Whilst out and about on Tyneside, I wanted to visit a little spot that I’d never got to make it to previously, the one time home of Stan Laurel, one half of that legendary comedy duo of a century ago, Laurel and Hardy. Like myself, Stan was born in Cumbria and moved to Newcastle at… Continue reading In the footsteps of Stan Laurel
Month: April 2023
Old Mother Red Cap… when the Devil came to Camden.
Whilst writing last week on Camden Town Underground station, I remembered one of the most notorious residents of Camden who happened to live almost on top of where the Underground station is today. The Old Mother Red Cap, Camden. since renamed ‘The World’s End’ in 1985. There has been an inn on this site since… Continue reading Old Mother Red Cap… when the Devil came to Camden.
Happy Birthday to Camden Town Underground Station, one time newest London wonder
Obviously one could write for ages about London Underground, its stations, lines, oddities and many people do. Even I have written more than the odd post 140 London Underground Facts. Today though by chance I noticed it was the birthday of Camden Town Underground Station. Or at least the station as it is in its current… Continue reading Happy Birthday to Camden Town Underground Station, one time newest London wonder
The Lit & Phil Library in Newcastle
In a rather unassuming building close to the central station is a place I’ve wanted to visit for many years but have always been too busy. The Lit & Phil is Newcastle’s exquisite independent library, open to all and free to explore and browse. Founded in 1793, its purpose-built library opened in 1825 on Westgate… Continue reading The Lit & Phil Library in Newcastle
Touching a doorway to hell – the old door of Newgate Prison
There was no place grimmer on this planet than Newgate Prison and as someone once wrote…“It was, almost from its beginning, an emblem of death and suffering… a legendary place, where the very stones were considered ‘deathlike’…it became associated with hell, and its smell permeated the streets and houses beside it.” Indeed if something is… Continue reading Touching a doorway to hell – the old door of Newgate Prison
The stained undershirt worn by King Charles I for his execution
Even though I work every day in London and surely spend more time walking its streets and alleys than anyone but the most enthusiastic police officer, I never really get to enjoy the attractions of London. I’m always busy. I see what things are coming months or even years in advance but always working so… Continue reading The stained undershirt worn by King Charles I for his execution
The Newcastle-Gateshead Swing Bridge
Last week to get away for a change of scene, I went to spend a few days in my childhood city of Newcastle Upon Tyne, to meet an old friend and some new ones who made an epic 12 hour return car journey to drop off food for me during the height of Covid and… Continue reading The Newcastle-Gateshead Swing Bridge
A London street transformed to look like WW2 in The Blitz
A few weeks ago I was giving a Churchill Walking Tour to a family of 8 in London. It was a cold wintery Sunday morning and the streets were largely quiet until towards the end of the tour we came across a filming unit down a side-street near Parliament. There were a few doorways surrounded… Continue reading A London street transformed to look like WW2 in The Blitz
Stephen Liddell 