Literary London: exploring the South Bank

Thursday 8 June 2023

A day visit to two key sites on London’s South Bank which illustrate its long history as an arts and entertainment district

We have been able to re-book this outing, which was originally planned for September 2022, then disrupted by a rail strike.  The programme has had to be altered slightly because of changes to the tours available, but continues to offer a fascinating insight to the long history of London’s South Bank as an arts and entertainment district.

The day will start at the Globe Theatre, the modern version of the 1599 Globe playhouse.  Here we will follow the Globe Experience tour, a new development which combines a guided tour of the Globe Theatre with an exploration of the theatrecraft which brings the world of Shakespeare’s storytelling to life.

After lunch at one of the many eateries locally, we will meet up again at Southwark Cathedral for a specialist tour ‘Bards, Poets and Playwrights’, to learn more about the Cathedral’s many associations with literary figures over the centuries, including Geoffrey Chaucer and Charles Dickens.

We will be travelling by train to and from the South Bank, and the day will inevitably involve quite a bit of walking and standing, albeit with places to sit along the way.  There are also stairs to climb at the Globe. 

We meet at the Globe at 10.30am, and the day’s activities are expected to finish about 3.30pm.

Tickets cost £36 (not including travel or lunch costs) and our group number is limited to 18.  Please apply before 9.00am on Thursday 25 May 2023.

If you have any queries, please contact [email protected]