Carolineld

LATEST ARTICLES ( 393 )

• London Motor Museum

  

  One of London's less well-known museums, the Motor Museum also takes an unusual approach. Rather than the vintage vehicles which form the core of most... Read more

  Posted on 21 May 2013 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• Celestial Noses

  

  For the annual Museums at Night event, the Wellcome Collection chose a theme it nose is not to be sniffed at! Activities ranged from nose-flute making to... Read more

  Posted on 19 May 2013 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• New-old Sauce

  

  When I shared some Scarborough ghost signs, I couldn't resist including this 1960s poster for HP sauce. However, this is actually a poster with a story! Cathy,... Read more

  Posted on 16 May 2013 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• Horse & Motor Contractors

  

  Barbon Close, a narrow alley off Great Ormond Street, shelters a rather nice old sign. A notice in the London Gazette shows that G Bailey & Sons were wound... Read more

  Posted on 12 May 2013 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• Walking Rotherhithe Tunnel

  

  While Greenwich and Woolwich have pedestrian foot tunnels, nearby Rotherhithe is generally thought of as a tunnel for motorists. Read more

  Posted on 08 May 2013 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• London Sewing Machine Museum

  

  London is best known for its large, national museums - and they are very fine. However, one of its hidden joys is the scattering of small, unusual museums in th... Read more

  Posted on 05 May 2013 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• Conservation Complete!

  

  The west wall of the Painted Hall, that elaborate dining room at the heart of Greenwich's Old Royal Naval College, is now unveiled. Read more

  Posted on 03 May 2013 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• Changing the Guard

  

  There are some tourist attractions in London I'm quite happy to miss. Others I love: crossing Tower Bridge most days still delights me! Then, like most people, ... Read more

  Posted on 01 May 2013 DESTINATIONS

• Ghost Signs (88): Bovril

  

  There's no ambiguity about what this sign in Romford Road, E12 is advertising! It's less visually appealing than the Bovril advertisement in Chester, but was... Read more

  Posted on 29 April 2013 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• Wells Conduit

  

  Wells in Somerset takes its name, perhaps unimaginatively, from the wells which provided it with fresh water. Two could be found in the grounds of the... Read more

  Posted on 25 April 2013 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• Sewer Power

  

  Back when our streets were lit by gas lamps, we hadn't yet discovered the benefits of natural gas. As a result, most used 'town gas' manufactured from coal. Read more

  Posted on 23 April 2013 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• Permanent Waving, Electric Massage

  

  Above an estate agent's in Wells, Somerset, stained-glass windows advertise a former business. It offered quite a variety of services for appearance-conscious... Read more

  Posted on 21 April 2013 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• Ghost Signs (87): Lil's Cafe, Leeds

  

  This sign is so perfectly in tune with current vintage fashions that it's hard to guess its age. However, Lil's Cafe seems to have been gone for some years... Read more

  Posted on 16 April 2013 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• At the Huguenot Festival

  

  When the Huguenots - French protestants - fled persecution and moved to London, many of them brought skills as silkweavers. They settled in Spitalfields, away... Read more

  Posted on 14 April 2013 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• Ghost Signs (86): Pammastic!

  

  Travelling on the 123 bus through New Eltham, I saw a ghost sign which had been painted over. That the cream covering hadn't proved stronger or more durable is... Read more

  Posted on 12 April 2013 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• Hare Court and Arthur Cohen

  

  Temple, the area south of Strand largely occupied by barristers' chambers, has been home to two Inns of Court - Inner and Middle Temple - since the middle ages. Read more

  Posted on 09 April 2013 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• Ghost Mosaic

  

  Dinard, on Brittany's Emerald Coast, has long attracted summer visitors: the British have been holidaying here for a century and a half. Read more

  Posted on 07 April 2013 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• Leeds Curiosities

  

  Leeds grew enormously in the nineteenth century, so it's no surprise that much of its architecture - civic, commercial and industrial - should be Victorian and... Read more

  Posted on 02 April 2013 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• Ghost Signs (85): Subscription News Room

  

  At the top of Saddler Street, Durham, near the castle, is an early nineteenth-century building. Above its door is a painted sign: Subscription News Room. Read more

  Posted on 31 March 2013 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• Tea, Fish and Finance

  

  The sinuous ceramic fish I shared a few days ago is just one of the decorative features in the lobby of Lloyd's Bank, Law Court Branch. Read more

  Posted on 26 March 2013 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY