Like many ancient cities, London has suffered its fair share of disasters, perhaps unduly so but whilst history is full of fires, wars, pestilence and biblical downpours, few places in the world can have suffered what is known as The Great Beer Flood of London. It happened over 200 years ago on Monday 17th October… Continue reading The Great Beer Flood of London
Month: May 2019
The statue of Peace in Smithfield with its secret sign of fidelity.
As I mentioned in passing on my post on Smithfield Market the area hasn’t just got a millennia long relationship with animal markets and executions. It was also a place where men in Victorian times would bring their unwanted wives to swap them with other men, divorce being both monetarily expensive and a social faux-pas. Around… Continue reading The statue of Peace in Smithfield with its secret sign of fidelity.
Alexander Parkes – The man who changed and poisoned the world
Alexander Parkes is another one of those people from the Victorian Age that is forgotten despite him changing the world and his story is being told in a new exhibition in Bow, East London. The fact the the exhibition is in East London may give something of a clue that Alexander Parkes is the man… Continue reading Alexander Parkes – The man who changed and poisoned the world
The Himba Baby Song
I was thinking today of the famous quote by David M. Eagleman that each person suffers three deaths. The first is when the body ceases to function. The second is when the body is consigned to the grave. The third is that moment, sometime in the future, when your name is spoken for the last time.… Continue reading The Himba Baby Song
The fake Number 10 Downing Street
It’s perhaps the most famous doorway in the world, number 10 Downing Street. For centuries home of the British Prime Minister and I’m standing in front of it. Except it isn’t and I’m not. Though until just the 1990’s, one could easily walk up and pose on the doorstep of Number 10, since the IRA… Continue reading The fake Number 10 Downing Street
The secret underground road right in the heart of London
It’s hard to believe that just a few minutes walk from the iconic Trafalgar Square or the hustle and bustle of Covent Garden, there is an almost forgotten and entirely buried street in the very centre of London. It’s rarely used by anyone these days save for those of us who know London like the… Continue reading The secret underground road right in the heart of London
York Watergate – The ceremonial gateway to the River Thames, out of sight of water.
Following on from Mondays post on the Lions of the River Thames, not to far away is one of the last remnants of an era of grandeur on the Thames that has largely been swept away. The York Water Gate. However, if you walk along the River Thames you won’t ever find it. That’s because… Continue reading York Watergate – The ceremonial gateway to the River Thames, out of sight of water.
The Thameside Lions that guard against flooding
There is always something to look out for in London, even in the most unlikely places. One might not know that you’re seeing but there are points of interest all over the place. Should you happen to to be near the Victoria Embankment and peer over the wall without falling into the river below then… Continue reading The Thameside Lions that guard against flooding
Smithfield Market on the moo-ve after 900 years
One of my favourite less-visited parts of London is the area known as Smithfield. Like many an ancient city in the Middle-East, India or elsewhere, London had and to an extent still has, districts that would specialise in certain produces such as gold, silver, fruit or meat. Smithfield has been a meat market for more… Continue reading Smithfield Market on the moo-ve after 900 years
Stephen Liddell 