I'm a student living in central London and discovered your books just over a year ago when my dad found Walking London in a bookshop in Lincoln. Since then my boyfriend and I have completed most of the walks, often finding that the best way of doing them is in the evening after all the tourists have gone home! Since then we've gone on to buy Walking Village London and Secret London and found the history in them fascinating. I bought Notorious London just last week and we are now looking forward to completing the walks in there – starting with the Jack the Ripper one we think! Thanks for all the enjoyment from your walks and keep up the good work!
Penny T
I bought Secret London by Andrew Duncan several years ago now. Through the book I discovered Gresham College and started going to the lectures there. Later I picked up his other books and began using them to explore London. They have had a big effect on me. I have followed many of the walks described in Walking London. The pages of the Notting Hill chapter are still wrinkled and I remember it rained very hard that day and I didn't have an umbrella. The pages detailing the Highgate to Hampstead walk are filthy from having been dropped face down in the mud on the Heath. I did this long walk twice, or rather it took two attempts to finish it. The first time I met former Guardian journalist John Horder by the ponds. We continue to be friends to this day and I doubt that I would have remained as a journalist without his encouragement. I remember with a mixture of fondness and regret the times when I explored a previously unknown part of the capital. I think about the first time I walked from Fenchurch Street station to Limehouse following the river, or when last year at the height of summer I climbed the steep Low Cross Wood Lane in Dulwich, collapsed in a sweaty heap in the pub at the top of the hill and two men at the bar joked about me winning the wet t-shirt competition. I recall the first time I walked around Hampstead – all the little winding streets with tall houses and overgrown front gardens. When it got dark there so were few street lamps that the place felt almost magical. And I remember walking around the Temple in the torrential rain before deciding that enough was enough and withdrawing to Ye Old Cheshire Cheese. Later that evening I walked east to St Andrews at Holborn Circus where the Bishop of Edinburgh was giving a lecture on behalf of Gresham College. Apart from the memories and the friends I have made during these walks, your books have helped provide me with a solid foundation for the fascination I have always felt for London. I am sure my interest in the city is something I will carry with me all my life. I am now halfway through Walking Village London. I try to come up every week and walk around a different part of the city.
Mark from Southend-on-Sea
I have read some of your books and I am thrilled! I am going to London for the third time on August 5th, by myself for the first time. You (positively!) drove me crazy with all these walks and I only have two weeks. If you have a minute, please help me and tell me what I should not miss. Thank you so much!
Pierre from Canada
Just a note to say I've read Secret London and am almost done with Notorious London and I've really enjoyed both. I like your style and sense of humor. I've been to your fair city on holiday a couple of times and loved it! I even considered moving there. Your books bring back a lot of very happy memories. I wish I had read them before I went. Some of the things that fascinate me about London are the age, history and all the famous events that occurred there. The subject of London is one of my favorites and I try to read all the books I can on it, which is one of the reasons I like your books so much – there's so much history and background information in them. I just thought I'd let you know your work is appreciated.
Jeff B
I am writing to thank you for many enjoyable days spent following the walks in your books. My husband and I walked together after we retired, and, now that I am alone after his sudden death in 2001, I am once again picking up the threads and your walks are a positive influence on my frame of mind and, I am sure, general health and well-being! I also walk in the countryside in Kent at weekends with one of my sons, and am gradually doing stretches of the Thames Path, but am very happy alone with your books during the week. Having been a Londoner all my life, I find it fascinating to learn more about the city and the places nearby. So far I’ve done just over 30 of the walks, and have plenty left before I have to start again! I have given the books as presents and recommended them to many of my friends, and have never before written this sort of letter. I just felt that you deserved a big thank you.
Hilary W