The immortal line penned by Dickens in Oliver Twist which was serialised from 1837. I actually have a connection to Oliver, we’re both “Workhouse Boys”, well that is to say I live in a converted workhouse, where the only deprivation suffered is if the WiFi goes down. London as you’d expect had many workhouses throughout… Continue reading Please Sir, I want some more
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Written in tablets of stone
Enter the shiny glass and steel station facade at Blackfriars and the world is your Oyster(card) as to your destination. Places as diverse as Upminster and Ealing Broadway, as glamorous as Turnham Green or East Putney can be easily reached. When the main line station was opened by the London, Chatham and Dover Railway with the name… Continue reading Written in tablets of stone
Meat
One word Sunday Don’t know if there any Tripe Dressers left in Smithfield, but this was once the site of Edmund Martin Ltd at 3 Lindsey Street, Smithfield, sadly demolished in 2010. On the same site today sits Kaleidoscope a building described as a “Commercial Workspace”, where in all probability they hold Meetings (did you… Continue reading Meat
Getting back on the horse
Picture the scene, it’s March 2020 and my fledgling guided walking tour business, A London Miscellany Tours is getting up a nice head of steam. Then on the 13th March I wake up with a persistent cough and begin feeling quite unwell, the rest as they say is history. Fast forward to April 2021 and… Continue reading Getting back on the horse
The Noted House For Paper Bags
Part of Six word Saturday I’d always put 46 Crispin Street down as a trendy piece of gentrification in the heart of Spitalfields, however it seems that I was wrong. Jeremiah O’Donovan came to London from Dublin in the 1830s, and the business selling paper bags to the city’s thriving markets was set up in Crispin… Continue reading The Noted House For Paper Bags
The Mercers Maiden and her moustache
Posted as part of six word Saturday The Mercers Maiden is a small piece of stone relief carving that is on the wall of Corbet Court quite near to Leadenhall market. The Maiden has thought to have inhabited the area of the court since 1669 and is the emblem of the “Worshipful Company of Mercers”… Continue reading The Mercers Maiden and her moustache
Little things please little minds
Apparently an idiom by Ovid, but then his mate Aesop said “Good things come in small packages”. I’m inclined to side with both sentiments, so here’s a few of the smallest things London has to offer. Shortest Street Until restrictions rendering it pedestrians only, the shortest street was Clenman Street in Borough at 85 feet… Continue reading Little things please little minds
The “Iron Duke” steps
The “Iron Duke”, Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, National Hero, Soldier, Politician and Prime Minister, what a guy!Its only fitting that he should have something named after him. I can just see these steps, Imposing wrought iron, sweeping and majestic, befitting a great British hero. Oh no, I was mistaken, these are a set… Continue reading The “Iron Duke” steps
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
Then suddenly out of the blue
For someone who spends a lot of time walking the streets of the City of London in search of interesting and obscure facts and objects, I must admit I was slightly taken aback during my last walk. I came upon this City of London Police Call Post (Not a box, like the Tardis). It made… Continue reading Then suddenly out of the blue
A LONDON MISCELLANY 