For many of us, the closest we come to experiencing what Victorian poverty was like is by watching a television adaptation of a work of Charles Dickens. He would use his writing to bring about societal change in a similar way to how actors and musicians put their name to good causes today. It can… Continue reading Life in a Victorian Dosshouse
Category: Heritage
The charter of King William I (The Conqueror) to the City of London
I’ve been giving private walking tours in London for almost 10 years and one of the very few who have a range in the City of London, the one square mile that was once Roman Londinium. I often tell visitors between the City and Greater or Metropolitan London. Most people visit London without even visiting… Continue reading The charter of King William I (The Conqueror) to the City of London
The Great Hall of St Bartholomew’s Hospital
St Bartholomew’s Hospital has led the provision of healthcare in London for almost 900 years. Founded in 1123 by a man named Rahere to provide care for the poor of the City of London, there is no other hospital in the country which matches its record of continuous service on the same site. We had… Continue reading The Great Hall of St Bartholomew’s Hospital
The wonderful staircase of St Bartholomew’s hospital
A hospital staircase might not be the first place that comes into your head when you think about great works of art, least of all in a National Health Service hospital where famously all money goes into patient care rather than particularly beautified buildings and landscapes. What happens though when the hospital is celebrating its… Continue reading The wonderful staircase of St Bartholomew’s hospital
Saving Simpson’s Tavern -London’s oldest Chophouse fights back against billionaire overseas landlord Rodney Sacks
Hidden away in one of my absolute favourite parts of the City of London is Simpson’s Tavern. it’s the sort of place I love and my tourists do too. I’m never sure why people go on those rather lame open deck bus tours in London. You’d never go round any other 2,000 year old city… Continue reading Saving Simpson’s Tavern -London’s oldest Chophouse fights back against billionaire overseas landlord Rodney Sacks
Melton Mowbray Pork Pies
A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to visit a quaint little market town in the East-Midlands known as Melton Mowbray. Nestling in rural Leicestership, Melton Mowbray is known as a ‘Rural Capital of Food’ and boasts a culinary heritage that few can match. As well as other produce, visitors can sample Melton Mowbray… Continue reading Melton Mowbray Pork Pies
Remains of old wooden roads in London
It used to be said that the streets are London are paved with gold. This was in reference to how for centuries London has been a place where not just the rich and powerful live and work but how the city attracts people from across the country and indeed the world in the hope that… Continue reading Remains of old wooden roads in London
King Alfred The Great Statue in Winchester
You can’t come to Winchester and not think of Alfred The Great. Perhaps our greatest monarch in history and certainly the only one with the epithet ‘Great’. In so many ways he was ahead of his times and not only freed the lands from the Vikings but set England in particular on course to be… Continue reading King Alfred The Great Statue in Winchester
King Alfred and his burned cakes… recipe inside!
Before we get further into King Alfred and Winchester, I thought it would be a change of pace to write a little on one of the little gems of old English folk history. You can read about King Alfred on this old post but basically where this story takes place is in the midst of… Continue reading King Alfred and his burned cakes… recipe inside!
Visiting the Winchester Mill
Sir Winston Churchill once said in one of this famous quotes that the further one looks backwards into history, the further into the future you can see. I wonder what he would have made with the modern worlds shift towards renewable energy and how things such as wind turbines and sea barrages are really just… Continue reading Visiting the Winchester Mill
Stephen Liddell 