Episode 7: It Isn’t Far From London by SPB Mais (1931)

In this final episode in the series Nick and John delve into the topographical writing of SPB Mais. Mais was one of the most famous media figures of the 1930’s and 40’s. He presented a number of popular programmes on BBC radio including Microphone at Large and This Unknown Island.

In this episode he is presented as a forward thinking almost proto-psychogeographer in his approach to the experience of walking and a radical call to arms to embrace both the past and the future from the forces of commerce. Nick describes his writing as a kind of nature mysticism.

The walk from Mais’s It Isn’t Far From London that was recorded for the show was an epic tramp from Slough through Stoke Poges, Burnham Beaches, Hedgerley then along the M40 in the gloom to Beaconsfield.
With readings by Heidi Lapaine.

Originally broadcast December 16th 2009.

Here is some video footage from that walk cut with extracts from the audio recordings used in the show.

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Episode 6: The Face of London by Harold P. Clunn (1932).
“Those who walk see most”

Clunn’s weighty tome is an exhaustive survey of London and its environs – probably the most comprehensive compendium of the city covered in this series exploring the world of early C20th topographical walking books. Clunn was a strident spokesman for the pedestrian – chronicling the gradual alienation of the walker from the streets to the designated walkways.
John and Nick sift through the 25 walks covered in the Face of London and set out to follow Clunn’s haphazard route from Highbury through Holloway to Highgate, revelling in the geological infrastructure of the northern heights laid bare and the powerful mythology of the zone around Crouch End with its vampire legends, zombie movie, and serial killer.

With readings by Heidi Lapaine.

Ventures and Adventures in Topography is a show that looks at the rich tradition of early 20th century topographical walking guides to London and the South East and explores what use they might be to us today. Presented by John Rogers and Nick Papadimitriou.

Originally broadcast on 9th December 2009.

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Episode 5: The Story of Roxeth by T L Bartlett.

In this episode Nick and John explore the lost ancient quarter of Roxeth as described in T L Bartlett’s Story of Roxeth. Bartlett creates ‘deep topography’ of the area now known as South Harrow, outlining its mythology, history as a Roman settlement, its fields and rivers and the birds, particularly the Rooks from whom it derives its name.

(Tim Bradford, author of The Groundwater Diaries, joins the team for a walk following the Roxbourne stream.)

With readings from The Story of Roxeth by Heidi Lapaine.

Ventures and Adventures in Topography is a show that looks at the rich tradition of early 20th century topographical walking guides to London and the South East and explores what use they might be to us today. Presented by John Rogers and Nick Papadimitriou.

Originally broadcast on 2nd December 2009.

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Episode 4.

(photo by Peter Knapp.)

This week John and Nick take a dérive through James Bone’s The London Perambulator published in 1925. Bone’s view of the city was idiosyncratic and hard to pin down, he was drawn to the overlooked and maligned corners of the metropolis. He dreamed of having the keys to the spirit of London and preached the virtues of night-time perambulations in all weathers.

Includes readings by Heidi Lapaine and field recordings retracing the chapter on North O’Euston.

Read more about this episode here.

Ventures and Adventures in Topography is a show that looks at the rich tradition of early 20th century topographical walking guides to London and the South East and explores what use they might be to us today. Presented by John Rogers and Nick Papadimitriou.

Originally broadcast 25th November 2009.

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Episode 3.

(photo: Peter Knapp)

In this episode Nick and John take a lopsided ramble through Pathfinder’s Afoot Round London (published in 1911) and get lost in the Essex Golden Triangle between Chigwell and Loughton.

Read more about this episode here.

Ventures and Adventures in Topography is a show that looks at the rich tradition of early 20th century topographical walking guides to London and the South East and explores what use they might be to us today. Presented by John Rogers and Nick Papadimitriou.

Originally broadcast on Wednesday 18th November 2009.

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Episode 2

Ventures and Adventures in Topography is a show that looks at the rich tradition of early 20th century topographical walking guides to London and the South East and explores what use they might be to us today. Presented by John Rogers and Nick Papadimitriou.

In this episode John and Nick take a topographical ramble through the pages of The Fringe of London by Gordon S. Maxwell published in 1925. They hold this book as being the holy text of suburban wayfarer. Includes field recordings of a trip to Monks Park near Wembley following Maxwell’s chapter on that suburb when it was a rural district. They also discuss Maxwell’s writing with Professor Kristen Bluemel.

More info about the episode can be found here.

Email Nick and John: deeplibrary@yahoo.com

Originally broadcast on Wednesday 11th November 2009.

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Episode 1 introduces the English topographical tradition and examines the impact it has had on contemporary approaches to psychogeography.

Ventures and Adventures in Topography is presented by John Rogers and Nick Papadimitriou.

In the first episode of this new series Nick and John look at the rich tradition of early 20th century topographical walking guides to London and the South East. Each episode is a wayward topographical ramble through the pages of a different book.

Originally broadcast on Wednesday November 4th 2009.

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