IMPORTANT SCHEDULE CHANGE

There will be no further 2pm walks on Fridays. Three walks on one day (including my Shakespeare one) was too much even for me. All other walks in the weekly schedule are unaffected.


HOLIDAYS

Always check the holidays section for holiday information - I really don't want people turning up when no walks are taking place!

LONDON PASS

Note London Pass pricing here.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO 'THE BLOOD AND TEARS WALK' 

This tour is now eleven years old. The first faltering steps were in April 1999. I can't believe that I have nurtured and guided it this far, and that the difficult teenage years are just around the corner...
 

NORMAL SCHEDULE

Please note the authoritative, correct walk schedule given below in the section called 'What are the normal days and times the walk takes place'.  Certain websites out there are giving old schedules, this is the correct, current updated schedule.

The walk price is £8 for adults who turn up without booking ahead, and £6 for children. £8 for adults is £4 an hour (since it is a two hour walk) for one of the best-rated entertainments in London. That is excellent value! Keep reading and you will find out about a couple of possible discounts on that already cheap price.


CLIP OF BRITISH TV APPEARANCE

'The Blood and Tears Walk' has featured in the hugely popular 'Most Haunted' TV programme.  "Most Haunted" is watched by up to 1 million people!

 Here's the clip:

VISITOR BOOK QUOTES 

M. & P. Van Ert - "Loved the interaction" 18.03.09

K. Gaiss - "Highlight of my trip!" 20.03.09

A. Farrugia - "You clearly and quite worryingly know your stuff!" 3.04.09

L. Allmark - "Brilliant. Exciting, informative, scary and fun! 100%!"

D. Giraldo - "Amazing job, fun, entertaining, insightful" 1.05.09

E. Hulet - "It was awesome! (I am going to have nightmares) 15.05.09

C. Corneby - "creepy, cool, dastardly stories!" 11.06.09

K. & R. Ashraf - "Fantastic. Very knowledgeable. CREEPY! 12.06.09

C. Filipowski - "You are the most fascinating person I've met in my life. I admire your passion and knowledge." 17.06.09

O. Sethi - "one of the greatest storytellers I've ever come across." 17.06.09

K. Wenzel  - "Second time round was even better!!" 17.06.09

J. Gousse - "Incredibly entertaining" 19.06.09

T. Hackett - "Captivating and Brilliant" 8.07.09

J. Palmer - "Only scary tour where I've actually felt creeped out - awesome!" 8.07.09

Jackie - "Unique and spine-chilling" 8.07.09

M. Krueger - "You are a scary genius!" 8.07.09

J. Cutter - "Came from America for this and was not disappointed!" 19.07.09

A. Ravindranath - "Brilliant storytelling" 27.07.09

M. Carpio - "Outstanding" 29.07.09

C. Simenon - "He plays with your head" 30.07.09

Silvano Barbion- "Best guide I ever had" 07.08.09

E. Lewis - "Amazing insight"  13.08.09

H. Eriacleous - "3rd Time. One with friends, one as a group, one with partner - Brilliant"  21.08.09

S. Stevens - "awesome, spine-chilling"  9.09.09

I. Armstrong - "Loved it! Goose Bumps"  10.09.09

P. Pankrath - "creepy, horrible & fantastic"  23.09.09

W. Hopkins - "Incredible - so much knowledge"  25.09.09

K. Krueger - "Wickedly awesome"  21.10.09 

N. Modie - "Freaked me out"  23.10.09

T. Bump - "Shocking! Challenging! Amazing"  23.10.09

Yvon & Jurgen - "A. W. E. S. O. M. E"  31.10.09

C. Ryan - "Bloody Brilliant"  19.11.09

S. Klaudo - "Probably the most fascinating part of my visit"  27.11.09

Steels - "Totally awesome. I loved it."  4.12.09

K. Blittner - "Exceptionally chilling. Real charisma."  11/12/09

A. Cheshire - "Best tour ever"  13.12.09

J. Chatham - "Amazing atmosphere"  20.01.10

W. Johnson - "I am now very nervous" 4.02.10

D. Wilkins - "Fantastic! Do it"   26.02.10

M. Hotsue - "Third time - still brilliant"  4.03.10

J. McKillip - "Brilliant Tour Guide"  5.03.10

T. Whitman - "Perfect tour"  10.03.10

M. Zemal - "Visited 20+ countries - best evening out!"  17.03.10

J. Durham - "Highlight of trip"  19.03.10

S. Kelley - "Intense suspense, loved it!"  19.03.10

R. Mori - "Mesmerising"  24.03.10

First Choice Haircutters - "2 hours of pleasure"  1.04.10

L. & C. Hurst - "Amazing tour, you are a truly dedicated man" 14.04.2010

S. Varma - "Fantastic Night"  28.04.10

