St Martin-in-the-Fields Launch New ‘Beating The Bounds’ Walking App, Complete With Music and Audio

The team at St Martin-in-the-Fields, the church within the heart of Trafalgar Square, have just launched an exciting, brand-new walking app, ‘Beating the Bounds’ which is available to download for free on both on apple and android phones. The walking app explores the boundary of the church’s parish, featuring many key attractions.

The ‘Beating the Bounds’ walking app guides the walker on a tour of the parish boundary, stopping at some of the most iconic spots in London, including Buckingham Palace, St James’s Palace, Whitehall Gardens, Leicester Square and St Martin-in-the-Fields (www.stmartin-in-the-fields.org) in Trafalgar Square.

The entire walk takes roughly 1hour 30 mins to 2 hours to complete and is accompanied by music and audio description which can be played at each location. It’s an educational and fun sight-seeing app for anyone looking to entertain themselves or their families for a couple of hours.

The free-to-use app can be downloaded from both app stores:

·         iOS – https://apps.apple.com/us/app/beating-the-bounds/id1564361392

·         Android – https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mytoursapp.android.app3232  

Once back at St Martin’s, there is the option to take a look at two ongoing exhibitions.

‘The Return to London’ exhibition is located in the Crypt foyer, where the new print created by celebrated artist Adam Dant is on display. The ‘Novel Map of the Parish of St Martin-in-the-Fields’ features a detailed drawing of the parish boundary with a few fun and quirky images dotted throughout that are related to the local history and things to look out for. Snippets of the print can be seen throughout the beating the bounds walking app.

The Return of London at the Crypt of St Martin-in-the-Fields is open from Wednesday to Sunday (including bank holiday Monday) 12 – 6pm throughout summer. Tickets are free of charge and bookings can be made via: https://lopf.artsvp.co/c77576.

More information on opening times for both exhibitions can be found at: https://www.stmartin-in-the-fields.org/whats-on/.

In the Church courtyard is a separate exhibition, ‘Out of Home.’ A heartfelt exhibition of unique photographs showcasing a quiet London, taken by six homeless people living on the streets during the pandemic.

The photographs were taken by Carly, Darren, Kelly, Craig, Joe and Andre; each were paid a London Living Wage for their work behind the camera as a way of helping them financially during the tough period which saw donations drop as the streets were empty and people were told to stay at home. Photographs include Trafalgar Square, The Strand, Piccadilly Circus, Oxford Street and Buckingham Palace.

Sadly, Kelly Francis died during the project and the Out of Home exhibition is also running in her memory.

St Martin’s are also pleased to announce that the Crypt and Courtyard Cafes are open, with a variety of food and drink on hand to purchase, from freshly prepared sourdough sandwiches and homemade soups through to savoury sausage rolls and vegan patties, the latter of which is prepared for the Cafe in the Crypt by the kitchen team based at the Connection at St Martin’s, who work with people who are homeless and help them to move away from the streets.