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Mary Drysdale

@drysdaletours

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Your connection to London and beyond
Award-winning Blue Badge Tourist Guide
Tours in English and German
[email protected]

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A cold day in January. Perfect for a windy ride on the Thames in a high speed rib.
Thank you to my lovely guests from Germany for being such good sports.

#bluebadgeguide #tourguide #londonguide #visitlondon #touristguide #germanguide #travelguide #explorelondon #discoverlondon
#mylondon #londontourguide #thisislondon #london #mysecretlondon #londonist #londoncity #londonbylondoners #londoner #outinlondon #tourguidelife #londonstreets #lovelondon #londontourist #londonlife #londonhistory #thamesribexperience #riverthames

@@britainsbestguides @guidelondon @thamesribexperience by @drysdaletours

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9 months ago

A recent tour found me and other Blue Badge Guides deep in the underground tunnels of Euston Station.

The London Underground or “Tube” as it is widely known was the first underground railway in the world. The first line opened in 1863. Named the Metropolitan Line, it connected seven stations between Paddington and Farringdon and lent its name ‘Metro’ to subsequent underground networks that followed London’s trailblazing example.

On its first day 30,000 passengers used the new railway, dispelling fears that Londoners would balk at the idea of using the ‘trains in drains’ for fear of their safety. Passenger numbers on the new network averaged 26,000 each day.

In 1907 two new lines the City & South London Railway and the Hampstead Railway reached Euston Station. The new railway companies took the network tunnels deep below the River Thames for the first time and introduced new-fangled electric trains which reduced the dirt, smell and heat associated with the steam engines they replaced.

Before the merger of the two lines into the Northern Line in 1937, passengers had to buy a ticket to continue their journey in a foot tunnel where the ticket office can still be seen today.

The original station building of the Hampstead Railway is still standing. Its oxblood red tiles and Edwardian baroque arches are the work of station architect Leslie Green but sadly this building will fall victim to the HS2 development work at Euston and is shortly to be demolished.

#bluebadgeguide #tourguide #londonguide #visitlondon #touristguide #travelguide #explorelondon #discoverlondon
#mylondon #londontourguide #thisislondon #london #mysecretlondon #londonist #londoncity #londonbylondoners #londoner #outinlondon #tourguidelife #londonstreets #lovelondon #londontourist #londonlife #londonhistory #londonunderground #thetube #eustonstation #hiddenlondon #hiddentunnels #tfl

@britainsbestguides @guidelondon @eustonstation taken in Euston Station by @drysdaletours

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a year ago

A major exhibition of the trailblazing surrealist photographer Lee Miller’s work is on at Tate Britain.

The exhibition takes the viewer through Lee’s work as a model in the 1920s, her collaboration and relationship with Man Ray, her time in Egypt during her marriage to Aziz Eloui Bey, her work as a photographer for British Vogue and then as a photojournalist for the US Army on the frontline in Europe covering the final months of the war and the liberation of the concentration camps at Dachau and Buchenwald.

It is an extraordinary social history covering three decades of Miller’s remarkable life and career.

If you enjoyed the biographical war drama film “Lee” about the American war correspondent’s life and starring Kate Winslet, don’t miss the exhibition.
On at Tate Britain until 15th February 2026.

#bluebadgeguide #tourguide #londonguide #visitlondon #touristguide #explorelondon #discoverlondon
#mylondon #londontourguide #thisislondon #london #mysecretlondon #londonist #londoncity #londonbylondoners #londoner #outinlondon #tourguidelife #londonstreets #lovelondon #londontourist #londonlife #londonhistory #exhibitionsinlondon #whatsoninlondon #leemiller #leemillerarchives #leemillerphotography #tatebritain

@britainsbestguides @guidelondon @tate by @drysdaletours

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a year ago

Two days showing this lovely group the sites of London.
Originally from Croatia, they have known each other since school and meet for holidays whenever they can. taken in Tower Bridge by @drysdaletours

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a year ago

A new “piece” of street art in Shoreditch.
Collaborative work by @_shepherd_fairey_ @invaderwashere and @damienhirst to mark the opening of their Triple Trouble exhibition at the @newportstreetgallery_london

Shepherd Fairey and Invader pieces are well known in Shoreditch and Spitalfields but this is a first for Damian Hirst.

#bluebadgeguide #tourguide #londonguide #visitlondon #touristguide #travelguide #explorelondon #discoverlondon
#mylondon #londontourguide #thisislondon #london #mysecretlondon #londonist #londoncity #londonbylondoners #londoner #outinlondon #tourguidelife #londonstreets #lovelondon #londontourist #londonlife #londonhistory #streetartlondon #shoreditchstreetart #tripletrouble #shepherdfairey #invaderwashere #damianhirst

@britainsbestguides @guidelondon taken in Shoreditch by @drysdaletours

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a year ago

Super fun day out with Laurie Regan exploring street art in Spitalfields with a bit of food tasting for good measure.

I have guided Laurie’s family before. This time she was back with sister and friends - the original Doughnut Dolls!

Always a special pleasure and an honour doing repeat business with lovely clients.

Laurie - love that Spitalfields jacket!
Susan - I think we have world politics sewn up.
Stacey - Fazel is going to have the best wardrobe! (I hope they return your luggage.)
Elizabeth - if in doubt, don’t!

