Saturday 27 September 2014

Nairn's London by Routemaster - BOOK TODAY

Tickets, please!
Nairn's London by Routemaster
Sunday 30 November 2014 

In association with the 
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Adults £30 Children (aged 5-16)  £15  (Children under 5 travel free)
Family ticket (2 adults + 2 children) £80
Pensioners/full-time students/unemployed  £20 

        CLICK  HERE TO  BOOK TICKETS 

(Online booking from midday on Wednesday 1 October)

"The way to come on St Paul's is along Fleet Street, and the way to go along Fleet Street is on top of a bus."  - Ian Nairn

A unique bus tour marking the Penguin Books reissue of Nairn's London and celebrating the life and work of Ian Nairn (1930-1983) Britain's greatest topographical writer.

Our Routemaster bus (CUV 217C) is the very same vehicle that appears on the cover of the 1966 Penguin paperback Nairn's London, with the author seated in its cab.


Ian Nairn at the wheel of our bus

Assemble from 10am on Sunday 30th November.  Bus leaves at 11am sharp. The tour will end at around 4.30pm in an appropriate central London location with a talk by the distinguished architectural historian Professor Gavin Stamp, a panel discussion with Nairn biographers Gillian Darley and David McKiecontributions from authors Travis Elborough and Simon Okotie, readings, signings, screenings, and drinks. 

The provisional route includes:

The Whitechapel Bell Foundry         The Barbican and Golden Square    
Bevis Marks synagogue                       Leadenhall Market & Lloyds building
Hill & Evans vinegar warehouse        Postman's Park
Cloth Fair and West Smithfield        Bart's Hospital
Farringdon and Holborn Viaduct      Chancery Lane
Fleet Street                                          Ludgate Hill                                          
St Paul's Cathedral                              Cheapside                                 
Bank of England                                   Royal Exchange
St Ethelburga's church                       Christ Church, Spitalfields 
King's Cross and York Way               Surprise final destination!


  A detailed programme will be available on the day. 


Small print

A cautionary note from the Arriva Heritage Fleet:

Our buses are thoroughly and professionally maintained to the same stringent standards as the modern vehicles providing services today, but as the vehicle in question is now three times its expected life span I am sure you can appreciate that occasionally circumstances work against us.

I'm assured that we'll get RM2217 (the original Nairn's London bus) but in the event of substitution no refunds will be forthcoming. In the unlikely event of cancellation full refunds will be payable.

We may on the day have to change the route to reflect local conditions (roadworks, closures, marches, etc). 

Smoking is not allowed on the bus or in any of the venues included on the tour. Nairn would hate this.

Dogs are not allowed.

Children with an interest in the built environment are welcome (and we have concessionary and family rates). Children under 5 travel free (on a grown up's lap).

Tickets will not be available on the day and must be booked in advance online via the Eventbrite site. There is a small booking fee. If you find you have to cancel your booking please let us know in good time (there's bound to be a waiting list) and we'll do our best to organise a refund.

Seating capacity is sixty and there will be no standing room. We cannot reserve specific seats (unless for mobility reasons you require the lower deck bench seats next to the rear platform).

Cameras (or equivalent gadgets) may prove useful. You might bring some money also - books at discounted rates will be on sale at the final venue, with authors on hand to sign them. We shan't be able to accept credit or debit cards.

Lunch: This will be in West Smithfield with three options:

          a pub lunch in Cloth Fair (next to the former home of Sir John Betjeman)
          no end of local coffee shops and cafes in nearby Clerkenwell
          in the Museum of London cafe (five minutes' walk from West Smithfield)
       
You may prefer to bring a packed lunch and thermos (or hip) flask. If the weather is good Postman's Park is nearby, and the Museum of London even closer (with a cafe and lavatories). There's also the lovely graveyard of St Barts the Greater.

There will be three perambulations (some involving cobbled streets), so dress for that, and for London in late November. Best to wear walking shoes. 

There are public lavatories at the meeting point, at Bevis Marks synagogue, West Smithfield, Christ Church Spitalfields and the final venue. There are also loos at the Museum of London (if you have lunch under cover there). Parents/guardians with small children may need to plan accordingly.

If you have a copy of the original 1966 Penguin edition of Nairn's London do bring it along - there will be prizes for the most and least battered and annotated copies.

We'll also have a traditional whip round at the end of the afternoon for our driver and conductor.

Profits will be donated to The Twentieth Century Society

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