It’s reached the time of year that I’ve gone a bit doolally and I mean more doolally than I generally am from the 1st of January until around the 31st December each year. I’ve not had a day off for years and been out on tour every day for months. I also feel that I’ve… Continue reading Looking for a neolithic burial mound in my local (Cassiobury) Park
Category: London
Posts predominantly related to London
The Knollys Rose Ceremony – Paying off a 619 year old rent
London and Britain is full of obscure ancient traditions and on Monday I bore witness to a ceremony that I did know about but never expected to see and it all has its foundations in events 619 years ago. As sometimes dirty as London is these days, in almost every way (except perhaps for air),… Continue reading The Knollys Rose Ceremony – Paying off a 619 year old rent
The history of 10 Downing Street and a peek behind its famous black door.
A few weeks ago I posted about a ‘fake’ Number 10 Downing Street and so I thought it would be timely to write about the actual Number 10 Downing Street especially as having written about historic and political situations for 6 years that not having yet done so is something of an aberration. After all,… Continue reading The history of 10 Downing Street and a peek behind its famous black door.
The Great Beer Flood of London
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
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 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
Stephen Liddell 