The Nation Lottery started in the UK on the 19th November 1994, however, this was not the first nationwide lottery to be run in Britain. “The Lottery” by William Hogarth 1721 showing the two lottery wheels. The first state lottery was the idea of Master of the Royal Mint, Thomas Neale in order to raise… Continue reading ……..AND THE BONUS BALL IS
Tag: London
“Just a single please”
This is about a very bizarre one way journey that our London Ancestors could have taken during the Victorian period. By the early 1850s, London had a problem with overcrowding. No, not as you would assume with housing or population or traffic, those go without saying. Victorian London had too many corpses and not enough… Continue reading “Just a single please”
A Cock And Pye Story
To make a Peacock Pye. Pick it, and leave the Feathers on the Neck, cut the Neck off close to the Body, skin the Neck close to the Head, and cut it off; put a Stick tight into the Skin up to the Head, dry it in an Oven; cut off the Legs, and keep… Continue reading A Cock And Pye Story
All your (rotten) eggs in one basket
I’m a football fan of a vintage that can remember back to a very ill thought out concept that was run by British Rail, the Football Special. We’re going back to the mid to late 1970s when the scourge of football violence was reaching it’s peak. Whoever at BR thought it was a good idea… Continue reading All your (rotten) eggs in one basket
A Little Bit of The Pharaohs In Piccadilly
Egyptian House at 170-173 Piccadilly is one of those functional early 20th century buildings that in the next hundred or so years people may well begin to love. It’s a bit of a hybrid, echoes of Georgian and Victorian architecture muddled up with just a glimpse of what was ahead in terms of Art Noveau… Continue reading A Little Bit of The Pharaohs In Piccadilly
A bird within a bird within a bird
Well after a slightly longer break than I had imagined this week sees me back in harness once again. Through my own ineptitude I started the New Year off with not one, but three new audio tours all clamouring for my attention like noisy children. Well you can’t have favourites can you? The upshot of… Continue reading A bird within a bird within a bird
Thursday Doors
Old Tom’s Tale
Looking back at my last couple of posts they’ve been a bit negative, so I thought I’d relay this short but heart warming Christmas tale of a character well known to Londoners who frequented the area of Gracechurch Street. The street was once described by the historian John Strype as one of the fairest streets… Continue reading Old Tom’s Tale
Invite injury and death into your home this Christmas
Probably every family in the UK that celebrates Christmas will have one such story of disaster, calamity or injury that is trotted out over the festive table to the mirth and hilarity of all those seated around it. Like the time Dad cut his finger off carving the turkey or how mum fell off a… Continue reading Invite injury and death into your home this Christmas
A Christmas tale of woe
Whenever I’m wandering around during the festive period, I like to play a little game. If I pass some sort of iconic building or structure I’ll stop and try to imagine what it or the surrounding area would look have looked like during past Christmas’. These nearly always take the form of a Victorian yuletide… Continue reading A Christmas tale of woe
A LONDON MISCELLANY 