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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

Rain

One word Sunday Looking out along Cromwell Road on a rather wet autumn evening.

Climbing An Old Stairway To Heaven

Six Word Saturday Milford Lane stands on a very ancient thoroughfare that ran from the Thames up to the Strand near the area of the Temple. When you reach the top you find yourself not in heaven but in Essex Street, turn to look back at the steps and you see one of the grandest… Continue reading Climbing An Old Stairway To Heaven

The Monster Of London

There have been many violent and disturbing crimes committed in the Capital over the centuries, some single incidents, and others of a more serial nature. The latter attract much more attention, sometimes with the culprits achieving cult status. Obviously Jack the Ripper is usually the first to come to mind, along with latter-day perpetrators, John… Continue reading The Monster Of London

Not Avenues, but Alleyways

There’s nothing more exciting for me than discovering a new alleyway or court in London, so much so that I document each one on a Google Map with as much information as I can find on it. It may look like there’s a lot of pins on the map, but the reality is that the… Continue reading Not Avenues, but Alleyways