The Invisible Enemy Should Not Exist
The fourth plinth in Trafalgar square was meant to have an equestrian statue of William IV, but funding could not be raised (this was in […]
The Blog
“Turning Rebellion into Money” – The Clash at the Museum of London
I came late to London Calling, the Clash album being celebrated with a mini exhibition at the Museum of London. When it came out I […]
Number One London
You’re likely to have been past this place several hundred times, because Apsley House is the big, honey-coloured building on the north side of Hyde […]
“One of the sights of London”
“Miss the Tower of London, if you have to, but don’t miss this” wrote Ian Nairn in his 1966 guide, Nairn’s London. A Nash terrace? […]
The Painted Hall Greenwich
James Thornhill is sometimes called “the English Michelangelo”, although that’s less to do with a comparability of talent – he’s good, but he ain’t that […]
The Bomb Damage maps
During the war the London County Council surveyors chronicled the devastation caused by enemy bombing on the capital. Hand colouring street level OS maps, they plotted the buildings […]
London Buses
I’ve done a book review for the London Society on a new collection of writing about London buses and the bus network called ‘Bus Fare‘. […]
Up on the Roof – the Walkie Talkie’s Sky Garden
I’ve tried hard to like the Walkie Talkie, Rafael Vinoly’s skyscraper at 20 Fenchurch Street, but so far I’ve been unsuccessful. The thing dominates the […]
Urban Wine
A dozen or so years ago my father in law brought back a stick from his land in Sicily. It was about two feet long […]
The Ravens of the Tower of London
Just about everyone knows the legend of the Tower of London ravens; that should they leave the fortress then it and, by extension, the entire […]