A. Van de Velde - "Fantastic! Enjoyed every minute"  29.04.10

D. Mirabito - "Haunting"  29.04.10

M. Harpur - "Best £8 you can spend in London"  3.05.10

B. Mott - "Brilliant and very funny in parts"  7.05.10

A. Orvi - "2 hours, absolutely AMAZING"  13.05.10

A. Broadus - "An intelligent walking tour of London!"  20.05.10

R. Ilczyszyn - *****  20.05.10

R. Stein - "What an experience!"  21.05.10

A. & G. Atwood - "Best tour on trip (out of 3)"  26.05.10

N. Thomson - "I loved it. Will totally recommend you to my friends"  27.05.10

W. Shazrina - "Amazing storyteller, humorous and educational"  28.05.10

W. Petersen - "Loved every minute!"  3.06.10

J. & B. & S. Staley - "Brilliant. We love you! We'll come again"  9.06.10

M. Hoffman - "This was the best part of London"  10.06.10

B. Sia - "Terrific and gruesome"  24.06.10

S. & K. Teacher - "Declan is the storyteller that brings Blood and Tears Alive"  24.06.10

J. Hutton - "Best thing in London"  8.07.10

S. Bale - "You have an inspiring and incredible knowledge!"  9.07.10

M. Arctig - "Non-stop interesting"   9.07.10

M. Pass - "Exciting, fun, dramatic, amazing!!" 14.07.10
 
J. Filbar - "Incredibly awesome. You're a fantastic entertainer!"  15.07.10

A. Di Prima - "4th time now and still very original, love it!"  16.07.10


EMAILS TO ME

H. Burdack (Teacher) - "I took classes on your tours in 2007 and 2008 and this year a colleague of mine is visiting London (June 2010). I recommended her to do your Blood and Tears walk as well because for my pupils it was the highlight of the week." 2.05.10

TRIP ADVISOR REVIEWS

c***1966  Leeds Uk Apr 15, 2010
"After looking on tripadvisor for some evening entertainment we settled for this tour. Declan was a great guide, brought all the ghouls, blood and gore to life, with all the stories of a campfire halloween night".

sarah****sandra, Canada, Apr 8, 2010
"The best of creepy London". "It was a fantastic tour that I would definately recommend!"

Alex****, Sheffield, UK, Apr 5, 2010
"Declan was a fantastic guide". ”Superb walk for those interested in Londons gory past...is incredibly passionate about the subject matter. Far superior to London Dungeon and London Bridge experience and for a fraction of the price".

Sheena****, Dublin, Mar 29, 2010
"extremely well researched. The delivery was also very engaging. I was utterly absorbed from start to finish".

go****racer888, Washington, Mar 28, 2010
"Declan is a gifted storyteller (he's Irish) and can make your hair stand up with his expressive narrations of dark events. Rather than waste your evening shopping or other needless pursuits I strongly encourage you to take a walk on the dark side".

Dia****, London, Mar 26, 2010
"A dark trip into your imagination...” He made the experience very personable and refreshed our imaginations in such a fun and creative way. His obvious interest in people and their lives and stories also made it very interesting and a lot of fun. It really did appear like he enjoyed meeting new people...which made him come across in such a friendly way.

J***, Chicago, Mar 22, 2010
"One of the "must do's" in London".

Mont****, Canada, Mar 19, 2010
“Amazing look at London with a funny and thrilling guide” "This walk was the highlight of my stay in London. A must-do if you are in London".

---

JUST ONE PAGE FROM ELEVEN YEARS WORTH OF OUTSTANDING REVIEWS:

ANOTHER PAGE - APRIL 2009

WHO I AM AND WHAT THIS WALK IS ABOUT

I'm Declan McHugh, a researcher and former professional actor who has been doing the rave-reviewed 'The Blood and Tears Walk: London's Horrible Past' for 11 years since 1999. Thousands of people every year come on this five times a week walk featuring Jack the Ripper and other London serial killers, grave-robbers, witchcraft, conspiracy theories, execution sites, secret tunnels, etc. In other words, all the stuff you are interested in, all on the one walk! Jack the Ripper PLUS much, much more.

'The Blood and Tears Walk' is one of the most popular London walks, with consistently amazing reviews by visitors and the media over the last eleven years. At the time of writing - 21st July 2010 - I have a stunning 98% approval rating on major London site www.londontown.com for 'The Blood and Tears Walk'. 

