Emily Laurence Baker

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Emily Laurence Baker I am a Blue Badge guide available for private tours in London and surrounding areas. I will work with you to design your ideal day, walk or site visit.

“With age comes wisdom, but sometimes age comes alone.”This quote from Oscar Wilde on his birthday seems particularly ap...
16/10/2026

“With age comes wisdom, but sometimes age comes alone.”

This quote from Oscar Wilde on his birthday seems particularly apt this year. The witty playwright was born on 16 October in Dublin in 1854. His parents, who were central to Dublin’s intellectual and literary circles, set  him up for a life as one of London’s most prominent literary figures.

But he was as well known for his style and flamboyance as for his literary endeavours. He lived large and lived for the pursuit of pleasure and experience. How lucky London was to have him.

Happy Birthday, Oscar.

14/10/2026

It’s Wonder Women Wednesday. I’m on the island of Guernsey today in the Channel Islands, specifically in St Peter Port. I’m standing  in front of a building called Le Platon, where in 1914, our wonder woman today, Edith Renouf, founded a care home for the incurably ill.

Guernsey’s longest-established care home, Le Platon began when Edith Renouf was a child visiting France during the FP war of 1870-71. She witnessed  the suffering of wounded soldiers returning home and vowed to dedicate her life to the care of others.

Renouf was born in London in 1864 and inherited the home known as Le Platon from her wealthy family. She grew up to study medicine in Rome and London but never qualified as a doctor. When she was about 50, she returned to Guernsey to live at Le Platon.

She opened the home in 1914 to care for the incurably ill of all ages but when Guernsey was occupied by German forces during the Second World War, the States (the government of the main Channel Islands) asked her to care for the elderly.

In 1927, she pledged all her personal wealth to the care home.

As if that’s not wonder woman enough, she also spoke seven languages.

For literature and art lovers, London’s peaceful neighbourhood of Chelsea is crammed with references. I’m excited to be ...
25/09/2026

For literature and art lovers, London’s peaceful neighbourhood of Chelsea is crammed with references. I’m excited to be leading a walk for Chelsea History Festival next week that will explore the lives and output of some of Britain’s (and North America’s) most famous artists and writers.

It’s so easy to imagine Oscar Wilde strutting along Tite Street, where he lived in 1884 along with other writers and artists. Wilde wrote about “the street of wonderful possibilities” when he glimpsed the actress Ellen Terry, dressed as Lady Macbeth in elaborate green regalia, arriving to have her portrait painted by John Singer Sargent, whose studio was across the way.

Can you hear the peacocks that roamed the garden at Tudor House in Cheyne Walk where Dante Gabriel Rossetti lived and kept a menagerie in the garden? He had a troubled life but his co-founding of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood opened the door to the later Aesthetic and Arts and Crafts movements.

Further along Cheyne Walk is Carlyle Mansions, home to so many writers over the years that it earned the nickname, Writers’ Block. We’ll talk about one resident who penned one of the best-known English language poems and one who gave life to one of Britain’s most famous characters of all time. (That would be The Waste Land and James Bond respectively.)

The Arts and Literature Walk will run on 1 October at 11am and 2 October at 2pm. Tickets bookable at Chelsea History Festival website.

23/09/2026

It's Wonder Women Wednesday. I’m in South Kensington today outside the Victoria and Albert Museum, specifically its entrance on Exhibition Road which opened to the public in 2017, more than 150 years after the museum opened here in 1857. Our wonder woman today, Amanda Levete, designed this magnificent space amidst many challenges.

This new addition to one of London’s top museums was not only designed to create a new entrance but to provide additional gallery space in one of London’s most iconic and beloved museums. The extension marked the V&A’s largest building project in 150 years.

Amanda Levete was born in Bridgend, South Wales in 1955. After a distinguished career with several architectural firms, she founded her own practice, AL_A Architects.

Levete is known for projects that integrate buildings with their surrounding communities in a futuristic style. This often means curves that seem to emerge from nature and the use of lightweight materials including glossy ceramics.

