Feet First Walking

 

Based on Walk no. 89 from the Reader's Digest Town Tours in Britain (ring binder). Although for convenience, I started the walk at Tottenham Court Road Station, not Russell Square. Unfortunately, I had to do some detours because the original route was obstructed by construction sites.

 

Cosmos Place leading to Queen Square.

 

Queen Square. Throughout the 18th century this was London's best address.

 

John's Mews.

 

and John Street.

 

I have visited this museum on a different occasion. Dickens moved here in 1837, shortly after his marriage and was able to so due to the success of The Pickwick Papers and Oliver Twist.

 

By Coram Fields the route came to a halt due to a no-go building site. A bit of backtracking and innovation solved this problem.

 

A walk through St George's Gradens brought me out on Handel Street, near Henrietta Mews.

 

The Bruswick Centre on Hunter Street. Designed by Patrick Hodgkinson and completed in 1972

 

The centre contains 560 flats, various shops, cafes and restaurants, a Waitrose supermarket, and a Curzon cinema.

 

On the corner of Burton Place and Dukes Road.

 

The cherry tree in Tavistock Square was planted in 1967.

 

The centre-piece of Tavistock Square is a statue of Mahatma Gandhi, sculpted by Fredda Brilliant in 1968.

 

The magnificent brutalist UCL Centre for Languages & International Education.

 

Russell Square Gardens.

 

The umbrella and walking cane shop. Congratulations on surviving the Amazon and online shopping purges of the last couple of years -- a truly specialist shop. How many umbrellas do they have to sell a month to pay the rates and wages?