Stories of spies, traitors, and shadowy police plots… If you're a mystery and politics lover, we'll meet near the St. James's Park and we'll start a Cold War tour of London. We promise you'll discover a truly surprising side of the city.
Right from the start, we'll get to know the ins and outs of the SIS, the British Secret Intelligence Service, learning how this body has served its country since its foundation with actions that seem to be taken from a film. We'll walk to Caxton Street, where we'll stop in front of St. Ermin's Hotel. Did you know that this hotel was used between 1930 and 1940 as a support centre for the foreign intelligence agency? It was very common for informants and contacts to meet here during the Cold War.
We'll continue to discover this stage of history by heading to Palmer Street, where the Government Communication Headquarters was located. At this stop, we'll delve into the life of Geoffrey Prime, an employee who worked as a spy for the Russians throughout the 1980s.
We'll continue the tour at The Old Star Pub, another place frequented by British secret agents. What were the most used techniques? How did they gather information? How did they contact their sources? You'll be completely surprised! Then, we'll walk to St. Anne's Gate, the former residence of ex-SIS chief Stewart Menzies. This figure, besides being key during the Cold War, played a fundamental role in deciphering the Enigma code.
Another place we'll visit is St. James's Park, a perfect spot to discover the famous secret deposits. We'll head to the Ministry of Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Affairs, where we'll meet Oleg Gordievsky.
Finally, we'll walk to Parliament Square to talk about the Cambridge Five, a group of British spies recruited by the Soviet Union. The grand finale to our Cold War journey!
An hour and a half later, we'll say goodbye and wrap up the tour at this last point.
