It's our weekly London roundup starting with a few headlines that caught the eye in London this week, click the links for the full stories...
Best Feet Forward - Walking & Shoe News This Week
Consider this from Time magazine:
A quick jaunt with coworkers could make you feel better all over, according to a new study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
Of course, fans of The West Wing have known this all along, as this memorable parody video will show: www.youtube.com (sorry folks, we were not allowed to embed it, but it is worth a click!).
Catch up with the Time article here: time.com
The New York Times is at it, too...
A new study finds that even gentle lunchtime strolls can perceptibly - and immediately - buoy people's moods and ability to handle stress at work.
Read the full article HERE.
Last word on the subject goes to Daily Constitutional Special Correspondent David Tucker, Tweeting earlier this week:
"Walking is the intentional act closest to the unwilled rhythms of the body, to breathing and the beating of the heart"
- London Walks (@londonwalks)January 21, 2015
We LOVE the look of this one: Fashion on the Ration: 40s Street Style at the Imperial War Museum...
The exhibition opens on the 31st March and you can book now (it looks like a popular one so book early). The IWM website is here: www.iwm.org.uk
If You Do One OTHER Thing In London This Week...
Our weekly slot in which we point you in the direction of other happenings and events in our great city. A new exhibition, a gig, a museum, a pop-up-shop - the best of London within a few minutes of a London Walks walking tour.
Plan a visit to Craven Cottage, home of Fulham Football Club.
Fulham F.C bill themselves as London's oldest football club. Founded in 1879, their home ground at Craven Cottage, one of London's quirkier arenas.
Its singularity stems largely from the presence of a pavilion at one corner of the ground, dating from 1905 and designed by renowned stadium architect Archibald Leith. The Johnny Haynes Stand was also designed by Leith and is the oldest existing stand in the Football League.
Fulham hold a special place in the hearts of the neutral London football fan. They are very proud of their history down in SW6, particularly of their contribution to the 1966 legend. In 1966 Fulham's George Cohen wore the number 2 jersey for England as they defeated West Germany in the World Cup Final.
The club offer stadium tours (booking essential) and their next home match is on 7th February against Birmingham City.
Free Walks This Weekend - But Some Are More Free Than Others
Good luck to our London Walkers who hop on TFL's free walks express this weekend.
They are genuinely free - guides won't be cadging for tips the way the commercial "free" walks operators do. (That juxtaposition - "commercial" and "free" - says it all, doesn't it.)
And while they do get a big turnout you'll get an acceptable standard of guiding. You won't have to put up with the kind of thing we overheard the other day outside Westminster Abbey on one of the "'free'-but-not-really-free" walks. ("When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more nor less.")
Coming into the home stretch - "tip time" - their red-clad (but not red faced) guide was addressing those poor souls thusly:
"This is Westminster Abbey [so far so good, for indeed it was]. Every English king* has been coronated here for a thousand years".
Show stopper verb and headline news to Edwards V and VIII.
A one-off? Alas, afraid not. As Guide of the Year Award winner Judy put it, "I've heard them use that verb before!! Unbelievably ignorant!"
*And as for William the Conqueror and his line not being, er, English - well, no point really in even going there, that's way too complicated. I mean they're "free", what do you expect.
Hmmm. This has got us a-mulling. You know Private Eye 's Pseuds' Corner and Commentator Balls - we wonder if there's anything to be said for London Walks getting a "Free" Walks Balls number going?
Last Word... Happy Burns Night!
Tomorrow - 25th January - is Burns night, the birthday of Scotland's national poet. In honour of that day, we're reblogging two pics of our editor Adam, the first taken in London's Embankment Gardens, the second in Dunedin, New Zealand, both featuring statues of Burns.
P.S. A THIRD Burns statue will appear on The Daily Constitutional on Monday to celebrate Australia Day... Huh? How so? All will be revealed on Monday. Have a great weekend!
A London Walk costs £9 - £7 concession. To join a London Walk, simply meet your guide at the designated tube station at the appointed time. Details of all London Walks can be found at www.walks.com
