Blogs and websites

Jones The Planner: http://www.jonestheplanner.co.uk/ A series exploring architecture, urban design and planning issues in Britain’s towns and cities. Adrian Jones never pulls his punches, breathtakingly good and great reading even if you’re not an architectural expert. @jonestheplanner

Urban Explorer: http://www.theurbanexplorer.co.uk/ If Urban Rambles are much too tame for you, then give this site a go; exploring old industrial sites, disused prisons, underground facilities, drains even: “I can safely say I really enjoyed my first time down a drain! I expect it won’t be the last time either!”

John Grindrod: Author of Concretopia, Outskirts and the utterly brilliant blog dirtymodernscoundrel that focuses on post-war architecture and new towns. Some great old films there too, including ‘The green Girdle’ (1941),  made by the British Council, on the ‘green girdle’ or green belt around London.

Publications

Walkable City by Jeff Speck, North Print Press. A brilliant analysis of what makes a city walkeable: The Useful Walk, The Safe Walk, The Comfortable Walk, The Interesting Walk.

Concretopia by John Grinrod, Old Street. A Journey Around the Building of Poswar Britain. An eye-opener as to how we got to where we are today, or at least where we were before things got better. John is shortly starting work on a new book,The Green Belt, another key pat of the poswar urban story. @grindrod 

London-specific

London’s Lost Rivers by Paul Talling, Random House Books. This book is well researched and on numerous occasions you find youself thinking “I always wondered what that was….and now I know”. The perfect book!

London Out of Sight: exploring the city’s secret green spaces, Black Dog Publishing. A compendium of green spaces by region, many of which you will not know. A great way to get started on planning your own ‘rus in urbe’ rambles.

Walking London’s Waterways, by Gilly Cameron-Cooper, New Holland. If our rambles along canals and rivers have whetted your appetite, this book will give you much, much more. A delight.

Favourite London Walks: 50 classic routes exploring London’s heritage, by Andrew Duncan, new Holland. Andrew is the most published and most authoritative author on London walking. The maps are extremely clear and the history lucid. A must buy.

London’s Parks & Gardens by Jill Billington, Frances Lincoln. A magnificent coffee table book with superb photographs. This one will really get you dreaming.