I recently came across this story while researching a new audio tour around Southwark. I have to admit as a born and bred North Londoner I’m a bit sniffy about anything Souwf of the river, but I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised about what I turned up. Hopton Street is situated between… Continue reading A House of ill repute
Tag: History
Philpot Lane (No Mice)
last week I took a look at a quirky piece of art that adorns the wall of a building on Philpot Lane and so as I was there so to speak, I thought I’d take a look at the lane itself. In the late fourteen hundreds the lane was known as St Andrew Hubert’s Lane.… Continue reading Philpot Lane (No Mice)
The Philpot Lane Mice
Question: What is the smallest piece of public art within the City of London? To answer that question let me take you back to the 1860s and the redevelopment of Eastcheap, the street that runs east from the Monument towards the Tower of London. The block adjoining Philpot Lane was demolished and the architect Robert Lewis… Continue reading The Philpot Lane Mice
STAAAAAANDAAAAART!
I threatened last week to start posting reminiscences of childhood in Metroland. Well here’s the first one and goes back to the late 60s when I was around ten years old. For a ten year old back then there were three types of gainful employment, one poor, one middling and the third the pinnacle. The… Continue reading STAAAAAANDAAAAART!
Stairway to Heaven
I’ve always wondered at the design of the escalator system on many of London’s underground stations. It is such a simple idea, but the machinery involved is quite complex. The only design limitation came when they were retro fitted to existing stations with limited space. It was in 1892 that the first working escalator materialised,… Continue reading Stairway to Heaven
Time Encapsulation
Perhaps it was the burial of the Blue Peter time capsule in 1971 that first fascinated me about this rather quirky way of linking the past with the present. The popular children’s TV program presenters buried various viewers items along with a Blue Peter Annual in the grounds of Broadcasting House. The subsequent loss of… Continue reading Time Encapsulation
Rattus Norvegicus
Definitely my favourite and probably the best studio album by The Stranglers, released in 1977, so the copy in my collection is now 47 years old which is a sobering thought. Anyway I digress. Rattus Norvegicus is the Latin name for the Brown or common rat which is the most prevalent native London rats. The… Continue reading Rattus Norvegicus
How Curious
There is a small area of central London crammed in between Lincoln’s Inn Fields, the Strand and Aldwych. The area is known as Clare Market and is taken up in the most part by the London School of Economics (LSE). The area of Clare Market was originally centred on a small market building constructed by… Continue reading How Curious
“Spend Yer Money, Take Yer Chance”
Today’s post is a rather unseasonal one, prompted by some photo album housekeeping. No wonder I hadn’t found it during December as the photo that inspires the piece was tucked away in a sub folder. So just in case your thoughts this week have turned to what you might have for this years Christmas dinner,… Continue reading “Spend Yer Money, Take Yer Chance”
Overhead
One Word Sunday
A LONDON MISCELLANY 