[Vwoolf] London tours

[Byrne, Anne]

Dear Denise




Rodmel and Charleston are house museums which I have visited and regard as opportunities to imagine the lives lived mediated by my own perspectives and interests. In Monk's House you can wander around the rooms and gardens  while Charleston follows the guided tour model on most days -  with one day a week for wandering I think. You can check out the National Trust websites for more accurate information

I have visited both a number of times (and Lewes and surrounding countryside) and the effects linger in memory. Unless you have motorised transport, your greatest challenge is getting to each location. I used a combination of trains from London to Brighton to Lewes with my bike. Biking/Walking from Lewes to Rodmell to Charleston and back takes a full day or even two if you take your time and walk slowly...but the South Downs are glorious.

In London there are literary tours available from time to time and even publications on the Woolf 'trail' I believe (a google search?).  A number of Woolfians have also blogged and written about their London and other Woolf visiting experiences. Lurking in my memory is an image of  beautifully hand drawn map that was produced at one time depicting the various 'sites of interest' relating to Woolf and/or Bloomsbury.

I have (sometimes unsystematically and unintentionally) visited the sites of the various homes,  houses and dwelling places of Virginia and Leonard in London and once to my surprise lived on the same street  where Virginia spent some holiday time in Hove for a short period of time. The latter was a starting point for a visual essay on Virginia and the countryside along which the Ouse flows and in which she spent her final days...I am sure there are many others on this list who know more about all of the above and the VW exhibition will still be showing in the National Portrait Gallery too.

Very lucky you. Enjoy the trip. 
Anne

________________________________________
From: Vwoolf [vwoolf-bounces+anne.byrne=nuigalway.ie at lists.osu.edu] on behalf of Denise Hamburger [deniseham at comcast.net]
Sent: Monday, September 15, 2014 10:53 PM
To: vwoolf at lists.osu.edu
Subject: [Vwoolf] London tours

Does anyone have a recommendation for literary tours in London and surrounds?  I will be in London in October and am looking for a Virginia Woolf tour of London.  As a Woolfian, I would like a more in-depth discussion of how London is portrayed in her novels and how the city featured in her life.  I hope to travel to Lewes and see Monk's House and Charleston.  I am wondering if a guide is necessary for that part of the trip?

Thank you!
Denise Hamburger
Graduate Student at Large
University of Chicago
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