The story goes that Renzo Piano sketched the Shard on the back of a menu in a Berlin restaurant in 2000. Now it’s with us, a towering symbol of progress on London’s changing skyline – but hold on a minute. Maybe we should pause and consider life for the people of Southwark 150 years ago.…
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There’s always a problem with giving a talk about the City Livery Companies. The subject is so varied and interesting that knowing what to include and what to leave out is a head-scratching exercise. The current Lord Mayor of London is Fiona Wolfe, the 686th individual to hold this high office yet only the second woman to be elected…
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It’s that time of the year when children from my local Primary School make the rail trip to London to find out more about Samuel Pepys and the Great Fire of 1666. What always amazes me is how much they know already. That’s a credit to the teachers who introduce the youngsters to this important…
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The sun shone on members of Hadleigh Castle U3A who chose to explore the four INNS OF COURT with David Williams. The greenery and gardens are a feature of this walk which starts at Temple Station and then includes a stroll through Inner and Middle Temple, Lincoln’s Inn and finishing at Gray’s Inn. The grandeur…
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When the party is over, the fun has faded and the crowds have gone, will London feel and look a different place? Certainly the Olympic Park will be a visitor attraction as more and more people come to see how a derelict, overgrown and neglected part of East London has been transformed into a remarkable…
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Wat Tyler has never had a good press but at this time of the year he deserves a bit more coverage. Alright, so it was on 15th June 1381 that he was snuffed out by the Lord Mayor of London, Sir William Walworth, during a heated protest meeting in Smithfield but maybe this up-front Essex…
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Not long to go now. It will all be there for millions to see. Just out of reach. The fireworks, the razzmatazz, the smart suits, smug corporate smiles, congratulations all round, a mega MacDonalds. Where do you start and where do you stop when trying to imagine the opening of the London Olympics? It will…
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I caught up with Grinling Gibbons in Oxford this week – or should I say that it was his remarkable lime and pearwood reredos at the Chapel of Trinity College that confirmed for me that this was a man who made such an important contribution to the rebuilding of the City of London after the…
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Exploring some of the lesser-known parts of London is always revealing and a visit to St. George in the East, a parish squeezed between Wapping and Whitechapel, adds yet another dimension to the historical mix of the East End. The imposing St George-in-the-East church designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor, dominates the area. Being so close to…
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The shelves of bookshops and libraries are groaning under the weight of books that explore, discover and enlighten all of us about the history of London. Here’s one more – just published – and it should be on the shopping list of everyone who enjoys learning more about London life. “DIAMOND STREET” is a fascinating…
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