londontourguidepepe

10/09/2022

Lovely day trip to Bath. Glorious weather and only 90 mins from London by train.

08/05/2021

Does anyone else hate having their picture taken? Well hate no more!! I’ve just had some head shots done by the wonderful Paul Nicholas D**e. He put me at my ease and created a very relaxed environment. He is not expensive and have very kindly given me a 20% odd discount code. His fabulous studio is in my development, so you can pop over for tea afterwards.

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📷🔥❤️ 📷🤘 ̇tphotography #ᴘᴏʀᴛʀᴀɪᴛᴘʜᴏᴛᴏɢʀᴀᴘʜʏ
PNDPhotography

29/04/2021

Ten years ago I started the Street Art walk for London Walks and as things begin to reopen, it’s time to get back out on the streets. If you find yourself looking for an activity on Sunday 2nd May, why not join me. Make your reservations via the link below.

The Street Art Tour – aka Bombing with Banksy & Co. – is the London Walk that explores East London's dynamic, vibrant, ever-changing street art scene. It's guided by a local who's part of the scene, has great connections, collects cutting edge contemporary art and is a professionally qualified B...

27/04/2021

Authenticity is very excited by the announcement from Kensington Palace that their first exhibition post lockdown is going to be “Royal Style in the Making”. As well as including designs for Her Majesty the Queen and her sister Princess Margaret, this will be the first time in 25 years that the wedding dress of Diana Princess of Wales had been on display.
Why not combine a visit to this sure to be blockbuster exhibition with a visit to the atelier of one of Diana’s favourite designers on our “Designs on Royalty Experience”.
authentiCity - See the real London.



londonphotography # 🇬🇧 🇬🇧

16/04/2021

Thank you Mr Doodle I love my new Puma trainers.

15/04/2021

My new website is almost done. Now I just need to write some content and get some clients :-)

In a previous life I was a Stage Manager and still try to get to as many shows as I can. For 15 years I was also a Tour Manager leading tours of the UK, Ireland, Europe, USA, Canada, New Zealand, The Middle and Far East, so I am very experienced with both large and small groups

04/03/2021

24/02/2021

Here’s me hosting this week’s Guide London live broadcast. Not a particularly big cat lover, but this was fun.

11/01/2021

If your trip to London has been curtailed and travel restrictions are still in place, why not join us for a season of live Virtual Tours. Tours run all the way through to the end of March. If you can’t make the live tour, no problem. You will be able to watch them on catch up. Subjects range from the bridges of London, to Theatreland, to the archaeology of the City of London and the graffiti and street art of Shoreditch and Spitalfields.

Buy tickets for Blue Badge Premium Virtual Tours Package on Zoom, Tue 5 Jan 2021 - Thu 18 Mar 2021 - WELCOME! We invite you to a season of 20 live premium Virtual Tours by London Blue Badge Tourist Guides. The programme will consist of a weekly series on Tuesday mornings at 10.30am and Thursday afte...

21/08/2020

Hey everyone

Time for a new public walk. How about “From Bangladesh to Banksy” - The Story of London’s New East End. Sunday 27th September at 2.30pm.

https://www.walks.com/our-walks/5138/

This vibrant new walk tells the incredible story of the transformation that the East End. A generation ago it was considered one of the worst slums in Britain, today it is one of the most important areas in Europe for the .com industries.

14/07/2020

Spectacular scenery on a cycle ride outside of the City if York. It’s easy to see how David Hockney was inspired.
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10/07/2020

So good to be back at the Tower of London today, and thanks to Yeoman Warder Moira Cameron for helping us make it happen.

