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“Bah, humbug!”

I don’t normally go in for re-posts, but for reasons better known at the time I posted this in January, so thought with the impending festivities I’d climb into the loft and dust it off with the tangle of Christmas tree lights and tree decorations and slightly tatty angel (which can never be thrown away)… Continue reading “Bah, humbug!”

The “To Do” List

I suppose I’m lucky, I take a very laid back approach to Christmas, that is it’s all done by the end of August! So the “To do” list in question is a couple of tasks that I set myself in two earlier posts. In the first The Dog’s Nose I conveyed the story of an… Continue reading The “To Do” List

Fantastic

One word Sunday

All is not as it seems

Six word Saturday The hazards of walking London’s streets. If it’s not bumping into fellow pedestrians, lamp posts, tripping up kerbs and dodging the traffic, it’s falling masonry! Despite the jeopardy it presents this pile of falling concrete offers no danger. “Square the Block” by Richard Wilson was installed in 2009 on the corner of… Continue reading All is not as it seems

Milestones

While poking around Smithfield recently I had occasion to take a break in a local hostelry and over a pint started reading an old guidebook. First thing I learnt was that the Great North Road that links London to Scotland and was the main route of travel from medieval times until the 20th century begins… Continue reading Milestones

The Cock Lane Ghost

In my last post I related the tale of a less that virtuous parson who apparently haunted an hotel in Covent Garden. As Christmas is usually the time for ghost stories I thought I’d relay one that was the talk of London during the 1760s The ghost of Cock Lane also known as “Scratching Fanny”… Continue reading The Cock Lane Ghost

Humumm’s

On the south east corner of Covent garden was an area in the 17th century that was known as the “Hummums“ The term crops up in several different places, diaries. letters etc from the 18th & 19th centuries and at first I thought it was the name of the people who owned the establishment that… Continue reading Humumm’s

Rush

One word Sunday

Summer in light, Winter in shade

Six word Saturday

Stumped!

Ok, so not the most inspiring photo, but as they say, “Every picture tells a story”. What you’re looking at here was the proposed site for the London terminus of the Great Central Railway in the 1890s. An enterprising businessman, Frank Crocker somehow got wind of these proposals and realising that the terminus would need… Continue reading Stumped!