From stone circles to leylines, to legends and witchcraft, the UK is packed full of freaky and mysterious histories and mythologies, which according to the folk at Weird Walk – the zine that encourages an exploration of British lore through walking – are best discovered on foot.
This month Time Out has launched its ranking of the world’s most walkable cities. To celebrate, we are showing Londoners some of the top ways to explore the city on two feet, from scenic strolls near the capital, to the intrepid London Loop.
But what if plain old walking isn’t enough for you? The capital has plenty of its own esoteric secrets. Here, comedian Stewart Lee (he’s hosting an event for the zine later this month) explains how to do your very own eldritch amble in east London.
Stewart Lee’s Hackney Weird Walk
On April 30 I’m hosting a night of imaginary film soundtracks for Weird Walk at Hackney’s Moth Club. Arrive early and enjoy a nearby Weird Walk drawn from my forthcoming book of perambulations. Give yourself 90 minutes.
You’ll want to begin by taking the Windrush line to Haggerston Station, from where you’ll walk northwest up Enfield Road, out of the southwest corner of De Beauvoir Square, and along Northchurch Terrace to St Peter’s Church. On February 8 1854 Samuel Liddell Macgregor Mathers, who founded the Hermetic Order Of The Golden Dawn and became a ritual facilitator of occultist Aleister Crowley, was christened here.
Next walk north up De Beauvoir road, go right along Englefield Road and then north up to 121 Mortimer Road, the exoskeletal home of William Lyttle, the Mole Man Of Hackney, who excavated miles of tunnels beneath his house until a sinkhole opened outside in 2006. His motive? ‘There is great beauty in inventing things that serve no purpose,’ he said.
Then, continue travelling southwest down the diagonal Stamford Road, until you hit De Beauvoir Road. Head up it until you arrive at 108 De Beauvoir Road, the birthplace, on January 8 1854, of the aforementioned Mathers. Continue up to turn left onto Buckingham Road, right up Culford Road, and right again to 99 Balls Pond Road, home from 1967 to 1968 to artist and activist David Medalla’s communal psychedelic dance troupe Exploding Galaxy.
Next you’ll cross over to the corner of Kingsbury Road and Balls Pond Road, where once was the grocer’s shop and birthplace, on March 7 1878, of R P Weston, writer of the comic songs ‘I’m Henerey The Eighth I Am’ (a ’60s hit for Herman’s Hermits), and ‘Paddy McGinty’s Goat’ (a ’60s hit for Val Doonican). From here, head up Kingsbury Road. On your left, locked and unloved, you’ll see the Jewish Burial Ground, housing Amy Levy (born 1861), pioneer of proto-feminist fiction and longtime friend of the lesbian sci-fi visionary Vernon Lee. In Iain Sinclair’s 2023 novella House Of Flies the cemetery is visited by a fictional version of me.
Now you need to cross the footbridge and turn right along St Judes Road, before crossing Boleyn Road into Gillett Square. Here you can pause to visit, in the northwest corner, the restaurant featured in Philip Barantini’s tense 2021 cuisine drama Boiling Point.
Finally, you’ll turn right onto Dalston High road, past Ridley Road Market where, on 31 July 1962, British Fascist leader Sir Oswald Mosley was assaulted at a rally. Today his grandson Louis is head of controversial AI firm Palantir Technologies UK. Hop on the train at Dalston Kingsland, head one stop east to the Moth Club, and get Weird Walked out.
Buy tickets to Weird Walk’s Cult Night, hosted by Stewart Lee, here.
Stewart Lee is on tour with Stewart Lee Vs The Man-Wulf until December. See dates here.
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