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London for crime fans – follow Edgar Wallace, Sherlock Holmes, Scotland Yard and Jack the Ripper to England’s capital city
London is not only the capital city of England; it is also a place where a lot of criminal  stories take place, for instance, the famous detective Sherlock Holmes. He is a fictional character, created by Arthur Conan Doyle. Every month, division of Abbey National Bank on Baker Street 215 receives 30 to 40 letters for Sherlock Holmes. The answer of the bank manager is always the same: “Sorry, but Mr Holmes is in retirement.” Even though Sherlock Holmes had to help stupid commissioners in smaller cities and villages, he lived at Baker Street 221b. The building is demolished now, but across the street you can find a Museum about the detective and his well known assistant Dr. Watson. There is still another way to follow Holmes’ tracks. Every Tuesday, you can take a guided “Sherlock Holmes Walk.” It starts at the north exit of Baker Street subway station.
Another guided walk is the Jack the Ripper tour. If you prefer these criminal tours you should have a look at the page of Richard Jones (www.london-walks.co.uk/). He is a former policeman who has worked on the case of Jack the Ripper and created the Jack the Ripper tour, which is indeed the most demanded tour in London. And when you want to see Ripper in action, you should go to "London Dungeon." This is a very different museum, one of London’s famous, which is situated in a former tube channel (Underground station: London Bridge). It is similar to Madame Tusauds acquainted wax works but what you see are not celebrities from the yellow press. However, you can watch Jack the Ripper while he is murdering and a lot of other figures. You get to know the dark side of the city with execution, torture, pest and homicide.
There are a lot of other stories, from Edgar Wallace, who has written forty-four novels on this subject, which are located in this city. So, if you travel to London and want to feel the atmosphere of these famous crimes, you can find a lot of places which are connected to criminal stories or detective heroes. Wallace has not only one character who resolves the cases, but all his commissioners work for Scotland Yard, the metropolitan police. They are so secret that see a new building at Broadway number 10 only from outside as well as the headquarters of secret intelligence (MI6).
The jewels in the Tower Museum are some of the objects which are a matter of interest for criminals. When you go to see them, go early in the morning so that you can see the Themse in fog. Then you get the real Wallace feeling because in every one of his crimes is a pursuit over this river at night. None of his crimes comes out without fog, rain, darkness, Themse gully and crematory where it happened. Night is in any case the best time for these excursions, but there are nice places for the day, too. The Billingsgate fish market, where Edgar Wallace’s father worked, is a place which often plays a role in his stories. At his birth house in Greenwich, you can visit by a boat trip along the river. The old crematory in Deptford is spooky, the best time of course is full moon. Who doesn’t want to have such a creepy walk along the Flee Street, the old newspaper street in London. There are pubs and the St. Bride’s church, which he frequently visited. The Wyndham-Theatre is also interesting, he began his career there as theatre writer. The inside the house hasn’t changed much since his time.
There are some places which could be interesting for crime fans, but of course there are a lot of other possibilities. You can find some information at www.visitbritain.de or www.londontouristboard.co.uk. For tours, also look at www.shockinglondon.com. But other tours are as well possible, like Shakespeare walks www.shakespeareguide.com. Have a god time in London! (by Henrike L.) |
