The Intelligence Trail is arguably the
most comprehensive London spy walk for the following reasons:-
Your guide -
"Mr X" – is
amongst other things a former politics and economics lecturer armed
with a BA
(Hons) in International Relations - specialising in security studies.
As well
as being competent in the subject matter per se, he has the breadth and
depth
of knowledge to provide further comment regarding the context in which
events
occurred. There’s no cue cards referred to on this tour! (In
actual fact,
shutting him up will be more of a challenge!)
In contrast
with other London walking
tour guides, Mr X is completely focussed on this tour and this tour
only. For
this reason, everything in the tour is about the tour. In other words,
it’s “all
killer and no filler!” And on a subject like
this, isn’t that the way it should
be?
The
tour content covers a range of
events and episodes, in doing so providing an excellent introduction to
the
British intelligence services as well as recounting key episodes. Facts
and
drama go hand in hand! Because the route itself goes past so many
points of
relevance, there’s no shortage of material. In fact, ‘Mr
X’ has the hard choice
of choosing which events and episodes to recall within the confines of
the
normal tour length. Having said that however, the faster the tour group
can
walk the greater the chance of some extra stories thrown in for good
measure!
Then
there’s the route
itself, taking you into the areas of St. James, the corridors of power
in
Whitehall (the heart of British politics and government), and
Westminster – walking
past some of the lesser-known streets in these areas as well as
traversing
through the more famous streets and avenues. And
although it’s the stories themselves
taking pride of place on the tour, some of the architecture encountered
on The
Intelligence Trail will also be memorable. (NOTE: See the FAQ
with regards to
photographing buildings on tour).
