Wendy Hammerston

Last updated 24/04/2012

Email:
Mobile: 07729-244-024

Year qualified: 2006

Native language: English

Biography: I have been lucky enough to live in the heart of London (about a five minutes walk from the British Museum) for over 20 years and I love it and would love to share it with you.

Region for which accredited: London
London sites for which accredited: 2012 Venues, British Library, British Museum, City of London, Docklands, East London, Greenwich, Hampton Court Palace, National Gallery, St. Paul's Cathedral, Tate Britain, Tate Modern, Tower of London, Victoria & Albert Musm., Westminster Abbey
Sites outside London for which accredited: Bath, Oxford, Salisbury Cathedral, Stonehenge, Stratford-upon-Avon, Winchester Cathedral, Windsor Castle

Walking tours: As well as the London and day trip sites listed above, I invite you to join me on any (or all!) of the following walks in different parts of London, which will give you a flavour of London past and present in some of the tucked away corners:

Poverty, Philanthropy and Immigration - the fascinating story of the colourful Spitalfields area of east London and those who have peopled it since the 1600s, which include the Huguenots from France, the Jewish community, which spring up as a result of the eastern European pogroms, and now a lively Bangladeshi area and, according to many and where you can get the best Indian cuisine in London.

Guts and Gore - hear about the horrors of old Newgate prison, where Dickens's Fagin spent his last days, when public hangings were a good day out for all the family. Up the road is Smithfield, the old meat market, again redolent of Dickens, and crammed full of history from the Middle Ages, including where William Wallace (the Braveheart of Hollywood) met his end, and a jester in the court of King Henry 1 started the oldest hospital in London, which gave employment to London's graveyard body snatchers!

The third walk is Monarchy and Gentlemen around the exclusive St James's Palace area. The Palace was begun by Henry Vlll and it is still to this Palace to which foreign ambassadors are accredited. The Queen made her first speech from here. See the exclusive gentlemen's clubs and shops, which developed for the nobility around the palace, some of which date back to the 1600s and which the male members of the Royal Family still patronize. The walk will include a stop at Buckingham Palace (and the Changing of the Guard if the ceremony is taking place), Clarence House, where Prince Charles, the Duchess of Cornwall and William and Harry live when in London, and a walk through the most beautiful park in London - St James's.