When I first started this site as a portal for A London Miscellany Tours and began to write about some of the history of London, like everyone I had no idea of how the Global Pandemic would affect my unusual walking tours of London. With tours curtailed for much of 2020 and things looking bleak… Continue reading What’s it all about then?
Category: Uncategorized
Who?
Stephen Geary? ……………………………. Anyone? No, I must admit it wasn’t a name that I was familiar with, but Mr Geary definitely left his mark on both the advancement of mankind and also London, although probably more so for the latter. Over 160 years after his death, Geary is tucked away right at the back of… Continue reading Who?
The Downfall Of A Victorian Fraudster
If today you stand on the confluence of Cannon Street, Walbrook and Bloomberg Arcade, you’d be roughly inside The Coopers Arms. In the 1890s when Samuel Heibuth was Mine Host, the Pub stood at 19 Budge Row EC4N now buried under steel and glass, a result of the devastation caused during the Blitz. Budge Row… Continue reading The Downfall Of A Victorian Fraudster
The Wheel Turns Full Circle
The London Eye has dominated the skyline of Lambeth for over twenty years. This 135 metres (443 ft) tall wheel has a diameter of 120 metres (394 ft). When it opened to the public in 2000 it was the world’s tallest Ferris wheel until it was surpassed by the 160-metre (525 ft) Star of Nanchang in 2006, and has subsequently been… Continue reading The Wheel Turns Full Circle
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 vague notion that something historic at some time in the past might have happened on this spot. I know that sound a bit vague, but there is a certain piece of central London that has always… Continue reading Amongst these dark Satanic Mills
The Beavers Of Oxford Street
Whenever I walk the streets of London I try to make the effort to look up once in a while. Sometimes you can be too focussed on what’s in front of you. Take a moment to look above the horizon and you might be surprised at what you find. Many interesting and bizarre ornaments and… Continue reading The Beavers Of Oxford Street
Crane Court…A Little Alley With A Lot Of History
Today, Crane Court sits unobtrusively between two fast food outlets on Fleet Street. Visitors who venture into its interior may be forgiven for thinking that the alley has delusions of grandeur, as after a quite impressive entrance of modern terracotta brick the rest of the alley dotted around with large planters is a little non… Continue reading Crane Court…A Little Alley With A Lot Of History
The Cat And The Skull
So what do you think you know about Dick Whittington, Lord Mayor of London? The story goes that an impoverished Whittington made his way into the City of London to seek his fortune on hearing that the streets were paved with gold. Failing to make enough money to live on as a scullery worker in… Continue reading The Cat And The Skull
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
The Sign Of The Two Headed Swan
I was prompted to take this uninspiring photograph after coming across an old image of the same location. The first picture is Gresham Street in 2020 and the second image is the same street a hundred years earlier in 1920. The most prominent building in the second image is Pickfords the removal company and I… Continue reading The Sign Of The Two Headed Swan
A LONDON MISCELLANY 