About this time last year, I went on an early-morning tour of London with Gemma Seltzer from Write & Shine and Saira Niazi from Living London (both pictured above). Saira led us around places I'd been to before, such as The Vaults (graffiti-covered tunnels where I saw Alice's Adventures Underground), Cross Bones Garden (where people, many believed to be prostitutes, are buried and surrounded by ribbon-covered railings and kind messages), Borough Market, Gabriel's Wharf and the bridges along the River Thames.
We went past places that hold happy memories for me (Konditor and Cook, where I would be going for a cake lock-in later that day; Tate Modern; Shakespeare's Globe) and places that hold sadder or bittersweet memories for me (the new Cancer Centre at Guy's Hospital, where I went with Vicky when she had radiotherapy; Blackfriars Station, where I met Helen the last time we went out in London).
Saira also led us around places I'd never seen, including a small, hidden garden with a tiny library. As well as being a lovely guide, she was so informative and knowledgeable. It's nice to learn new things about your city, especially when you've been living here all your life. Gemma gave us writing exercises every so often, and there was just enough time to take a few photos before we moved on to the next sight. Those of us with cameras lagged behind everyone else, but it was a great opportunity to take photos of places you wouldn't usually photograph. It made you see the beauty in the ordinary and look out for the unexpected. It was a truly wonderful morning and at the end we sat down near Tower Bridge, had a breakfast picnic and chatted.
There will be another early-morning tour with Living London and Write & Shine this Thursday. This time it will be set around Chelsea and Battersea. It's from 6.30am to 9am, so you might be able to fit it in before work, if you can make yourself get early trains or buses to Sloane Square! Details here.
Living London runs other walks around London. Write & Shine also runs writing workshops a little bit later in the morning (7.15am or 9am starts) and I have been going these regularly this year. It's been a lovely way to get back into writing, and I even got a tiny piece of flash fiction published in an anthology which you can buy here from Arachne Press. For me, it's about writing for writing's sake, enjoying it, and (if you want to) having the courage to put your writing out there. It's scary, but I'm glad I've become braver about my writing this year. Seeing my friends and family in the audience when I read my story out at the book launch in June was one of the most surreal and proud moments of my life. It's taken a long to get here, but I'm here.
Here are some photos from the dawn tour last year. I often get overwhelmed by the number of photos I take (this is the problem with digital cameras) and rather than edit and share a few, I hide them away and don't do anything with them...which is silly!
