London's Hidden Walks: Volumes 1-3

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Serving decadent drinks with live jazz in a fin-de-siecle interior, Oriole is everything you want from a secret bar in London– hush hush, fancy and not afraid to shake up some adventurous tipples. We’re not throwing shade. Believe us, we are not (well, we kind of are but in the friendliest, loveliest way). Okay, okay. It’s one of The City’s many mediaeval churches, named after Saint Dunstan (don’t know your saints? He’s the one who defeated the devil by holding him in the face with a pair of tongs…as you do). You may have been to Hatton Gardens – London’s diamond district – but have you ever heard of The Silver Vaults?

Horniman Museum–set in South London’s Forest Hill, The Horniman has spectacular gardens. 16 acres of them in fact. The bandstand is the best spot to admire the awesome views of the museum’s grounds and across London. The tunnel was started as part of a street art festival masterminded by Banksy in the noughties and it’s been going strong ever since. We’re NOT sorry about it. Not one jot. If we have to keep carping on about St Dunstan in the East until our last breaths before you guys listen to us and go, well, that’s a burden we are willing to carry. So we decided, like any good, inquisitorial journalist / nosey person to read up a bit more and lo. Only goes and turns out that it’s one of the coolest viewing points in London.Still, there’s no denying that some of London’s mews are rather attractive – but as they pop up on the ‘gram with increasing frequency, some of them are starting to feel like a rather boring slow-mo circus of awkwardly posed models. There’s also an interesting exhibition on the history of London from its Roman times as Londinium onwards to mooch about in so allow plenty of time to go and discover. Streatham Rookery If you want to go on this London walk, you can see the full route, map, and photos on my London literary walk blog post.

The next of my secret London walks is in Richmond. This area in southwest London is worth a visit for its riverfront atmosphere, expansive green spaces, and famous filming locations. It’s one of my favorite parts of London to explore. Long read: Distillation of a brilliant guide’s many years’ experience probing the hidden places and forgotten nooks of the world’s most elusive city. Exploring secret London – up creeping lanes, round out-of-the-way corners, past veiled islands of green – Shaughan’s at his inimitable best. As the New York Times put it, the walk is “a highly entertaining… blend of historical commentary and bizarre anecdote laced with mildly scurrilous gossip about past and present celebrities and defunct royals.”In such places and with such a guide, the past becomes our present. If you want to take this self-guided London walk, head over to my Greenwich walk post for the route, photos, video, and map. It’s all a bit strange. The temple was dedicated to the god Mithras, only worshipped by a devout (some say a bit cray cray) cult of male followers who’d sacrifice live bulls in his honour.It’s ensconced underneath Smithfield Meat Market behind a rather unprepossessing door. Don’t worry, if you think you’ve found the right place, you probably have. Cross Bones Burial Ground Mayfair might feel like an unlikely place to discover London’s secrets. After all, anyone who has ever heard of The Ritz and Green Park knows that Mayfair’s all about the old-school spenny glamour.