Jack the Ripper Tour

[John Bennett]

"She also asked me if I was alive when the murders happened!"

Shave that beard off and it it won't happen again
;-)

C

Aw, come on, there's only a bit of grey in it!

[chrisjd]

"She also asked me if I was alive when the murders happened!"

Shave that beard off and it it won't happen again
;-)

C

[John Bennett]

Is it common for guides to 'hype up' their tours with a narrative?

Hopefully not, but some do.


I have had a lot of school groups recently, which is often where the most pertinent/funny questions come from. Yesterday, they started asking me about suspects. They named Tumblety, Ostrog, Druitt, Kosminski (including spelling variations), Joe Barnett, Chapman and then one lad shouted out "Thomas Hayne Cutbush!" Not bad for a 14 year old, I thought!

Today was different. Lovely group. However one girl asked "what did Jack the Ripper look like?" Me and the other kids said that we didn't know, because he was never caught.

Half an hour later, she said "was he married?" Same response.

At the end, she asked "did he have any children?" Same response with more ribbing from her mates.


She also asked me if I was alive when the murders happened! Bless. They have only just started the course, though.

[Radical Joe]

Arrrr!! I hear the creaking of bones...!

Nope, JB appeared 8 months later. But tours are nothing new - before the Rumbelows, Joneses, Hutchinsons and all, there was Keith Baverstock. I believe this is an account of his first Ripper tour (from The Times) in August 1970.

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"One witness described the Ripper wearing a deerstalker - a piece of evidence that has produced some unkind speculation about what Sherlock Holmes was doing at the time of the murders." Was that ever cleared up?

An enjoyable read actually, thanks. I like the prose he uses: "Footballs echoed uneasily in the memory", "The pilgrims stared dutifully", "a sinister pool of oil on the cobbles" He could make a childrens picnic sound like the prelude to a massacre.

Actually, I walked past a tour a copule of weeks back. Two guides were talking to a group outside of ChristChurch, Spitalfields, and one of them (a reasonably young Scottish man) stated that all the victims knew each other well and used to enjoy a drink together in the Ten Bells. I almost choked on my cream cheese bagel. Now, I know it's not beyond the realms of possibility, but I thought it a bit cheeky to state this as fact.

Is it common for guides to 'hype up' their tours with a narrative?

[John Bennett]

I did the Jack the Ripper tour in August 1967, but I didn't see John Bennett - in fact I didn't see any tour guides at all.

Arrrr!! I hear the creaking of bones...!

Nope, JB appeared 8 months later. But tours are nothing new - before the Rumbelows, Joneses, Hutchinsons and all, there was Keith Baverstock. I believe this is an account of his first Ripper tour (from The Times) in August 1970.

[RJM]

I did the Jack the Ripper tour in August 1967, but I didn't see John Bennett - in fact I didn't see any tour guides at all.

Don's day off was it

[Stewart P Evans]

Tour Guide - What Tour Guide?

I did the Jack the Ripper tour in August 1967, but I didn't see John Bennett - in fact I didn't see any tour guides at all.

[John Bennett]

Yesterday I heard a tour guide saying this in Wilkes Street;

"the kidney was sent THAT WAY [points in the direction of Spitalfields Market] to the London Hospital for analysis - but they could not do it on health grounds!"

Interesting...

Also, the school group l had yesterday were fun. When I told them that the 'Ten Bells' was once renamed the 'Jack the Ripper', one of the girls said "gosh, man, those people had issues".

Elizabeth Stride was murdered in the Parish of St. George in the East (i.e. St. George's Parish).

I hate to further detract from the topic of this thread; but I believe that some will find this to be of interest.


Hamlet of Mile End Old Town 1894 / Parish of St. George in the East 1843, 1897(?)* (Click to View in flickr)

Marking the boundary between the Hamlet of Mile End Old Town & the Parish of St. George in the East; which coincided with Commercial Road, from Back Church Lane to Jubilee Street, before briefly running through the alley on the north side of the George Tavern.

M.E.O.T.
1894
/
St. GEORGE'S PARISH
1843
/
St. GEORGE MIDDx
(1897)(?)*

i.e. …

Hamlet of Mile End Old Town, 1894
/
St. George's Parish, 1843
/
Parish of St. George, County of Middlesex, 18(??)*

* The hand-painted '1897' (?) is probably a modern interpretation; as the Parish of St. George in the East became a component of the newly established County of London, in 1889.

[JennyL]

Oh, there are a million variations, John!

Seriously as I'm looking forward to my first Ripper tour with one of you one day soon, I hope my own experience is a smooth, no-hiccups one-that is, with no dumb questions asked--especially by me.

[John Bennett]

Thanks Jenny.

I don't think I've heard it on a tour. At least I can't remember hearing it. Maybe others have! Phil!?

[JennyL]

This sounds familiar - what is "wha-huh?" an expression of, Jenny? Just want to make sure.

General all-around stupefaction, John. The native call of a certain sort of american tourist on holi--I mean, vacation. Frequently heard in UK eateries, i.e. "saveloy? Wha-Hunh??" or in B&Bs at breakfast: "Wha-huh's this? I ordered bacon! ?!"

[John Bennett]

I wonder-how often does the typical US tourist on a Ripper tour say "Wha-HUH??" to a britspeak(i.e. proper english)phrase spoken by the Tour Guide?

This sounds familiar - what is "wha-huh?" an expression of, Jenny? Just want to make sure.

[JennyL]

"... 'St George's in the East' is wrong, I know that, but it doesn't get my gander up too much."

That's probably because it isn't 'inaccurate', so-to-speak!

What about 'candy', 'cookies', 'sidewalk' and 'soccer'?

What-you mean sweets, biscuits, pavement(?)..and I wouldn't touch football.

Still can't get the sports right.

To bring it back to the topic so I the newbie don't get smershed here: I wonder-how often does the typical US tourist on a Ripper tour say "Wha-HUH??" to a britspeak(i.e. proper english)phrase spoken by the Tour Guide? I take pride in no one taking much notice of my origins when I'm in London myself, but oh, my countrymen(some of them)!

[John Bennett]

What about 'candy', 'cookies', 'sidewalk' and 'soccer'?

Yo!! Stateside!