The Sherlock Holmes Society of London

21/09/2025

Remapping the London of Sherlock Holmes

This autumn, the Sherlock Holmes Society of London will be retracing the footsteps of Sherlock Holmes, as described in Charles O. Merrimans’ The Tourist Guide to the London of Sherlock Holmes. This booklet, originally published in 1970, traced out six walks in Central London, covering a swathe of thrilling adventures, and noting locations. The aim of this Remapping project is to compare the buildings and layout of 1970s London to that of today: what was there? What is there now, and has it kept or lost its charm?

Remapping walks will take place over Saturday mornings, led by Society member and City of London Guide Lecturer Robin Rowles. Guests are invited to make observations and comments, which will be collated into a new edition of The Tourist Guide, just in time for the Society’s 75th anniversary in 2026. Each walk is expected to take approximately one- and three-quarter hours and will finish near to a convenient hostelry where everybody can compare notes over lunch. There will be a nominal charge to cover expenses. For logistical reasons, numbers are limited to 12. Walks are scheduled as follows:

Walk 1:
20 September: The Return of Sherlock Holmes Portland Place to Oxford Street

This walk traces what was probably the most hoped for adventure in the Canon after 1891, the return of Sherlock Holmes in ‘The Empty House’, taking place in the Spring of 1894. Booking is now open, with a booking fee of £10. Places are limited. Information about the rendezvous and itinerary will be sent on booking.

Book Now

Walk 2:
4 October: The Museum, The Goose and The Mafia The British Museum to Oxford Street

This walk brings together elements from several well-loved Sherlock Holmes stories: the bizarre adventure of ‘Wisteria Lodge’, the black comedy ‘The Blue Carbuncle’, the sinister ‘Red Circle’ and others.

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Walk 3:
25 October: The City of Dark Secrets The Royal Exchange to Aldgate Station

Walk 4:
1 November: Origins, Shocks, and Surprises Holborn to Cannon Street

Walk 5:
15 November: Theatreland of Adventures Haymarket to Bow Street: ‘

Walk 6:
22 November: Squaring the Circles Piccadilly Circus Circular

Booking for each walk will open 4 weeks beforehand and close the Monday before the walk; joining information will be sent to those who book.

07/08/2025

More events coming up over the next few months- details are on our website

7 OCT
6:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Visit to the Gordon Museum and Lecture
16 OCT
6:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Richard Lancelyn Green Lecture – Dr. Sara Lodge
13 NOV
6:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Film Evening
24 JAN
6:30 pm - 10:30 pm
Annual Dinner 2026
25 JAN
12:30 pm - 3:00 pm
Morning After 2026
12 MAR
6:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Spring Meeting
30 APR - 4 MAY
Reichenbach Revisited – The Sherlock Holmes Society of London returns to Switzerland!

07/08/2025

Moriarty’s Game: The Professor’s Invitation

September 27 @ 11:30 am - 4:00 pm
Moriarty’s Game: The Professor’s Invitation
After successfully taking on the challenge of the official Sherlock Escape Rooms, the next outing for The Reformed Diogenes Club is Moriarty’s Game on Saturday 27 September.

This is a 3 to 4 hour experience, an immersive treasure hunt style game across London guided by your phone – we will be starting around 11.30am and finishing 3 to 4 hours later. We will play as two groups competing against each other.

We will be facing Sherlock Holmes’ arch-enemy, Professor James Moriarty, and trying to solve his mysterious challenge, which he has personally prepared. We have to infiltrate Moriarty’s criminal organisation and find his Safe House.

The experience includes:

A 3 to 4 hour immersive experience across Marylebone, London
Interactive text messages and phone calls with characters in the story
Hands-on physical puzzles for your team to solve
A story that changes with the decisions you make
Interactions with people you meet, in the real world
Optional breaks in pubs and cafes, where you can pick up refreshments
The experience takes place around Baker Street and will involve walking the streets of London, so please ensure you are prepared for that and wear comfortable shoes.

Full details of the event are on the Hidden City web site at:

https://www.inthehiddencity.com/london/moriartys-game-the-professors-invitation

If you want to be part of the Society party taking part, then please book using our Mycroft system below.

