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Most of us know the words to nursery rhymes - but few people track down what they originally meant.
It’s not always innocent. “Pop goes the weasel” is a song about poverty - and it can be very precisely located in North London.
Up and down the city road,
In and out the Eagle,
That’s the way the money […]
A piece in the Guardian today shows ways you can have fun in London for free, with activities as diverse as gigs, knitting, free movies, and watching a trial at the Old Bailey.
Many of the best museums - including the biggest ones - are free, and so is one of my favourites, the Sir John […]
The City of London hides its medieval past quite well, partly due to the effect of the Great Fire of London which destroyed almost the entire city in 1666.
But if you look at a map, you can detect the medieval past in the twistiness of the streets, the absence of straight lines (and many that […]
If you thought it was safe to come out of your air raid shelter, you’re in for a big surprise!
Unexploded bombs have disrupted London’s transport today. London City Airport has been closed to traffic, since an unexploded bomb has been found on the Olympics site.
Meanwhile, another UXB at Bromley-by-Bow stopped the Circle, District and Hammersmith […]
Ever seen a view from the top of a London bus and thought ‘Wasn’t that in James Bond?” or “That’s in one of those Hitchcock films, isn’t it - but which one?”
If so, Movie London (from Titan Books, £9.99 RRP - or £6.49 on Amazon.co.uk) can help you out.
If you’re touring London, a geographical section […]
This is Norton Folgate looking into the City. It’s all po-mo stuff, the Gherkin, Broadgate on the right with its huge steel and glass blocks.
But if you look the other way, the view changes. Small Victorian houses, little shops, some fantastic old pubs with those old style decorated frontages, all curlicues and pinnacles.
It’s a step […]
After all the excitement, the mudslinging, the namecalling and the voting, London has a new mayor. Ken Livingstone, for so long the public face of the city, has gone; Boris Johnson is now running the city.
With a major shift, from a secure Labour hold to a Conservative win, you might think it’s going to be […]
London has a rich history of espionage. From James Bond - currently being remembered by an Ian Fleming exhibition at the Imperial War Museum - to Burgess, Philby and Maclean (not to mention ’sleeper’ Keeper of the Queen’s Pictures, Sir Anthony Blunt), the city is full of spies and spymasters.
There’s now a spy trail of […]
St Pancras Station has been rescued. It’s a glorious architectural work - a huge glass and cast iron roof, with a stunning Victorian Gothic entrance and an amazing undercroft (now only accessible to Eurostar passengers).
When William Henry Barlow set up the train shed, it was the largest single span structure ever built. The lovely pale […]
This amazing statue stands in the courtyard of the British Library, near St Pancras station. It’s bulky, powerful, a brooding presence, the bronze contrasting with the red brick of the library buildings. You couldn’t miss it - as you so often can with London statues.
Sir Eduardo Paolozzi was commissioned to make this statue of Newton […]
A visitor’s and resident’s guide to London - events, attractions, art, ’must sees’ and offbeat sights, restaurants and pubs, and how to get around.
Written by Andrea Kirkby [email] for b5media.
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