Bloomsbury - Walking Tour

Bloomsbury Walking Tour

By: Gillian Hinton

On the very first days of our trip, we did a walking tour related to the Bloomsbury group. What this entailed was walking around several blocks of the Bloomsbury neighborhood and seeing different historical spots, such as Virginia and Vanessa's previous homes. These spots were all within walking distance of each other and revealed information about the closeness of the members of the group. This walk also reflected the power that London as a city has to bring individuals together through the accommodations London offers. The structure of London’s neighborhoods allows for the ease of walking to each other's homes, which enables discussions related to arts and the humanities. This is essential in creating a community of artists that influence each other’s works. The home that Virginia and Vanessa shared before marriage, but then gave to Roger Fry when they married reveals the closeness they shared as friends. This also made me think about how Virginia Woolf spent a lot of time studying and researching at the British Museum on a consistent basis as this home was within walking distance. This ability can be attributed to not only the structure of London neighborhoods, but also the rich history and artifacts that England as a whole is in control of. This is what C.L.R. James discusses in Letters from London as he pens, “The fact remains that a man in this country can make himself a highly cultured person by merely providing himself with a thick pair of boots to walk from place to place”(11). It is a privilege that Virginia Woolf can simply walk to a museum with some of the most valuable and historically rich artifacts in the world. In this vein, it almost feels as if it is difficult not to become a better educated person in London, as individuals can simply walk from one area to another to find important cultural history.