Category Archives: Heritage

Posts predominantly related to Heritage

My big Coronavirus Opening! – St Johns Church in Stanmore.

Posted on June 23, 2020 by Stephen Liddell

Last Monday was the first real big step forward in the restoration of normal life in the U.K. with many of the non-essential opening for the first time in months. Of course I couldn’t imagine anything worse than going in … Continue reading →

Posted in Heritage, Life, London | Tagged church, churches, Coronavirus Diary, Diary, St John Stanmore, Stanmore, walks | 1 Comment

Visiting the grave of W.S Gilbert – the very model of a modern Major-General

Posted on June 3, 2020 by Stephen Liddell

One of the main things I waned to find on my walk I wrote about on Monday was the grave of W S Gilbert. I’m used to finding obscure graves amongst hundreds thousands in cemeteries a mile or more in … Continue reading →

Posted in Heritage, history, Life, Travel, Ye Olde England Tours | Tagged Cemetery, Diary, Gilbert and Sullivan, Pirates of Penzance, Stanmore, W S Gilbert, walks | 3 Comments

The 900 year old Swan Upping ceremony is cancelled

Posted on May 25, 2020 by Stephen Liddell

It is an historic Royal ceremony that has taken place annually for the last 900 years but the Coronavirus means that for only the second time, this ancient practice of counting the swans on the River Thames has been cancelled … Continue reading →

Posted in Heritage, history, Life, London, Travel, Ye Olde England Tours | Tagged Coronavirus, London, Queen, River Thames, Social Distancing, Swan Upping, The Dyers, The Vintners | Leave a comment

Bushey Heath now and then – Photos of my street from 130 years ago

Posted on May 20, 2020 by Stephen Liddell

Long-time readers of my blog will know one of the things I like to do is come across old photos of places and do comparisons with how they are today as with this series of3 old posts of old street … Continue reading →

Posted in Heritage, history, Life, London | Tagged Bushey Heath, County of Hertfordshire, Life, Now and then photos, Photography, The Rutts | 3 Comments

The Master Oak – The Greatest and Oldest Oak Tree in Middlesex

Posted on May 18, 2020 by Stephen Liddell

Following on from my post last week where I visited the old WW2 Pillbox, my walk continued through the Bentley Priory Nature Reserve in NW London. The name Bentley is believed to derive from the Anglo-Saxon word Beonet, which means … Continue reading →

Posted in Heritage, history, Life, London, Travel | Tagged Bentley Priory, Coronavirus, Diary, Knights of St John, Middlesex, Stanmore, The Master Oak, Trees | 11 Comments

A look at my local Metropolitan Drinking Fountain and Cattle Trough Association… Trough

Posted on April 20, 2020 by Stephen Liddell

The Metropolitan Drinking Fountain and Cattle Trough Association was an association set up in London by Samuel Gurney, a Member of Parliament, and philanthropist and Edward Thomas Wakefield, a barrister, in 1859 to provide free drinking water. Originally called the … Continue reading →

Posted in Heritage, history, Life, London, Ye Olde England Tours | Tagged Bushey Heath, Cattle Trough, Drinking Fountain, Russell Square, The Metropolitan Drinking Fountain and Cattle Trough Association, Victorian, Water, Ye Olde England Tours | Leave a comment

Coronavirus Diary 18 – Social Distancing with Typhoid!

Posted on April 15, 2020 by Stephen Liddell

One of the things I love doing is studying maps; old and new. Having moved back to just one street away from where I spent my teenage years I’m now able to use the internet to piece together answers to … Continue reading →

Posted in Heritage, history, Life | Tagged Bushey Heath, Coronavirus, Coronavirus Diary, Covid19, Diary, Elstree Road Pump, Maps, Social Distancing, Typhoid | 7 Comments

Arise Sir Loin Steak

Posted on April 8, 2020 by Stephen Liddell

The menu for the 1617 banquet that gave birth to the legend that King James I invented sirloin steak after knighting a joint of beef has gone up for auction. Legend has it that when James I dined at Hoghton … Continue reading →

Posted in Heritage, history, Life, News | Tagged Arise Sir Loin, food, James I, Sir Henry Hoghton, Sirlon Steak | 2 Comments

The Coal Posts of London and Hertfordshire

Posted on March 11, 2020 by Stephen Liddell

Almost opposite the hotel that I’m staying in at the moment is this white post below. It is an old Coal Post and is around 140 years old and it goes back to a time when coal entering London was … Continue reading →

Posted in Heritage, history, Uncategorized | Tagged Canals, Coal, Coal Duty Market, Coal Post, County of Hertfordshire, London, Trade, Watford | 3 Comments

Plumbing the depths of despair.

Posted on March 9, 2020 by Stephen Liddell

As if being pushed under a tube train in February and attacked in the street in November isn’t bad enough I’ve recently had the only item of value stolen from my new home recently. With not much else that can … Continue reading →