Unseen Tours: That rarest of rare beasts, an authentic tour of London
London can be a frustrating city. I can say that because I was born there. Its streets do not accept tourists well, with their narrow pavements and ever-present lines of traffic. The underground is overcrowded. Tourist destinations are jammed together – Madame Tussauds almost on top of the Sherlock Holmes Museum, Trafalgar Square jostling with Covent Garden and Chinatown for space. It can be hard to see anything beyond the souvenir shops and tour buses and people wandering around with brightly coloured umbrellas.
But there is still hope. Last week I encountered that rarest of rare beasts, an authentic tour of London. Pete of Unseen Tours took me on a 2-hour walking tour of Brick Lane. The tour covered everything I could possibly want to know – stories of Jack the Ripper, street art of all sorts, the historic multiculturalism of the area, and its contemporary gentrification.
However, the tour was more than that. Pete is formerly homeless and lived on the streets around Brick Lane for several years. Unseen Tours organizes tours all around London, all led by people who were, or are, living on the streets. They currently have 5 tours around London, in Soho, Covent Garden, London Bridge, Brick Lane and Shoreditch. Each address the specific histories and contemporary issues of the different areas, while following the narrative thread of homelessness in the city, and their own personal experiences.
I found Pete to be open to discussion about the issue of homelessness, while he fully confessed, he didn’t have ‘the answer’ to the issue. I already knew that homelessness is a multi-faceted issue, which brings together a range of issues from social care, to addiction issues, to local government, charity work and a long and contentious history of solutions. But with Pete’s perspective it was given a literal face, gentle and direct at the same time.
Street art around Brick Lane
Lots of artists come here to create art and gain notoriety
Behind the bland facades of various Brick Lane buildings lie 4 homeless shelters, of which I was completely unaware. The tendency of looking down and pushing through the stresses of the city are challenged by tours like this, which ask you to open your eyes to everything, from the beauty of street art to the distress of homelessness.
Pete also had a wonderful sense of how the history of the area is replayed again and again throughout history. I don’t want to give away his secrets, but his telling of how the hysteria around the Ripper links to modern day issues of tourism and homelessness is fascinating.
When picking a tour of London, it’s easy to focus on the shiny lights and stay within the well-defined tourist zones. If you manage to struggle your way out, consider an Unseen Tour. The organization is run by volunteers, and a large majority of the money goes to the tour guides themselves. You will see a side of London that is personal and impactful – for yourself and others.