Think how hard it is to impress 98 people out of every hundred people about ANYTHING!

People do the walk and then recommend me to other people, leading to major 'word of mouth'. People have very often returned two, three and even four times! The record is FIVE TIMES (congratulations, Daniel)!!!

Apart from featuring in the extremely popular "Most Haunted" in 2008, I have also been interviewed by JoAnne Good for 30 minutes about 'The Blood and Tears Walk' on her BBC Radio London JoAnne Good show, and the walk has for many years in a row been given the "One of London's 10 best walks" award by 10best.com. I was also included in a documentary about London released in 2008 called "Ultimate Journeys: London".

The most important thing for me, however, is the incredible response from the thousands of people that come on the walk each year. I have given above a small selection of genuine quotes from my visitors books and I want to give my sincere thanks to everyone who has attended so far in eleven years - thank you. I think of you all as one huge extended (dysfunctional) family, and some of the nicest people I could hope to meet (or good actors).

To contact me email me at decmchugh@yahoo.com. My mobile/cell number is 07905746733 but it might be expensive to ring that number from outside Britain. Instead it might be best to ring the number only on the day of your walk, when you are in London, and then listen to the short message confirming days, time and meeting places. Ringing from within the UK should cost you about 20p maximum. There should rarely be any change from what is written here but very occasionally something happens, beyond my control, which forces a change and that number I have given will give any important changes.

Having a nearly 4 year old child means I have practically no free time (but it's worth it), but I continue to prepare materials to replace this rather basic page with a more in-depth website promoting 'The Blood and Tears Walk'. Included will be an amazing and chilling collection of true life horror stories told to me by people who came on the walk in the last almost ten years. Work continues on my 'Horror History of London' and 'Jack the Ripper' books. Well over 25,000 people are waiting for the books and you will all be contacted when they finally appear.

WHAT ARE THE NORMAL DAYS AND TIMES
THE WALK TAKES PLACE? 

Wednesdays at 7-9pm and at 9.45-11.45pm

Thursdays at 7-9pm and at 9.45-11.45pm

Fridays at 7pm

HOLIDAYS

Please remember that there is no 2pm Friday walk any more...

There will be no 7pm walk on Friday 23rd July 2010. 

There will be no 7pm walk on Thursday 26th August at 7pm. The 9.45pm walk will however be taking place as normal on the 26th August. 

There will be no 7pm walk on Friday 29th October 2010.

WHERE DO WE MEET?

'The Blood and Tears Walk' meets outside the only exit at Barbican underground station. Barbican is just two stops from Kings Cross on 1) the Circle line, 2) Metropolitan line and 3) the Hammersmith & City line.

Walk outside the only exit and you will see me a few feet away directly opposite; look for the sign at knee level (not eye level) on my rucksack featuring the words 'The Blood and Tears Walk'.

'The Blood and Tears Walk' is a full two hours long and ends at Holborn underground station (which is on the Piccadilly and Central lines). Some other companies are much less well reviewed, charge more and only do 60 or 90 minute walks!

WHAT IS THE COST?

From 1st January 2010 the price for people who just turn up will be £8 for adults and £6 for children aged 12-14. No-one under 12 is allowed to come. Reductions on those prices are given when you book in advance on the internet on either of two secure sites. You can find the details in the 'HOW TO BOOK AND PRICES' section.

Ashlee House
If you are staying at the Ashlee House hostel in London and you come to the walk with proof of that (I know what the proof is), you will only pay £6 - but you must bring the proof.

London Pass - please read carefully.
From June 14th 2010 if you have a current valid London Pass and if you are an adult (over 15 years old) the price to come on the tour will now be £5.50, or only £3.50 if you are a child of 12-14 (no under 12s) accompanied by an adult.  Please do not leave your London Pass behind 'at your hotel' - I have to see it and the orange offers book that I am in. It's a bit like going to a concert or the theatre - no ticket, no admission. Anyone who cannot actually show the pass to me will be charged the normal undiscounted price which is £8 for adults. N.B You cannot book though LondonTown and then later buy a London Pass and turn up with the London Pass hoping for that price instead. IF YOU BOOK FIRST THROUGH LONDONTOWN THEN I WILL HAVE YOUR DETAILS AND THEIR PRICE IS THE PRICE YOU WILL PAY.

NOTE - Discounts do not apply at Halloween. At Halloween everyone has to book through one of the two websites listed in the 'How to book and prices' section.

IS 'THE BLOOD AND TEARS WALK' SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN UNDER 12?

