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
Tag: London
VE Day Remembered in Photos – This Is Your Victory!
The 8th May 1945 was V.E. Day or Victory in Europe Day over the Axis Powers of Germany and Italy and for much of the world, an end to WW2. Many Western European nations have an annual WW2 national holiday based on Victory or Liberation Day. The U.K. never has as ironically Churchill did not… Continue reading VE Day Remembered in Photos – This Is Your Victory!
Coronavirus Diary 24 – Zooming around London
I had a brainwave today which isn’t unusual. What is unusual is that I have the time to act on it! I’m rather in a quandary, I’m living in this beautiful though work-in-progress new house and despite being at home, I’ve reached the limits of what I can do without spending money or going out… Continue reading Coronavirus Diary 24 – Zooming around London
Coronavirus Diary 13 – Breaking the curfew for a peek over London
You know sometimes you just think you’ll write a 10 minute blog post and then 2 hours later….. If some one had told me 6 months ago that I would be living in a 1830’s house in a village with a raging plague outside and the best chance I’d have of acquiring fresh meat would… Continue reading Coronavirus Diary 13 – Breaking the curfew for a peek over London
The Coronavirus and me
Like almost everyone else, I’ve been watching the Coronavirus do its stuff from the last weeks of 2019 up to the present day and even though I don’t yet have it; it has affected me quite badly. As a tour guide in London I have not just lost all my bookings and earnings but I… Continue reading The Coronavirus and me
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
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
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.
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
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
Stephen Liddell 