While at Future Systems, the firm was awarded the Stirling Prize for their contribution to Lord’s Media Centre, an all-aluminum structure. The use of that material was repeated with 15,000 aluminum discs at Selfridges in Birmingham.

Another well-known impactive project that changed the landscape is the Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology in Lisbon where galleries are below water level in an attempt to reconnect the city to its river.

In London’s South Kensington, Levete honoured the V&A’s famous ceramic collection by paving the courtyard with 11,000 handmade tiles. The huge, column-free underground gallery now hosts temporary exhibitions and the museum integrates with London’s museum quarter of Exhibition Road.

Among this prolific architect’s accolades are winner of one of the UK’s most prestigious architectural honours, the Stirling Prize, and also the Jane Drew Prize, awarded to a person showing innovation, diversity and inclusiveness in architecture. Amanda Levete was awarded Commander of the British Empire (CBE) for services to architecture by Queen Elizabeth in 2017.

On this day, 21 September, in 1915, a Wiltshire landowner named Cecil Chubb went to an auction at the behest of his wife...
21/09/2026

On this day, 21 September, in 1915, a Wiltshire landowner named Cecil Chubb went to an auction at the behest of his wife, to purchase dining chairs. He got a little distracted and came home possessing the deed to one of the world’s most famous prehistoric monuments, Stonehenge.

Apparently Mr Chubb was bothered by the rundown condition of the stones which visitors had been chipping away at for years. Mr Chubb told a reporter that he felt a local person should own the stones so he bid and paid £6,600 for Lot 15. He left the auction with no firm plans of what to do with the monument and three years later, donated the site to the nation.

Cecil Chubb had grown up near the stones and recalled visiting them regularly as a child, “under every conceivable condition of weather – in driving tempests of hail, rain and snow, fierce thunderstorms, glorious moonlight and beautiful sunshine, it always has had an inexpressible charm.”

Today Stonehenge charms and intrigues visitors from all over the world who marvel at the ingenuity and perseverance of the creators. The best part is, we still aren’t exactly sure why this monument exists in the first place. Now, that’s a gift that keeps on giving.

09/09/2026

I’m in the City of London at Mansion House, the grand home of the Lord Mayor of the City of London. Our wonder woman today, Dame Susan Langley, is  the 697th  lord mayor since 1189 and only the third female one. She is the first to be known as “Lady Mayor”.

She has become well-known for her catch-phrase to “un-square the Square Mile,” meaning focusing on innovation rather than more traditional elements of financial services.

The position of the Lord Mayor of the City of London was established in 1189 and is one of the world’s oldest continuously elected civic offices.

The lord mayor is elected annually in September by a select group of individuals involved with the governance of the City of London, also known as the Square Mile.

The lord mayor’s main role is to promote the businesses and residents of the City of London. Lady Mayor Langley is an official spokesperson for the City and during overseas visits, she actively promotes foreign investment in the UK. During her tenure which ends in November, Dame Susan has travelled widely, working to boost London’s image on the global stage. Unfortunately that has involved her mission to disprove allegations of crime which she says are “completely unfounded.”

As someone with access to many influential City leaders, Dame Susan leads the Lord Mayor’s Appeal which is a charity that connects corporate entities with charitable programmes, with a specific focus on young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET).

She is well-suited to the ambassadorial role with a background in insurance and financial services industries. She has held senior roles at Lloyds of London, the Home Office, and the Department for International Trade. She also holds the second highest rank of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, for her dedication to financial and public services, awarded by King Charles III in 2023.

In one morning at the British Library, my guests and I travelled around the world via literature. How wonderful to explo...
04/09/2026

In one morning at the British Library, my guests and I travelled around the world via literature. How wonderful to explore the printed word and to contemplate how it documents and enriches our lives.

We began with Leonarda da Vinci’s Codex Arundel, a collection of notes and sketches with quirky doodles (not pictured) and ended with a letter from Christopher Robin of Winnie the Pooh fame [3].

