We start with a Victorian Charity Hospital for Women, across from which lived a famous Crimean nurse. We then pass the place where a woman lived who spent her entire adult life appearing to be a man in order to become, and work as, a doctor. But much of this walk follows the story of the woman generally accepted as being the first woman doctor, Elizabeth Garrett-Anderson. En-route we see the old hospital where she trained as a student for a while, the Hospital for Women which she founded and the amazing Victorian architecture of what was the London School of Medicine for Women, for which she worked. And in wonderful contrast, we pass the 21st century Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Wing of University College Hospital. We also see a Macmillan Nurses centre, a fine memorial to another pioneering woman doctor and the spot where doctors saved lives after a terrorist attack. We also see Marie Stopes centres and the spot where a nurse became one of the few women to win the George Cross for an amazing act of bravery. And given that we are walking through pretty Bloomsbury for much of the time, there are lots of interesting non medical things to see too.
Start Tottenham Court Road tube – St Giles exit
Finish Russell Square tube
Shorter walk alternative – Do the walk in a slightly different order, omitting the Women’s School of Medicine and finishing at Euston station.