Er, NO. Are you kidding? Look at the title of the walk! 'The Blood and Tears Walk' is NOT SUITABLE for under 12s but still every year people turn up with their 8 and 9 year olds and I have to turn them away.... This is a walk for adults, with adult themes, and for plenty of adults it has proved to be quite intense and scary, particularly at night-time. Read the quotes at the top of the page...People who bring their under 12s along are completely irresponsible and anyone who ignores the over-12 rule and turns up with such a young child simply won't be allowed to come on the tour. I have turned away groups before so I am not joking about this...

I will not be responsible for any nightmares...

HOW TO BOOK AND PRICES

You don't have to book over the internet for 'The Blood and Tears Walk' except for Halloween night when I have to insist people book in advance because demand is insane that night - if I could clone myself I could do the walk for 500 people on Halloween day!

As I say, except for Halloween, you DO NOT have to book in advance, you can just make sure the walk is on by listening to the recorded message, then turn up to any of my walks and pay me £8 for adults and £6 for children aged 12-14 or if you have a deal of some sort, you need to show me the paperwork for the deal.

If you do want to obtain the online booking discount of £0.50p per person, please go here:

 http://www.365tickets.com/prodhubs.cfm/productId/60

Note that there is a £0.50p - £1 maximum processing fee per order (but not per person) so this might be best to do if you are booking for 2 or more people

If you prefer, you can go here instead:

 bit.ly/cqvehM

To avoid disappointment, I emphasise that you should, BEFORE YOU SET OFF ON THE DAY, confirm that your particular walk is taking place as planned by listening to the constantly updated answer message on (from London):
07905 746 733. 

Ring this number on the day of your walk when you are in London, since a couple of times a year there are sudden unforeseen events - circumstances completely beyond my control - which mean that a particular walk cannot go ahead. I will always try to leave relevant information about any problems on that number.

To repeat, the most important source of up-to-date information, reflecting any changes to the normal schedule, is that mobile number: 07905 746 733.  

PRIVATE WALKS

I am willing on occasion to do private walks for people on various nights, including on some Saturdays (at my discretion). I usually don't perform 'The Blood and Tears Walk' before 8pm on Saturdays and in fact 8.30pm or even 9pm are my preferred times to begin on Saturday nights.

From 1st January 2010 for private non-corporate groups the price will be £10 per person with a minimum of 15 people, or the cash equivalent (15 x £10 = £150) if you end up having less than 15 people in your group.

I emphasise that before you book me for private walks you must either be certain of having at least the minimum number of people turn up on the night, or be willing to pay the minimum cash equivalent for that number since those that actually turn up will have to pay that minimum price between them.  For example, if I am booked for 15 but only 8 actually turn up, the 8 will have to pay as if they were 15.

If there is enough time between my being contacted, and the date of the actual walk, I will ask for a non-returnable deposit of half the money to be sent to me in the form of a £ sterling cheque, or by electronic transfer to my bank account. This deposit is non-returnable and will be kept by me as compensation if a group does not turn up at all, for any reason including tube train delays.

If you are a corporate group then the price for a private 'Blood and Tears Walk' with me is £10 each (with a minimum of 15 people or monetary equivalent) PLUS £30 extra.

In addition, if I have to cancel a public walk to do a private walk because you only have certain dates available, I charge an extra £30 (partial compensation for loss of earnings) but I can only make public walks private ones if you contact me well in advance and so long as no-one has booked for the public one at the time of the change.

I cannot promise that I will be available on your preferred date since, as word spreads, I receive more and more requests each year, and dates rapidly become booked up for private walks. Certain schools and colleges across the globe book have booked for me for 5 or more years in a row - which is a huge compliment.

COMING LATE - THE FINAL WARNING

I've said it already but eleven years experience means I am going to say it again. My responsibility is to do the walk - yours is to be there ON TIME. You honestly need to start off for the walk 15-20 minutes earlier than you think you need to. We get underground train delays every single hour in London and it is unbelievably easy to get caught up in delays which add 15-20 minutes to your travelling time.

Late-comers FOR ANY REASON, INCLUDING TUBE TRAIN DELAYS are left behind. A walk is not like a film or concert or play where if you turn up late you can sneak in at the back; I go with people into dark side-streets immediately I start the walk and if you miss the beginning of the walk, you have missed the entire walk since you won't find me and I turn my mobile phone off once I start the tour. You will have wasted your time, energy and money (if you booked in advance). I get going with the people who turn up on time and although I am a friendly guy I do regard it as totally disrespectful to both me and the others on the walk for people to come late because of tube train delays that I repeatedly warned them about!

Literally hundreds of people every year miss the tour they really wanted to do because they miscalculate how much time they need to arrive in time and they forget or ignore the warning about tube train delays - don't be among them!

