Emily Laurence Baker

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Emily Laurence Baker

Emily Laurence Baker I am a Blue Badge guide available for private tours in London and surrounding areas. I will work with you to design your ideal day, walk or site visit.

12/02/2025

How happy am I? March is going to be deliciously full of literary tours. I’m happily pulling books from my shelves to help craft bespoke walks with some delightful angles from straightforward Bloomsbury Group and Charles Dickens trails, to more focused walks on specific books.

How lucky is this guide to live in one of the best literary cities in the world? There are specialist museums, bookshops, statues, houses, gardens…everywhere you turn, there is a literary reference. Heaven.

07/02/2025

Happy Birthday Charles Dickens and Happy 100th Birthday to the Charles Dickens Museum! This splendid museum, located in the only remaining London residence of the great writer, first opened its doors in 1925. To celebrate, the museum is displaying some of the first objects to enter the museum, together with recent acquisitions, in the context of an overview of his life and work.

I particularly enjoyed an exhibition on portraits. We tend to think of him as the older, distinguished bearded man but he was rather boyish and innocent looking in his early days. There’s even the chance to see the “Lost Portrait,” which was originally displayed at the Royal Academy in 1844 but then disappeared. It turned up, of course, in a house clearance sale in South Africa in 2017.

There are also original manuscripts (so fun to see scribbles and cross marks); his quill pen; personal letters and even his hairbrush.

The special exhibition opened earlier this week and is on until 29 June 2025. The museum is at 40 Doughty Street and open Weds-Sun 10-5, last entry 4pm.

03/02/2025

One of my favourite walking places in London is Brompton Cemetery, which might seem strange to those who are spooked by being surrounded by the dead. But I find it a place full of life. It’s a popular dog walking and jogging site for locals, and there is an abundance of wildlife.

The original cemetery planners intended for this 40-acre site to be used for recreation as well as for burials. Not long after the first burials occurred in 1840, Londoners would come here to picnic and enjoy the open space.

The burial ground was laid out in 1839 when London’s population was growing at a rapid rate and the small churchyards in the City of London became dangerously overcrowded.

Although it’s particularly lovely in summer months, the cemetery is broody and atmospheric in winter when the absence of leaves allows the layout to be seen more clearly. There are benches throughout, inviting people to relax with a book, a companion, or just to contemplate life.

28/01/2025

Pride and Prejudice! On this day in 1813, 212 years ago, Jane Austen’s momentous book was published.

A novel title known all over the world, and one that has spawned an extraordinary number of spin-offs, including books, stage productions, and numerous versions of films of the same title. It’s also inspired many derivative films, including the splendid Bridget Jones and (oh dear) Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

Pride and Prejudice is regularly at the top of “most beloved novels” in numerous countries and it is one of the greatest publishing sensations of all time.

I often wonder, what would Jane have thought of all this attention?

I think she would have been delighted, horrified, and perhaps a bit bemused. There is a much-touted myth that Austen wrote for her own amusement, to pass the time between embroidery and perfecting musical technique.

I think she was an ambitious writer with an eye on the bottom line. A writer who couldn’t manage her own career due to societal constraints. She was a woman of contrasts, and her most famous novel is equally complex.

Pride and Prejudice is often misread as a frothy tale of silly women in pursuit of husbands. On the surface, perhaps. But deeper reading reveals Austen’s intention to showcase the limited choices available to women during the 1700s, the lack of control over their destinies and the absurdity of certain societal structures among the aristocracy.

Even though some of those constraints no longer exist, the pride and prejudices with which we greet the world are universal. And if that’s not enough for you, the dialogue and characterizations are so very funny and stand the test of time.

24/01/2025

A very grand chapel interior and one that few people even realise exists. The King’s Chapel of the Savoy, more commonly known as the Savoy Chapel, is tucked in behind the Savoy Hotel – and no, there is no connection other than the shared name. The name comes from the Savoy Palace, a medieval palace located on the Strand, the royal ceremonial route that linked the City of London with the Palace of Westminster. (Very technically the name originated with Count Peter of Savoy who purchased the original 13th-century palace on this site.)

This was a prime location for nobility, as your grand house would have river frontage and a private boat landing away from the general stench of the city. The Savoy was the grandest of the grand, belonging to powerful John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. But his home was destroyed during the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381 and years later, King Henry VII founded the Savoy Hospital, a refuge for the homeless, on this site.

Today’s chapel is the only surviving building of that complex. Although the basic structure dates from the 16th-century, the interior was completely renovated in the 1800s after two serious fires.

