For people who live in the U.K. St Mary’s Lighthouse is one that lots of people know if they don’t realise it due to its rugged though photogenic location, it is often featured on photos depicting spectacular sunrises and stormy seas. The rocky, tidal sandstone outcrop 2½ miles north of Whitley Bay, known as St Mary’s… Continue reading St Mary’s Lighthouse
Category: Cool Britannia
The ancient Clattern Bridge in Kingston Upon Thames
Just a very short walk away from the Coronation Stone in Kingston is a remarkable old bridge, the Clattern Bridge which crosses over the Hoggsmill Rover. The current bridge was built in 1175AD and replaced a much older Anglo-Saxon bridge which was then known as the Clatrung Bridge. The bridge has had several similarly unusual… Continue reading The ancient Clattern Bridge in Kingston Upon Thames
The ancient coronation stone of Anglo-Saxon kings in SW London
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
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
In the footsteps of Stan Laurel
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
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
Stephen Liddell 