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
Tag: London
Time and tide wait for no man
A saying that perhaps conjures up visions of King Canute, though some scholars attribute it to Geoffrey Chaucer. I’ve used it in the context of if you wait long enough then something that you’re waiting for will wash up at your feet. Actually it’s been a week of having long standing mysteries solved just by… Continue reading Time and tide wait for no man
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
Morning sun rays on Gresham Street
Six Word Saturday Weekend Sky#30 7.58 am outside St Lawrence Jewry on Gresham Street. In the distance are the buildings of 22 Bishopsgate (known as Twentytwo) and 122 Leadenhall Street (known as the Cheesegrater). As usual with the pace of change in the City both of these buildings will at some point be dwarfed by… Continue reading Morning sun rays on Gresham Street
Please Sir, I want some more
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
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
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 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
A Room With A View
Who lives in the tallest house in the City of London? The answer to that is I don’t know, but it matters little who lives there, the more interesting part is where is it and why.Let’s just rewind. We’re looking for the tallest house, not loft apartment, penthouse or block of flats but a house… Continue reading A Room With A View
Being for the benefit of Mr Kite
One of the most visited performance venues of the late eighteenth century was Astley’s Amphitheatre. It was situated close to Westminster bridge on the south side of the River Thames. Today its site is buried under the gardens of St Thomas’ Hospital. The Amphitheatre was opened by Philip & Patty Astley in 1768 and had… Continue reading Being for the benefit of Mr Kite
A LONDON MISCELLANY 