October Heritage walks - two tours per night

Thurs 29th Oct - 6:30 and 8:30pm

Friday 30th Oct - 6:30 and 8:30pm

Sat 31st Oct - 6:30 and 8:30pm (includes quartet and graveside sing-a-long)

Sun 1st Nov - 6:30 and 8:30pm

Join Sheldon from Cemetery Club on one of eight walking tours highlighting some of the stories of people buried here.

Bring a torch and meet the dead of the old East End!

As darkness falls over Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park, join historian Sheldon K. Goodman for a special Halloween journey into the lives — and deaths — of some of the extraordinary people buried here.

Opened in 1841 and locally known as Bow Cemetery, Tower Hamlets became the final resting place of generations of Eastenders. Around 350,000 people (that we know of) are buried here, their stories offering a remarkable glimpse into Victorian and early 20th-century London: disease and disaster, crime and poverty, protest and politics, alongside eccentricity, achievement and lives lived against the odds.

Meet trade unionist Harry Orbell, a heroic schoolboy, a war hero from Waterloo and tales of migration and east end life, as well some of the cemetery's stranger and more macabre stories.

Led by Sheldon K. Goodman of Cemetery Club, these special after-dark tours reveal Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park through the people who lived, worked and died in the neighbourhood around it — and whose stories still linger among its graves.

On the 31st October, Sheldon will be joined by the Stretto Quartet as part of the yearly ritual in resurrecting a song once sung and known by those buried here!

All ages are welcome but under 16s must be accompanied by an adult - Parental discretion is advised as adult themes are featured.

Well-behaved dogs, on a lead are welcome too.

Please read as much as possible before booking. 

Please wear weather appropriate clothes and closed shoes (no sandals/flip flops/crocs). A maximum of 30 participants will be attending each walk. Spaces book up quickly, but it's worth joining the waiting list as people do cancel.

Meeting point: The War Memorial, by the Soanes Centre (on the right as you enter via the main gates on Southern Grove E3 4PX - nearest Tube Mile End).

BEFORE YOU DECIDE TO BOOK

If you travel by bike, we can’t offer indoor storage, but you are able to lock your bike up on the bike racks outside the Cemetery Park Lodge.

WHAT TO BRING

1. Wear suitable shoes for walking and comfortable clothing. Dress for the weather as we will be outside.
2. Bring a torch
3. Wrap up warm
4. There is nowhere to leave your belongings. Please do not bring anything you aren’t willing to carry with you.
5. There will be no toilets available.

ON THE DAY

1. Please arrive on time and go to the meeting area:  The War Memorial, by the Soanes Centre (on the right as you enter via the main gates on Southern Grove E3 4PX - nearest Tube Mile End).
2. The Friends will collect contact information on attendees, we will treat your data in accordance with our data protection policy.
   

Click here for more information on our data protection policy.

Access statement

• This is an accessible, inclusive walk. The maximum number of participants is 30.

• We will cover a distance of 1km to 2km. The paths are approx. 1-2m wide. The surface is crushed concrete fines, a type of hard-packed fine gravel (which doesn't turn to mud in rain) or earth although we may wander in some areas off the paths where access is more limited. A circular route around the Cemetery Park is approx. 1km with one steeper slope and some shallow slopes, but you can go as far as you like. There are 2 areas with steps, but these are avoidable. If arranged in advance a motorised vehicle could also drive onto the site. There are benches with backs at regular distances around the Cemetery Park. Some of the site is shaded. There is restriction free on-street parking (Southern Grove) at weekends.

• Please contact us with at least 2 weeks’ notice if you’d like BSL or other interpretation/translation and we will do our best to accommodate. Sadly, we have no-one in house who is able to offer this service.

• We aim to make our events as accessible as possible, and we're learning constantly how to do this better. If you would like to let us know about any specific requirements or access needs that you would like us to meet, or offer feedback on our accessibility arrangements, please email contact@fothcp.org. We want you to feel safe in the Cemetery Park.

Refund policy: If you tell us that you want to cancel your ticket, we will only give you a refund if you request one, and if you give a minimum of 48 hours notice before the start of the event.