Writer Virginia Stephen Woolf and her ‘Such Friends’ lived in the Bloomsbury area of London in the early 20th century, when they were just starting their careers, and became known as the ‘Bloomsbury group.’ We’ll see the houses where they ‘lived in squares and loved in triangles,’ from 1904 to 1915, walking the same streets that they did when they strolled from one Thursday evening salon to another. In the drawing rooms of middle class London, they had whisky, buns and cocoa, and, as Virginia remembered later, ‘’Talking, talking, talking… as if everything could be talked…’
Gordon Square, University of London, University College Hospital, Fitzroy Square
You can start your Bloomsbury day with high tea at the Morton Hotel, near the Russell Square Tube Station. From there it is an easy stroll to our starting point, the entrance to Gordon Square with the snack shop. I’ll meet you there…
Places to stop along the way:
The snack shop at the entrance to Gordon Square is a good place to have an ‘al fresco’ lunch if the weather is nice.
The Northumberland Arms pub, at Grafton Way and Tottenham Court Road, is a great spot to stop for a pint.
The Indian YMCA has a low cost cafeteria with nice lunches, open to the public.
Best time of day:
This walk is best done during the day time, hopefully with lovely sunshine and no rain.
Precautions:
As always, be careful crossing the streets—even at pedestrian crossings—and remember which side the cars drive on!
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