About Me and this Blog

29/08/2022 donbrown 0

Welcome, thanks for discovering this blog and taking the time to find out more. It is a pretty random collection of posts of curiosities, museum […]

David Hockney’s Westminster Abbey Stained Glass

15/06/2026 donbrown 0

On the day that the artist David Hockney died I was in Westminster Abbey pointing out, as I always do, the stained glass window that […]

When I Get Home – the Beatles’ Mayfair Pad

12/06/2026 donbrown 0

To Green Street in Mayfair, to see the only house where all four of the Beatles lived under the same roof.

greenwich statue of dead cockatoo

The ‘dead parrot’ statue in Greenwich is not what you think

14/05/2026 donbrown 1

The enigmatic artwork of Greenwich that most people get wrong. It’s definitely not a dead parrot.

red coated royal guards marching

From today’s State Opening of Parliament

13/05/2026 donbrown 0

Red coated guardsmen! The Household Cavalry! King Charles in the Australian State Coach! All the (to be honest, completely pointless) pomp and ceremony of a […]

Stumbling Across the ‘Tudor Pull’

27/04/2026 donbrown 0

Now I don’t generally work on London Marathon day (“the noise! and the people!”), but this year found me doing a tour of an almost […]

Benjamin Franklin’s Clapham Common Experiment

27/04/2026 donbrown 0

Today anglers sit by Mount Pond on Clapham Common, fishing for the carp that patrol its waters. They’re joined by the occasional heron, and ducks […]

Joseph Turner’s Covent Garden Birthplace

26/04/2026 donbrown 0

I mean, if an evening holds the prospect of beer, cheese, a bit of history and a spot or two of art*, then it would […]

reformers tree mosaic hyde park

The Mystery of the Reformers’ Oak

17/04/2026 donbrown 0

At a confluence of footpaths in the NE corner of Hyde Park, not too far from Marble Arch, is a circular mosaic that marks the […]

national portrait gallery entrance

In Praise of the National Portrait Gallery

15/04/2026 donbrown 0

These last few weeks I’ve spent quite a bit of time in the National Portrait Gallery (NPG) prepping for a tour for a small group. […]

lloyd george statue parliament square

The Lloyd George Statue in Parliament Square

14/04/2026 donbrown 0

WHAT: David Lloyd George WHERE: Parliament Square (map) BY WHOM: Glynn Williams WHEN: 2007 Back when I was involved with the London Society we ran […]