The Chapel is the spiritual home of the Duchy of Lancaster, the private estate held in trust for the Sovereign. So this is, in essence, King Charles’ private chapel. Apparently he doesn’t visit too often but I highly recommend dropping in if you are in the area. It’s usually open on Monday-Thursday mornings into the early afternoon. The entrance is on Savoy Street, behind the famous hotel.

10/01/2025

It’s not too often that you get up to ceiling height in an historic London building but this week, I found myself inches away from a particularly lovely one in the north wing of St Bartholomew’s Hospital on a special “Anatomy of the North Wing” tour.

Our lucky group climbed scaffolding where curators have been painstakingly brushing away centuries of grime from the ceiling and walls of the 18th-century Great Hall. The grand room was originally where hospital directors held fundraising banquets and more recently has hosted cultural events receptions and even students’ examinations.

The other restoration going on in the north wing is on the well-known Hogarth Staircase which boasts two enormous wall paintings done for free by William Hogarth in 1737. The staircase provided a grand entrance to the Great Hall above. One painting tells the biblical story of the Good Samaritan and depicts wounded and ill figures. Students at one time were invited to identify the ailments on view.

Bart’s is London’s oldest hospital, dating back to 1123. The £10 million restoration project is part of the hospital’s 900th birthday celebrations and has mostly been funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

The Staircase and Great Hall are scheduled to re-open to the public later this year with special tours and events.

The final Anatomy of North Wing tour is on 27 January.

16/12/2024

Happy birthday, Jane Austen. On this day in 1775, one of England's greatest writers was born at a farmhouse in Steventon, where her father was rector at St Nicholas Church.

Her worldwide popularity is astounding, considering she had little formal education. Some people dismiss her as writing mindless domestic dramas because her novels don't dwell on the politics of the moment.

I think she was one of our great feminist writers and so very funny, sometimes downright scathing in her cynicism.

I am looking forward to exploring her lasting appeal in a course at Oxford in the new year. I will share some insights here.

England has lots of places associated with Miss Austen. I love to reconvene with her in Chawton where you can see her writing desk, personal trinkets and absorb the flavour of her life.

Happy Birthday, Jane, and thank you for many hours of enjoyment.

13/12/2024

There is a lot of hype surrounding “Poets and Lovers”, the current Van Gogh exhibition at The National Gallery. Tickets sold out rapidly and it’s led to a flurry of people joining the Gallery in order to gain access.

The exhibition, which displays some 61 works, including drawings and paintings, unites some rarely seen pictures with old favourites. I was delighted for the chance to view so many pieces from private collections and some on loan for the first time.

Because the show focuses on only two years of Van Gogh’s life, 1888-1889, the proliferation of works is striking. “Poets and Lovers” communicates what a careful planner the artist was, as to how finished works should be displayed and how they interact with one another.

The National Gallery has the space to show them as Van Gogh intended and it allows viewers to focus on his art rather than his psychological profile. What a treat to see two versions of Sunflowers, one the National Gallery’s own and one from the Philadelphia Museum of Art, bookend La Berceuse (The Lullaby) in a triptych which Van Gogh had always envisioned.

So special to have a fresh look at a much-discussed artist.

Poets and Lovers is until 19 January 2025.

12/12/2024

A fun side element of being a tourist guide is enjoying hotel lobbies (and washrooms but that’s another story). And it’s especially fun at Christmas. I think my award this year goes to Claridges, where the Christmas tree is designe by Paul Smith. Bright colours and fanciful workings abound.

There are 100 birdhouses, including a series of mechanical ones created by artist Nik Ramage. Birdsong trills through the lobby. It’s well worth popping in even if you aren’t greeting a guest there.

09/12/2024

A rare adornment of fairy lights in the Pyx Chamber at Westminster Abbey. This is one of my favourite places to show visitors because it is one of the few sites that date back to the first Westminster Abbey, constructed by King Edward (later known as Edward the Confessor) in the 11th century.

The Pyx Chamber, once a monastic and royal treasury, housed the Crown Jewels until 1649. This low-ceiling, vaulted room also was the storage place for coins on their way to the Trial of the Pyx, the annual ceremony in which coins were tested for quality and authenticity. The only evidence today of this chapel as a storage facility are in the huge chests where important documents were kept and the splendid medieval, triangular cope chest, where vestments were once stored (no ironing necessary).

This below-ground chapel has a hushed atmosphere that I find evokes a spiritual quality like nowhere else on the grounds. The rounded Norman arches and stocky columns make a wonderful contrast to the Gothic pointed arches of the present-day church built by King Henry III in the 13th century.

