Pop Goes The Weasel: A Historical Walk from Angel to Moorgate

A strange title, you say? Perhaps. But on this walking tour, you’ll discover that the area just northwest of the City of London has deep and playful ties to the famous nursery rhyme – from tuppeny rice, treacle, and of course, that elusive weasel. You’ll find out its meaning… and why exactly it goes POP!

Starting at Angel Underground Station, you’ll instantly see why this junction was a buzzing epicentre of long-distance travel, filled with stagecoaches and travellers in the 1700s and 1800s. Dickens himself believed this was where “London began in earnest,” thanks to two famed coaching inns. From there, you’ll pass through elegant Georgian Myddelton Square before stopping by the world-renowned Sadler’s Wells Theatre.

Rejoining the City Road, you’ll hear tales of bygone industries, pioneering medical advances, and the area’s colourful past residents. You’ll follow in the footsteps of evangelist John Wesley and visit the burial ground synonymous with Methodism. You’ll reach the City of London’s northernmost edge, where you’ll discover how this area offered shelter to those displaced by the Great Fire of 1666, before ending the tour at Moorgate Underground Station.

Along the way, you’ll also have a chance to:

• Hear how the area known as Angel got its name, and see the site of two of its most famous coaching inns
• Find out how the local Victorian Bobby on the beat marked his territory
• Learn about the working-class history of the area and see what remains of its industrial past
• Get to grips with the meaning behind the song ”Pop goes the weasel”
• Learn about the area’s links with London’s violent gangs, both past and present
• Visit the peaceful site of one of London’s oldest burial grounds and hear about some of the inspirational people buried there

By the end of this 90-minute walk, you’ll have a sense of how this area developed from fields and open countryside to a buzzing hub of commerce and entertainment.