The Grim Reaper Tour, Tower of London, Tower Bridge

Yesterday I went on an amazing tour. It's called the Grim Reaper Tour and is a walk through of the city’s gloom through the site of gruesome executions, poverty, overcrowding, disease and criminality. Most notably is tracing the murders of Jack the Ripper. The name Jack the Ripper was coined by a false letter sent to the newspapers at the time. However, the name stuck and folks including the media began referring to the 'Whitechapel Murderer' as Jack the Ripper. It is believed, however, that the actual murderer did in fact contact the media twice; once to inform them that he would kill again and secondly, to prove he was in fact the murderer, by sending a portion of a victim's kidney, the other portion of the kidney was supposedly eaten by the Ripper. Interestingly, the Ripper never referred to himself as Jack the Ripper, but always addressed his letters as 'Dear Boss' and signed off with the now famous 'From Hell' moniker. Though a number of murders occurred during this time, only five are 'confirmed' to be performed by Jack the Ripper and are commonly referred to as the Canonical Five. All of the Canonical Five victims were prostitutes and the accepted contention is that the Ripper was a misogynist.

 The first murder was of Mary Ann Nichols near Buck's Row, now Durward St..

The second victim, Annie Chapman, was found on Hansbury Street.

The third and fourth victims, Elizabeth Stride and Catherine Eddowes, were found near Mitre Square. This night of the double killing is referred to as the 'double event.'

The fifth victim, Mary Jane Kelly, was found in an apartment near this church.

This is a picture of 'Prostitutes Church'. It is referred to as 'Prostitutes Church' due to the sheer number of prostitutes that would work this area. What they would do is walk slowly by the front of the church and then run around the back of the church to walk slowly again across the front. The reason they did this was because of law enforcement. If police, which were a relatively new idea at that time, saw the prostitutes standing around, the prostitutes then could be arrested for solicitation of prostitution. By constantly moving, they could avoid arrest. Clever girls. The murders progressively became worse with the final victims throat being cut to the spine, all of her internal organs being removed, though only her heart was absent from the scene, and a number of mutilations. There is speculation that the Ripper stopped murdering because this last murder fulfilled his appetite. This speculation is based upon the fact that a letter was received from the alleged Ripper, claiming that he ate the heart that was removed from Mary Kelly's body.

This is a picture of The Ten Bells, the pub where all five victims are said to have frequented which is just two blocks from where Mary Kelly's body was found in her apartment.

This is Artillery Passage, a street reminiscent of old eastern London. The picture below is a sketch of the Ripper which is through a narrow pass on the left near the light post. Kind of creepy, isn't it?

In all, this was probably the coolest thing I have done so far in London. It does seem kind of morbid, but you could really feel the history here. Much of eastern London remains the way it did hundreds of years ago. What is disappointing is that the Great Fire of 1666 destroyed much of it, but what remains is truly remarkable. In addition to all of the Ripper events, we also saw the Tower of London, the most haunted place in London. I have not went into it yet, but it's on the list.

We also saw the Tower Bridge, which is nearly impossible to miss.

Here is what I think may be my best picture yet, it is Traitors Gate, the entrance to the Tower of London by sea. Until next time...