Carolineld

LATEST ARTICLES ( 790 )

• Future History

  

  What traces of our lives will the mudlarkers and archaeologists of the future find on the Thames foreshore? There are some clues here. Less predictable is what... Read more

  Posted on 15 May 2016 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• Quantocks Light and Dark

  

  The Quantock Hills in Somerset are both beautiful and accessible: a few short walks were enough for these pictures. The changeable British weather ensured we... Read more

  Posted on 06 May 2016 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• Ironmongers' Mythical Menagerie

  

  Ironmongers' Hall is perhaps the most incongruous of City livery halls, tucked among the brutalism of the Barbican. After it survived the bombing which destroye... Read more

  Posted on 03 May 2016 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• Postman's Park (46): Celebrating the Memorial

  

  It may be distinctly Victorian, but the Watts Memorial is no mere relic: it remains a valued part of London life. From events to books, here's a quick look at... Read more

  Posted on 24 April 2016 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• Theatre and Fire

  

  Sometimes it's not the obvious things that draw you in and lead to new stories. On a London Historians tour of the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, there were plenty o... Read more

  Posted on 22 April 2016 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• Barton Passage, Manchester

  

  The nineteenth century saw a profusion of shopping passages, offering welcome respite from the dirt, traffic and chaos of the city. Read more

  Posted on 09 April 2016 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• Postman's Park (45): What Have We Learned?

  

  Watts intended his memorial to serve an exemplary purpose: those who saw it should be inspired by its stories of bravery and selflessness. Read more

  Posted on 03 April 2016 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• Postman's Park (44): Leigh Pitt

  

  In June 2009, something very special was added to the memorial: the first new plaque for over seventy years.Leigh Pitt jumped into the canal at Thamesmead to... Read more

  Posted on 28 March 2016 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• Inside Duck Island Cottage

  

  It's a rustic fantasy in the centre of London: a tiny cottage orné bedecked with porches, trellises, diamond-paned windows and carved bargeboards, Duck Island... Read more

  Posted on 25 March 2016 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• Housing Horseless Carriages

  

  Mews... wooden stable doors... We make think we could make a good guess as to what this building's purpose was. However, it never housed horses but is one of... Read more

  Posted on 22 March 2016 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• 155 Old Kent Road

  

  Among the terraced buildings of the Old Kent Road is a detached house, set back from the road and looking a little ill at ease in its surroundings. Read more

  Posted on 12 March 2016 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• Postman's Park (43): Memorial in a Memorial

  

  The Watts Memorial is named for its creator but is intended to commemorate the 'heroic self-sacrifice' of others. However, the artist who founded it is not... Read more

  Posted on 08 March 2016 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• Books Unbound!

  Two very interesting books are currently being crowdfunded on the Unbound site. If you'd like to see either of them published, you can pledge in return for... Read more

  Posted on 27 February 2016 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• Postman's Park (42): PC Percy Edwin Cook

  

  We're nearly at the end of this series, as we look at the final original plaque in the Watts Memorial - aptly, the last to be added. Read more

  Posted on 15 February 2016 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• Ghost Signs (120): Alabaster

  

  This sign in Welling, like the previous one in Tottenham Court Road, isn't really a ghost sign as it's not painted onto the wall. Read more

  Posted on 10 February 2016 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• Postman's Park (41): the Deadly Thames

  

  Given that the Thames was probably more polluted in the nineteenth century than it is today, its popularity as a place to swim is a testament both to the... Read more

  Posted on 31 January 2016 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• What's in a Sign?

  

  Shaped to fit the corner of a building (if not its drainpipe), a rather fine cast-iron sign complete with finials adorns a house in rural Brittany. Read more

  Posted on 27 January 2016 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• Postman's Park (40): Holiday Danger

  

  The nineteenth century saw the beginning of annual holidays for working people. However, such vacations posed their own dangers, not least by taking people to... Read more

  Posted on 24 January 2016 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• At Sixes and Sevens in Skinners' Hall

  

  The Worshipful Company of Skinners represented an industry which was once seen as essential, today as controversial: the fur trade. Read more

  Posted on 20 January 2016 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• Postman's Park (39): Saving Adults from Fire

  

  Not only children but also adults at risk from fire have prompted incredibly heroic and determined rescue efforts. We have already seen how Police Constables... Read more

  Posted on 17 January 2016 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY