‘A London Lark’ has risen. Join us on 13 June 2025
A scene from ‘A London Lark Rising’ : a dramatised walking tour about the history of the East India Company.
I can’t believe it’s been so long since I sent you a newsletter. But if this is the first one you’ve received it means you’ve come on one of my walking tours recently, so thank you!
My East India Company tour is still attracting large numbers - I’ve even had a to buy a new microphone as my old one became so exhausted it gave up the ghost. My tea history tours are brewing nicely and I’ve only been made the UK Tea Academy’s Tea History tutor! It’s actually a proud moment for me to be given this title because when you fail your 11-plus and don’t go to university, the idea of a grand title with the word ‘tutor’ in it is just inconceivable. I’ve also done a few ‘Legacy of Empire in Limehouse’ tours for some private groups. During one Ian McKellen - you know, Gandalf - walked across the road in front of us and went into his house. He was in his pyjamas! He lives near, and is the leaseholder of, The Grapes pub, which features on my Limehouse tour. A pub has been on this site since the 16th century.
But the big news—the bit I really want to shout about—is that tickets have just gone on sale for the next outing of A London Lark Rising - the walking theatre put together by Anu Kumar (playwright and producer) and me. It will again be part of the Jaipur Literature Festival in London, and we have three performances on offer on 13 June 2025. If we’re successful in our bid for funding, there’ll be more, also in June. So if you didn’t make it last year —here’s your chance. We tell the story of the East India Company from 1599 to 1858 in the spots in the City of London where the history happened. You’ll come face-to face with Sir Thomas Smythe, Mughal Emperor Jahangir, Sir Thomas Roe and Robert Clive. We go far beyond my normal walking tour and transport you between London and Agra. There’s of course a mention of St Helena too. I love having the chance to guide these dramatised tours and to see the audience faces as they become more and more immersed in the performance and what it means to their own personal history. You can book here https://ticketlab.app/events?search=A+London+Lark+rising
Anu and I at the Kolkata Literary Meet - so exciting to do this.
So what else has been happening? January the plan was to head to Kolkata and Jaipur with Anu to explore whether we could transfer ‘A London Lark Rising’ from the pavements of the City to the streets of former Calcutta. Not so strightforward. The buildings in Kolkata are glorious—opulent relics from both the East India Company and Raj periods. The so-called Opium Building still stands, looking far too elegant for what it was dealing, and the Writers’ Building—where EIC clerks once wrote and apparently slept —loomed impressively. But walking the streets was more traffic dodging Wacky Races and hazardous trip zones, than heritage stroll. We haven’t necessarily ruled out our plan, but let’s see.
Still, the trip delivered one completely unexpected joy. Days before leaving, we got a message from the organisers of the Kolkata Literary Meet inviting us to speak about the experience of performing ‘Lark’ in London. Our names were in the programme under the title Raj Duet, which was slightly confusing (EIC = 1600s, Raj = 1858 +, but hey). We suddenly found ourselves amidst a world of panels, parties, and people who actually read books. I was the odd one out for sure. Anu despairs of me. if a book isn’t about the EIC or. tea I just can’t get interested.
Our session was thought-provoking and strayed way beyond our experience of our dramatised tour. The audience? Tough. One asked what I thought about reparations. Another asked if I could return the treasures Robert Clive pinched, now housed in Powis Castle. My favourite though: "Do you know what Stockholm Syndrome is?" My answer: a cautious yes. Then came the clincher: "Do you think the colonised aspire to emulate the coloniser?" You know…I knew what he meant…. but it seemed a nonsense that anyone in India would want to aspire to be me, and I said that. And what about Anu? She’s British, of Indian heritage, and born in Britain, so where does that leave her? We did blah-blah through it. Me? I’m still struggling with what I should have said.
Interestingly, many Kolkatans we met seemed to view British history with a certain generosity. What surprised me also was how little distinction there seemed to be in their minds between the Raj and the East India Company. It gets swept up in the term ‘Britishers’ a term I absolutely. love. But the former was a private company. And one that always wanted to keep government at arms’ length. In beautiful St John’s churchyard we found a memorial to those who died in the Black Hole of Calcutta. And not far away the place of the incident —just a lonely slab of concrete, and plenty of local scepticism about whether the whole incident actually happened. Propaganda, some say to excuse what came next. Come on my tour to find out more.
After Kolkata, we went on to the Jaipur Literature Festival - the mother of all literature festivals. I somehow found myself on the Empire Podcast Club, being interviewed. Slight snag—I’ve not actually heard the episode because I’m not in the Club. One day, perhaps. Or I’ll just pretend it was brilliant.
Back in the UK, things have been equally lively. I've now made two recce trips to Aberdeen for the Tall Ships Races, developing not one, but two heritage trails: the Tall Ships Trail and the Tea Heritage Trail. I’m helping the Aberdeen Line 200 Committee https://www.aberdeenline200.org to include the history of tea in their heritage events with our chosen charity as Sea Cadets -Aberdeen. The first trip was all research. The second trip? Well, I drove up some tea chests, and for my sins I got a speeding ticket. Oh dear! Just recently I did the Speed Awareness Course. Something I learned…two cyclists are actually allowed to cycle side-by-side. It’s in the Highway Code. So, I apologise to all cyclists everywhere who I’ve been stuck behind in my car, grumbling. Let’s just say I’m now a changed driver, practically a model citizen. But it’s been fun putting together the tea history of Aberdeen. Did you know, for example, that the tea blend for English Breakfast tea actually originated in Scotland? On one of her visits to Balmoral, Queen Victoria asked a local tea blender to make her his best blend. She liked it so much she brought it home with her. She popularised drinking tea for breakfast. Without her we might still be drinking ‘ale’….
Promise I won’t leave it so long next time to be in touch.