Launching Seedlings Rambles: historical, natural, queer, creative wanders led by Alex Haydn-Williams.

Our first walk will be through the City of London. 

For centuries, the City of London was London. But now, it’s been occupied by glass skyscrapers, and bankers buying £7 sandwiches. We’ve given up the city’s ancient heart to capital. Or have we? Our first Seedlings Ramble will search out the hidden histories (queer, radical, natural, folkloric) of London’s strange, haunted centre.

Above the buried River Fleet, we’ll meet Roman centurions, and Boudica. In St Paul’s Churchyard, we’ll spot the birthplace of publishing - and the Occupy movement. And under the dull windows of Anglo American Mining Co., we’ll find the site of Mother Clap’s Molly House, the queer nightlife spot of 1723. 

Along the way, we’ll discover how a diverse eighteenth-century creative community lived and worked together in Dr Johnson’s House; how Elizabethans partied for days at Bartholomew Fair; how 1950s radicals dreamed up modernist utopias at the Barbican; and how a string of folk heroes (including a gender-swapping highwayman called Marcy Clay) broke out of Newgate Gaol, and redefined freedom.

The Ramble will finish with a creative session at the Barbican, where we’ll reflect on the walk and make things. Seedlings will provide some art materials, but please bring your own materials too: your notebook, camera, a laptop if you’re modern.

February 22nd, 2pm.

Sign up here for FREE - limited places!

N.B.

This walk is led by queer people committed to the liberation of all. We do not welcome TERFs or Tories. Free Palestine.

ACCESSIBILITY

Our route will be step-free, and we’ll go at a pace that suits everyone. There will be frequent breaks to sit down throughout the ramble. 

The ramble is roughly two miles long. With stops included, it will take about 75-90 minutes. 
The walk will be entirely outdoors, and the creative session will happen indoors at the Barbican Centre. 

If anyone isn’t comfortable sharing an indoor space for whatever reason, we’re happy to set up a second space for the creative session, on the tables outside the Barbican Centre. You’re also welcome to just join for the walk.