A walk around London’s East End

The big news story in the UK over the past couple of weeks was the murder of five prostitutes in Suffolk, even film director Oliver Stone commented on it when presenting at the British Comedy Awards saying ‘it’s great to be back in England, nothing changes’. He was referring the present case to probably Britain’s most famous killer Jack The Ripper.

Jack The Ripper was the name given to a serial killer who carried out attacks in the East End of London during the late 1880s, he was never caught. There’s a whole industry built up around identifying who The Ripper was and it depends on what book you read to which suspect you believe did it. The Metropolitan Police website names four that the original officers investigating the case thought might have done it, Kosminski, a poor Polish Jew, Montague John Druitt, a 31 year old lawyer, Russian born Michael Ostrog and Dr Francis J. Tumblety, a 56 year old American.

The number of Ripper victims is not even known for sure. Five are taken as definitely his but another six happened in the same period and locations, all between April 1888 and February 1891.

London and the East End has change a lot since the Ripper’s day but you can get a taste of the area he prowled for victims by taking a walking tour. There are a number of companies offering tours including the following:
Jack The Ripper Tour Their walk starts every evening at 6.45pm at Tower Hill station and runs until 9.15pm, price £5 adults, rising to £6 in 2007.
Jack The Ripper Walks They start their route at the Toynbee Hall exit of Aldgate East Underground station at 7pm. The tour lasts 2 hours and goes on a loop around Spitalfields and Whitechapel. It costs £6.50 per person, their website says they’re pretty busy.
The Talking Tour Company If you want to go at your own pace you can download or buy a CD of an audio Jack The Ripper tour. This audio tour starts at Whitechapel Underground station and lasts for 2 hours. The CD costs £6.99 and the MP3 £5.99. Keep your eyes open if you’re wandering around the East End at night with headphones in.
The Original London Walks They do a Jack the Ripper Haunts walk every night at 7.30pm starting at Tower Hill Underground station, the cost is £6.

If you want to get in the mood before you go on a Ripper walk, rather than reaching for the carving knife a good movie to watch is From Hell starring Johnny Depp and Heather Graham. Johnny Depp, with a very good London accent, is a policeman investigating the Ripper murders in the 1880s and Heather Graham’s one of the victims. The movie was filmed in Prague but gives a great feel of what the Victorian East End would have been like.