Science and Engineering – Stephen Liddell

Happy Birthday to Camden Town Underground Station, one time newest London wonder

Obviously one could write for ages about London Underground, its stations, lines, oddities and many people do. Even I have written more than the odd post 140 London Underground Facts. Today though by chance I noticed it was the birthday of Camden Town Underground Station. Or at least the station as it is in its current… Continue reading Happy Birthday to Camden Town Underground Station, one time newest London wonder

M3gan Film Review

I’ve always been a horror fan and within that genre is a niche area about creepy dolls. One of my favourite episodes of the old Black and White show The Twilight Zone features Talking Tina and the 1980’s saw Chucky who was possessed by an ancient evil demon. More recently Annabelle has strutted her stuff… Continue reading M3gan Film Review

The Mechanical Turk Chess-Player that shocked the world!

When we think of robots and artificial intelligence, it’s easy to think that it is a modern 21st century obsession or at least of 20th century science fiction such as Star Trek. This is not entirely the case. One of my favourite works of art I have ever seen is the The beautiful, magical Silver Swan… Continue reading The Mechanical Turk Chess-Player that shocked the world!

From bad boys to the hello girls – the origins of the Telephone Operator

As was often the case with Victorian era workplaces, many of the worst and most menial jobs were filled by boys and this was the case with the early Telegraph networks. As revolutionary as it seems to go from telegrams to spoken calls, it wasn’t immediately apparent to the first telephone network providers that… Continue reading From bad boys to the hello girls – the origins of the Telephone Operator

An old plan of Piccadilly Circus Underground Station.

I’m away on a 2-week tour in the near future and so this shorter than usual post is just to help fill the gap before, during or after I come back. The incredible print below is of Piccadilly Circus Underground Station and dates from the late 1920’s. It illustrates the multitude of tunnels needed to… Continue reading An old plan of Piccadilly Circus Underground Station.

Walking Londons Canals…. the Paddington Basin

Having created a new London Canals Walking Tour with Ye Olde England Tours I thought it was a good excuse to make good use of some of the many photos I took whilst working out my new tour. As mentioned in the previous post on canals, they were once the backbone of the economy before falling… Continue reading Walking Londons Canals…. the Paddington Basin

The Robocops of Kinshasa

Central Africa might not be your first guess when it comes to thinking of robocops but for the last 5 years or so in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo has been using them in increasing numbers in the hope they will improve traffic flow and cut the terrible death-rate on the roads.… Continue reading The Robocops of Kinshasa

The famous farting lamp of London

Last week I wrote on The Great Stink of 1868. By chance todays post is on a related subject. Many people will be aware that in the Victorian age, much of London was lit with gas lamps and in deed several places still are. Less well known is that some of these lamps were… Continue reading The famous farting lamp of London

The Tale of the Cursed Amethyst at the Natural History Museum in London

Whilst preparing for a tour tomorrow to the Natural History Museum in London, I thought I should do a reconnaisance sortie as well as a bit of research. The museum is a work of art and shows what value Victorians placed on education. Amethysts were used as charms by the ancient Greeks to… Continue reading The Tale of the Cursed Amethyst at the Natural History Museum in London

Petrichor – The sweet smell of falling rain.

It’s a sensation most of us familiar with though if you’re living in much of the Northern Hemisphere then like me, it might not be one you’ve been familiar with recently. The sweet smell of rain or Petrichor. The name was first coined by two Australian scientists Isabel Joy Bear and Richard Thomas in… Continue reading Petrichor – The sweet smell of falling rain.