I was standing at Heathrow recently talking next to an East End taxi driver when he asked what sort of tours I ran.
“Women’s history,” I said.
He rolled his eyes slightly.
“Wouldn’t be much for me then.”
So I asked if he was from the East End.
“Born and bred. Bethnal Green.”
“Then you’ll know all about the Krays,” I said.
“Course I do.”
“But did you know their mother Violet loved fine couture? She adored beautiful clothes — as did her boys — and many of those clothes were stolen to order by the Forty Elephants, London’s notorious all-female gang.”
Now he was listening.
I told him about Shirley Pitts, known as the Queen of Thieves, who led the gang for a time. About her lavish funeral procession in 1992, the Daimlers, the underworld figures lining the streets, the condolences sent by Ronnie and Reggie Kray. About how she never informed on anyone. Ever.
By this point, his eyes had practically popped out of his head.
“Have you got a card?” he said.
That’s what these walks are really about.
Not just “women’s history” — but the hidden women behind the stories London thinks it already knows.