06/12/2024

Sixty years ago today, Martin Luther King addressed a congregation of some 4000 people at St Paul’s Cathedral. He urged his audience to be the best people they could be by recognizing the “Three Dimensions of a Complete Life.” By this he meant the progression from a life of self-interest, to one of leaning out towards others, and then, ultimately, to an upward reach towards God.

Perhaps even more poignant are the words King spoke at a press conference after the service.

‘I think it's a fact now, and everybody knows it, that there are growing racial problems in Britain …it is my feeling that if Britain is not eternally vigilant and if England does not in a real sense, go all out to deal with this problem now; it can mushroom and become as serious as the problem we face in some other Nations.’

Sixty years ago.

Dr King was on his way to accept the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo in 1964 when he stopped in London. Just a little over three years later, he was assassinated.

04/12/2024

Oh, the glorious Vanessa Bell! This fantastic artist associated with the Bloomsbury Group and her artistic haven at Charleston in East Sussex, has a splendid exhibition on at the MK Gallery in Milton Keynes. The extensive array of paintings left me thinking, “why is she not more celebrated?”

Bell often seems to be known via her associations with others – most notably her more famous sister, Virginia Woolf. And I must confess, because I am literary-oriented, my focus has always been on Virginia.

The MK Gallery exhibition provides a detailed look at Vanessa's career and personal life and most importantly, her creative explorations and development as an artist. In her early portraits, most notably one of her father, the critic Leslie Stephen, you can see the influence of her tutor, John Singer Sargent. As she gains confidence, she experiments with pointillism, collage, and a freer spirit generally.

Her central role with The Omega Workshops is given lots of space here, and this is also a rare opportunity to see the Famous Women’s Dinner Service away from Charleston. And for literary fans, you get to see some original designs for Virginia Woolf’s novels.

Vanessa Bell, at last, in the spotlight.

A World of Form and Colour is on until 23 February 2025. Hurry!

The MK Gallery is a delightful space and is only about a one-mile walk from the Milton Keynes Central Station. There is a pleasant café where you can refuel before walking back. So easy!

02/12/2024

Colours abound at the Michael Craig-Martin exhibition currently on at the Royal Academy. I nearly missed it and I think it is great fun.

What I loved most was the Irish-born artist's use of colour. The exhibition highlights it with the walls of each room painted in vibrant hues of pinks, blues and purples.

I also enjoyed his modern takes on old classics; recognize them?

The exhibition closes on 10 December.

26/11/2024

Always a treat to get up high above the city. Yesterday I raced up the 528 steps to the Golden Gallery with a delightful American woman who was keen to see London from all angles. It was a cloudy day but my guest took the positive view that the clouds enhanced her photos.

And indeed they did – a great way to experience the moody skies of late. There are days when guiding is just pure delight and yesterday was one of them.

22/11/2024

The Bloomsbury Group comes alive at the Courtauld Gallery.

I’m preparing a Bloomsbury Group tour at the moment and was delighted to visit this small room decorated in Bloombsury style on the top floor of the Courtauld to inspire my presentation.

The walls are painted in vivid but muted colours which Bloomsbury artists celebrated and there are a surprising number of Bloomsbury treasures, particularly those that belonged to Roger Fry, the artist and critic credited with coining the term “post Impressionism.”

If you’re not able to get to Charleston, the East Sussex residence where Bloomsbury Group artists and writers gathered during the First World War, this is the next best thing. Artists Vanessa and Clive Bell, and Duncan Grant, decorated the Charleston rooms with lavish illustrations of animals and decorative paintings, making the entire house like a cosy, liveable gallery.

The exhibition at the Courtauld is a fantastic introduction to Charleston. I was especially delighted to be welcomed by the self-portrait of Roger Fry and to see some of his earlier works before he ventured away from classical style painting.

20/11/2024

How to excite a Jane Austen fan: display a collection of first editions of all six of Jane Austen’s novels. She may have handled some of these – of course not Northanger Abbey and Persuasion which were published posthumously but how about that stunning (and extremely rare) copy of Sense and Sensibility with the publisher’s original binding? Or the gorgeous version of Emma, owned by her brother Frank?

Jane Austen’s House in Chawton, Hampshire, is where Jane lived during the last years of her life and museum curators are anticipating next year’s 250th anniversary celebrations of this author who has captured hearts around the world. The display of first editions is part of a new exhibition, Jane Austen and the Art of Writing, which showcases items that may have inspired and influenced her writing.

The house is especially lovely in Autumn, as it’s easy to imagine Jane snuggled inside, hard at work.

