A word from Andy, one of our founding mice

I’m delighted to welcome you to London City Mouse Tours, the brainchild of myself and Lianne, two qualified City of London guides who love the City of London and have a passion for sharing its wonders, stories and quirks.

For those that may not know, the City of London (let’s call it the City), known affectionately as the Square Mile, is only a small part of the wider Greater London. However, it’s the original part, the part most steeped in history, and until London burst out of its city walls in Tudor times, was all there was. Now of course Greater London is huge, with over nine million inhabitants across over 600 square miles. It dwarfs the 8,600 City of London residents across its 1.12 square miles. 

But don’t let its size deceive you. The City has its own government (the City of London Corporation), parliament (the Court of Common Council), Lord Mayor (not to be confused with the Mayor of London), and its own police force (the City of London Police). It even has its own bollards, still employs sheriffs and is responsible for the 14,000 dogs and cats, 400 horses, 150,000 reptiles, 1,000 birds and 25 million fish that are imported through Heathrow Airport each year! 

It all sounds a bit mad, but it works. 

The political power in London, and the rest of the country, may sit with Westminster, but the economic power rests with the City. It packs a punch when it comes to the financial and professional services sector - the City’s 0.001% of Britain’s land mass is responsible for over 4% of Gross Value Added (that’s £97bn of economic output per year). 

It was no wonder William the Conqueror, after invading and defeating Saxon king Harold in 1066, decided to let the City keep doing its thing, namely making money! It hasn’t stopped since. And he’s not called ‘Conqueror’ in the City btw… as he never actually conquered it!

Having said that, the difference in footfall in the City between the working week and the weekends is significant. At weekends, especially Sundays, the City feels a bit like that period in its history between the Romans leaving and the Saxons arriving, when London was virtually abandoned (those were tough times for ancient tour guides). However, during the week, over 650,000 professionals commute in to work, turning the Square Mile into the madhouse I love.

Why the name City Mouse Tours? Well, it’s a combination of things, but primarily it’s a nod to the Aesop Fable “The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse”, where the country mouse visits his cousin in the city but later beats a retreat because he realises he prefers the quiet life. Well, the City of London is anything but quiet in places, I’ll give you that, but for me that’s part of its charm and why I love living here. 

 However, if you combine their inherent restlessness and curiosity, with the fact that mice are renowned for being able to get to those little-known places, then this will give you an idea of why I picked the name and what Lianne and I are looking to offer on our tours of the City. We also know parts of the City where you can find peace and quiet, and where you can take the time to reflect on things before rejoining the frenetic activity of city life. So, with us, you can experience both your inner city or country mouse in one go. It’s this mix of calm and crazy that makes the City of London so intoxicating.

In setting up London City Mouse Tours we also wanted to offer something for everyone. Whether you are: a time-pressed first-time visitor; a family looking for something fun to do; someone who enjoys the odd or quirky things in life; or someone who likes a tipple in historic places, we cater for everyone. In addition to the tours listed on our website, we also offer bespoke tours. We’re delighted to help you in any way we can.

We are lucky in that I live in the City (rare for a guide), and Lianne has worked here for over 30 years. Add to that our relentless thirst for City knowledge, and the joy that learning new facts about the City brings, we are two unabashed Square Mile nerds, just dying to share our latest discoveries with you!

So, book a tour with us, contact us with your guiding requests, or simply have a look at our reels (we’ll be adding to them continually). Hopefully you’ll find your experience with London City Mouse Tours both informative and fun. 

I hope I’ll get to meet you soon 😊

- Andy, London City Mouse Tours