Review: ‘Tracing the Tyburn’ walk

On Sunday 21st January, a small group of walkers braved the very wet weather and disrupted trains to follow the route of one of the hidden rivers of London, the Tyburn, lead by SELHuG member Paul. One of the group, Kieron, reported back…. 

Excellent walk and talk by Paul, just a shame the weather wasn’t as appreciative as we were of his endeavours in preparing for this walk. We soon learnt that the Tyburn River should not be confused with the region of London associated with public executions at what is now known as Marble Arch.

One of our first stops was a construction site where the builders unearthed a 19th century underground ice store, which was used to house the ice that was harvested in Norway, and transported to London. This seemed fitting as the rain was turning to ice, which made it difficult to read some the the literature Paul had distributed to us. We still made progress, lots of twists and turns towards Oxford Street, but as the weather worsened some decided it was just too bad to continue. By the time we reach Westminster, where this now hidden river meets the Thames, our numbers had halved, but this was understandable.

This walk is too good not to repeat given that the weather played such a factor, so perhaps this can happen and maybe invite some friends from Central London Humanists, some of whom I know will be very interested in attending.