A Walk with the Lord Mayor in Bayswater

Guided tour of cosmopolitan and historic Bayswater. Named ‘Tyburnia’ by the property developers of the 1840s, dubbed ‘Asia Minor’ in the 1880s for the ex-colonials living there and ‘Little Athens’ for the 1950s influx from Greece, it’s been both grand and seedy over the years and still is. It is now where St Petersburgh Place sits between Moscow Road and Kiev Street.

Once a shopping area to rival Oxford Street, with the great Whiteley’s Department store at its centre, the walk sees that great building transformed, and passes one of the most convincing fakes in London. There’s a synagogue, a church and an Orthodox Cathedral all on one street.

This circular walk can stray into the north side of Kensington Gardens to see some public art and heritage horticulture.

The Westminster Guides are the official guides of the City of Westminster. Our Association, also known as CWGLA, was established in 2007 and prides itself on quality assured training and support for our guides. You can recognise us by our distinctive yellow/blue badge bearing the City of Westminster's coat of arms.

This year the Lord Mayor of Westminster will be supporting 2 charities, the proceeds of the 2025 - 26 walks programme will be donated to these charities.

Hotel School - is a London-based charity founded in 2017 by Jeremy Goring, CEO of The Goring Hotel, and Mick Clarke, CEO of The Passage, London's largest voluntary sector homeless resource centre, investing in people who have experienced homelessness and other disadvantages to equip them with hands on experience within the hospitality industry, since its inception the programme has achieved a 70% success rate of graduates securing employment within the hospitality sector.

The Avenues Youth Project - a best-in-class youth centre who believe every child from 8 - 18 should have the opportunity to realise their potential, whatever their life circumstances, having built a safe-space youth centre in 1979 is now seeing 1,000 young people benefitting from their programmes each years.