09/06/2020

Christchurch Spitalfields is one of the most famous churches in the east end of London. Completed in the 1720s by Nicholas Hawksmoor. He was the pupil of Sir Christoper Wren the man responsible for the rebuilding of London after the Great Fire in 1666. The church was originally built as part of the 50 churches at the beginning of the 18th century. Unfortunately only 11 churches were built, six of them by this architect.
When I was a kid the church was almost falling down and was closed for 30 years. It
was given a large grant to allow the restoration and they also got permission to put a café and a community centre in the crypt. To allow this to happen, they got permission to remove 900 bodies. They are remoulded to have found scratch marks inside 3 of the coffins. Let that sink in for a second. Anyway, check the cafe out sometime when you’re passing.
My name is Pepe and I am a Londoner born and bred. I am also a London Blue Badge Tourist Guide, so if you want to experience London with a true local, get in touch. As well as giving you VIP access to famous sites such as Westminster Abbey, I can show you the hidden and secret parts of this great city. Worried your kids are getting bored in Lockdown? I can offer virtual walking tours of London sites and cover subjects as diverse as the Tower of London and Jack the Ripper.



@ Spitalfields E1

08/06/2020

The Coliseum has one of the loveliest canopied entrances is in London. Designed by the incomparable theatre architect Frank Matcham it is on St Martin’s Lane and it’s today the home of the English National Opera and the English National Ballet. It has one of the largest auditoriums in London and also one of the largest stages as well. It was the first theatre in London to have a revolving stage and was briefly as a cinema premiering the Hollywood movie King Kong in the 1930’s.

Pic 3 shows Brydges Place to the right hand side of the theatre which has to be one of the narrow streets in the entire country.

My name is Pepe and I am a Londoner born and bred. I am also a London Blue Badge Tourist Guide, so if you want to experience London with a true local, get in touch. As well as giving you VIP access to famous sites such as Westminster Abbey, I can show you the hidden and secret parts of this great city. Worried your kids are getting bored in Lockdown? I can offer virtual walking tours of London sites and cover subjects as diverse as the Tower of London and Jack the Ripper.


@ London Coliseum

06/06/2020

This live tour is just a little taster of the East End of London, one of the most fascinating parts of the City.
My name is Pepe and i am a Londoner born and bred. I am also a London Blue Badge Tourist Guide, so if you want to experience London with a true local, get in touch. As well as giving you VIP access to famous sites such as Westminster Abbey, I can show you the hidden and secret parts of this great city. Worried your kids are getting bored in Lockdown? I can offer virtual walking tours of London sites and cover subjects as diverse as the Tower of London and Jack the Ripper.

06/06/2020

This live tour is just a little taster of the East End of London, one of the most fascinating parts of the City.
My name is Pepe and i am a Londoner born and bred. I am also a London Blue Badge Tourist Guide, so if you want to experience London with a true local, get in touch. As well as giving you VIP access to famous sites such as Westminster Abbey, I can show you the hidden and secret parts of this great city. Worried your kids are getting bored in Lockdown? I can offer virtual walking tours of London sites and cover subjects as diverse as the Tower of London and Jack the Ripper.

05/06/2020

Simpsons in the Strand is one of the oldest and most famous restaurants in London. It’s opened originally in the 1820’s as a smoking room before becoming one of London’s go to restaurants by the 1850’s. It also become the home of chess for a time. Notice the chess pieces in the tiles above the entrance and the chess piece shaped topiary hanging either side.
Their full cooked English breakfast is legendary and is known as the 11 deadly sins!
My name is Pepe and despite my Spanish name I am a Londoner born and bred. I am also a London Blue Badge Tourist Guide, so if you want to experience London with a true local, get in touch. As well as giving you VIP access to famous sites such as Westminster Abbey, I can show you the hidden and secret parts of this great city. Worried your kids are getting bored in Lockdown? I can offer virtual walking tours of London sites and cover subjects as diverse as the Tower of London and Jack the Ripper.






@ Simpson’s in the Strand

03/06/2020

Join me for this Live East End walk with on Friday 5th June at 3pm. I’ll be assisted by my mate and fellow London Blue Badge Guide on camera. Highlights include a work by Banksy the world’s most famous street artist, a Church that buried people alive and a visit to the best chocolate shop in London to see them make their signature hot chocolate LIVE on Instagram!! Don’t forget you can only watch this tour if you follow .

