Every Saturday and Sunday I lead a troupe of excited sensation-seekers on an historical walk of my home area, Bermondsey and Rotherhithe. It is part of the wonderful network of events run by London Walks.

It is called “Ahoy! Mayflower and The Ships of Rotherhithe.”

To be frank, this part of our great city was its soft underbelly for centuries. There were brothels and opium dens, an underworld depicted vividly by Charles Dickens. It is a joy to me because I have seen my ‘manor’ rise Phoenix-like from the ashes of The Blitz and the closure of the docks to become a super place to live in.