Tickets are £30 per person for this date.

https://www.sherlock-holmes.org.uk/event/moriartys-game-the-professors-invitation/

07/08/2025

Ships, Shanties and the Shingle of Southsea

September 12 - September 14
Southsea
‘On Portsmouth Jetty’ with The Sherlock Holmes Society of London

12th-14th September 2025

‘These are very deep waters’

This Autumn, the SHSL will be following in the footsteps of Dr Watson who landed ‘on Portsmouth Jetty’ when he returned from active service in Afghanistan. The area obviously held fond memories for the Good Doctor, for he would later yearn for ‘the glades of the New Forest or the shingle of Southsea.’

‘There is a great garret in my little house that is stuffed with books’

Pompey’s reputation as a key destination for Sherlockian pilgrims was cemented when the Society’s own Richard Lancelyn Green bequeathed his unparalleled Conan Doyle collection to the City of Portsmouth in 2004. We will have privileged access to the collection during our stay, including visits to the strong rooms at the Central Library and the Museum galleries. We’ll also see the original manuscript of The Adventure of the Creeping Man.

‘Among the dregs of the docks, breathing in the poison or sleeping off the effects’

There will also be an opportunity to explore the city’s Naval heritage with an expedition to see The Mary Rose at the Historic Dockyard, just a pebble’s throw from our base at the Royal Maritime Hotel. We’ll view the remains of the Tudor warship and ponder the mysterious circumstances of her sinking in the sixteenth century.

Events will conclude on Sunday with a walking tour which will take in the Lancelyn Green displays at the Portsmouth museum and sites of interest associated with Conan Doyle’s time as a resident in the town.

NOTE: This event has now sold out, however there is a possibility further places may become available. Please click the link complete the form to be added to the waiting list.

https://www.sherlock-holmes.org.uk/product/ships-shanties-and-the-shingle-of-southsea/

01/05/2025

On Sunday, 22nd June the Sherlock Holmes Society of London will be taking on the ‘Gold Bats’ of the PG Wodehouse Society in the now traditional cricket match at the West Wycombe ground in Buckinghamshire. At stake will be the Grits Trophy, introduced last year. Play will commence at 11.30am and finish at about 6pm, with lunch and tea intervals.
The match will appeal not only to cricket enthusiasts but to anyone who would appreciate the incomparable garden party atmosphere of a game played at one of the most scenic cricket grounds in England to the laws of 1895.
All members, their friends and families are welcome. There is no charge for attending and no booking is needed. There is ample parking at the ground and those attending are encouraged to bring picnic lunches and teas and set up tables and deck chairs or gazebos round the boundary. No food or drink is available at the ground. Victorian costume is welcome.

Those wishing to play in the game should without delay contact the team captain Peter Horrocks (peter@minuetter.com). Enthusiasm rather than talent is the most important qualification. The Society would also welcome hearing from anyone who would like to act as scorer.

Directions
For those wishing to drive West Wycombe is easily reached by road and is situated on the A40 about 2 miles to the west of High Wycombe. The M40 motorway passes nearby and the most scenic approach is via junction 5 and thence through Stokenchurch and Beacon’s Bottom on the A40. Alternatively it is possible to exit at junction 4 and proceed via the A4010 and the A40. The ground is in Toweridge Lane at the western end of the village. The postcode is HP14 3AT (what3words: ///preoccupied.rots.mess).

The nearest railway station is High Wycombe (3½ miles).

Important note – If the weather seems inclement on the day do please check on the Society website (www.sherlock-holmes.org.uk) to check that play will be taking place

01/05/2025

Here is the rest of the programme for our 2025 London Weekend - all bookable on the website.
https://www.sherlock-holmes.org.uk

23rd MAY
2:45 pm - 5:00 pm
AFTERNOON TEA AT THE GREAT COURT, THE BRITISH MUSEUM
24th MAY
10:30 am - 2:30 pm
A TOUR OF BAKER STREET STATION
25th MAY
11:00 am - 1:00 pm
SHERLOCK HOLMES GOES HOME – A WALK WITH RICHARD BURNIP

A literary and social Society for study of the life and work of Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson.

