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: Walking
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
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
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
Burye, Berry, Bury
Next time you’re in the City, walk past the Gherkin along Bury Street and at the end of Holland House and you will see the relief of a ship. This dates to when the offices were owned by Wm. H. Müller who were a Dutch shipping company and commissioned the building in 1916. In itself… Continue reading Burye, Berry, Bury
What’s it all about then?
When I first started this site as a portal for A London Miscellany Tours and began to write about some of the history of London, like everyone I had no idea of how the Global Pandemic would affect my unusual walking tours of London. With tours curtailed for much of 2020 and things looking bleak… Continue reading What’s it all about then?
Tottenham Court Road 5.45 am
This was written last year before Covid engulfed us all…….. As I’ve got older I seem to have shaken the habit of staying within the warmth and comfort of my bed in the mornings. Today, up at 4.45 am as excited as a schoolkid going on an outing. The reason, a fact-finding trip, coupled with… Continue reading Tottenham Court Road 5.45 am