Dylan Cleaver: Taking a walk with ghosts of the past

People say there's a history lesson on every London street corner. Photo / AP

Constance Spry, the florist of choice of the royals until her death in 1960, worked her magic from a small shop in Audley St, Mayfair.

I know this because a bright blue heritage plaque stands where her shop once did.

They say there's a history lesson on every London street corner and that's not much of an exaggeration. In the heart of the city, every street seems to have a blue plaque, telling you who once lived there, or what epic piece of music was composed inside these walls.

It makes for a diverting stroll.

At 4 St James Place, Green Park, for example, Freddie Chopin rested up before setting off for Guildhall to give his last public performance.

Karl Marx, the revolutionary and author, lived at 28 Dean St in the heart of Soho from 1851-56. Further north, at 122 Regent's Park Rd, his great mate and benefactor Friedrich Engels lived.

Number 34 Montagu Square, Marylebone, is still a magnet for Beatles fans who come to take a picture of the plaque that informs you that John Lennon lived there in 1968.

In the Olympic spirit, if you found yourself wandering down Burbage Rd in Herne Hill, south London, you might be surprised to see a plaque devoted to Scipio Mussabini. It was on this street that the coach of Harold Abrahams, immortalised in Chariots of Fire, lived.

Abrahams, best known in New Zealand for his ecstatic commentary of Jack Lovelock's 1500m win in Berlin - "Come on, Jack! Five yards, six yards, he wins, he's won, hooray!" - has his own plaque, in the north London suburb of Golders Green.

Everybody knows London's most treasured attractions, from Big Ben to Tower Bridge, but this is a brilliant way to get a connection to the city's personal history.

You may find yourself glancing up at these blue discs and vowing to find out a bit more about the person.

Like my new dead friend Constance.

The famous flower arranger, who later branched into cook books, slipped on her stairs aged 73 and died an hour later. Her last words were, reportedly: "Someone else can arrange this."