Abroad in Wales

The Jack the Ripper Tour

Also while in London, we took a Jack the Ripper walking tour.  We took the Ripping Yarn Ltd. 'From Hell' Tour - one of the highest rated.  It's actually given by a group of beefeaters and retired Army and Marines.  Because of their association with the police force, they have access to files the other tours don't.  And, oh yeah, since the beefeaters - modern-day guards and specialized police force, basically - worked with Johnny Depp for three weeks in his preparation for his role as Detective Aberline in the movie From Hell, they get to name their tour after the movie.

 Our tour was given by Mark of the Awesome Hat, a beefeater, as pictured below.  These are the only pictures you're going to find here - it was too dark for decent pictures so I stopped trying.

The tour started at the Tower Hill Tube Station at 6.45 pm.  Mark started with some general information including that he lives and work at the Tower of London - lucky duck.  From there he took us into the heart of Whitechapel.  Not a place to go alone at night, mates.  As Mark put it, 'Ladies, if any fighting break out, the rule is to get as close to me as you can.  Gents....you're on your own!' 

He took us to scenes of interest as well as each of the murder sites.  Well, as close to each site as possible.  One was destroyed by the Germans in World War II and the other is now a parking garage.  We also saw the Prostitute's Church, the spot of the Writing on the Wall, and the Ten Bells Pub (which is still standing and in use today).  But he also pointed out un-related sites, such as where they filmed Harry Potter's Diagon Alley and where Val Kilmer used to live.  (Kilmer's old flat is now up for sale.  It's going for £3 million.  But not because Kilmer used to live there or even its proximity to a Jack the Ripper murder scene, but because it has a '1/2' in the address label - a practice now banned within London.  Welcome to London real estate.)

At the end, he gave an interesting theory I had never heard before.  It wasn't all too removed from the movie From Hell.   Mary Kelly, the last of the victims, had belonged to a brothel near the palace and was likely a companion of Prince Edward.  She was abruptly dismissed from the brothel and moved to the East End in Whitechapel.  Some speculate she had become pregnant by the prince, and since she was Catholic, the Crown would have nothing to do with her or the fetus.  Thrown into poverty, she may have blackmailed the throne and the royals may have responded by hiring a member of the Masonic Order to do away with her and her unborn child.  The four, possibly five, murders committed prior to her death may have been practice or a case of mistaken identity (one of the women had similar coloring to Mary Kelley). 

After her death, no more Ripper murders occurred.  A month and half later, one of the Ripper suspects was found in the Thames with a one-way ticket to the States  and American money in his pockets.  Since he hadn't been robbed, it is speculated that higher-up in the Order had this supposed Ripper disposed of too, should he ever change his mind and reveal the truth about the murders. 

Recently, the FBI processed the Writing on the Wall through one of their lovely analysis machines.  From the words, 'The Juwes are not the men who will not be blamed for nothing.' they could a message that mocked Aberline and the police.  The left over letters formed the name of the man who would later be found in the Thames.

If you are ever in London, definitely worth checking out.  They start every night at 6.45 just outside Tower Hill station.

Posted at 11:28AM Mar 11, 2008 by Jill S Brink in General  |  Comments[0]