London's Lost Rivers - Book and Walking Tours by Paul Talling
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  • London's Lost Rivers
    • River Peck
    • River Effra
    • River Moselle
    • The Black Ditch
    • Bollo Brook
    • The Cock & Pye Ditch
    • Counter's Creek
    • Earl's Sluice
    • Falcon Brook
    • Carbuncle Ditch
    • River Fleet
    • River Neckinger
    • Parr's Ditch
    • Hackney Brook
    • Pudding Mill River
    • Rotherhithe Mill Streams
    • Stamford Brook
    • River Tyburn
    • Tyburn Brook
    • River Walbrook
    • Muswell Stream
    • River Westbourne
  • London's Lost Canals
    • City Canal
    • Croydon Canal
    • Cumberland Arm
    • Grand Surrey Canal
    • Grosvenor Canal
    • Kensington Canal
    • Romford Canal
    • Royal Arsenal Canal
    • The Royal Gunpowder Mills Canals
  • Author's Guided Walks
    • River Fleet Walk
    • River Westbourne Walk
    • River Tyburn Walk
    • Lost Rivers of Hampstead Walk
    • Lost Docks of Wapping Walk
    • Grand Surrey Canal Walk
    • Woolwich - Dockyard & Royal Arsenal Canal Walk
    • Isle of Dogs Canal and Millwall Docks Walk
    • Derelict Limehouse & Poplar Walk
    • Derelict Silvertown walk
    • River Peck/Earl's Sluice
    • Bow Creek
    • River Neckinger walk
    • Croydon Canal Walk
    • Hammersmith Walk
    • East Finchley to Gospel Oak
    • Whitechapel and Bethnal Green walk
    • Minories to Poplar
  • London's Lesser Known Rivers
    • Beverley Brook
    • Bow Backs Rivers
    • River Brent
    • River Ching
    • River Crane
    • River Cray
    • River Darent
    • Dead River
    • Dollis Brook
    • Duke of Northumberland's River
    • River Ember
    • Hogsmill River
    • River Lea
    • River Mole
    • The New River
    • River Pool
    • River Ravensbourne
    • River Roding
    • The Silk Stream
    • River Wandle
    • Yeading Brook
  • Buy The Book Here
    • Sample Chapter
    • Reviews
  • Contact/Mailing List
  • Advertising on London's Lost Rivers
  • Privacy Policy/Cookies
  • London's Lost Music Venues
  • Home
  • London's Lost Rivers
    • River Peck
    • River Effra
    • River Moselle
    • The Black Ditch
    • Bollo Brook
    • The Cock & Pye Ditch
    • Counter's Creek
    • Earl's Sluice
    • Falcon Brook
    • Carbuncle Ditch
    • River Fleet
    • River Neckinger
    • Parr's Ditch
    • Hackney Brook
    • Pudding Mill River
    • Rotherhithe Mill Streams
    • Stamford Brook
    • River Tyburn
    • Tyburn Brook
    • River Walbrook
    • Muswell Stream
    • River Westbourne
  • London's Lost Canals
    • City Canal
    • Croydon Canal
    • Cumberland Arm
    • Grand Surrey Canal
    • Grosvenor Canal
    • Kensington Canal
    • Romford Canal
    • Royal Arsenal Canal
    • The Royal Gunpowder Mills Canals
  • Author's Guided Walks
    • River Fleet Walk
    • River Westbourne Walk
    • River Tyburn Walk
    • Lost Rivers of Hampstead Walk
    • Lost Docks of Wapping Walk
    • Grand Surrey Canal Walk
    • Woolwich - Dockyard & Royal Arsenal Canal Walk
    • Isle of Dogs Canal and Millwall Docks Walk
    • Derelict Limehouse & Poplar Walk
    • Derelict Silvertown walk
    • River Peck/Earl's Sluice
    • Bow Creek
    • River Neckinger walk
    • Croydon Canal Walk
    • Hammersmith Walk
    • East Finchley to Gospel Oak
    • Whitechapel and Bethnal Green walk
    • Minories to Poplar
  • London's Lesser Known Rivers
    • Beverley Brook
    • Bow Backs Rivers
    • River Brent
    • River Ching
    • River Crane
    • River Cray
    • River Darent
    • Dead River
    • Dollis Brook
    • Duke of Northumberland's River
    • River Ember
    • Hogsmill River
    • River Lea
    • River Mole
    • The New River
    • River Pool
    • River Ravensbourne
    • River Roding
    • The Silk Stream
    • River Wandle
    • Yeading Brook
  • Buy The Book Here
    • Sample Chapter
    • Reviews
  • Contact/Mailing List
  • Advertising on London's Lost Rivers
  • Privacy Policy/Cookies
  • London's Lost Music Venues
London's Lost Rivers - Book and Walking Tours by Paul Talling

River Tyburn (Swiss Cottage to Pimlico) Guided Walking Tour
​ with Paul Talling (author of London's Lost Rivers)

​​'Paul Talling is a connoisseur of these lost waterways' 
​BBC The One Show
Marker on pavement in Marylebone Lane station 'Beneath this lane flows the River Tyburn'
Marylebone Lane
'Paul Talling drills deep beneath the modern city to show how the lost rivers of the capital have left  their mark, even telling how certain areas take their names from the rivers that once flowed nearby...'
​ LONELY PLANET
plaque on Bruton Lane, Mayfair along the route of the River Tyburn giving notice that this wall face is the boundary between the City's land and the Berkeley Estate
Bruton Lane in Mayfair
​Lost rivers with a musical slant. An all-day guided (above ground) walking tour of the River Tyburn's  course from South Hampstead (Swiss Cottage) to the River Thames in Pimlico.

