Articles by donbrown

algerian coffee stores soho awning

The Algerian Coffee Stores – caffeinating London since 1887

22/09/2024 donbrown 0

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 […]

The Mysterious Panyer Boy of St Paul’s

17/09/2024 donbrown 0

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

12/09/2024 donbrown 0

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

03/09/2024 donbrown 0

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 black and white half timbered hut

Soho Square, Ancient and Modern(ish)

08/08/2024 donbrown 0

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 […]

brunswick gardens plane tree

The London Plane – our very own tree

04/08/2024 donbrown 0

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

10/07/2024 donbrown 0

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’. […]

elizabeth frink eagle sculpture

The Eagle Squadrons Memorial in Grosvenor Square

09/07/2024 donbrown 0

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, […]

LCT7074 at d day museum southsea

Days Out: The D Day Story and the Overlord Embroidery

09/06/2024 donbrown 0

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 […]

machine gun corps memorial by francis derwent wood

“Saul has slain his thousands” | The Machine Gun Corps Memorial

08/06/2024 donbrown 0

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 […]