Along the way we contemplated a Chinese propaganda poster promoting swimming as a healthy endeavor for the family [4 ]; enjoyed the draft notes of Andrea Levy’s award-winning novel, Small Island [5]; and admired the poetry book of Phyllis Wheatley [6] , the first known by an African American.

The group particularly enjoyed the first multi-lingual Bible [7], published in the 16th-century for Catholic scholars.

So much mind expansion in a relatively small space and short time span.

The Ritblat Gallery at the British Library is usually open daily.

26/08/2026

I’m on the glorious island of Guernsey today in the channel Islands where Marie Ozanne, a Guernsey native and major in the Salvation Army, stood up to German forces that were occupying the island during the second World War. She refused to accept the ban on the Salvation Army and also protested against the treatment of prisoners of war.

The Salvation Army was founded in 1865 as a Christian church and charity dedicated to help people in need without discrimination. It continues to operate with a military-style structure of ranks and uniforms.

In 1940, Marie Ozanne was serving in Belgium with the Salvation Army but returned to Guernsey, shortly before German troops took over the island in an effort to control the English Channel.

The Occupying Forces shut down the Salvation Army, including open-air meetings and worship services, and also banned Salvation Army uniforms. Despite numerous warnings, Marie Ozanne bravely defied the orders and preached in civilian clothing after the German officers took her uniform.  

Marie even studied German in hopes that her message would be better received.

She stepped up her campaign by objecting to the inhumane treatment of Organisation Todt prisoners, those who had been brought to Guernsey as slave labourers to construct German fortifications. These included a network of underground tunnels beneath Guernsey and  the Atlantic Wall which was a line of coastal defences along continental Europe and Scandinavia. Marie illegally brought the prisoners food and other comforts.

When British islanders who were not Guernsey natives were shipped to German camps, Marie offered to go with them but was denied. She eventually was placed under house arrest in a Guernsey police officer’s house, from where she continued her letter-writing campaign.

Marie died of complications from appendicitis in 1943 at age 37.

 Posthumously, Marie was awarded the Order of the Founder, the highest honour of the Salvation Army.

Image credit of Clifton Hall by Colin Smith

The Channel Islands have the dubious distinction of being the only part of the British Isles that were occupied by N**i ...
24/08/2026

The Channel Islands have the dubious distinction of being the only part of the British Isles that were occupied by N**i Germany during the Second World War. The islands, which include Jersey and Guernsey, are located just off the French coast of Normandy and about 85 miles south of England. They are self-governing Crown Dependencies and not part of the United Kingdom.

After Britain determined that the islands were indefensible, they were demilitarized and German forces occupied the islands from June 1940 until liberation on 9 May 1945. Forced labourers were used to build an extensive network of underground tunnels, as well as above-ground defences.

On a recent visit to St Peter Port in Guernsey, I was struck by this peaceful idyll where residents move at a leisurely pace. I would even go so far as to use the cliché of stepping back in time. But with that comes the regular reminder of how tenuous a peaceful life can be. 

Just 40 minutes in the underground tunnels of the German Underground Hospital left me feeling uneasy. Even while swimming in the fantastic outdoor tidal pools, I was adjacent to vast tunnels excavated by German forces for fuel storage.

But overall, the backdrop of whispering leaves in the breeze, a steady chorus of gulls and swishing harbour waves prevails.

This bear, first called Edward, was the inspiration for the well known tale of Winnie the Pooh. Today he lives at the Ne...
21/08/2026

This bear, first called Edward, was the inspiration for the well known tale of Winnie the Pooh. Today he lives at the New York Public Library but on this day, 21 August, 1921, he was given to one-year-old Christopher Robin Milne by his parents, who purchased the toy friend at Harrods. 

Edward was renamed after the young Christopher was entranced by a bear called Winnipeg which he saw at the London Zoo. The "Pooh" was from a swan that Christopher enjoyed meeting on holiday.

The character's proper name is Winnie-the-Pooh. The unhyphenated version appeared when the Walt Disney Company obtained licensing rights from the estate of A.A. Milne and started a phenomenally successful franchise.

The books' editor ultimately donated the original toys to the New York Public Library which is why they now reside on Fifth Avenue.

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