Carolineld

LATEST ARTICLES ( 803 )

• Scream. Ice Scream.

  

  Frozen dairy desserts seem to attract the strangest models, and this one on the Breton coast is no exception. While the dessert is more of a dome than the... Read more

  Posted on 06 October 2015 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• Postman's Park (27): Railway Heroism

  

  Walter Peart and Henry Dean were the driver and stoker of the Great Western train known as the Windsor Express. On 18 July 1898, they were driving the 4. Read more

  Posted on 27 September 2015 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• Looking Down on Brutalism

  

  Sometimes, it's not the highest buildings which offer the best views. 88 Wood Street has 17 floors - pretty high up when you're ascending in its glass-walled... Read more

  Posted on 25 September 2015 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• Past Perfect: Inside Middlesex Hospital Chapel

  

  The last time I saw Middlesex Hospital Chapel, it was a sole survivor marooned in the wasteland of the demolished hospital. This Open House Weekend, I saw it... Read more

  Posted on 21 September 2015 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• Postman's Park (26): Facts and Figures

  

  Although every story on the Watts Memorial has its own interest, there are certain causes of death which appear again and again. Read more

  Posted on 13 September 2015 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• Ticket to Dismaland

  

  Banksy's 'bemusement park' in Weston-Super-Mare lives up to the excitement. There's art everywhere: galleries, installations, giant sculptures made of lorries... Read more

  Posted on 08 September 2015 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• Postman's Park (25): Joseph William Onslow

  

  Reynolds's Newspaper reported on the death of Joseph William Onslow. He worked as a lighterman: that is, a boatman who carried goods from cargo ships to shore. Read more

  Posted on 06 September 2015 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• Ghost Signs (118): Curtain Road

  

  Pizza Express in Shoreditch occupies a building formerly used as workshops for furniture-making. A rather faded trace remains: the words above the right-hand... Read more

  Posted on 03 September 2015 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• Postman's Park (24): Ernest Benning

  

  On 25 August 1883, Ernest Benning and three companions went by boat (a small skiff) to Kew. They made their way back that evening. Read more

  Posted on 30 August 2015 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• Happy Anniversary, London Historians!

  

  If you're a regular reader of this blog, you've probably noticed a few times that I've visited places thanks to London Historians. Read more

  Posted on 26 August 2015 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• Postman's Park (23): Richard Farris

  

  Both the report in Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper and the memorial tile in Postman's Park treat this story as straightforward. Richard Farris dived into the Surrey... Read more

  Posted on 23 August 2015 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• The Empty Lake

  

  A pretty pastoral scene in Brittany ... except there's something not right about those trees.A jetty leads nowhere.Landing stages stretch out into the void. Read more

  Posted on 21 August 2015 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• Postman's Park (22): Joseph Andrew Ford

  

  We have already seen that the escape ladders operated by the London Fire Brigade were not infallible: George Lee had died in 1876 when his broke. Read more

  Posted on 09 August 2015 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• Heavenly Stairs

  

  Perhaps the most extraordinary stairs I've walked up are those leading to the Chapter House in Wells Cathedral. First, they are very old, built in the years 126... Read more

  Posted on 05 August 2015 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• 150 Feet Above Whitehall

  

  The Banqueting House is currently hidden behind scaffolding, thanks to restoration works - but what's happening behind the hoardings? Read more

  Posted on 29 July 2015 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• Postman's Park (21): Thomas Simpson at Highgate Ponds

  

  In January 1885, Highgate Ponds had frozen over, making them appear perfect for skating. At 5pm on a Sunday evening, twilight may have been hovering but there... Read more

  Posted on 26 July 2015 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• Ghost Signs (117): Observatory Street, Oxford

  

  Here's a fragment of a painted sign, peeping shyly out from behind a lamp post.The words 'Park End' are clearly decipherable, but the text above is more... Read more

  Posted on 22 July 2015 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• Postman's Park (20): Fireman George Lee

  

  Modern tabloids have some terrible headlines, but it would be wrong to assume that the print media of the nineteenth century were necessarily more sensitive. Read more

  Posted on 19 July 2015 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• Modernism, Inside and out

  

  The Isokon building in Hampstead is one of London's finest Modernist buildings - and a gallery in its former garage allows us to explore the interiors too. Read more

  Posted on 14 July 2015 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• Postman's Park (19): G F Watts on Display

  

  When I originally wrote the Postman's Park series, the gallery devoted to its creator GF Watts was closed for refurbishment. An exhibition of his work at... Read more

  Posted on 12 July 2015 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY