Thursday 29 October – A Virtual Tour of the Secret Gardens in the City of London and Highlights of the Beautiful Royal Parks

This virtual tour will explore some of the unique gardens in the City, including historic graveyards with peaceful lawns, church gardens and beautiful gardens unintentionally created by the Blitz of World War 2. We will discover tiny historic medicinal gardens and modern wildflower and water gardens hidden within modern housing estates. We will enjoy the incongruity and contrast of gardens next to Roman ruins, Christopher Wren’s classical architecture and buildings by award winning modern architects. Lastly, we will visit a stunning roof garden floating above London on top of one of its iconic skyscrapers, with views of London framed by pergolas and Tudor knot gardens!

From the City of London we will travel west to leafy Kensington to explore one of the most beautiful royal parks, Kensington Gardens. We will learn how Queen Caroline shaped the landscape of the park we see today, creating the Serpentine and Long Water and laying out the avenues and trees to frame Kensington Palace. We will enjoy the smaller gardens around Kensington Palace, especially the hidden sunken garden, and learn about people who have been inspired by the park, such as JM Barrie the author of Peter Pan. The virtual tours ends at the highly decorated Albert Memorial, the most dramatic 19th century addition to the park, a symbol of Queen Victoria’s enduring love for her husband and a memorial to the 1851 Great Exhibition.

About Your Guide

Caroline Piper is a London Blue Badge Tourist Guide, the highest guiding qualification available, and a Cambridge University history graduate. She is passionate about history, literature, architecture, films and finding the “off the beaten track” London gems. You can find out more about her on her Piper Tours website http://pipertours.com where you can see videos of her in action and also find links to her Tripadvisor page, facebook page and memberships of professional guiding bodies.

Note: Tickets are per person. Please do not invite or share details with non-ticket holders.

TECHNOLOGY REQUIREMENTS: You must have:

Zoom – this is free to sign up if you don’t have it alreadyFor the best experience participants should use a laptop, but you can also take part using a smart phone or tablet.

Start: at 19:30 for hellos. Tour to start promptly at 19:40

Duration: approx. 1 hour

Tour drinks: please have a glass of your favourite tipple with you

*Only members of the Cambridge Society of London (and their guests) may book tickets - if you are not currently a member and would like to become one, please visit www.camsoclon.org

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Cambridge Society of London Transfer and Refund Policy 

i) At least 14 calendar days before the event: We will provide full refunds (minus the mandatory Eventbrite fee). Alternatively, if you have found a suitable replacement, we can change the name on the ticket on the understanding that you will reclaim the ticket price from them separately.

ii) Between 4 and 14 calendar days before the event: Our arrangements with our hosts are always finalised 4 calendar days before each event. With more than 4 calendar days’ notice we can still change the name to someone named by you on the understanding that you will reclaim the ticket price from them separately. Alternatively, we MIGHT be able to sell it to someone else; there is no guarantee of that but we will do our best and then refund you if successful. 

iii) Less than 4 calendar days: We regret that we cannot offer refunds if given less than 4 calendar days’ notice.