BRING YOUR BABY GUIDED LONDON WALK: "Dulwich Village History"

Walk starts: Outside Belair House, 5 Gallery Rd, London SE21 7AB

Walk ends: At a location a short walk from North Dulwich station

With stop at Dulwich Park Cafe for lunch/refreshment, feeding and changing halfway. You do not need to feel pressured to buy lunch. If you just want to bring a sandwich and buy a drink that's fine!

'Bring Your Baby' Guided London Walks are sensitively devised to suit parents and carers of even the tiniest babies to enjoy London’s history. We can stop whenever you like to feed and change - without the stress of feeling you are holding up the group. Because every participant brings their baby, patience and baby’s needs are at the forefront of each walk.

You are welcome to bring friends and family who do not also have a baby (every adult needs a ticket).

Description

Dulwich Village is a collegiate village, which has remained distinct and more exclusive than its surrounding neighbourhoods. This is almost entirely due to the role of Dulwich College, founded in 1619 by the actor Edward Alleyn as the College of God’s Gift, which consisted of alms houses and a school for underprivileged boys.

From the mid-1760s, the college allowed wealthy Londoners – often the parents of pupils – to build substantial houses that would maintain their value, and that of the estate. A number of these properties remain – which you will pass on this walk, as well as numerous pretty cottages.

You’ll also see and learn about…

- Belair House, built in 1765 for a Whitechapel corn merchant.

- The original College of God’s Gift, founded by the most successful Elizabethan actor Edward Alleyn - he was also Joint Master of the Royal Bears, Bulls and Mastiff Dogs, a post which made him an extremely wealthy man.

- St Barnabas Church and its burial ground dating back to 1616 - final resting place of plague victims, the Queen of the Norwood Gypsies and the Dulwich hermit who was murdered in 1802.

- The magnificent buildings of Dulwich College - designed by Charles Barry Jnr and completed in 1869

- The last - and still operating - tollgate in London.

- Sir John Soane’s Dulwich Picture Gallery, the oldest in London

- Dulwich Park - formed in 1890 from the fields of Dulwich Court Farm and its neighbours.

- The Old Grammar School which was set up by the College in 1842 and designed by Sir Charles Barry (Houses of Parliament, Highclere Castle).

- The village’s original cottage shops.

- Grand mansion-scale houses, weatherboarded cottages and the finest Georgian house in the village, which dates from 1767.

- The Crown and Greyhound inn, which replaced two 18th-century inns as the focal point of the village.

- James Allen’s School, an institution that grew out of a ‘reading school’ for poor girls and boys in the 18th century.

- The tragic past of the now pondless Pond House.

This walk is guided by Bex, a south-east London local who is a freelance journalist and technical writer with an MPhil in History from Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. Her first love (apart from her babies and possibly her husband) is for period dramas and historical fiction. She blogs about this at https://pertopinionsandfineeyes.com/ (instagram @pertopinionsandfineeyes) and is currently writing a book about Georgian period dramas. She lives in Gipsy Hill in South East London.

Important notes:

Every walk follows the usual health and safety guidelines, such as crossing at traffic lights where possible and having hazards pointed out to you at the start and along the route.

If on the day of the walk we are forecast to have very bad weather, I may have to postpone the walk. If it's a bit of light rain we will cope!

There may be times we have to stand in direct sunlight (although I will always choose shade where possible). Please bring all the necessary sun protection for yourself and your child.

It is recommended you bring appropriate drinks and snacks for the duration of the walk.

I will contact you with booking confirmation after you book. I will supply my mobile number in case of emergencies or in case you are running late. I will also ask you to provide me with a mobile number so you can be contacted before, during or after the walk. Please note that if you are more than a few minutes late I may ask you to catch up with us.

If you like the look of any of my walks, but would prefer to book me privately, please make enquiries at [email protected]. This may particularly be the case if you have people interested who do not have babies.

Important infomation:

- Please feel free to invite baby-free friends.

- Children are the responsibility of the parent or guardian, and must be monitored by them at all times.

- Refunds or requests to move to a future event or date must be requested within 24 hours of the event commencing so that we can try to refill the space in adequate time.

- If for any reason Bring Your Baby Ltd are forced to cancel or postpone an event (for example in the case of illness or extreme weather conditions), you are within your rights to request a refund, though we will always suggest an alternative date for you to attend.

- On occasion we take photos or short video clips at our 'Bring Your Baby Pub Quizzes' or 'Bring Your Baby Guided London Walks'. By attending you are giving your permission for these to be used for Bring Your Baby Ltd promotional purposes. Any individual who we have taken a photograph of and published can request that any photographs are removed and deleted at any time. Even if they have given consent when booking according to our terms and conditions, they can of course withdraw their consent and can contact us at [email protected]

(c) Copyright 'Bring Your Baby Ltd'

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

SE21 7AB, Outside Belair House, London, United Kingdom