The Victorians have always fascinated me. Such drive and inquisitiveness they moved the country forward with their technological advances, however I do find the general population lacking imagination and in some instances free will, but I suppose given the tight social framework of the day its understandable that they were unwilling to go off piste.… Continue reading “A days doings”
Author: endean0
Hi, I'm Steve, a London tour guide and owner of A London Miscellany Tours, a guided walking tour company who specialise in small number tours of the greatest city in the world!
A sweet tooth
In a previous life I was involved in the processing and sale of sugar and associated products and so I’m always interested in sticky subjects. Walking down Cannon Street I came across a rather austere looking pub called “The Sugarloaf” which piqued my interest. Unfortunately for me and my thirst they were shut at the… Continue reading A sweet tooth
Not a spelling mistake
Browsing through a volume on London history I came across a word “Cnihtengild“, a typo obviously, but no just my ignorance. The Cnihtengild (Knights Guild) was a body of thirteen Knights who were granted the land lying to the east of Aldgate and Bishopsgate in the 10th century by King Edgar. The parcel of land… Continue reading Not a spelling mistake
A short cut
Today the bridge officially known as the London Millennium Footbridge, which is a steel suspension bridge for pedestrians crosses the River Thames, linking Bankside with the City of London. The bridge opened late and over budget in June 2000, but had to close two days later due to lateral movement which lead to it being named the “Wobbly Bridge”. It took nearly… Continue reading A short cut
A trip to Paradise
A sun kissed tropical white sandy beach, a hammock strung between two coconut palms and a large iced rum and coke in hand? No. Lambeth SE11, to be exact Old Paradise Street. Paradise in the context of street names in London number six in total (unless I’ve missed some). The picture above shows Old Paradise… Continue reading A trip to Paradise
Yor ‘avin a Turkish
From the Cockney rhyming slang, Turkish Bath (laugh) “Cleanliness is next to Godliness”, said the preacher John Wesley in the late 1790s and it was a sentiment that wealthy Victorians took to heart in the middle of the 19th century. Victorian plumbing catalogues abound with the latest gadgets for the home, but what did a… Continue reading Yor ‘avin a Turkish
Art
One word Sunday A very touching piece of street art that can be found set into the pavement in Marchmont Street near to Russell Square underground station in Bloomsbury. The street is near to the former site of the Foundling Hospital in Corams Fields. Mothers unable to care for their babies would bring them to… Continue reading Art
A Slightly Fat Bald Ghostly Apparition
Six Word Saturday A bit early for Halloween and obviously its not a ghost it’s me. I was trying to get a picture of the remains of Whitefriars Monastery which is hidden away below office buildings near to Fleet Street and is behind thick glass. The order was founded in what is now Israel in… Continue reading A Slightly Fat Bald Ghostly Apparition
ABC of City of London Wards
This is the forth post about the wards that make up the the City of London. These links will take you to the post about Aldersgate, Aldgate, Bassishaw. The City of London is divided into 25 wards. These wards are a survival of the medieval governmental system that allowed very small areas to exist as self-governing units within the… Continue reading ABC of City of London Wards
Learn to talk proper
I recently came by a fascinating old book called Passing English of the Victorian era, a dictionary of heterodox English, slang and phrase (published 1909) written by James Redding Ware, the pseudonym of Andrew Forrester a British writer who created one of the first female detectives in literary history in his book The Female Detective (1863). The… Continue reading Learn to talk proper
A LONDON MISCELLANY 