Anthony Lewis is the multitalented adventurer extraordinaire behind The Lost Valley of London, a website which highlights London’s strange and fascinating history. He’s also an Exhibitions Assistant and tour guide with Shakespeare’s Globe and a voice over artist with over four years of experience. Recently I caught up with Anthony to talk about the Lost Valley of London and all his other projects.

The Custodian: How did you first get the idea for LVL (Lost Valley of London)?

Anthony: It was kind of an identity crisis—I did acting, and I trained as a filmmaker but I wasn’t making anything in London. And then I was working at the Globe. Because of my love of acting and Shakespeare I became a tour guide there and I suddenly became a huge fan of history and heritage, so I joined the National Trust and began running a ghost tour company with a friend of mine.

C: Ghost tour?

A: Yeah it’s called Boo Tours—it’s still running now. I left that to concentrate on the Lost Valley stuff. LVL was really born out of a desire to pull everything together. Suddenly I thought: ‘Hang on, I love tour guiding, I love filmmaking, I love heritage and history.’ I also worked as a graphic designer for a few years—so the Lost Valley was born and combined everything I enjoyed doing. I can say this is what I do now, rather than saying I’m a jack of all trades who doesn’t know which tangent he’s going on.

C: Do you consider yourself an urban explorer, educator, or thespian—or all of the above?

A: I like the urban explorer idea, because that captures all the things that LVL is about. I thought London was such an amazing place to explore, and whenever my friends asked me to describe the appeal of London I would say: “It’s like a Lost World out of a Sir Arthur Conan Doyle novel.” I thought: “Why don’t I make these videos like adventures?” You really cannot get bored of this city. I’ve been here for ten years—I’m from New Zealand—and I feel like I’ve only explored 1% of it.

C: I’m so happy to hear that. You’re videos are awesome as well. You’ve got the music, the voices are on point, and the editing is great. Is it just you—or do you have any assistance throughout the production process?

A: I lease the music, but the graphic and editing I do all on my own. Sometimes I also get my friends and family to help me out with the filming.

C: Did you go to school for that or did you learn it on your own?

A: It was part of my overall filmmaking course and it really seemed to strike a nerve for me because it’s taking elements and making a collage. I find that incredibly addictive; making stories out of different elements.

C: To be honest, I love the videos—I hadn’t heard of the dinosaurs in Crystal Palace, and I loved your video on the pirates as well. How did you get into voice-acting?

A: I went to a voiceover course by company called the Showreel. Again, it came from tour guiding and the desire to convey information. They work with you, analyse you, and see what qualities your voice has—and if they like you and think you’re marketable they’ll make a showreel for you. They just did it so brilliantly. So whenever there’s a male character I try to do the voice myself.

C: [laughs] Yeah, I’ve seen the John F. Kennedy one, that was cool. Are your Speaking with Statues videos part of the official LVL page?

A: Those are the videos I’m doing for the Londonist website. There are a few more coming out so stay tuned.

C: I remember watching an interview with Meryl Streep–she can really mimic so many accents. It’s truly an art. Your Kiwi accent isn’t that strong.

A: Oh that’s ten years hanging out with Shakespearean accents.

C: You’ve been in London for exactly ten years. Where would you say is the strangest place you’ve been to London?

A: My favourite thing is the Parkland Walk that stretches from Finsbury Park to Alexandra Palace. You walk down this green corridor that goes over the streets of north London through a forest, but if you put your head through the trees you’re actually on a bridge way above London and you can see all the streets and people walking around. I call it ‘forest in the sky’. It’s the most surreal juxtaposition I’ve ever seen. You can also walk though some of Queens Wood and Highgate.

C: How do you find time to balance all your projects?

A: I guess that’s why the videos take so long to produce. It’s all longsuffering friends and loved ones and a lot of sitting around on my laptop. That’s why I’m also exploring independent cafes. Labtops plus cafes are a wonderful thing. I like planning things, but nothing beats when you’ve got this idea and then you just crack on. LVL is going to be on halt for a while because the Londonist is quite keen to get me doing more of the statues videos, but the next one is going to be on Knights.

C: Knights?

A: Knights. As in ‘knights in shining armour’. St. Johns Gate, the Knights Hospitalier. They became this big fighting force which also specialised in healing—and they still exist today.

C: Are you allowed to tell me about any future statues?

A: William Shakespeare, Queen Victoria, Charlie Chaplin, and hopefully Winston Churchill and Dwight Eisenhower.

C: You have to find the statues?

A: It’s a challenge because most of the statues are up really high. Also, a lot of them are in dark copper and they don’t film very well.

C: What has been your most difficult or most intense day with LVL or the Globe?

A: Probably getting permission to use the Golden Hind. That’s a replica of the Golden Hind that Sir Francis Drake circumnavigated the world with. It’s featured on my Pirates video. It was exhilarating, but it was the most intense piece of planning. To find the right angles and things like that was a challenge.

To follow Anthony on his other expeditions see below:

The Lost Valley of London

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