No, not some obscure 1970s animated children’s TV series with characters made from pepper pots (That’s an idea, perhaps I could pitch it to Cbeebies) but a group of merchants that inhabited the City of London in the early 1100s In last Friday’s post, I expressed my fondness for the 1893 OS map of London… Continue reading The Pepperers
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Cartophilia
I’m a Cartophile loud and proud and don’t care who knows it. Sound dramatic, but actually its only the love of maps. Old or new I can spend long periods of time perusing them without any plan in mind. If you can have such a thing, one of my favourites and an item I would… Continue reading Cartophilia
1984 and all that
I’ve been catching up on my reading lately, George Orwell in particular. I’d read Animal Farm at school and hadn’t thought much of it until years later when I reread it and started to understand what was going on. I know exactly when I read 1984 it was in 1984, due mostly to the film… Continue reading 1984 and all that
Explain it to the old man
I’ve always thought that I’m pretty up to date as far as life in general is concerned. I may not understand how things like AI work but I can use it (Always nice to have someone to chat to when her indoors is away). Music? Well it’s all been down hill since about 1984 so… Continue reading Explain it to the old man
A souvenir from starving Germany
You may have read my post last Friday regarding the Elizabethan building that was discovered when a bomb exploded near to it during a First World War air raid. One of the participating Zeppelins on the raid was L13, a German naval Zeppelin under the command of Kapitänleutnant Heinrich Mathy. Apart from raining down terror… Continue reading A souvenir from starving Germany
The best seats in the house
St Bartholomew’s Gatehouse in Cloth Fair is definitely a fine old Elizabethan building. Well that’s not strictly true. It is and it isn’t. The framework is, but the exterior has been restored, but that doesn’t make it any the less interesting. If it hadn’t been for Kapitänleutnant Heinrich Mathy the commander of a First World… Continue reading The best seats in the house
Den of Thieves
The title of this piece wasn’t hard to come up with, however I wasn’t sure what the source was. It actually comes from the Bible. Well in this, the Den of Thieves is known as a Patter-Free Lumber. There were many of these dotted around London, one of them was located at 23 New Boswell… Continue reading Den of Thieves
Who had the Lamb Bhuna?
Fancy a curry? Today you’ll be spoilt for choice, takeaways and restaurants have proliferate on our high streets for many years, but how far back would you have to go before finding it almost impossible to get your favourite dish? The answer is probably a lot earlier than you might be thinking. The Hindoostane Coffee… Continue reading Who had the Lamb Bhuna?
Hook, Line and Stinker
Thought I’d take a quick look at three London urban myths. Whilst writing this I started to feel a bit bad about dispelling these myths as each one has a certain charm about it, but as these are all well documented I decided to press on. However I don’t think that I’ll ever directly tell… Continue reading Hook, Line and Stinker
The Art of Getting Lost (On Purpose)
Because in London, being “off course” is often the point. There’s a particular pleasure in walking through London without a plan. Not aimlessly, that’s different, but with a kind of gentle, deliberate looseness. A willingness to drift. A readiness to be surprised. It’s a skill, really, and one the city rewards more generously than most.… Continue reading The Art of Getting Lost (On Purpose)
A LONDON MISCELLANY 