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IN THE NEWS

Westfield Stratford City East

TOUR OF THE MONTH

The Great London Ghost Tour

ON THIS DAY IN LONDON

18th October 1979 Beatlemania opens in London

18th October 1960 In Britain, News Chronicle and Daily Mail merge, and London Evening Star merges with Evening News

18th October 1950 Born today: Sheila White, London England, actress (I Claudius)

Wapping Old Stairs

Stairs with a gruesome history - What a whopper!

Location: Nr Wapping high Street

Description: If the tide is out you can descend the steps on to the riverbed, but be careful, as it is slippery.

These stairs have a gruesome history. Pirates were hanged nearby in Execution Dock and their corpses brought here so that they were washed over by the tide three times.

This caused them to be swollen and people said 'What a whopper!' - hence the name Wapping. It was also here that the notorious Judge Jeffreys was apprehended in 1689 when trying to escape to France disguised as a sailor. He was taken to the Tower, but died before he could be executed.

Tagged in this Tour: The Doctor Whoish tour of London
Tagged in this Tour: m
Tagged in this Tour: Dark London
Tagged in this Tour: Pirates and penthouses at the old London Docks