Episode 02: Richard Jones | Topic: Jack the RipperEpisode 02: Richard Jones | Topic: Jack the Ripper

“Walking is the only way to approach London. You’ve got to get lost in London. Just spend a couple of days not knowing where you are going. Just set up and walk. You’ll make some fantastic discoveries.” – Richard Jones

TALKS BEYOND TIME AND PLACE – EPISODE TWO: RICHARD JONES

Richard Jones is one of London’s leading walking tour guides. He started in 1982, is a Blue Badge tour guide, an author and a broadcaster. Richard has written over twenty books on various subjects from Jack the Ripper to Charles Dickens to Haunted London and Britain. He regularly appears on international television as an expert on these topics.

In the second episode of “Talks beyond time and place”, Richard shares his stories from almost 40 years of guiding and broadcasting, like working with Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden or leading Green Day through the East End.

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Jack the Ripper: The talk

Richard Jones is one of the leading experts on Jack the Ripper as well, so we also talk about the Ripper murders and their impact on London.

Timestamps

0:00:00 London beyond time and place Intro

0:01:02 Introduction

0:03:32 How and when did you decide to become a tour guide?

0:06:16 How have your routes and walks changed since 1982?

0:08:30 Is there any aspect of London that you do not cover or that you do not know?

0:13:05 The free Harry Potter tour

0:15:58 What was the most surprising fact you have learned or story that you have heard about London in all these years?

0:17:42 In the last months, you have been doing a lot of videos for social media. How do you choose the locations?

0:21:14 How the COVID pandemic influences London’s spirit

0:23:58 The strangest moment on a tour

0:26:19 Would you encourage others to do what you do?

0:27:44 What kind of people attend your tours?

0:29:34 Celebrity guests – Joan Rivers, Bruce Dickinson, Green Day

0:34:12 How and when did you start writing books?

0:37:05 The Diary of Richard Pepys

0:39:58 Edgar’s Walking Guides

JACK THE RIPPER

0:44:48 Did you become a Ripper expert by doing the tours or have you been one before?

0:48:01 What do you think, why are there so many people still interested in this case, what is so special about it?

0:52:23 Do you have a personal theory about who the Ripper was?

0:56:39 How do you perceive the East End?

1:03:15 What do you think and feel when you walk the “Ripper’s” East End? Has it changed over the years since 1982 or lost some of its appeal?

1:06:12 Walking the Ripper’s East End – Why do you think we try to recreate it, why do we want to feel this, relive this?

1:08:38 You distinguish between the Whitechapel murderer and Jack the Ripper

1:09:37 The Ripper letters

1:11:16 Is there one fact or witness account or anything in the whole case that baffles you most?

1:15:18 The graffito in Goulston Street

1:17:26 Would you have wanted to live back then?

1:18:57 The impact of the murders on London’s spirit

1:20:45 Richard’s television programmes

1:24:44 A historian once said that London writes us as we write about it. Would you agree with that statement?

1:25:21 Would you agree that walking is the best way to approach London?

1:26:39 There is this great saying of Dr Johnson “When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life.” Have you ever become tired of London in all these years?

1:27:39 What is your favourite place in London?

1:28:23 Are there still places you want to research?

1:29:58 Can you name three Londoners that you would have dinner or a drink with?

LINKS

RICHARD’S LONDON WALKING TOURS

RICHARD’S JACK THE RIPPER TOUR

Buy his books here:

Walking Haunted London: 25 Original Walks Exploring London’s Ghostly Past*

Walking Dickensian London: Twenty-Five Original Walks Through London’s Victorian Quarters (Interlink Walking Guides)*

Jack the Ripper: The Casebook*

THE DIARY OF RICHARD PEPYS

EDGAR’S WALKING GUIDES

Buy Edgar’s Walking Guides here:

Edgar’s Guide to Jack the Ripper’s East End 2020: 1 (Edgar’s Walking Guides, Band 1)*

Edgar’s Guide to Charles Dickens’s London 2020: 2 (Edgar’s Walking Guides, Band 2)*

Edgar’s Guide to Postman’s Park 2020: 3 (Edgar’s Walking Guides, Band 3)*

Edgar’s Guide to Haunted London 2020: 4 (Edgar’s Walking Guides, Band 4)*

Richard’s documentary “Unmasking Jack the Ripper”:

Poems by Richard Jones

This Place Is Haunted

The Ghost

Order my new German book “Jack the Ripper – Die Whitechapel-Morde 1888: Eine Chronologie” here:

WALKS BEYOND TIME AND PLACE

The Jack the Ripper Walk through Whitechapel’s “Ripper” streets by London beyond time and place

My book “London and its genius loci” also features a Ripper tour and various interpretations and analyses of Ripper fiction. I discuss the spirit of London and the influence of the Ripper murders on London.

TALKS BEYOND TIME AND PLACE

“Talks beyond time and place” is a series of online conversations by author Philipp Röttgers of “London beyond time and place“. Philipp and his guests chat about how London influences their lives. In every episode, they cover certain topics, depending on the individual guest. Among his guests are scholars, historians, tour guides and more and the atmosphere feels like a conversation in a pub.

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