Westminster Abbey Tour: Britain Through The Ages

Born in London, Ruth has also lived in Israel for many years. She trained at the Rubin Academy of Music and Dance in Jerusalem, where she studied Voice and Piano and received a degree in performance in both instruments. She is a qualified Music teacher and for many years taught Music to children and adults of all ages. Returning to London in 2000, Ruth undertook a number of intensive courses learning about the History of this great City which she loves. She recently earned an MA in Art History and just enrolled in a PhD program. Ruth has a particular interest in Jewish London and a keen interest in the Artistic and Musical history of London.

Clare has lived and worked in London for over 25 years. After graduating with a Degree in Geography and a Masters Degree in Environmental Planning from Nottingham University, she worked as a town planner and urban designer in one of the most dynamic, diverse and probably most challenging cities on earth - London! Employed in both the public and the private sector, she specialised in regeneration policy guidance and the conservation and renewal of protected buildings and historic areas in several of London’s Boroughs. Before starting a family in the 1990’s, she travelled extensively throughout Africa and Madagascar, working as a volunteer on several self-help community projects. She has spent two years training to guide around London and now has the pleasure of telling London’s fascinating planning and architectural story to visitors, bringing her own personal insight into many of the city’s landmarks!

Viv has a degree in English Language and Medieval Literature from Durham University. She spends part of each year in France, but for the past 25 years London has been home. Following two years of intense training she qualified as a Blue Badge Guide, coming top in her year. She particularly enjoys giving individuals and families in-depth tours of London focusing as much on the hidden and unfamiliar as the well-known - she concentrates as much on the here-and-now as the past. The City's fringes - Bankside and Spitalfields - hold as much appeal as Westminster and St James's. She enjoys sharing her enthusiasm for London's C18 and C19 history and her detailed knowledge of the city's royal connections. She has a particular interest in the great aristocratic landholdings of London, and has created walks around the 'villages' of London such as Chelsea, Bloomsbury and Spitalfields. Viv also works as a volunteer marshal, or 'Green Gown' at Westminster Abbey.