Strange Attractor is overseeing two London events for Obscura Day, 20th March 2010, organised by the wonderful Atlas Obscura. There are walks, presentations and events taking place at 80 locations from Alaska to India, so keep your eyes peeled for one in your area.
Sadly/happily, both the London strands sold out within an hour or two of being announced, but I’ll tell you about them anyway.
At 11am Medical London author Richard Barnett picks up his stethoscope and walks us on a tour of Bloomsbury’s medical curiosities: ‘Where in the world could you find transplant surgery on cockerels, hop-head anaesthetists, a graveyard which holds the key to London’s first great public hospital, a medical trade union in the citadel of Theosophy, and the gory story of Samuel Pepys’ paperweight?’
Then at 2.30pm, Tom Bolton, author of the forthcoming SAP title London’s Lost Rivers: A Surface Dweller’s Guide charts a route along the old River Fleet: ‘This walk unpeels the London layers to trace the course of the lost river, rediscovering its influence on the landscape and the forgotten neighbourhoods along its banks. Go with the flow and walk three miles of the Fleet’s course, from Kentish Town to the Thames’.
It’s just possible that there may be dropouts on the day, so here’s the info if you want to take a chance.
So three cheers to Atlas Obscura for making 20 March Wold Curiosity Day and hopefully see some of you here in London-town.
STOP PRESS! Tom Bolton has announced an overflow Fleet tour for the following weekend, Saturday 27th March, 2.30pm-5pm
Meet outside Kentish Town tube
Finish at Blackfriars, four miles long. Cost is £3 (You can book ahead using this Link: