A fortnight ago, I reprised the walk I’d devised for this year’s London Festival of Architecture in June: Beyond the New Builds: Voices from Nine Elms’ Past. I’d made a few tweaks to the route, and was pleased with the turnout – a baker’s dozen of attendees. The weather also played ball, holding off the rain until the end of the walk. The group seemed really engaged, and as so often, some had personal connections to the area and stories of their own to tell.
On the morning of the walk, I’d felt anxious and nervous; leading a walk is, after all, a kind of performance. Afterwards, I felt a mixture of elation and exhaustion, as all that performance energy drained from me. A couple of days later I sent out a short feedback survey, and reading the responses was (still is) extremely gratifying. They included a couple of helpful suggestions for refining some of the content, which I’ll happily incorporate when I offer the walk again. Thanks to everyone who came, and to Nick Rogers for support and taking photos.
“I have lived in the area for over 40 years and the walk took me to places that I had never walked and Hilaire told stories that I had never known about”
“I particularly liked the way you told the history of each place very much as a story which really drew me in and held my interest.”
“I’ve been on other walks in the area before, but this took me to some different places and talked about different things”
Hilaire 