City Walks with Kids by Emily Laurence Baker

(We’ll divert from literature a bit to hear about American artists, James McNeill Whistler and John Singer Sargent – both neighbours of Oscar Wilde). Americans will be interested to know that Chelsea was popular with some of America’s best exports, such as Henry James and Mark Twain.

The eerie quiet of post-World War II Chelsea comes to life with the diary of Laurie Lee. We’ll walk the same streets where Thomas Carlyle strolled with John Stuart Mill. Further along this glamorous road, learn why Ian Fleming suffered ridicule over his manuscript for Casino Royale. textbooks, and Walking and Talking About Raising Kids and Surviving Hollywood. Stand in awe by the glorious mansions of Cheyne Walk to hear a poem that George Eliot (Mary Anne Evans) wrote from her sitting room. Come and see where Jane Austen enjoyed a musical soiree and was “quite surrounded by acquaintance, especially gentlemen.” Listen to the heart-breaking story of Oscar Wilde’s arrest and see where he penned some of his best-known works. Emily Laurence Baker is a freelance writer who specialises in travel. We’ll hear quotes from and about famous writers who have lived here – all the way from the 1500s to the present.

During a three-mile walk in Chelsea, we’ll track the neighbourhood’s many phases of development from its medieval origins on to stints as a wealthy suburb dangerous outpost manufacturing and design centre Bohemian artists’ colony swinging ‘60s headquarters and right up to today’s status as one of the wealthiest boroughs in all of England.

City Walks with Kids by Emily Laurence Baker