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Gangster Tour of London’s East End Led by Actor Vas Blackwood
Recommended for your London trip
Free Cancellation
up to 24 hours in advance
2 hours (Approx.)
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English
Keeping you safe during COVID-19
Overview
Journey through the sinister world of organized crime with a 2-hour walking tour through London’s East End! Guided by actor Vas Blackwood—hear real histories and fictitious recreations of London’s gangster underworld. Visit filming locations and learn about the notorious Kray Twins, London’s premier mobsters in the mid-20th century, and former bad boy Lenny McLean.
- 2-hour gangster walking tour of London’s East End led by Vas Blackwood
- Hear insider gossip about London’s low-life underworld: real-life criminals and fictional fiends
- Visit sites linked to the infamous Kray twins like Repton Boys’ Club and the Blind Beggar pub
- See the pub used as Samoan Jo’s in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
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Your tour through the London’s gritty criminal underworld begins in Whitechapel, an area brimming with illicit histories from the Jack the Ripper rampage to the dark negotiations of London’s most infamous gangsters. Meet your guide Vas Blackwood there for your 2-hour afternoon walking tour—and bring your questions!
As you head into Whitechapel’s warren of alleys and backroads, hear about the famous Kray twins, brutal mobsters who ruled the East End in the mid-20th century. Before being imprisoned for life, Reggie and Ronnie Kray made their mark in the area, from training to box at Repton Boys’ Club to opening glamorous nightclubs—hotspots for famous performers and members of parliament. Learn about Ronnie’s rise to celebrity after publicly murdering his arch rival at Blind Beggar pub, and about beloved London actress Barbara Windsor, who had a fling with Reggie Kray before marrying his feared associate, Ronnie Knight.
Along the way, indulge in Vas’s colorful storytelling. Learn more about cockney criminals like Brown Bread Fred, a cockney play on words where ‘bread’ translates to ‘dead’ – the unfortunate fate of many that met him – and ‘The Guv’nor,’ Lenny McLean, a former bareknuckle fighter and gangster who left the dark side to perform in the British classic, Eastenders.
Finish with a behind-the-scenes tour of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels film locations. Soak up little-known tales of production as you visit sites like Samoan Jo’s pub and Hatchet Harry’s office, workplace of Harry Lonsdale.
Your fascinating insider tour ends at Columbia Road in Shoreditch.
As you head into Whitechapel’s warren of alleys and backroads, hear about the famous Kray twins, brutal mobsters who ruled the East End in the mid-20th century. Before being imprisoned for life, Reggie and Ronnie Kray made their mark in the area, from training to box at Repton Boys’ Club to opening glamorous nightclubs—hotspots for famous performers and members of parliament. Learn about Ronnie’s rise to celebrity after publicly murdering his arch rival at Blind Beggar pub, and about beloved London actress Barbara Windsor, who had a fling with Reggie Kray before marrying his feared associate, Ronnie Knight.
Along the way, indulge in Vas’s colorful storytelling. Learn more about cockney criminals like Brown Bread Fred, a cockney play on words where ‘bread’ translates to ‘dead’ – the unfortunate fate of many that met him – and ‘The Guv’nor,’ Lenny McLean, a former bareknuckle fighter and gangster who left the dark side to perform in the British classic, Eastenders.
Finish with a behind-the-scenes tour of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels film locations. Soak up little-known tales of production as you visit sites like Samoan Jo’s pub and Hatchet Harry’s office, workplace of Harry Lonsdale.
Your fascinating insider tour ends at Columbia Road in Shoreditch.
Itinerary
Meet your guide – Vas Blackwood (famous for playing Rory Breaker in Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels as well as Only Fools and Horses in which he played the robber Lennox 'Shadow' Gilbey) - in Whitechapel, the gritty heart of London’s East End. Then set off on your 2-hour walking tour of the area, visiting film and TV program locations as well as real-life places associated with London’s criminal underworld.
Famously the stomping ground of the Kray twins (Ronnie and Reggie) who terrorized the East End during the 1950s and 60s, the area is rich with sites linked to them. Pay a visit to Repton Boys’ Club, where the twins learned to box, and see the Blind Beggar pub, where Ronnie killed an arch rival – one of the ruthless acts that propelled him from mere gangster into an East End celebrity icon (albeit a feared one).
Duration: 2 hours
Admission Ticket Included
Having rubbed shoulders with many of London’s ex-gangsters to prepare for his role in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Vas Blackwood has countless tales to tell, and you’ll hear the best as you walk from site to site. Learn about ‘The Guv’nor,’ Lenny McLean, a gangster-turned-good guy who started his criminal resume as a bareknuckle fighter before going on to act in popular UK TV programs, like Eastenders and The Bill.
You'll also hear tales of Barbara Windsor – a much-loved London actress who married one of the Krays' feared associates Ronnie Knight -- as well as discovering the dastardly doings of Brown Bread Fred, a chap nicknamed after the cockney rhyming slang in which ‘brown bread’ means 'dead' in reference to the murders he committed. See the pub used as Samoan Jo’s in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, as well as Hatchet Harry’s office, where ‘Porn King’ Harry Lonsdale worked in the film.
Duration: 15 minutes
Admission Ticket Free
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Product code: 5936GANGSTER
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