Irish poet Niall McDevitt follows the Yeatsian trail in West London where W.B. lived as a child with his family, went to school at Godolphin, had a troubled friendship with William Morris, and a magical battle with Aleister Crowley. Join us for a truly alternative history of Hammersmith and Kensington. 

McDevitt will offer a revisionist and risque ‘national poet’ who experimented with drugs including hashish and mescaline, performed ritual magic in the name of DEMON EST DEUS INVERSUS, was a consummate Londoner, and enjoyed a highly sexed semi-retirement in Holland Park.

The stock image of Yeats as Dublin theatre manager/political activist and Sligo poet/folklorist will be enriched by understanding him as a cosmopolitan figure and vanguardist who chose his company from the best and was a passionate observer of men and women of genius.

The centrepiece of the walk is perhaps the story of The Battle of Blythe Road in which Yeats had to defend his Isis-Urania Temple from burglary and squatting by a heavily disguised Aleister Crowley. 

Meeting at Kensington Olympia tube station by the Exhibition Hall at 2pm. £10. Please click here for tickets.

Collage by Heathcote Ruthven