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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Dearly departed department stores
Part 1: Debenhams of Wigmore Street Every year, millions of shoppers converge on London’s major department store. Selfridges, Harrods, Harvey Nichols and Liberty feature amongst the capital’s most visited tourist…
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The pioneering Mr Selfridge
In 1919, the quickest way to get from London to Dublin was to take the train to Holyhead, sail across the Irish Sea and then take the train from Dun…
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Noblesse oblige
The proponents of High Speed 2, the planned railway connecting London with Birmingham and the north, face considerable public opposition. This is nothing compared to the nineteenth century when angry…
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First places of devotion
Amongst Britain’s diverse population are adherents of all of the world’s major faiths. Religious devotion often requires a place of worship: churches, mosques, temples, synagogues and gurdwaras. A reference to…
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Coining the home nations
If you are reading this in the UK, have a look at the change in your pocket. One side features a portrait of HM Queen Elizabeth II and the other…
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The great Romford and Harringay cheetah races!
The Greyhound Racing Association faced a grave problem in the late 1930s. The British seemed to have fallen out of love with dog racing, leaving stadia half full and the…
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Living in London luxury
How did Britain’s elite live in the capital once their great London houses had become either uneconomic to run or had been sold off to pay off debts and estate…
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The original HS2
The London and Birmingham Railway, opened in 1838, was the Victorian equivalent of HS2. In fact, it was far more transformative than its twenty-first century successor – horses, carts, carriages…
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Hide them in caves and cellars
In the dark days following the declaration of war with Germany, plans devised in the 1930s to protect the country from the worst excesses of the expected air war were…
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An experience of Hades
My recent encounter with steam on the London Underground (see Tasting the past) made me wonder what the Victorians made of the new invention. In particular, what was it like…
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Tasting the past
On 9 January 1863, the first subterranean railway journey took place between Paddington and Farringdon on the newly completed Metropolitan Underground Railway. A clutch of shareholders, City worthies and assorted…
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London meets the Metropolitan Railway
Today is the day that London Underground celebrates 150 years of operation. On 9 January 1863, the first underground journey took place between Paddington and Farringdon on the Metropolitan Railway….
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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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150 amazing years of going London Underground
I love the London Underground. The map, the posters, the slightly unnerving feeling that the Central Line train is coming into the station a little bit too fast and the…
