Governing in style
You’ve won the election and soon you’ll be sworn in as the governor of the state. What is top of your list of priorities? Fulfilling manifesto pledges? Dishing out patronage?…
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LSE – to the future and beyond!
The London School of Economics and Political Science has always been a small institution with a big name. Although considerably smaller in student numbers, faculty and size of estate, it…
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Slicing Scotland in half
For passengers of Britain’s luxury liners, it was an unforgettable part of the ocean crossing. The behemoths of the sea glided through the glens and highlands of Scotland, taking in…
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No instance of a man before Gibbons
There are far more famous painters, celebrated sculptors and renowned architects than Grinling Gibbons. He is not as well known as Turner, Moore or Wren. But few craftsmen or artists…
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Draining the Mediterranean
It was to be an engineering feat to surpass the Pyramids and be a wonder for all ages. The sea would be tamed, harnessed to produce abundant electricity and lowered…
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Fordlandia
Fordlandia! Where civilisation conquers the wild and untamed heart of the great Amazon rainforest. A city forged in adversity, the triumph of will and the product of the daring imagination…
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Dearly departed department stores
Part 2: Central London’s lost department stores (a walking tour in two halves) The first post in this series focused on the stately and grand former heart of the Debenhams…
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Thy choicest gifts in store
War and reward have always gone together. The commanders of a victorious army could expect treasure, tribute, land, vassals and all the other riches of a conquered land. Many of…
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Calendar houses
If you were fabulously wealthy and fashionable in the 16th and 17th centuries you might demonstrate your power and influence by building a grand house. Hundreds were built across England,…
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Executive privileges – palaces of power
Where do the world’s most powerful people live? In most countries, the head of state or leading politicians are given grace and favour residences that have become emblematic of their…
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The Royal Military Canal – the last ditch
The last ditch defence for London from invasion by Napoleon was, appropriately, if optimistically enough, a ditch. The Royal Military Canal, to give this rather grand ditch its rather grand…
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The Great North Sea Flood
Tomorrow marks the 60th anniversary of a flood so devastating it became known as the Great North Sea Flood (or, in Dutch, the Watersnoodramp – the flood disaster). On the…
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Going underground II
In August, I sang the praises of Andrew Martin’s book ‘Underground, Overground: A Passenger’s History of the Tube’. At the end of that post I promised a follow up covering…
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Robbing Peter to pay Paul
People are often accused of ‘robbing Peter to pay Paul’; but who is the unfortunate Peter who is being robbed to pay the rather more fortunate Paul in this common…
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The next train to London Battle Bridge Station
Where does Kings Cross get its name from? Is there a cross with royal connections? And should it be called King’s Cross or Kings Cross. Kings Cross (or King’s Cross…
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The Peckham Experiment
It was both a working class utopia in the heart of Peckham and a unique experiment to demonstrate a totally holistic approach to health. The Pioneer Health Centre soon became…
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Once in a Preston Guild – ever again in a Jubilympiguild?
If something happens very rarely you might say it occurs only once in a blue moon. But if you find yourself in a certain corner of northern England, someone might…
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Weel done, Cutty Sark!
Over the summer images of Greenwich have been broadcast around the world. During the Olympic Games, Greenwich Park provided a stunning backdrop to the equestrian events. The towers of Canary…
