Bow: Matchgirls and Gandhi

Matchgirls and Gandhi is a self-guided audio tour that starts at Bow Quarter, 60 Fairfield Rd, E3 2UQ. It's not a seated talk or a guided walk with a group; you download it to your phone and set your own pace. Once it's on your device, it works offline, so you don't have to worry about your signal dropping as you move through the East End.

The route follows the streets where working people fought back and won, and it takes you past nine landmarks. You'll pass the match factory where young women went on strike, a church standing on an island in the road, and the town hall of a council that went to prison for its poor. There's also the hall where Gandhi chose to stay, and the community centre that changed how doctors care for their neighbours. The whole thing runs for about an hour and twenty-four minutes across some 4.4 kilometres, with up to 23 minutes of narration spread across those nine stops. AudaTours describes it as turning the walk into a story with immersive audio, so you're listening as much as you're looking.

Because it's self-guided, you can do it whenever suits you. The tour is available from Friday 9 October through to Monday 30 November 2026, and it starts from £2.99.