#bluebadgeguide #tourguide #londonguide #visitlondon #touristguide #germanguide #travelguide #explorelondon #discoverlondon
#mylondon #londontourguide #thisislondon #london #mysecretlondon #londonist #londoncity #londonbylondoners #londoner #outinlondon #tourguidelife #londonstreets #lovelondon #londontourist #londonlife #londonhistory #spitalfieldsmarket #bricklane #poppiesfishandchips #crosstowndoughnuts

@britainsbestguides @guidelondon taken in Old Spitalfields Market by @drysdaletours

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a year ago

A walking tour of Mayfair for the lovely members of the Tonbridge School Parents’ Arts Society concluded at “Allies” - a life size statue dedicated to the friendship between Roosevelt and Churchill on Bond Street. It was sculpted by Anglo-American artistLawrence Holofcener and was unveiled by HRH Princess Margaret in 1995, to mark half a century after the end of World War II. by @drysdaletours

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a year ago

taken in Wimbledon Park by @drysdaletours

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a year ago

Back in the guiding saddle after three weeks off.
Relieved to find I still can!
Westminster walking tour with Changing of the Guard, the royal Warrant shops and a bit of lux shopping on Bond Street with my lovely clients Marybeth and James from West Virginia.

#bluebadgeguide #tourguide #londonguide #visitlondon #touristguide #germanguide #travelguide #explorelondon #discoverlondon
#mylondon #londontourguide #thisislondon #london #mysecretlondon #londonist #londoncity #londonbylondoners #londoner #outinlondon #tourguidelife #londonstreets #lovelondon #londontourist #londonlife #londonhistory #changingoftheguard #irishguards #buckinghampalace

@britainsbestguides @guidelondon taken in Buckingham Palace by @drysdaletours

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a year ago

Just checking out how they do tennis on the other side of the pond @theusopen

#bluebadgeguide #londonguide #visitlondon #touristguide #explorelondon #discoverlondon
#mylondon #londontourguide #thisislondon #london #mysecretlondon #londoncity #londonbylondoners #londoner #outinlondon #tourguidelife #londonstreets #lovelondon #londontourist #londonlife #londonhistory #usopen2025 #coronapark #arthurashestadium #louisarmstrongstadium #tennisgrandslam

@britainsbestguides @guidelondon by @drysdaletours

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a year ago

I was back at the Cartier exhibition at the V&A today, guiding a lovely group of golfing widows from the UK and California, whilst marvelling at the craftsmanship, creative brilliance and innovation of Maison Cartier.

Founded in 1847 in Paris by Louis-Francois Cartier, his three grandsons Louis, Pierre and Jacques expanded the family firm into an international business setting up workshops in New York and London.

In almost every decade since the early 1900s Cartier found ingenious and imaginative ways to reflect cultural changes.

#bluebadgeguide #tourguide #londonguide #visitlondon #touristguide #germanguide #travelguide #explorelondon #discoverlondon
#mylondon #londontourguide #thisislondon #london #mysecretlondon #londonist #londoncity #londonbylondoners #londoner #outinlondon #tourguidelife #londonstreets #lovelondon #londontourist #londonlife #londonhistory #cartier #cartierexhibition #vanda #jewels #diamonds

@britainsbestguides @guidelondon @vamuseum taken in Victoria and Albert Museum by @drysdaletours

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a year ago

The very lovely exhibition of John Singer Sargent’s American Heiresses at Kenwood House, Hampstead.

Sargent’s portraits of American women - beautiful, rich and sometimes socially ambitious - continue to fascinate a hundred years after they were painted.

Between 1870 and 1914 102 American women married into the British peerage, and many more into the upper classes. Sargent made portraits of more than thirty of them.

1. Nancy Astor 1908
Nancy Astor née Langhorne grew up in an old Virginian family who had lost their fortune in the American Civil War, the eighth of eleven children. She married Robert Gould Shaw at the age of 17; they divorced in 1903.

On a transatlantic liner she met Waldorf Astor, and married him in 1906. His father the naturalised Briton William Waldorf Astor, gave the couple Cliveden, his palatial house overlooking the Thames, as well as a Cartier tiara for Nancy.
Sargent painted her in the early years of her marriage at the age of 29.

2. Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor, 1923
Nancy was the first woman to take her seat in the House of Commons. From 1908 she supported her socially committed husband Waldorf Astor as a Unionist parliamentary candidate in Plymouth. When Waldorf succeeded his father as Viscount Astor in 1919, he had to forfeit his position as MP in order to take his seat in the House of Lords. Nancy stood in the subsequent by-election and was comfortably elected in November 1919. She held the seat until 1945.

Sargent’s portrait depicts Nancy in the characteristic hat she wore as part of a public uniform, designed to discourage press coverage of her outfits.

#bluebadgeguide #londonguide #visitlondon #touristguide #explorelondon #discoverlondon
#mylondon #londontourguide #thisislondon #london #mysecretlondon #londoncity #londonbylondoners #londoner #outinlondon #tourguidelife #londonstreets #lovelondon #londontourist #londonlife #londonhistory #johnsingersargent #johnsingersargentportraits #americanheiresses

@britainsbestguides @guidelondon @kenwood_house_english_heritage taken in Kenwood House by @drysdaletours

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a year ago