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SALON NO.125: The Mythology of London Parks

“London is a forest with a city in it.”

7.00pm Thursday 31st July 2025

The Horse Hospital
Colonade
London 
WC1N 1JD

Admission: Tickets £13.50 inc. in advance only HERE
London’s parks are not just spaces of leisure or greenery. They are ancient stage-sets for myths, politics, hauntings, and folk histories. 

For this high summer Salon, join cultural historian, psychogeographer, and author of 'A Walk in the Park', TRAVIS ELBOROUGH as he guides us through the mythos and hidden histories of London’s great gardens – from Hyde Park’s role as a duelling ground and site of mass protest, to the mystical symbolism of Regent’s Park and the radical undercurrents of Hampstead Heath.

Travis will explore how these spaces have acted as stages for everything from political upheaval to poetic reverie – and how they continue to serve as places where the city dreams itself differently.

Meanwhile, author, folklorist, and London chronicler CHRIS ROBERTS will delve into the folklore, development, and spectral histories of South London’s parks and commons.

Expect anti-golf riots, Korean toilet goddesses and stolen geese as we celebrate places to sit in, places to play and places to spend the day alongside contemporary (and older) threats to the concept of free open space in London, along with the often-overlooked psychogeographic tension under the greenery south of the Thames.

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Described by The Guardian as “one of the country’s finest pop culture historians,” Travis Elborough has been charting the soul of London for over two decades.

His many books include The Long-Player Goodbye, The Bus We Loved, The Atlas of Improbable Places, and the widely acclaimed A Walk in the Park: The Life and Times of a People’s Institution – a definitive history of Britain’s public parks.

Chris Roberts a South London-based writer and tour guide who has written on the history of nursery rhymes, London's bridges, lost words and superstition in football. He is also responsible, in the form of One Eye Grey, the resurrection of the penny dreadful in the 21st century, and the award winning Café Calcio radio show.

His collections of short stories, Bus travel in South London and South Parks, are part of an ongoing project telling the stories that celebrate the people, cultures, folklore and the shared spaces of South London. The tales are a mix of magically real, folk horror, coming of age, mostly set in the contemporary city

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Our home, THE HORSE HOSPITAL, is a unique Grade II listed not for profit, independent arts venue within the only existing unspoilt example of a two-floor, purpose-built stable with public access in London. 

Built in 1797 by James Burton. the shell is constructed with London Stocks whilst the interior features a mock cobbled re-inforced concrete floor and ramps with slats to prevent the horses from slipping. Each floor has 5 cast iron pillars and several original iron tethering rings.