The black and white bird, the Heron of Hanbury Street is by Roa, one of the superstars of the street art scene.
My name is Pepe and I am a Londoner born and bred. I am also a London Blue Badge Tourist Guide, so if you want to experience London with a true local, get in touch. As well as giving you VIP access to famous sites such as Westminster Abbey, I can show you the hidden and secret parts of this great city. Worried your kids are getting bored in Lockdown? I can offer virtual walking tours of London sites and cover subjects as diverse as the Tower of London and Jack the Ripper.





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01/06/2020

Follow if you want to see me doing a Live East End walk on Friday 5th June at 3.00pm. I’ll be ably assisted by my mate on camera. Highlights include a work by Banksy the world’s most famous street artist, a Church that buried people alive and a visit to the best chocolate shop in London to see them make their signature hot chocolate LIVE on Instagram!! Don’t forget you can only watch this tour if you follow .
My name is Pepe and despite my Spanish name I am a Londoner born and bred. I am also a London Blue Badge Tourist Guide, so if you want to experience London with a true local, get in touch. As well as giving you VIP access to famous sites such as Westminster Abbey, I can show you the hidden and secret parts of this great city. Worried your kids are getting bored in Lockdown? I can offer virtual walking tours of London sites and cover subjects as diverse as the Tower of London and Jack the Ripper.





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01/06/2020

Follow if you want to see me doing a Live East End walk on Friday 5th June at 3.00pm. I’ll be ably assisted by my mate on camera. Highlights include a work by Banksy the world’s most famous street artist, a Church that buried people alive and a visit to the best chocolate shop in London to see them make their signature hot chocolate LIVE on Instagram!!

Don’t forget you can only watch this tour if you follow .
My name is Pepe and despite my Spanish name I am a Londoner born and bred. I am also a London Blue Badge Tourist Guide, so if you want to experience London with a true local, get in touch. As well as giving you VIP access to famous sites such as Westminster Abbey, I can show you the hidden and secret parts of this great city. Worried your kids are getting bored in Lockdown? I can offer virtual walking tours of London sites and cover subjects as diverse as the Tower of London and Jack the Ripper.





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31/05/2020

Godwin’s Court is one of the loveliest short-cuts in London. Not only does it have some of the oldest original shopfronts in London said to date back to the 1690’s, it is said to have inspired the Harry Potter books and has also been used in numerous films including Mary Poppins and Gaslight.
My name is Pepe and despite my Spanish name I am a Londoner born and bred. I am also a London Blue Badge Tourist Guide, so if you want to experience London with a true local, get in touch. As well as giving you VIP access to famous sites such as Westminster Abbey, I can show you the hidden and secret parts of this great city. Worried your kids are getting bored in Lockdown? I can offer virtual walking tours of London sites and cover subjects as diverse as the Tower of London and Jack the Ripper.




@ Covent Garden

29/05/2020

In my opinion Her Majesty’s Palace and fortress the Tower of London is a definite must on any first time visit to Britain, I describe it as being like Disneyland but with real blood!!! I cannot wait for these gates to reopen. Not only was it built 950 years ago, but it has also been the scene of so many famous stories from British history that there are almost too many to count. But here’s a few.

During its long history it was for 100’s of years used to make the coins of the realm and in fact Sir Isaac Newton, one of the greatest scientists in history was Master of the Mint for more than 30 years.
It has also been used to house a royal menagerie, in fact the first polar bear in England was seen here, given as a gift by the King of Norway in the 1250’s. They shackled the bear and let it go swimming in the river Thames which was full of poo and dead animals so you can imagine how long the polar bear lasted.
The Crown Jewels have been housed here for 100’s of years. Among them you can see the First Star of Africa, the largest clear diamond in the world, at 530.2 carats it is estimated to be Worth $500 million.
However, when I take young people to the Tower, they know it for one other more macabre reason. For 100’s of years it was used as a prison, a place of torture and most famously, a place of ex*****on.. 3 Queens of England have been executed here, two of them married to the same King, Henry the Eighth. Wife number 2 Anne Boleyn and wife number 5 Queen Catherine Howard.
Can you Remember the famous rhyme when it comes to Henry’s 6 wives? Here goes. Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded survived.
Make sure you put the Tower of London at the top of your list if you have young people when you come to London. And even better why not employ the services of the London Blue Badge Tourist Guide to bring alive all the famous moments in English history..



