Clarion, you are the Schliemann of Old London!
On a slight tangent, I wonder if anyone has ridden a War of the Worlds Path of Destruction? I remember reading that Herbert George took great delight in having the tripods destroy bits of Bromley and South London that he loathed from growing up there.
Just finished reading War Of The Worlds. Thanks for the prompt, Deano, as, surprisingly, I had never read it before. Some of it is a bit draggy, but much of it is quite exciting, even if you know how it ends.
Sadly, Bromley doesn't come in to it, but the Woking area, down the Wey and the Thamesside west of London are pretty comprehensively destroyed.
There are three routes that come out of it. First, the narrator's from Woking to Leatherhead, back to Woking, then over to London, fitfully. Second is the brother's (there are very few names used in the book) flight from London to the north then to Essex and onto a steamer to the continent. Third is the wave of destruction, as you suggest, but this is a bit generalised. It parallels the narrator's reasonably well until he gets to Weybridge, where the martians pass by, meaning the narrator is unaffected by the gas. From there, they just go on to Primrose Hill, which is less interesting than the narrator's journey, though I would say that any ride I plan would not include two weeks trapped in a cellar in Sheen with a mad curate. I promise.
Just downloaded Jeffries' After London. ISTR this journey is further to the West, probably in Wiltshire, but it is worth investigating.
