I tend not to labour on a subject for too long when writing this blog, but I seem to be on a bit of a roll with the 1893 OS map of London. As described in an earlier post, Cartophilia told how the Cartographers that put the map together had the insight to add inscriptions… Continue reading Ship Ahoy!
Tag: History
Quantity not quality
I’ve just received a copy of the 1937 edition of Ward Lock’s London, a quirky little 7 x 5 inch tourist guide. Ward, Lock & Co. was a publishing house that started as a partnership and developed until it was eventually absorbed into the publishing combine of Orion Publishing Group. Ebenezer Ward and George Lock starting a… Continue reading Quantity not quality
The Pepperers
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
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
Three London Friars, Two Without Shoes
Six word Saturday Before the Henry VIII and his right hand man, Thomas Cromwell embarked upon the Dissolution more than thirty monasteries, convents, priories and hospitals jostled for room within the City’s ‘square mile’ or sheltered outside in the shadow of the still surviving Roman wall. Two of these orders that are commemorated with statues… Continue reading Three London Friars, Two Without Shoes
Washing History
2020 saw a spate of statue removals throughout the UK. Characters no longer deemed to be politically correct were consigned to the storeroom or in one case the dockside of history. I came across this empty plinth in Cavendish Square, and wondered who it was that had upset public opinion. Looking at the plinth I… Continue reading Washing History
Not Avenues, But Alleyways
Once you’ve designed a tour, walked it countless times, discovered new things along the way to add in and found bits to leave out, you do have a slight proud parent vibe going on. I’m please to say that I’ve finished tinkering with this tour and it’s probably my favourite of all of them. There… Continue reading Not Avenues, But Alleyways
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
Station to Station
One thing I’ve really missed during lockdown is riding the Tube, it’s been over a year since I last had the opportunity, so to try and lessen the desire, I thought I’d take a virtual journey and look at the place names on certain lines. We’re going to start down in the South on the… Continue reading Station to Station
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
A LONDON MISCELLANY 