Category: history

Looking for the River Fleet

A week or so ago I was fortunate to have a special invitation in the City of London and unusually found myself with time to spare and no tourists with me. I decided to hunt down the River Fleet. The River Fleet is perhaps the second most important river in the formation and history of… Continue reading Looking for the River Fleet

Thomas Dagger – The Man who discovered The Great Fire of London

By the time it was extinguished, an area about a mile-and-a-half (2.4km) wide along the River Thames was devastated, with 13,200 houses, 87 churches and the old St Paul’s Cathedral destroyed. The huge fire left some 100,000 people homeless but led to widespread changes in the city, many of which still resonate to this very… Continue reading Thomas Dagger – The Man who discovered The Great Fire of London

How London bus drivers changed the health of the world

It can’t be easy being a bus driver. The incessant traffic, protests, rude and miserable people, the odd terrorist, heatwaves in the summer, freaky rain, wind or snow in the winter. I guess it is much like being a tour guide except we also have to put up with transport strikes! I think the behaviour… Continue reading How London bus drivers changed the health of the world

Charles Pearson – The Radical Reformer behind London Underground

There aren’t many things I like to write about more in my blog than little known people of the past who either made a big impact on life or were very forward thinking. Perhaps Jeremy Bentham might be my favourite though I admit I may be a little biased as I kind of count him… Continue reading Charles Pearson – The Radical Reformer behind London Underground

Billy Waters – The King of the beggars

Just before I met with some tourists embarking on a London Pub Tour a few weeks ago, I caught sight of this poster near St Pauls. Part of a temporary exhibition in the yard outside. I didn’t expect to see the King of the Beggars here as he isn’t well known, obviously part of the… Continue reading Billy Waters – The King of the beggars

Henry Croft – The original London Pearly King and the 2023 Pearly King and Queen Harvest Festival

As churches across the U.K. prepare to celebrate Harvest Festival, something I’m sure many cultures do in their own way across the world. London, the real London, not the one tourists visit in the West End, will be celebrating in their own unique way with the Pearly Kings and Queens that will attract crowds of… Continue reading Henry Croft – The original London Pearly King and the 2023 Pearly King and Queen Harvest Festival

Nosing around the Ukranian Cathedral in London

There is a lady on the tube seat opposite me who has a laugh that sounds like a heavy wooden chair being scraped on a wooden floor. Every time a new person gets on the train they are alarmed by her laugh! She’s busy chatting away to her boyfriend who is very somber and serious.… Continue reading Nosing around the Ukranian Cathedral in London

The Executioners Axe at the Tower of London

Despite being a guide of 10 years standing, I never used to go in the Tower of London very much. I don’t like crowds and I always felt having guide in an attraction was a bit surplus to requirements or something ‘anyone’ by that I suppose any guide could do. Thus spring and summer however… Continue reading The Executioners Axe at the Tower of London

The return of the Bartholomew Fair

West Smithfield is one of my very favourite parts of London and I’ve written about it countless times despite it being an area little larger than a football field. As the western worlds oldest hospital, St Bartholomew’s and its neighbouring and magnificent neighbour St Bartholomew The Great Church both prepare for their 900th birthday party… Continue reading The return of the Bartholomew Fair