back on Greek Street we walk past Milroys at No 3 - the best shop for whiskey in London (and the only remaining example of a Georgian shop front in Soho)' At the top of the street on the right (east side), we find the main entrance to The House of St Barnabas - one of the first hostels. It is now housed in a Georgian House with some stunning interiors. The House of Charity (founded in 1846) acquired the building in 1861 to provide 'temporary relief'. F. D. Maurice (1805-72), who was later to help found The Working Men's College, was a key early figure in the work of the House.Soho Square to Great Russell Street: Turn back and walk up the rest of Greek Street. On entering Soho Square cross and walk through the gardens in the centre of the square.
Leave Soho Square and walk up Soho Street. On your left is Gorvinda's - an excellent value Hare Krishna cafe.
Cross over Oxford Street and go up Hanway Street (slightly to you right).
Continue up Hanway Street. As you come in sight of Tottenham Court Road you will see a turning on your left - Hanway Place. Walk a few metres up the turning and before you is the old Westminster Jew's Free School.
Return to Hanway Street, turn left and continure to Tottenham Court Road.
Cross Tottenham Court Road and take few steps up Great Russell Street. On your left you will find the doors of the Central YMCA. Just step in and admire the portrait of George Williams.
You can either continue up Great Russell Street for the next part of the walk - or return to Tottenham Court Road and turn left (south). The underground station is just a few metres away on the corner with Oxford Street
Soho Square was originally designed by Gregory King and laid out in the 1680s. Richard Frith - a speculative builder (who soon went bust) put up the first houses. It was designed to be a grand place to attract nobility. However, most had left for Mayfair and Picadilly by the 1770s. The gardens at its centre were set out around a statue of Charles II by Cairus Gabriel Cibber. The statue is still there - but much diminished. The large stone fountain which it topped were removed in the 1870s. The small half-timbered building at its centre was built in 1876 and is basically a garden shed. The Square was the haunt of publishers (A. C. Black at No. 2 - now occupied by Bloomsbury Books; George Routledge at No. 36) and is now the home of the British Board of Film Classification (No. 3). No. 8 became a school, and Crosse and Blackwell's the sauce makers occupied No. 21 (and later Nos. 20 and 18). They had a factory and warehouse to the rear. On the eastern side of the square Mrs Theresa Cornelys (who had a daughter by Casanova) ran a well-known club at Carlisle House in the 1760s and 1770s (the site is now occupied by St Patrick's Church - built in 1893).
Hanway Street is a shabby, but engaging street with a mix of specialist shops. Our interest here is that one of the shops housed William Goodwin's juvenile library/children's bookshop.
On Hanway place we find the former building of the Westminster Jews Free Schools.
Across Tottenham Court Road we find the concrete towers of what was built as the Central YMCA (on the site of an older YMCA built in 1911-12). One of the founders of the YMCA, George Williams (1821-1905) lived close by on Russell Square (the site of the house is now marked with a blue plaque). See George Williams and the Central YMCA.
To continue with the walk go to Great Russell Street
To return to the walk front page: walking informal education.If you want to download a map covering this part of the walk go to streetmap uk:
The Embankment to Tottenham Court Road
Note: This page is part of our virtual walk around the history of informal education (in central London).
Walking for real: If you would like to do the informal education walk for real then why not join us on our next scheduled walk. It's free! Follow the link for joining details.
© Mark K. Smith
First published August 7, 1997. Last update:
July 01, 2008