18/11/2024

You’d think you were looking at St Paul’s Cathedral, right? Well, in a sense you are. This is the Great Model, an enormous representation of the church that Sir Christopher Wren intended to build after the Great Fire of London in 1666 and the means of showing King Charles II his intentions.

The Great Model, built in 1673 at a 1:25 scale, today commands a kind of secret chamber tucked into the roof of St Paul’s Cathedral. Sir Christopher Wren built it at a cost of £600 (the cost of a decent London house at the time). But after all that expense and effort, this version of St Paul’s was rejected by the Church powers because the dome was deemed too radical (really meaning Catholic and foreign).

Wren went on to design an accepted “Warrant” design with a more traditional layout and spire. But he wrote in options in the final plan that allowed him the option to make “variations.” That meant he achieved the splendid dome that is a symbol of London today.

You can visit the Trophy Room on a St Paul’s Triforium tour. They usually take place weekly but sell out about two months ahead.

11/11/2024

What a treat to be visiting the parish church of Steventon, where Jane Austen’s father, George, was rector from 1765-1801.

Jane was born in Steventon and the household revolved around this quintessentially English rural church. She was baptised here in 1776 and worshipped here for 25 years. The large yew tree out front is where George placed the key to the church.

Every time I come here, I feel Jane's presence in a way I don’t elsewhere. She lived in Steventon longer than anywhere else in England, and this church is much as it would have been in her day.

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I’m outside the Royal Academy of Engineering in St James where today’s Wonder Woman, Dame Ann Dowling, became the first female president in 2014. Ann is a world authority on combustion and acoustics and has helped make all kinds of engines run more quietly. "I never really woke up and said, “I want to be an engineer,” Ann told the BBC in 2017. But she clearly loves what she does and she has had a remarkable career that’s all the more impressive in a hugely male-dominated profession. Ann originally studied mathematics but switched to engineering after working at the Royal Aircraft Establishment in the 1960s, where she studied aircraft noise, a new field at that time. Concorde was being developed and it faced opposition for landing in the United States because of its intense volume of sound. In the early 2000s, she worked on the high profile Silent Aircraft Initiative, a project dedicated to reducing aircraft noise down to the equivalent of urban background sound. She then was involved with major international initiatives to solve sustainability and infrastructure issues. Professor Dowling laments that more women don’t pursue engineering careers. She has been active in correcting that by promoting the breadth of roles available and raising awareness of unconscious bias. #wonderwomenwednesday #leadingbritishwomeninhistory #womeninengineering #britishwomenscientists #womenscientists #womenspowerlist #womanshourpowerlist #londonbluebadgeguide #guideinlondon #womenslondon Image credits: 1) Trinity college Dublin 2) By Deryck Chan - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikipedia 3) University of Cambridge 4) The Worshipful Company of Engineers 5) James Hunkin/National Portrait Gallery

Wonder Women Wednesday! I’m in Hanover square today in front of Vogue House recalling Audrey Withers, an enterprising editor of British Vogue during a very difficult time – the war and post years between 1940 and 1960. As editor of Vogue during and after World War II, Audrey Withers exemplifies the many women who found workplace opportunities vacated by men serving on the frontlines and who were reluctant to return to domestic life when the war ended. Ironically, Audrey had little interest in fashion for which Vogue was known and featured provocative images that drew attention to England’s wartime hardships. After the war, Withers published informative features that pushed Vogue beyond the parameters of a traditional women’s magazine. She covered politics and current events, topics in which she insisted “the intelligent, sophisticated woman is currently interested.” Withers became hugely influential in the publishing industry by insisting that women should be spotlighted in Vogue for their own accomplishments rather than because they were wives of famous men. Her goal was to publish a magazine that influenced women’s lives and she even was referenced as “the most powerful woman in London.” Not bad for someone who had lost a job early in her career because the company wanted a man instead. #wonderwomenwednesday #womeninbritishhistory #londoninworldwarII #greatbritishwomen #hanoversquare #bluebadgeguidelondon #audreywithers #womeninpublishing #wartimelondon 1) Norman Parkinson/©Iconic Images 2) Cecil Beaton/Vogue/©Conde Nast Publications 3) ©Conde Nast publications 4) ©Conde Nast publications 5) ©Conde Nast publications 6) Public Domain 7) Clifford Coffin/ Vogue/©The Condé Nast Publications Ltd

