Come and join me, Ulrike, on my tour through Whitechapel to discover the other side of the Jack the Ripper story. And no, this isn’t just another London Jack the Ripper Tour. Those Whitechapel murders – this Jack the Ripper crime scene, that Jack the Ripper chamber of horrors – that’s the background; this Jack the Ripper Walk shines a different light on what happened in the East End of London in the autumn of 1888.
There are no murders without victims, and before they were victims, “the Five” were women with lives more difficult than we can imagine.
I am going to introduce you to these five women. I’m not going to talk about their deaths. I’m going to talk about their lives. The tragic turns and decisions in their lives that led them to “the prototype of hell” – Whitechapel and Spitalfields in the 1880s.
Jack London called the Victorian East End of London the Abyss, the pit of hell, once you fell in, there was no way out. It was an area of squalor and destitution at an unimaginable level.
Come with me and meet Polly…
And Annie…
And Elizabeth…
And Kate…
And Mary Jane…
See where they existed. The streets and alleyways they knew.
Where things closed in on them. See and imagine what it felt like to be lost, forgotten, out at the edge – on the very margin of the richest society on eath. Where despair was writ in the very fabric of their surroundings. And imagine how brave they must have been trying to keep it at bay. Their lives mirrored those of millions of other Victorian women. Let’s give them a face, a voice and let us not define them only by their deaths.
Laura Hayden –
What a different but highly informative view of the Ripper story, looking closely at his victims and the misinformation often perpetrated about them. Ulrike presented the plight of these women well, explaining the realities of the Victorian age and how the deck was stacked against these women who became the Ripper’s targets. I appreciate her appropriately detailed insight into their lives. All in all, an excellent walk. Highly recommended to anyone who wants to learn about the lives of the real people of that age and circumstances.
Sachdev Family –
Take this tour without hesitation. Ulrike does and values her research and always gives due credit to her sources. Her expert story-telling will mentally transport you back in time as you walk the streets and alleys of London.
Caroline Latham –
This is an important issue for the modern world, giving back to the victims of Jack the Ripper their humanity and I really enjoyed the tour. Ulrike is very knowledgeable. It is a great counterbalance to the many Jack the Ripper tours.
Mary Chadwick –
Women of the Abyss is a fascinating tour. It tells you about the lives of the Ripper’s victims and allows you to see them as real people in their own right. It seems they were all in the wrong place at the wrong time. The times they lived in are hardly imaginable to us today, but Ulrike brings each woman to life. I would definitely recommend this tour that highlights the times when the British Empire was at its most powerful, yet failed its people in their homeland.
Leah –
I took ,my first ever , tour today.
Women of the Abyss – is a tour shedding lights on the life and circumstances of the five victims of Jack the Ripper. Ulrike is such a great storyteller engaging and knowledgeable.
I really enjoyed the tour and would highly recommend.
Fränzi Heinrich –
A stunning tour and the antidote to all those misogynistic “Jack the Ripper” tours out there that we needed! The walk finally sheds light on the lives, achievements, and struggles of poor working-class women in the late 19th century—living in a world that wasn’t made for them and trying their hardest to survive. I feel like, a century after their brutal deaths, their voices are finally being heard. I doubt many people listened to what they had to say while they were still alive. It’s about time this tour changed that.
Sue –
The dull grey sky, the Autumnal rain that shrouded the tall modern buildings of The City of London, provided a stark backdrop to the Sunday morning walk in the East End. Then as now, poverty and wealth rested cheek by jowl. We were introduced with great empathy, to the lives and families, of five Victorian women, who are more famous, because of their deaths.
Ulrika described the squalor, the filth and the appalling living conditions and circumstances that many people, especially women suffered, in the richest metropolis in the world at the time. Her depth of knowledge, her storytelling and her fantastic delivery, was deeply thought provoking. A must book walk.
Nikki –
We took the “Women of the Abyss” tour today and it was excellent. Ulrike is a natural storyteller and ensured the stories of the FIVE came to life as she took us around London’s White Hall. We were all unfazed by the difficult weather because the stories were so engrossing and the journey so lively. Highly recommend!
J.D. Smith –
Ulrike had mentioned during one of her other walks this summer that this one was coming up. I’m glad I was back in London today to experience it.
It was unforgettable because the life stories of these women were all so heartbreaking. All of it expertly described by Ulrike and compelling.
Chad Wilson –
This was my first London walks tour, Ulrike the guide was very knowledgeable and passionate about the subject. The tour is a tribute to the victims lives focused on the dire hardships of the age and the unfortunate circumstances and turns of fate which lead each woman to their death. I urge anyone who is a fan of the subject to take this tour and learn the truth about Polly, Annie, Kate, Elizabeth and Mary-Jane. There is more to the story than meets the eye. Bravo Ulrike!