Londons blue plaques have been celebrating influential figures since 1866, and fortunately, theyre now more representative than ever.

The publicly nominated scheme, run by English Heritage, has been a little slow to recognise the achievements of women in Londons history only 14 per cent of the 950 existing blue plaques are to women but things arechanging.

This years list includes botanist and leader of the first womens army corps Dame Gwynne Vaughan, British agents during the Second World War, Noor Inayat Khan and Christine Granville, and sculptor Barbara Hepworth. There will also be plaques recognising the The National Union of Womens Suffrage Societies and the Womens Social and Political Union.

To mark the occasion, weve put together a walking tour of the plaques celebrating nine famous women, plotting a route through some of Londons most historic streets.

While there are too many to visit in one day by foot,weve picked a total of nine closely clustered stops, beginning by Hyde Park and ending by the river in Chelsea, forming a nice walk from Holland Park, past Kensington Gardens and down through to Kensington and Chelsea.

Fittingly, it begins with the plaque commemorating mother and daughter Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst and eventually concludes with Sylvia Pankhurst by the Thames.

The walk is a total of 9km about five and a half miles and should take around two hours to complete. Take a look at the route on the map below.

The tour begins at the former home of suffragettes the Pankhursts, instrumental figures in campaigning for womens right to vote at the beginning of the 20th century. Their former home 50 Clarendon Road is close to Holland Park underground station, and our starting point.

Thingsmove along Clarendon Road and along Holland Park Avenue towards Notting Hill, before coming to 58 Sheffield Terrace the former home of world-famous crime novelist Agatha Christie, where she wrote her most classic works Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile in the 30s.

Around the corner on 37 Holland Street is the plaque for Radclyffe Hall, the writer who wrote influential lesbian novel The Well of Loneliness. The route then skirts around Kensington Gardens before arriving at the plaque for novelist and playwright Enig Bagnold at 29 Hyde Park Gate.

Then its a case of heading down past South Kensington to Chelsea the longest section of the walk before arriving at the former home of army matron-in-chief Dame Maud McCarthy at 47 Markham Square. Right around the corner at 152 Kings Road is the plaque for Russian ballet dancer Princess Seraphine Astafieva, who lived and taught there for nearly 20 years.

50 Clarendon Road, Notting Hill, London W11 3AD

English Heritage

29 Fitzroy Square, Fitzrovia, London W1T 5LP

English Heritage/Derek Kendall

118 Long Acre, Covent Garden, London WC2E 9PA

English Heritage

58 Doughty Street, Holborn, London WC1N 2LS

English Heritage

3 Chalcot Square, Primrose Hill, London NW1 8YB

English Heritage

6 Carlyle Square, Chelsea, London SW3 6EX

English Heritage/Derek Kendall

1 Avondale Road, Palmers Green, London N13 4DX

English Heritage/Derek Kendall

120 Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, London SW10 0ES

English Heritage

37 Holland Street, Kensington, London W8 4LX

English Heritage

2 Garbutt Place, Marylebone, London W1U 4DS

English Heritage

10 Curzon Street, Mayfair, London W1J 5HH

English Heritage/Derek Kendall

24 Chester Square, Belgravia, London SW1W 9HS

English Heritage

14 Soho Square, Soho, London W1D 3QG

English Heritage

27 Stockwell Park Road, Stockwell, London SW9 0AP

English Heritage

21 Downshire Hill, Hampstead, London NW3 1NT

16 Langford Place, St John's Wood, London NW8

English Heritage

72A Upper Street, London N1 0NY

English Heritage

1-7 Clarence Terrace, Regent's Park, London NW1 4RD

English Heritage

7 Jews Walk, Sydenham, London SE26 6PJ

English Heritage

58 Sheffield Terrace, Holland Park, London W8 7NA

English Heritage/Derek Kendall

50 Clarendon Road, Notting Hill, London W11 3AD

English Heritage

29 Fitzroy Square, Fitzrovia, London W1T 5LP

English Heritage/Derek Kendall

118 Long Acre, Covent Garden, London WC2E 9PA

English Heritage

58 Doughty Street, Holborn, London WC1N 2LS

English Heritage

3 Chalcot Square, Primrose Hill, London NW1 8YB

English Heritage

6 Carlyle Square, Chelsea, London SW3 6EX

English Heritage/Derek Kendall

1 Avondale Road, Palmers Green, London N13 4DX

English Heritage/Derek Kendall

120 Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, London SW10 0ES

English Heritage

37 Holland Street, Kensington, London W8 4LX

English Heritage

2 Garbutt Place, Marylebone, London W1U 4DS

English Heritage

10 Curzon Street, Mayfair, London W1J 5HH

English Heritage/Derek Kendall

24 Chester Square, Belgravia, London SW1W 9HS

English Heritage

14 Soho Square, Soho, London W1D 3QG

English Heritage

27 Stockwell Park Road, Stockwell, London SW9 0AP

English Heritage

21 Downshire Hill, Hampstead, London NW3 1NT

16 Langford Place, St John's Wood, London NW8

English Heritage

72A Upper Street, London N1 0NY

English Heritage

1-7 Clarence Terrace, Regent's Park, London NW1 4RD

English Heritage

7 Jews Walk, Sydenham, London SE26 6PJ

English Heritage

58 Sheffield Terrace, Holland Park, London W8 7NA

English Heritage/Derek Kendall

Keep heading down Kings Road before turning onto Carlyle Square, where theres a plaque for actress Dame Sybil Thorndike, for whom Bernard Shaw wrote the part of Saint Joan.

Finally, head up to Donovan Court to see the plaque for crystallographer and DNA pioneer Rosalind Franklin, before heading down Beaufort Street towards the river for the final stop the former home of womens rights campaigner Sylvia Pankhurst on 120 Cheyne Walk.

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From Pankhurst to Pankhurst: Celebrate famous women from history with the blue plaque walking tour - Evening Standard