Some attention is always given to the famous Scottish Stone of Scone which for centuries has been placed under the coronation throne and indeed was there when King Charles III was crowned. What perhaps is less well known that there is very much an English equivalent and it’s not one of those half hidden ancient… Continue reading The ancient coronation stone of Anglo-Saxon kings in SW London
Category: London
Posts predominantly related to London
THE CORONATION OF THEIR MAJESTIES KING CHARLES III AND QUEEN CAMILLA
The main proceedings don’t start for another hour but I’ve been watching the buildup for a few hours now. I thought that some people overseas may enjoy an official guide or ‘Order Of Service’. Interestingly as I type this, I Vow To Thee My Country is being played in the Abbey. I first heard this… Continue reading THE CORONATION OF THEIR MAJESTIES KING CHARLES III AND QUEEN CAMILLA
Feeding the green parakeets of London
I’ve written a few times about how Green London is, it’s (to some) surprisingly dry climate and that it is only fractionally under being a Subtropical city in fact it is suspected small districts are. It’s not just my secret gardens or huge parks and commons that make London green but if it is the… Continue reading Feeding the green parakeets of London
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
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
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
My New Book: Angels of Postman’s Park
For the last two years or more I have been working on my new book which I’m very happy to have released on the 28th March as my little tribe to my wonderful mother who died 10 years ago on that date. Sat almost in the shadow of St Pauls Cathedral, Postman’s Park is a… Continue reading My New Book: Angels of Postman’s Park
The Holy Thorn Reliquary
If you go in the big long gallery on the right of the ground floor of the British Museum, most people will flock to the legendary Rosetta Stone which these days rather politically correctly is a duplicate of the original. I was there recently and it is a marvellous object though the crowd of Spanish… Continue reading The Holy Thorn Reliquary
Stephen Liddell 