- Duration
- 2.5 hours
- Location
- London
- Perfect companion tour to the Churchill War Rooms
- Includes a visit to American Memorial Chapel
- St. Paul's Cathedral, Guildhall, and Museum of London
London WW2 Blitz Tour
We'll discuss how empty tunnels and underground stations along the Central Line were used extensively as air-raid shelters. Our conversation will include the fundamental role of the Ministry of Information, boosting the morale of people near and far, but also contributing to the effort to involve the US in the conflict. We'll discuss propaganda and daily life, destruction and rebuilt, as well as the iconic role that St. Paul's Cathedral came to represent. We may stop for a coffee break at St Mary-le-Bow, destroyed and then restored after the war before heading to the Blitz memorial north of St Pauls Cathedral, focusing more on specific vignettes that occurred on the streets around us.
Our tour will finish at St. Paul's Cathedral, with a visit to the American Memorial Chapel, a space rebuilt after being destroyed in the Blitz and dedicated in its entirety to the American dead of WW2.
FAQ
Where do we meet? Where does it end?
Philippa is an Oxford educated historian with specialist training in Art History. A qualified teacher with over 15 years experience as a resident guide and teacher at Dulwich Picture Gallery. For the last two years she has been on an intensive course learning about this great city. A Londoner all her adult life, she enjoys all aspects of the city, from the architecture to the food markets, from the parks and riverside walks to the galleries and city churches. Her particular interests are the quirkier, less well-known places which only a long standing Londoner gets to know.
Sarah-Jane Kitching was born and brought up in London. She studied at Cambridge University and qualified as a doctor, working in the NHS initially in Gynaecology and latterly as a General Practitioner. Having gained a First in the History and Philosophy of Medicine as part of her medical training, she has now changed career to pursue her long-standing love of history and of London in particular. After two years of intensive study, Sarah-Jane qualified as a London Blue Badge Guide and was awarded Guide of the Year in 2012. She is passionate about the city she lives in with her family and loves to share its fascinating past and present with others.
Since leaving university in 1982 Sean has lived and worked across the globe in a near 30 year career as a senior executive in financial services. He put his skills and knowledge to work in the Charity Sector in the UK for 7 years but decided life was too short to not focus entirely on his passions for people , history, art and architecture. When not guiding Sean is restoring a Georgian House and serving as a Parish Councillor. He is a freeman of the City of London and a freeman of the City Livery company of Clockmakers. He lives in London and Wiltshire.
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