London would not come to be without the river Thames and Horrible Histories Live Onboard brings the history of the river to life in a new interactive theatrical boating experience.
Leaving from Tower Bridge Quay, you can expect to be entertained by the Horrible Histories team (a teacher and a student on a trip to London) as you take a journey down the river and discover the terrible truth about the capital’s most iconic landmarks.
The tour surprises, entertains and shocks in equal measure. Some of the most memorable bits for The Young Londoner team were the Tower of London as England’s first building to have a public loo and Cleopatra’s Needle which has a time capsule buried underneath it.
The Horrible Histories tour did not steer away from some of the darker aspects of London’s history. And I’m not just talking about London’s Bridge display of severed heads! It was very touching to hear mentions of slavery and the Zong Massacre during the tour. The Zong massacre was a mass killing of more than 130 enslaved Africans by the crew of the British slave ship Zong on and in the days following 29 November 1781 and it inspired a very touching Turner painting on show in the current exhibition Turner’s Modern World running at Tate Britain until 12th of September.
You can expect plenty of songs, sound effects and interactive elements as well as casual historical banter between the two main characters. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit despite the traditional British wet summer weather during our visit.
The tours are hosted aboard one of Woods Silver Fleet’s premier luxury sightseeing cruisers and are currently working on a reduced capacity of 120 people per trip (normal capacity 200). The toilets on board remain closed at the time of writing but there are toilets nearby that you can use. Terrible Thames Tours start from the 17th of July and tickets are £22.00 for adults (15+), £14 for children (4 – 14) and free for infants under 3. Family £59.50 (2x Adult 2x Child/1 Adult 3 x Child) + £1.50 transaction fee. More info and booking here.
Birmingham Stage Company and Woods Silver Fleet are dedicated to improving the accessibility for all visitors to this new experience and ask that any assisted wheelchair access that is required is booked in advance. Please email customerservices@terriblethames.com for more information.