Wonder Women Wednesday! I’m in Chelsea today in St Loo Avenue, recalling Lady St Loo, better known as Bess of Hardwick. She was one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in 16th-century England. She owned a very elegant home, close by here, near Cheyne Walk. That was just one of many homes for which she known today, but she was so much more than that. Bess might seem an odd choice for a Wonder Woman in that she made her fortune through marriage but in the 16th century there weren’t many other options for women. She made the most of her circumstances by choosing wealthy and socially connected husbands. These shrewd marriages established her as a member of English nobility, and she became the second most powerful woman in England after Queen Elizabeth I. Elizabeth Cavendish was born sometime around 1527 into a family of relatively well-off Derbyshire landowners. Shortly after her birth, the family lost their property and money, forcing Bess into tenuous circumstances. This is undoubtedly what motivated her to ensure property purchases with her wealthy husbands were jointly owned and remained in her control after the husbands’ deaths. This was most unusual for the time. The symbols of her wealth and power live on today in two grand Derbyshire estates, Chatsworth House and Hardwick Hall, where the windows were manufactured in Bess’ own glassworks factory. Bess left a legacy that few men of her generation achieved. Image credits: 1. Bess of Hardwick, Public domain 2. Elizabeth Talbot, Countess of Shrewsbury, Public Domain 3. Trevor Rickard at Wikipedia (Countess of Shrewsbury Coat of Arms) 4. PORTRAIT INGESTRE Hall Residential Arts Centre via Art UK 5. Chris Heaton at Wikipedia 6. LADY JANE GREY, the Streatham Portrait at National Portrait Gallery, public domain 7. Chatsworth House, Chatsworth Government Art Collection 8. Martinvl at Wikipedia

Wonder Women Wednesday! I'm just off Oxford st today to honour the brilliant Scottish polymath, mathematician and possibly the first person ever to be called a scientist, Mary Somerville. She moved here to Hanover Square in 1819. The accomplished astronomer and scientist, Mary Somerville, grew up in Scotland in a family that didn’t believe in education for females so she only had one year of formal schooling. It was a challenging start for a woman whose scholarly achievements are honoured by having Oxford University’s Somerville College named for her. As a child, Mary taught herself Latin and Greek and studied algebra and the natural world. Her first husband, who didn’t support her academic pursuits, died early and she then married the physician, Dr William Somerville, who encouraged her intellectual interests. In London, they socialized with prominent scientists and writers. Somerville’s first paper on the violet rays of the solar spectrum was published in 1826 when she was 46. She went on to write five books, as well as publishing numerous academic papers. Unusually, Mary’s achievements were recognized during her lifetime. She was one of the first women to be elected to the Royal Astronomical Society in 1835. She also was a tutor to Ada Lovelace, often cited as the first computer programmer. Mary was a great advocate for women’s education and near the end of her life spoke out for women’s suffrage. Mary Somerville died in Italy at the age of 91. She spent her penultimate day revising a mathematical paper. #wonderwomenwednesday #marysomerville #womeninscience #womentransformingscience #greatbritishwomen #britishwomeninhistory #womenshistorywalks #womeninlondon #powerfulwomeninlondon #womeninbritishhistory #overlookedwomeninhistory #womenswalkingtourslondon

Wonder Women Wednesday! I’m in Bloomsbury today in Mecklenburgh Square outside the former home of an American-born, influential writer called Hilda Doolittle. She moved to London in the early 1900s and wrote under the pen name of H.D. After she moved to London in 1911, H.D. co-founded the Imagist Movement with fellow expat and poet, Ezra Pound. The movement believed in succinct, sharp verse and a rejection of the sentimentality associated with Romantic poetry. H.D.’s free verse poems brought her international acclaim and she was known as one of the greatest poets of her generation. She was the first woman to be awarded the Merit Medal for Poetry by the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1960. Her complex works probed gender and myth; by re-imagining classical myths from a female perspective, she overturned traditional interpretations. This brief sample from her 1915 poem, Storm, gives an idea of her mesmerizing use of language. “You burden the trees with black drops, you swirl and crash— you have broken off a weighted leaf in the wind, it is hurled out, whirls up and sinks, a green stone.” Sadly, H.D. was largely forgotten after her death in 1961 but enjoyed a revival in the 1970s and ‘80s which led to the release of previously unpublished works. Her prolific output includes novels, memoirs, and essays. She also translated texts from the Greek. Hilda Doolittle is a central figure in understanding the modernist aesthetic movement. #Hildadoolittle #AmericanexpatsinBritain #Americansinlondon #greatbritishwriters #greatwomenbritishwriters #wonderwomenwednesday #bloomsburywalkingtours #londonliteraturewalkingtours #britainsbestguides #guidelondon #literarylondontour #literarylondonwalk #londonliteraturetour

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