Six word Saturday The hazards of walking London’s streets. If it’s not bumping into fellow pedestrians, lamp posts, tripping up kerbs and dodging the traffic, it’s falling masonry! Despite the jeopardy it presents this pile of falling concrete offers no danger. “Square the Block” by Richard Wilson was installed in 2009 on the corner of… Continue reading All is not as it seems
Tag: Walking
Milestones
While poking around Smithfield recently I had occasion to take a break in a local hostelry and over a pint started reading an old guidebook. First thing I learnt was that the Great North Road that links London to Scotland and was the main route of travel from medieval times until the 20th century begins… Continue reading Milestones
Rush
One word Sunday
Bucolic Bonnington Square
Bonnington Square in Vauxhall was built during the 1870s. Only a “six” away from the Oval cricket ground it comprised compact neat rows of London brick houses surrounding a central double terrace primarily used to house railway workers who were employed at Nine Elms Goods Yard close by. Booth’s map has the square marked as… Continue reading Bucolic Bonnington Square
Let’s play “Blind Chivvy”
I was unaware of the game Blind Chivvy or psychogeography* as it is sometimes known. That was until I started to read a book called London Pilgrimages written in 1928 by Robert Thurston Hopkins. The book is quite a niche guidebook with seventeen chapters, one entitled Charlie Chaplin’s early days. I’d never heard of Hopkins… Continue reading Let’s play “Blind Chivvy”
A Jack of all trades and a savage bell
Sometimes I stand at a location and think how far away even recent history can feel. Some places have been so changed that without some research there would be no inkling as to what once stood on the site. Here’s a good example, Limeburner Lane just off Ludgate Hill. The lane and it’s name are… Continue reading A Jack of all trades and a savage bell
Evocative
When I have a few minutes to spare I do like to just stand (or sit with a pint) in a location, let my mind wander and try to imagine what the area was like fifty, a hundred, a hundred and fifty years ago. Sometimes this can be quite difficult as modern life always tries… Continue reading Evocative
In a bit of a tangle
Six Word Saturday
Fit for a King
If you walk along the south side of Cheapside heading towards the Bank of England, a little way beyond Bow Church is a narrow opening leading to Crown Court. The actual footprint and name of the passageway has been there since at least the early 13th century and was once the private entrance for the… Continue reading Fit for a King
Dark
One word Sunday
A LONDON MISCELLANY 