The Blog

Henry VIII’s Wine Cellar under Whitehall

16/03/2014 donbrown 1

Buried under the Ministry of Defence in Whitehall is an extraordinary historical survivor. Henry VIII’s Wine Cellar is one of the few remaining parts of […]

Royal Artillery Memorial, Hyde Park Corner

12/03/2014 donbrown 0

Today I was going to go round Banqueting House, the last properly surviving bit of the old Palace of Whitehall, but when I got there […]

The Post Office Central Power Station

30/01/2014 donbrown 0

Another door, this time on Barge House Street, in the outer wall of what is now the Oxo Tower complex. The Royal coat of arms above […]

Reginald Warneford – first destroyer of a Zeppelin

18/01/2014 donbrown 0

In Brompton Cemetery stands a wonderful monument to Reginald Warneford, the first man to destroy a Zeppelin in combat, over Belgium on 7 June 1915. He didn’t shoot it down, […]

clapham sect plaque

Edwin Evans and Battersea Rise

04/01/2014 donbrown 0

The closing of a small estate agent’s office in South West London is hardly big news (some might even raise a cheer), but the closure […]

No Image

Early morning London

27/06/2012 donbrown 0

At the beginning of June I did the Nightrider challenge – 100km cycling around London overnight. It was exhausting, tiring, but great fun (a full […]

No Image

‘Go Gay’ Going

04/05/2012 donbrown 1

I’ve always loved the sign for this laundrette on the Wandsworth Bridge Road. It’s lovable partly for the involuntary snigger it always causes, but mainly […]

chislehurst caves plan

The Chislehurst ‘Caves’

16/04/2012 donbrown 0

40 metres or so beneath Chislehurst, a pleasant little suburban village close to Bromley, are the Chislehurst Caves. In fact ‘Caves’ is something of a […]

The Tower Hill memorial

07/03/2012 donbrown 0

Directly across the road by the Tower of London, hard by the tube station is the Tower Hill Memorial to sailors of the merchant navy […]

“Your lucky day”: the gold ring scam

24/02/2012 donbrown 42

So, there I am, walking up Chelsea Bridge Road towards Sloane Square. “Look at this!” says a man who has just passed me, “Look what […]