Tales of 2 Cities walks in Westminster and City of London with Caroline Dunmore and Barbara Hargreaves

Royal Society's 350th anniversary

Barbara and Caroline were commissioned to design and deliver a programme of walks as part of the Royal Society's 350th anniversary celebrations. These special guided walks took place between July and November 2010.

Scientists in London: Three Homes of the Royal Society
A walk designed and delivered by Caroline
This walk shows you the three beautiful homes the Royal Society has had since 1780: Somerset House, Burlington House and Carlton House Terrace. Along the way you will see many other sites related to Fellows of the Royal Society, including the homes of Isaac Newton and Benjamin Franklin. You will hear about the famous scientific expedition undertaken by James Cook and Joseph Banks, the scientific rivalry between Humphry Davy and Michael Faraday and many other stories about scientists in London.

The Royal Society in the History of Medicine
A walk designed and delivered by Barbara
Starting at London's oldest hospital and finishing at one of its great churches, this walk takes you through the Royal Society's involvement in the history of medicine. You'll find out about the contribution to the development of medical science made by Royal Society Fellows such as Percivall Pott and Alexander Fleming and hear how Samuel Pepys survived surgery before anaesthetic. This walk shows how the health and illness of the people who have lived and died in the City of London over the centuries have left their mark on the City we see today and our current medical and surgical practices.

Science in the City: The Origins of the Royal Society
A walk designed and delivered by Caroline
This walk reveals many intriguing sites in the heart of the City with links to the early Fellows of the Royal Society. You will explore the alleys where Christopher Wren and Robert Hooke frequented coffee-houses, and hear about their involvement in the rebuilding of London after the Great Fire. You will learn about how that supreme mathematician Isaac Newton turned his hand to managing the Royal Mint, and how the great astronomer Edmond Halley had many adventures at sea. You will see where the work of clockmaker John Harrison is memorialised and hear about the Royal Society's involvement in the longitude problem.

Society and Science: Fellows of the Royal Society
A walk designed and delivered by Barbara
On this walk through the City of London, you discover many places that link to and celebrate the achievements of Fellows of the Royal Society. You will hear about both scientific and non-scientific Fellows from the 350 years of the Royal Society's history and learn about how their remarkable contributions and amazing lives still affect us today. See how Charles II has a direct link with Angela Merkell, and how it was not just chocolate that Sir Hans Sloane imported in bulk. Hear about how competition with France drove forward the sciences of astronomy and medicine and find out which Fellow has his occupation listed simply as 'virtuoso'. And learn too about the lives of these Fellows, their discoveries and adventures, their rivalries and loves.

The Royal Society in the Enlightenment
A gallery tour designed and delivered by Caroline
Built in the 1820s as a home for the King's Library, the Enlightenment Gallery at the British Museum is considered one of the finest interiors in London. On this guided tour you will hear the story of the Royal Society's role in the Age of Enlightenment and in the development of our great museum collections. You will see fascinating objects collected by Hans Sloane, President of the Royal Society and founder of the British Museum, and by other Fellows including William Hamilton (best remembered as the husband of Emma Hamilton) and Stamford Raffles, the founder of Singapore.

The London of Samuel Pepys
A walk designed and delivered by Barbara
Samuel Pepys is famous for his diary, of course, but it is less well known that he served as the President of the Royal Society for two years and that Isaac Newton's Principia carries his imprimatur. This walk takes you around the sites in the heart of the City that Pepys frequented and gives you a special opportunity to visit St Olave's, Hart Street, the church at which Pepys and his wife worshipped and where they are buried.