Category: Heritage

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

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 a shop to buy junk but in my own way I had my own big… Continue reading My big Coronavirus Opening! – St Johns Church in Stanmore.

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

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 length so finding this couldn’t have been easier. W. S Gilbert was one half of… Continue reading Visiting the grave of W.S Gilbert – the very model of a modern Major-General

The 900 year old Swan Upping ceremony is cancelled

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 for the year. The Swan Upping census lasts for five days and was due to… Continue reading The 900 year old Swan Upping ceremony is cancelled

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

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 scenes across the U.K. Recently as I was looking for something completely difference I actually… Continue reading Bushey Heath now and then – Photos of my street from 130 years ago

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

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 a place covered in coarse grass, and Leah, a piece of cleared ground on the… Continue reading The Master Oak – The Greatest and Oldest Oak Tree in Middlesex

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

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 Metropolitan Free Drinking Fountain Association it changed its name to include cattle troughs in 1867,… Continue reading A look at my local Metropolitan Drinking Fountain and Cattle Trough Association… Trough

Coronavirus Diary 18 – Social Distancing with Typhoid!

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 questions that have been bugging me for much of my life but which no-one else… Continue reading Coronavirus Diary 18 – Social Distancing with Typhoid!

The Coal Posts of London and Hertfordshire

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 taxed, specifically at this time to fund bridges over the River Thames. The story surrounding… Continue reading The Coal Posts of London and Hertfordshire

Plumbing the depths of despair.

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 go wrong and whilst I wait for the near certainty of being killed by a… Continue reading Plumbing the depths of despair.