Introduction:

A former English teacher, I love sharing my passion for London writers such as William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens and Virginia Woolf. I have brought up my family in London and know how much it has to offer visitors and Londoners of all ages. I like to celebrate the contemporary city, and to peel back some of the many layers of its history and culture – going back 2,000 years to the foundation of the Roman city of Londinium.

I have grown to know and love London's magnificent churches and cathedrals, such as Westminster Abbey and St Paul’s Cathedral. You might wish to join me in visiting these, or royal London locations such as the Tower of London, or the Mall, around which the Changing of the Guard can be observed. Then we have Windsor Castle, maritime Greenwich and Hampton Court Palace – all spectacular places, replete with hundreds of years of history. If you like gardens, you could come with me on a stroll around around the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew: a beautiful site with a scientific mission and a colourful history with interesting connections to Britain's colonial past.

London is densely packed with cultural sites and echoes. I am keen to accompany visitors to the haunts of writers such as Chaucer, Shakespeare and Dickens. There are also the world-class art galleries such as the Tate and the National Gallery. Or why not come with me to visit the Natural History Museum, with its dinosaurs, the British Museum with its eight million artefacts, or the Victoria and Albert Museum, and its magnificent collection of applied and decorative art?

Another option is to come on a walk with me around an area of historic London such as the City of London and Clerkenwell, the South Kensington museum district, royal London and its parks or Spitalfields, with its fascinating history of migrant settlement through the centuries.

Outside London, you might want join me on a tour around Stonehenge, with its ancient and mysterious stones; or to the Roman and Georgian city of Bath; the "dreaming spires" of Oxford; the delightful Cotswold villages; or the great medieval cathedrals of Salisbury, Winchester or Canterbury. Finally, if you want to find out more about William Shakespeare, I would love to take you on a visit to his birthplace in Stratford-upon-Avon.