This will be a relaxing all-day event walking roughly 7 miles covering so many clues of this now subterranean river and how it defined the area as we head through St Johns Wood, Marylebone and Mayfair with Paul reading from his London's Lost Rivers book and various Victorian publications and referring to archive material, ancient maps and a modern day one showing the river now used as the King's Scholar Pond sewer which runs partly underneath Buckingham Palace. 

The Ty- in Tyburn derives from a word for "boundary," and the stream has actually defined many boundaries over time including the ancient boundary of Westminster in Pimlico. The Tyburn gave its name to the village of Tyburn, originally a manor of Marylebone, which was recorded in the Domesday Book and which stood approximately at the west end of what is now Oxford Street. It also gave its name to the predecessors of Oxford Street and Park Lane, which were formerly called Tyburn Road and Tyburn Lane respectively. The earliest written mention of the Tyburn dates back to around 785 AD.

From the place where the Tyburn crossed Oxford Street, the Great Conduit was built in 1236, to supply water through conduits  from the Tyburn to Cheapside in the City. Only a small stream was left to carry on southwards and this perhaps explains the lack of marking on maps of the river after this time. Just off Bond Street, Lancashire Court was developed on what used to be the east bank of the Tyburn. It is said that here ducks once wandered about among the long grass and puddles, women did their washing at the water's edge and a hospital for plague victims was erected here near the open fields.

There will be plenty of tangents along the way such as talking about the Baker Street bank robbery of 1971, Danger Mouse, Wendy Richard, the Mayfair birthplace of Queen Elizabeth II, Twiggy, Radio Luxembourg, Banksy, Phileas Fogg, a former Prime Minister's house later described as the most haunted house in London, locations from Denis Waterman era Minder, an abandoned tube station, Harry Nilsson's  flat where both (Mama) Cass Elliott and Keith Moon died. Many more musical references en route including Marie Lloyd, Handel, Elgar, Hendrix, The Beatles, Joni Mitchell, David Bowie, Queen, Kim Wilde, Sex Pistols and Dolores from The Cranberries. There will be plenty of opportunities for toilet breaks in Regents Park, Paddington Street Gardens and Green Park. The walk will also involve a pub stop. Feel free to bring refreshments to eat along the way. You can get home from Vauxhall or Pimlico stations which are a 10-minute walk or stay for a drink or five in The Grosvenor which is a cosy down to earth pub serving cask ales and decent reasonably priced pub food. 
Mickie Most and Errol Brown plaques at RAK Studios, Charlbert Street on Paul Talling's lost river walk of the River Tyburn
Derelict overgrown mansion in St Johns Wood along the route of the subterranean River Tyburn
A barge on the Regents Canal passes under Charlbert Bridge
Tablet on the route of the River Tyburn Wigmore Street and Marylebone Lane junction saying that conduit belonging to the City of London 1776
Jimi Hendrix and Handel museum in Brook Street along the River Tyburn in Mayfair
Boarded up pub down the windy lane that follows the meander of the River Tyburn
Shop til you drop Banksy Streetart showing a woman being dragged by a shopping trolley. On Bruton Lane on River Tyburn walk through Mayfair
An Information board in Berkeley Square saying the gardens formed lush water meadow on a bend of the River Tyburn. As late as 1753 the Tyburn Stream then referred to as the common sewer still ran open at the south end of the square
Westminster City Council plaque by Shepherd Street (Mayfair) Residents Association commemorating Mayfair's old house "The Cottage" from where a shepherd tended his flock whilst Tyburn idled nearby
King's Scholars Passage sign in Pimlico. The lane follows the route of the King's Scholars Pond sewer formerly known as the River Tyburn
Ancient boundary marker in Tachbrook Street, Pimlico. The boundary was defined by the Tyburn, one of London's lost rivers.
Rio Cottage nameplate in Grosvenor Road, Pimlico saying it was built in 1832 for the King's Scholars Sluice
Picture showing the arch below Rio Cottage and Tyburn House in Pimlico which is the sewer outfall of the King's Scholars Pond Sewer also known as the River Tyburn
Tablet beside the River Thames in Pimlico describing place names on the route of the River Tyburn. Shepherds Well, Belsize Park, Swiss Cottage, Regents Park, Marylebone, Oxford Street, Mayfair, Green Park, Westminster, Pimlico, Tachbrook Street.
Tickets are announced via the mailing list and must be purchased in advance and are sold via WeGotTickets. ​Tickets for these events generally sell out within hours of going on sale many months in advance. 

Rendezvous point for the start of the walk: Outside of Swiss Cottage Station (Eton Avenue/Hampstead Theatre exit).

You are advised to arrive early. There is a Subway, McDonald's and Star*ucks opposite the station or for a full English breakfast try this decent greasy spoon (the last one in the area!):
Rose Café, 279D Finchley Rd. NW3 6LT (it is worth the 12 mins walk or stay on the tube an extra stop to Finchley Rd which is nearer the café though please note that it is closed on a Sunday). Rose Cafe is situated between Finchley Rd tube and Finchley Road & Frognal OG stations.(Note: do not confuse Rose Cafe with Rose Mary Cafe juice/cereal bar next to Finchley Rd tube)
Picture
Picture of Paul Talling, author of London's Lost Rivers on the River Tyburn guided walking tour.
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