Pet Shop Boys London Walk, September 2025

[leesmapman]

https://www.theaou.org/events/pet-shop-boys-london

The AoU's Summer of Walking, part of our 20th anniversary celebrations, is a programme of tours curated and led by our members, bringing together urbanists across the UK to explore interesting, alternative, or just plain great urbanism by foot. Click here to see other tours taking place this summer.

Keep an eye on the AoU newsletter, where more tours will be announced and reminders sent out.

Date: Thursday 4 September 2025
Time: 15:00
Location: Central London

Curated by: Richard Eastham
Distance (approx): 6km
Duration (approx): 4 hours

Please check your booking confirmation for info about the meeting point for this tour.


About the tour

This walk is inspired by references to specific places in song lyrics by Pet Shop Boys. A most enduring of creative partnerships, Pet Shop Boys career now spans more than four decades making them the most successful duo in British pop music history. Their songs often mention specific places in London, and this walk connects several of these locations, creating a trail of musical memories that reveal different experiences of city life. The walk does not include locations that have been important to Pet Shop Boys recording or performing career, instead focussing on London references in their song lyrics.

Pet Shop Boys songs often provide a commentary on society, and therefore deliver cultural, musical and urbanist reference points. This walk includes an exploration of:

The early days of medical research, gravedigging and bodysnatching in 1800s London; loneliness, hopelessness, despair and the reputational damage to Tony Blair caused by the war in Iraq; the profound sadness and loss caused by the AIDS crisis of the 1980s and 1990s; the joy, celebration and belonging found in the city’s nightlife and club scene; the callousness of the Minister for Housing & Planning when asked about the homelessness crisis in the city; the cultural life of Covent Garden, once identified for demolition, now saved; and the changing economy of Soho, exemplified by a dive bar in a West End town – the building is still there but it is now a tourist restaurant.

“One thing about Pet Shop Boys is we’ve always tried to bring in subject matter outside of pop music, stuff that wouldn’t normally be there” – Neil Tennant

This is a walk for urbanists, economists, geographers, and historians. It allows for investigations into politics as well as urban and cultural policy. It is a walk for songwriters, for storytellers and for fans of Pet Shop Boys.

[Sandy Shaw]

Thanks, booked!

[Luppi]

Hi?! if helps, ten years ago I did something like this:
1- WEST END - West End Girls
2 - HOUSE OF COMMONS - Shopping
3- KING CROSS STATION - Rent – King’s Cross
4- THE STRAND – The Theatre
5- NATIONAL THEATRE - Red Letter Day
6 -TRAFALGA'S SQUARE – Up against it
7 -EMBANKMENT GARDENS – The Survivors
8- THE SERPENTINE – That's My Impression
9- SCOTLAND YARD – Do I Have To?
10 – HEATHROW AIRPORT – The Calm Before The Storm
11- FLOOD STREET– The Ghost Of Myself
12 – BLACKFRIARS BRIDGE – The Ressurectionist
13 – BERMONDSEY - The View From Your Balcony
14 - SAVOY THEATRE – Somewhere Tour
15 - SADLES WELLS THEATRE - The Most Beautiful Thing
16 - SARM WEST - Studio Trevor Horn
17- WATERLOO BRIDGE - I Made My Excuses And Left
18- SOHO - Requiem In Denim and Leopardskin
19 - RAY ROBERTS STUDIO - CAMDEN
20 -ST. BARTHOLOMEW'S HOSPITAL – The Ressurectionist
21- BERKELEY SQUARE - Bright Young Things
22- DIVE BAR IN GERRARD STREET - West end Girls
23- GOLDHAWK ROAD - Love is a bourgeois construct
24- GUY’S HOSPITAL - The ressurrectionist
25 -THE HOUSE OF LORDS - The Former Enfant Terrible
26- KENSINGTON - Hit Music
27 -NEWGATE STREET - The Resurrectionist
28 - STOCKWELL - We're All Criminals Now
29 - V&A - The Ghost of Myself
30 – BARFLY - CAMDEN See less

[PSB-90]

Thanks for sharing this, just booked, sounds great and fits in very well with next day's film night at the the NFT!

[OakeyDokey]

BFI, not NFT!

[PSB-90]

Used to be the NFT back in the day.

[Sandy Shaw]

The venue inside BFI for PSB event is still called NFT1

[PSB-90]

Indeed! I've always continued to think of the venue itself as the NFT with the BFI being the organisation that runs it.

[Sandy Shaw]

Indeed! I've always continued to think of the venue itself as the NFT with the BFI being the organisation that runs it.

Yes likewise, although reluctantly getting used to it! In my head Hammersmith Apollo was still Hammersmith Odeon for years after it was renamed.

[petshopgrrl]

Urbanism would be a great PSB album title!

I love that the description of the walk starts with a reference to The Resurrectionist, which is one of my favorite songs. If I wasn't in the wrong country, I'd be out there doing this walk. Hope you report back on this, Sandy!

Hi?! if helps, ten years ago I did something like this:

Great collection! I think we also have a couple of other threads out there that discuss potential locations. You could easily make a multi-day tour out of PSB locations. At this rate, their next major award will be from the London Tourist Board.

[Sandy Shaw]

I've reached out to the organisers as I think my booking confirmation must have landed in my deleted items folder, Outlook misbehaving again. I realised that I hadn't been able to note the meeting point in my diary.
EDIT: sorted now - looking forward to this!

[leesmapman]

Playlist and book for the walk (CONTAINS SPOILERS):
https://feria-urbanism.com/pet-shop-boys/

[OakeyDokey]

How was it? Was it worth it?

[Richard-Eastham]

Hello, I am Richard and I was the person responsible for organising and leading the Pet Shop Boys walk this September.

I am pleased to share here with you all on the forum a copy of the digital booklet I prepared to help guide the walk. The booklet contains photos, maps, song lyrics and my own reflections on being a fan of Pet Shop Boys. Note that my London walk is guided only by Pet Shop Boys song lyrics.

The walk was part of the Academy of Urbanism’s Summer of Walking, a series of themed urban walks across the UK and I was thrilled when my suggestion of a Pet Shop Boys walk was accepted by the academy.

On the day, I had around 16 people take part, roughly dividing into: 1) urbanists, architects and planners who knew about London, but knew little or nothing about Pet Shop Boys and were curious to find out more, and 2) serious Petheads who knew all about PSB and were curious about the route I had planned.

The participants were a lovely bunch of people, and everybody seemed to have a great time together in warm late summer weather.

[Richard-Eastham]

For completeness, here’s the official details as listed on the Academy of Urbanism website.