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.
Category: history
Posts predominantly history related.
The secret green huts of London
They are an icon of London; not as famous as those famous red symbols such a telephone boxes, post boxes, double decker buses or soldiers on guard and they are certainly less common than the iconic London black taxis but if you wander around London long enough, just a short distance from many tourist attractions… Continue reading The secret green huts of London
The life and grave of Little John of Robin Hood fame.
In the ancient ballads of Robin Hood, Little John is traditionally, second in command of Robin Hood’s legendary Merry Men. Little John appears in the very earliest of the surviving Robin Hood tales including the work of Andrew of Wyntoun in 1420 and ‘A Gest of Robyn Hode’ published later that century. The ballad ‘Robin… Continue reading The life and grave of Little John of Robin Hood fame.
War-Time Panic And The British Pet Massacre Of 1939.
There are many things that Britons have been labelled. Napoleon said we were a nation of shopkeepers, he likely meant it as an insult. We’re also famously a nation of gardeners and compared to most others, animal lovers. Perhaps it is that other trait of supporting the underdog as there aren’t many things that are… Continue reading War-Time Panic And The British Pet Massacre Of 1939.
Safety For The Dead
On the 29th December I arrived in London a little early for my tour that day so spent an hour or two exploring and sight-seeing myself , at least what passes for sight-seeing if you are a bit of a history nerd. Whilst deep beneath the beautiful St Bride’s Church, I came across one of… Continue reading Safety For The Dead
The Roman Wall in an Underground London Car Park
In those few days between Christmas and New Years Day when it seems I am about the only person at work in London, I gave myself extra time to get into the city before meeting my tourists. Normally busy roads or roads where traffic is at a perpetual standstill were so empty that I… Continue reading The Roman Wall in an Underground London Car Park
Cheers to pub signs!
As we near the darkest and coldest nights in the U.K. many of us will be spending at least some times in pubs. This would have been even more the case in years gone by. There have been pubs of one variety or other since at least Roman times and almost since that… Continue reading Cheers to pub signs!
Finding the ruins of Whitefriars beneath the streets of London
Most people have heard of that very busy part of London known as Blackfriars but fewer know of Whitefriars. It should be said that the colour here is nothing at all relating to the skin of the friars but rather the colours of the accruements that they wore. The Black Friars were Dominican friars whilst… Continue reading Finding the ruins of Whitefriars beneath the streets of London
My new Nursery Rhyme Tour of London
It’s at this time of year where as near as possible I have a slightly easier life. Fewer tourists though doesn’t mean I’m not working. In an ideal world I would be using January to write books but I’m still busy with work but working from home and so I have been researching new tours… Continue reading My new Nursery Rhyme Tour of London
Queen Elizabeth I – Linguistic genius?
There are many things we may associate with the great Queen Elizabeth I from her famed private life, glorious victories at sea particularly over the Spanish Armada and that famous speech at Tilbury. As she put it, she may have had the body but of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart and… Continue reading Queen Elizabeth I – Linguistic genius?
Stephen Liddell 