I thought I’d start off the countdown to Christmas a bit earlier than normal and interweave some new stories with reposts from a few years ago. On Christmas Day these days, Britain’s transport network more or less nods off. Trains, tubes, buses all take a break, leaving the streets unusually quiet. But it wasn’t always… Continue reading Ticket To Ride
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The Fatal Vespers
I shudder for using the much vaunted term “Hidden Gem” so beloved of social media influencers. No, I’ll stop there or this piece will just become a diatribe of scorn and derision. Everyone’s entitled to their opinion. However when I wanted a short phrase to some up the building I want to describe I couldn’t… Continue reading The Fatal Vespers
“Lord have mercy upon me, I am killed”
I was doing a bit of housekeeping with my audio tours the other day and came across a tour that I must admit I’d forgotten all about. Everything about the process of compiling it I remembered was easy. The research went well and the writing just flowed from the pen. This was going to be… Continue reading “Lord have mercy upon me, I am killed”
Amongst these dark Satanic Mills
Do you ever get a feeling about a location? It doesn’t have to be something outwardly disturbing, just a nagging notion that something historic at some time in the past might have happened on a particular spot. I know that sound a bit vague, but there is a certain piece of central London that has… Continue reading Amongst these dark Satanic Mills
A shining example
Where would you find the only Neon light in the City of London? London nerds will already have tutted and muttered under their breath “Easy”. The answer is a small shop on the junction of Moorgate and London Wall. Today it is a wine bar, but its beautiful Art Deco façade harks back to a… Continue reading A shining example
Tea, Debauchery and Sewage
I recently came across a 17th century location on the banks of the River Thames called Arnold’s Outlet (if you have the same puerile sense of humour as me, you’ll have sniggered at that). This schoolboy double entendre does have an element of fact about it, as it was actually a sewer outlet that dumped… Continue reading Tea, Debauchery and Sewage
At Sixes and Sevens
Not a phrase you hear much nowadays, but I can remember my Grandmother using it quite often, “Oh you’ll have me at sixes and sevens if you don’t get from under my feet!“ I’d never really queried its origin until recently. I was researching for a new walking tour, looking into the history of what… Continue reading At Sixes and Sevens
Fancy a dip in the Thames?
Although the river is a lot cleaner today than in previous years, the stretch that flows through the environs of Central London is not immediately the first place you’d think of for swimming. The completion of Sir Joseph Bazalgette’s London sewer system in 1870 meant that the quality of water in the River Thames was… Continue reading Fancy a dip in the Thames?
Taken At The Flood
The Dominion Theatre stands on Tottenham Court Road. Construction of the theatre began in March 1928 with a design by W and TR Milburn with a budget of £460,000. The theatre hosted the premier of Charlie Chaplin’s slapstick comedy “City Lights” in 1931, with the star in attendance. There is a rather sad and macabre… Continue reading Taken At The Flood
Cleary Gardens
Space where you can sit and reflect, away from the noise and commotion of the City can be hard to find. One such little oasis is Cleary Gardens, nestling between the busy Queen Victoria Street an Upper Thames Street. The development of the garden into what we see today dates from the 1980’s when it… Continue reading Cleary Gardens
A LONDON MISCELLANY 