The London Traveler

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 tracks down film locations for you in each of the city’s districts.
On the other hand if you’re a serious fan of a particular film-maker or genre, there are chapters dealing with gangster movies, Hitchcock, James Bond, and the swinging sixties – and more.
There’s an immense …read more

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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 back into the old days. And it’s a view that’s going to disappear if the developers get their way.
Naturally, there’s a residents’ group opposing the plans. So far, it’s a typical story of developers versus residents, new building versus history.
But there’s a surreal twist. The …read more

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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 all change. But I’m not so sure. It looks like normal service will be resumed.

‘Red Ken’ was renowned for being a maverick and an independent spirit. He was often on the outs with his own party and he was never a diplomatic type; if he …read more

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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 London which will help you view the sites of skulduggery.  In fact, two trails – one covering the Second World War, showing how the work of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) was crucial to beating Hitler, and one covering the Cold War.
On the Cold War …read more

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 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 eggshell blue of the painted ironwork  and the fine curves of the roof are still one of London’s great sights.
In front of the station, the Midland Grand Hotel by Giles Gilbert Scott looks like a mixture of Addams family haunted house and fairy tale castle.  …read more

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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 for the site, and I think he’s come up trumps. The image derives from a picture by William Blake, the eighteenth century artist and writer, in which Blake sees Newton almost as a divine creator (God was often shown with a pair of compasses, as …read more

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I’ve been reading a marvellous new book from Random House – Paul Talling’s Derelict London.
Back in 2003, it turns out, Paul and I both had the same idea. We’d both seen buildings slated for demolition and decided to take photographs of them. We both took photos. But I went off and did other things – while Paul had discovered an obsession. More derelict buildings followed, then the derelict London website, and now this book – the result of five years tracking down and documenting the derelict buildings of the capital.
It sounds gloomy – and indeed some of it is. …read more

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Big Ben recently celebrated his birthday -  and so I thought it was time for a post on possibly the most famous of all London icons.
Lots of people call the big clock tower of the Houses of Parliament ‘Big Ben’. But this is wrong; it’s the bell, all 13 tons or so, which is called Ben.
No one knows for sure how he got his nickname. (Officially he’s “the Great Bell”.) He’s said to have been named after Sir Benjamin Hall, who was the commissioner of works for the new Palace of Westminster, rebuilt after a disastrous fire in 1844; but …read more

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If you’re in the City next week you’ll have the chance to attend one of  London’s more interesting and obscure ceremonies.
It will be performed at noon, on Wednesday 16th April, at St Andrew’s Undershaft – a church in the shadow of the ‘Gherkin’.
A fresh quill pen will be placed in the hand of John Stow’s effigy, on the north wall of the church, and there will be a short address in his honour.
The service is always attended by members of the Merchant Taylors’ company, the guild to which Stow himself belonged, so it’s a chance to see one of the …read more

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“Oranges and lemons”, say the bells of St. Clement’s
“You owe me three farthings”, say the bells of St. Martin’s
“When will you pay me?” say the bells of Old Bailey
“When I grow rich”, say the bells of Shoreditch
“When will that be?” say the bells of Stepney
“I do not know”, says the great bell of Bow
Here comes a candle to light you to bed
And here comes a chopper to chop off your head! 
 

I wonder how many of you remember singing this at school? I certainly did. And recently, I remembered it when I was passing Old Bailey (which doesn’t have a bell …read more

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