@ Tower of London

28/05/2020

Number 18 Folgate Street or the Dennis Severs House is one of London’s most extraordinary hidden museums. The house was built in the 1720’s for wealthy French Protestant silk merchants who had moved to the area after escaping persecution in France.
Dennis Severs moved to London in the late 1970s and fell in love with the area.. He began fixing up the house as it was in a terrible condition and created the story of a fictional French Huguenots family and essentially the house follows their story from generation to generation all the way through to the First World War.
After Dennis’s death in the 1990s the house was given to a trust and it is open throughout the year on select days. When you enter the Museum you’re requested not to talk and the way museum is laid out it is almost as if the family have just stepped out of the room. You’ll see candles burning and a boiling kettle on the stove. David Hockney called it “the great act of living opera in the world”.
My name is Pepe and despite my Spanish name I am a Londoner born and bred. I am also a London Blue Badge Tourist Guide, so if you want to experience London with a true local, get in touch. As well as giving you VIP access to famous sites such as Westminster Abbey, I can show you the hidden and secret parts of this great city. Worried your kids are getting bored in Lockdown? I can offer virtual walking tours of London sites and cover subjects as diverse as the Tower of London and Jack the Ripper.








@ Dennis Severs' House

25/05/2020

A view of Greenwich from the River 2020

This incredible view of Greenwich is from Island Gardens which is at the bottom of the Isle of Dogs. 250 years ago the Italian painter Canaletto stood on the same spot and painted the same view (see pic 2). Incredibly the view is identical today, apart from the statue of General James Wolfe at the top of the hill. Wolfe, a Greenwich boy, was still alive at the time. In 1758 he would become a national hero after his defeat of the French at the battle of Quebec but sadly he lost his life and is buried in a local Greenwich church.
The buildings you see in the foreground were built as a hospital for invalided sailors under the patronage of King William III and Queen Mary II. They were designed by one of England’s great architects Christopher Wren. Wren was responsible for rebuilding much of the City of London after the Great Fire in 1666. Today the buildings house Greenwich University, Trinity College of Music and the Painted Hall which is open to the public.
The white building in the centre is lcalled the Queen’s House and was built by Inigo Jones, one of the first English born architects to make a name for himself. It is considered one of the first classical style buildings completed in London since Roman time and today houses the art collection of the National Maritime Museum.
My name is Pepe and despite my Spanish name I am a Londoner born and bred. I am also a London Blue Badge Tourist Guide, so if you want to experience London with a true local, get in touch. As well as giving you VIP access to famous sites such as Westminster Abbey, I can show you the hidden and secret parts of this great city. Worried your kids are getting bored in Lockdown? I can offer virtual walking tours of London sites and cover subjects as diverse as the Tower of London and Jack the Ripper.





@ Greenwich

23/05/2020

One Park Drive is a fabulous new skyscraper in Canary Wharf. Rising to 57 stories it is designed by Hertzog and De Meuron the Swiss architects who designed the Birds Nest stadium in Beijing. Canary Wharf is currently being extended by a third. The new district is called Wood Wharf and the majority of the new buildings will be residential apartments. They have promise much more open green space, with a new public park, retail and a brand new theatre. Who knows what’s going to happen in these post Covid times?
On a walking tour of the area I love telling the story of the transformation of the old docks. It is incredible to think that just a generation ago this was an area left totally abandoned with just a few echos of its historical important past. For instance, did you know that London had the largest docks in the world until the First World War and the largest in Europe until the Second? I remember cycling around here on my bike as a kid and getting into all sorts of trouble.
My name is Pepe and despite my Spanish name I am a Londoner born and bred. I am also a London Blue Badge Tourist Guide, so if you want to experience London with a true local, get in touch. As well as giving you VIP access to famous sites such as Westminster Abbey, I can show you the hidden and secret parts of this great city. Worried your kids are getting bored in Lockdown? I can offer virtual walking tours of London sites and cover subjects as diverse as the Tower of London and Jack the Ripper.

