In addition to the free London walks that Richard offers on this, his London Walks site, Richard Jones also conducts a regular Jack the Ripper Walk through the streets of Jack the Ripper's East End. These must be booked in advance and full details of dates and times can be found on the following website.
Richard Jones has been a pioneering figure on the London Walks scene since 1982, far longer than majority of other London Walks guides.
In 1988 his became the first Jack the Ripper Walk to operate 7 chilling nights a week, an innovation that wasn't followed by any other Jack the Ripper Walk until 1990.
In addition Richard's was the first tour to show original photographs of the area as it was in 1888. Other Jack the Ripper Walks didn't start copying this idea until 1996.
In 1988 Richard introduced a summary fact sheet on his Jack the Ripper Walk so that tour participants could take away a lasting memory of the evening. It also helped people remember all the fascinating information and facts that they had heard in the course of the tour. Sure enough this innovation was copied by several other Jack the Ripper Walks, although it took them until 2002 to follow Richard's lead.
In 2004 Richard decided to place the fact sheet on his website so that tour participants could actually read the information BEFORE they took the tour. In this way they could become fully conversant with the facts and therefore enjoy the Jack the Ripper Walk that much more. None of the other London Walks have copied this innovation yet, but watch this space!
In 2005 Richard became alarmed by the number of Jack the Ripper walks that were happy to take groups of 200 - 300 people on one tour. All these people struggling to hear and see one guide, did not sound quite fair.
That is why in May 2005 Richard introduced a booking system on his Jack the Ripper Walk. His guarantee to you is that your tour will never have more than 36 people on it. A much better and more professional way of doing business all round don't you think?
As Richard reasoned it wasn't fair on the tour participants. It wasn't and isn't fair on local residents, many of whom had had their evenings made a misery by these huge groups standing on or near their homes as guides struggled to be heard, sometimes even being so irresponsible and uncaring about local sensibilities as to use amplifiers or loud hailers to address their groups.
That is why Richard introduced a simpe booking system. By booking the tour in advance you are able to ensure that the tour you join consists of only a manageable number of people, not a huge unsightly herd where you can't hear a thing, and which without doubt disturbs the quality of life of the local residents.