By the way, Barbican station is the world's most boring place to be if you miss the walk and then there is also the problem of that Barbican station serial killer they haven't caught yet (just joking :) ) 

**WARNING**

   OTHER MISCELLANEOUS ADVICE 

• Comprehension of English.
  If you want to attend 'The Blood and Tears Walk' you need to have a basic to good understanding of English since the walk takes place in English only. As the walk becomes more popular I have had to turn some people away (who hadn't booked) because although they really wanted to come, the reality was that they hardly understood any English. 
  
  Here is a little guide as to whether your English is good enough for the tour. If you turn up and I say "Hi. I am Declan, nice to meet you" and you reply "What?" in your language; or if I say "we will be going in 20 minutes" and you go "What?" or if I say "Yes, this is the tour" and you say "What?" or if I say "How did you hear of me?" and you say "What?", etc ,etc - then the simple truth is that the tour is not for you because you will not understand anything that I am saying, and I would simply rather not have your money in that situation since I like to communicate and not to have restless people who don't understand me.

• If you have a camera there is stuff on this tour that you might want to photograph but please don't take photos as I am talking - I find that distracting and annoying since people taking photos are simply not listening. Instead just listen to what I am saying - it'll hopefully be interesting - and at the end, as I stop speaking and turn to go to the next thing, you shout 'Photo' and we wait for the shot. But you have to shout 'Photo', since I will be looking forwards and I am not a mind-reader. I promise you will get your photo - just don't take it while I am talking to you. Also I don't want camcorder recordings to be made because a) that is making a product of my show, which I don't allow, and b) it is even more distracting (and people are listening even less). 

• If you turn up early (well done - good choice), there are few places to eat at Barbican at night-time, although there are a couple of shops selling sweets and soft drinks etc, 30 seconds from the station if you turn left after leaving the exit. There are also a number of pubs within 3 minutes walk, particularly in the street called Long Lane. To get to Long Lane you exit the station and turn right, it is then the first street on the right. 

• You must go the toilet before you arrive at Barbican. If you don't, finding somewhere to go once you arrive at Barbican will be difficult if not impossible, especially for the late night walks. Going in an alley with a group watching can be embarrassing for all concerned.... 

• Dress appropriately for the weather. It's a two hour walk and an amazing number of people wear summer clothes when it isn't summer and then freeze over the course of the two hours.

• Bring an umbrella.
  

• If you come back to do the tour more than once (I am very humbled to say that many people do), there is a little rule. That is that you are not allowed to answer any of the questions I ask during the tour. The reason for that is obvious but I will spell it out - if you have done the tour already, then you know the answers already to certain questions! If you are not willing to observe this rule, because you want to show off to your friends, then please don't come back a second time because it spoils it for everyone. Despite not being able to answer the questions, many people very much enjoy their second time on the tour because it's a lot of fun watching friends attempt to answer the questions and seeing if they do better than you did.
  

• If you have not booked in advance and are just going to turn up, that's absolutely fine (except at Halloween when you MUST have booked or you will be turned away!) but please can you bring the exact money rather than giving me £10 or £20 notes. Constantly having to give change from £20 notes is a real hassle, especially if there are quite a few people. If you are part of a group, have the exact money collected from your group and ready to give to me BEFORE you arrive.

• Given that it is a fully two hour tour, leave enough time afterwards to comfortably get to the next thing you are going to do. Remember those pesky tube train delays!
  
  Finally, expect the unexpected psychologically - oh, and bring a sense of humour :)

MY OTHER WALK

I am a former professional actor and for 11 years I have also been doing the critically acclaimed 'The Shakespeare City Walk' which is about Shakespeare's life, friends and work. This is a 90 minute walk in which I take people to various little-known Shakespeare monuments and sites in the City of London, including hidden courtyards etc. I illustrate the walk by Shakespeare's own words in the form of lines and speeches delivered by me at the appropriate locations. The 'Independent' newspaper recently awarded this tour 'One of the grand Tours' status. You can find out more about the walk at:

www.shakespeareguide.com


People who have attended 'The Blood and Tears Walk' are rewarded by being able to come on 'The Shakespeare City Walk' for only £4 per adult, or £2.50 per child. Tell me when you came on 'The Blood and Tears Walk' and I will remember you.

Finally, I very much look forward very much to meeting you all in the rest of  2010...

 Declan McHugh

APROPOS OF NOTHING SECTION - RANDOM JOTTINGS

(The photo of me below is by my brother Feldore McHugh
Check out www.shutterpoint.com/Photos-User.cfm for more of his work