21/05/2020

The Cenotaph is the most important war memorial in Britain. It remembers those who have given their lives for their country, particularly during the First World War.

The word Cenotaph means “empty tomb” in Greek so rather than being a burial place it is a memorial and acts as a permanent reminder of the sacrifice of soldiers in all conflicts.

It was unveiled by King George V on the 11th November 1920, exactly 2 years after the armistice of the first world war. On the same day,the body of the unknown warrior was laid to rest at Westminster Abbey.

Until fairly recently, Her Majesty the Queen would lay a wreath at the Cenotaph on the nearest Sunday to the 11th of November. She now stands on the balcony above and looks down as her eldest son and heir Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales carries out this important royal duty.

My name is Pepe and despite my Spanish name I am a Londoner born and bred. I am also a London Blue Badge Tourist Guide, so if you want to experience London with a true local, get in touch. As well as giving you VIP access to famous sites such as Westminster Abbey, I can show you the hidden and secret parts of this great city. Worried your kids are getting bored in Lockdown? I can offer virtual walking tours of London sites and cover subjects as diverse as the Tower of London and Jack the Ripper.








@ The Cenotaph, Whitehall

20/05/2020

Dear All

I am doing a public virtual walk on Saturday 6th of June at 545pm. From Bangladesh to Banksy - The Story of London’s new East End. If you haven’t caught it yet, you can book via the link below.. . Just £10, a bargain. 🤪

https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.suestamptours.com%2Fcurrent-tours%2Fbangladesh-to-banksy%2F&data=02%7C01%7C%7C6c5c87d0955f4800be6a08d7fc17095a%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637255048173482761&sdata=i9B7%2BrfBJEYE1GZ2k56N6P4SqJV6Xq9xkyExlcC%2BAes%3D&reserved=0

Sue Stamp Tours - Zoom Virtual Walking Tour with Pepe Martinez - 'Bangladesh to Banksy' - 50 Year History of the New East End

20/05/2020

St James’s Palace

St James’s Palace was built by King Henry 8th in the 1530’s when he was married to his 2nd wife Anne Boleyn. 4 monarchs were born here including my favourite King George IV. It is the most important royal palace in Britain and all Ambassadors and High Commissioners are called to the Court of St James.

The balcony in pic 2 is important because this is where the Royal proclamation is read out announcing the death of the Monarch and at the same time announcing a new one.

My name is Pepe and despite my Spanish name I am a Londoner born and bred. I am also a London Blue Badge Tourist Guide, so if you want to experience London with a true local, get in touch. As well as giving you VIP access to famous sites such as Westminster Abbey, I can show you the hidden and secret parts of this great city. Worried your kids are getting bored in Lockdown? I can offer virtual walking tours of London sites and cover subjects as diverse as the Tower of London and Jack the Ripper.



@ St James's Palace

18/05/2020

This trooper is a member of the Household Cavalry on duty at Horseguards. They are here everyday between 11 and 4pm and from 10 am on Sundays. There are two regiments that do this duty on alternate days and you can tell which regiment they’re from by the distinctly coloured uniforms.

This smiling trooper is from the Blue and Royals. Notice he wears a blue tunic and has red plumes. By the way, both William and Harry were members of this regiment and the singer James Blunt.. Notice the amazing leather riding boots which cost about £1500 a pair and are made by German booter in Mayfair.

One of the great advantages of being a tour guide in London is that occasionally we get to go behind the scenes. If you look in the second and third pictures, You can dome soldiers from the Lifeguards with their distinctive Scarlett tunics, behind the scenes. They have removed their helmets are waiting to be stood down by their commanding officer.

My name is Pepe and despite my Spanish name I am a Londoner born and bred. I am also a London Blue Badge Tourist Guide, so if you want to experience London with a true local, get in touch. As well as giving you VIP access to famous sites such as Westminster Abbey, I can show you the hidden and secret parts of this great city. Worried your kids are getting bored in Lockdown? I can offer virtual walking tours of London sites and cover subjects as diverse as the Tower of London and Jack the Ripper.




@ Horse Guards Parade