The Algerian Coffee Stores – caffeinating London since 1887
I blush as I write this, but in over 40 years in London, yesterday was the first time I’ve ever bought anything in Old Compton […]
Articles by donbrown
The Mysterious Panyer Boy of St Paul’s
When yu have sought the Citty Round, Yet still this is the highest Ground. August the 27 1688 Step out of the tube at St Paul’s […]
George Washington – one of the greatest Englishmen who ever lived
So why does a statue of colonial rebel George Washington lord it over Trafalgar Square? And why is there also a bust of the first […]
Thomas Coram and the Foundling Hospital
On the railings outside the Coram charity’s HQ in Bloomsbury is a white children’s mitten. Or, rather, what appears to be a child’s mitten, because […]
Soho Square, Ancient and Modern(ish)
There is an ancient hut in the centre of Soho Square, a half-timbered affair with beams that sag and bow. It gives the impression of […]
The London Plane – our very own tree
In Brunswick Gardens, a stone’s throw from the Coram foundation, is one of the ‘Great Trees of London‘, a huge, and 230 year old, London […]
30 Years of Warfare: from the Nery Gun to the V2
Go down into the central atrium of the Imperial War Museum in Lambeth, and one of the first things you see is the ‘Nery Gun’. […]
The Eagle Squadrons Memorial in Grosvenor Square
Before decamping to Nine Elms, Grosvenor Square was the home of the US Embassy for the best part of a century, first at No. 1, […]
The D Day Story and the Overlord Embroidery
Portsmouth’s D Day Story is a small museum on the seafront a literal stone’s throw from the Tudor castle at Southsea (where Henry VIII watched […]
“Saul has slain his thousands” | The Machine Gun Corps Memorial
Saul has slain his thousands, but David his tens of thousands The inscription above, which is on the memorial to the Machine Gun Corps at […]