To mark our 5th Birthday here at The D.C, we've been digging out a few faves from the archive. This one is from 2008 and features a cat, LW stalwart Richard III, a £500 reward and an unhappy animal rights activist…
Richard III is leading his Old Highgate Village Walk this weekend. It has, in the past, been an incident-packed afternoon. Over to Richard:“I was guiding in Old Highgate Village last year when I noticed a sign at the bottom of the hill at Jackson’s Lane offering a £50 reward for the return of a lost cat. When we got to the top of the hill, another sign. A second cat had been lost, but the reward here was £500. I told the group that property prices went up the higher up the hill you went and suggested that if someone was going to nick a cat they should do it at the top of the hill rather than the bottom.
“At which point I was assailed by a woman who insisted that I address the group withdrawing my remark which was ‘a disgraceful endorsement of cruelty’ and that I also desist from making more remarks about animals. As I had already promised my group that I would be telling them tales of a horse five thousand feet in the air, a chicken stuffed by Bacon, swearing loyalty to the village of Highgate on the horns of a live ox and chasing a pig, catching it by its tail and throwing it over your shoulder, I replied that I could not accede to her request. She then said that she was leaving and she would start a campaign in concert with animal welfare groups and would be sending people on my walk to record my inflammatory remarks.”
P.S. Above is a picture of Richard’s cat, Whisper. Whisper is not missing and therefore there is no reward for her return.
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.