24/04/2025

The Society’s May meeting and Annual General Meeting will be held on Thursday 22nd May 2025 at the Wellington Hotel by Blue Orchid, 71 Vincent Square, Westminster, London, SW1P 2PA, United Kingdom. The hotel is located at the Rochester Row end of Vincent Square. The closest tube stations are Victoria, Pimlico and St James’s Park. The Wellington Hotel is next door to the former Rochester Row Police Station, built in 1901 at 63 Rochester Row. Holmes, Watson and Mary Morstan’s cab travelled along Rochester Row and Vincent Square in The Sign of Four, though that would have been before either of these buildings were built.

The meeting will be preceded by the Annual General Meeting.

Members and their guests may opt to attend the AGM only, for which there is no charge. Or the AGM and the meeting for £16, or also to dine beforehand at a cost of £44 per head. The meeting and dining charge includes VAT and service but not drinks, which must be paid for on the night.

For those who choose to dine, the meal will comprise two courses: a main course of Lamb Steak on a bed of sautéed spinach with black olives, tomato & garlic sauce followed by Sticky Toffee Gateau. A vegetarian alternative main course of Vegetarian Lasagna (flat shaped sheets layered between tomato, béchamel, and cheese sauce with fresh vegetables) may be ordered in advance. Please advise any dietary requirements when booking.

Dinner will be served at 6.45pm and will be followed by the meetings from around 8pm.

The meeting will commence with the Society’s AGM. After the formal business of the evening we will present:-

Big Finish with Nick Briggs

This year our AGM coincides with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s birthday and what better way to celebrate than to have Sherlock Holmes himself as one of our special guests? We are actually blessed with three guests and we’ll be running a Q&A session, so please come armed with questions!

Nicholas Briggs. Nick has appeared on stage as Sherlock Holmes in The Speckled Band by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Holmes and the Ripper by Brian Clemens, The House of the Baskervilles (which he also scripted), and A Study in Fear by John Goodrum. Since 2011, Nick has also been playing Sherlock Holmes in an acclaimed series of audio dramas for Big Finish Productions. Productions include dramatisations of classic stories such as The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Final Problem and The Empty House, and new stories such as The Adventure of the Perfidious Mariner, The Ordeals of Sherlock Holmes and The Judgement of Sherlock Holmes.

We are told that more Holmes adventures from Big Finish are on their way.

Aside from acting, Nick is a writer, director, sound designer and composer. He works on the BBC TV series Doctor Who, as well as Big Finish’s Doctor Who audio dramas and associated spin-offs. He is probably best known as the voice of the Daleks the Cybermen and other monsters in the new TV series.

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Also joining us is Jonathan Barnes, Jonathan is the writer of the Big Finish Sherlock Homes audio dramas. His Sherlock Holmes drama The Seamstress of Peckham Rye won the Audie award for Audio Drama of the Year in 2022. Jonathan is a novelist, critic and dramatist based in Norwich. He has written extensively for the audio medium, writing adaptations of Frankenstein, Dracula and The Invisible Man (starring John Hurt) and Doctor Who.

Our third guest for the evening is Ken Bentley. Ken is a British drama director who works primarily in audio dramas and theatre. He is best known for his work with Big Finish Productions, including their Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Who productions. Ken has also directed Sam Mendes in a reading of The Signal Man for Audible.

Applications for Dining and the meeting should be made by 7th May. Applications for the meetings only should be made no later than 20th May.

17/03/2025

A lovely account from our friends of Le Cercle.

01/03/2025

The Taj Mahal at daybreak. Congratulations to the party for getting up so early!
Photo by Jane Arnold-Foster.

01/03/2025

At the Red Fort of Agra - scene of The Sign of Four - and the party at the Taj Mahal

01/03/2025

Despatches from the Indian expedition

The Sherlock Holmes Society of London is in India for a fortnight-long tour, titled A Hiatus in India. The tour began in Calcutta with a riverboat party in Victorian dress. The group’s subsequent stops would include Lucknow, Agra, Delhi and Shimla

24/02/2025

Pilgrims from the Sherlock Holmes Society of London are currently having adventures in India, and meeting with fellow enthusiasts there.
Participants, please tell us about your experiences and let us see some pictures of your travels!

Edit - some lovely pictures from the trip. Pilgrims please add captions!