London Walks

A little pocket of elsewhere in the heart of West Hampstead. Step inside Bohemia House and you step into another world. Czech beer, Czech hospitality, a generous helping of history, and a wonderfully convivial encounter with Tomas, the man who makes the place tick. Oh, and a little homemade ginger vodka for medicinal purposes.

From the wooded bluffs of the upper Mississippi to a mysterious stretch of canal beneath my old office in Camden Town. A personal journey across the Atlantic, through centuries of London’s industrial history, with a wonderfully unexpected appearance by James Bond. And a final twist involving the Booker Prize.

Five hundred consecutive daily podcasts. Half a million listens. And now a change of gear. London Calling isn’t going away. Far from it. We’re trading seven daily editions for one longer, richer, more varied Saturday programme. The sidecar isn’t being abandoned. I’m simply climbing back onto the motorcycle. Come along for the ride.

Where did London put its dead when the graveyards were full? A journey into a lost world of bones, burial, belief and some of the strangest chapters in the city’s history.

A little red flower. A terrible history. How the poppy became the emblem of remembrance, why we wear it, and how something so fragile came to carry the weight of millions of lives lost in war.