Carolineld

LATEST ARTICLES ( 803 )

• Navigating Christmas

  

  When the shops are closed, tubes and buses aren't running, and no one can agree what to watch on TV, it's time to turn to the internet for seasonal... Read more

  Posted on 23 December 2011 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• St Katharine by the Tower

  

  Around St Katharine's Docks are a number of mooring bollards, topped with this attractive design. It reads 'St Katharine by the Tower' and has an image of the... Read more

  Posted on 21 December 2011 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• London to Hove

  

  This detail is from the porte cochere at the front of Hove railway station. It's on the London to Brighton line, but there's an even stronger London connection... Read more

  Posted on 19 December 2011 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• Deptford Copperas

  

  Copperas Street is a topographical reminder of one element in Deptford's industrial past. Copperas manufacture began here in the seventeenth century and... Read more

  Posted on 17 December 2011 CULTURE, HISTORY

• Romilly in Russell Square

  

  In the eighteenth-century, so many offences carried the death penalty that the criminal law of the period is known as the 'Bloody Code'. The population might... Read more

  Posted on 14 December 2011 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• Wintry Wisley

  

  Described by the Royal Horticultural Society as their flagship garden, Wisley in Surrey is full of interest even in the depths of December. Read more

  Posted on 12 December 2011 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• Peterboats

  

  Many thanks to ChrisP of Ornamental Passions - and Rowing for Pleasure - for identifying the boat in Tull's terracotta sign as a peterboat. Read more

  Posted on 11 December 2011 DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• London Christmas Lights

  

  The best Christmas lights in London are to be found away from Oxford Street and Regent Street. I explored some of them last night with Westminster Walking -... Read more

  Posted on 08 December 2011 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• Ratcliffe Highway Murders

  Today is the 200th anniversary of a particularly grisly crime: the Ratcliffe Highway murders. In what was then one of the seediest dockland districts, draper... Read more

  Posted on 07 December 2011 HISTORY

• Frederic David Mocatta, Victorian Philanthropist

  

  Among the many public drinking fountains in the City of London is this example outside St Botolph's, Aldgate. Dated 1909, it has a carved inscription bearing th... Read more

  Posted on 05 December 2011 CULTURE, DESTINATIONS, HISTORY

• Tull of Fenchurch Street

  

  If you search among the shops in Fenchurch Street, you won't spot Tull, fishing line and twine makers. However, take a closer look above the sign for Moss and... Read more

  Posted on 03 December 2011 CULTURE, HISTORY

• Seasonal London Gifts

  

  Wondering what to give the London geek in your life? Here are some of my favorite ideas for unusual presents:For a suitably old-time ambience, try Victorian... Read more

  Posted on 01 December 2011 HOME

• High Street Victoriana

  

  One of the finest buildings in Bridgwater's shopping streets, E H Hooper is a beautiful Victorian survival. While it may offer less in the way of silk mercery,... Read more

  Posted on 30 November 2011 CULTURE, HISTORY

• Cryptic Clue

  

  Having been built in 1367, the spire of St Mary's, Bridgwater has required repairs from time to time in the centuries since. Those of 1694 are commemorated in... Read more

  Posted on 29 November 2011 CULTURE, HISTORY

• On Toast Sandwiches

  The Royal Society of Chemistry has got a lot of publicity for its 'toast sandwich' recipe, inspired by Mrs Beeton and apparently costing 7.5 pence (which... Read more

  Posted on 27 November 2011 CULTURE

• Dr Salter's Daydream Stolen

  

  Last year, I blogged about a statue commemorating Dr Salter, who provided healthcare to Bermondsey's poor as well as working for them as the local MP. Read more

  Posted on 24 November 2011 CULTURE, HISTORY

• Mystery Object - for the Birds

  

  The mystery object on the front of Hogarth's House is a bird pot or 'sparrow pot'. These ceramic, bottle-shaped objects were designed for birds to nest in and... Read more

  Posted on 22 November 2011 CULTURE

• Swine and Other Profanation

  

  Still in Chiswick, the wall of St Nicholas's churchyard carries an interesting inscription. It's rather worn and difficult to read now, so I'm grateful for the... Read more

  Posted on 21 November 2011 CULTURE, HISTORY

• Hogarth in Chiswick

  

  How better to explore the life of eighteenth-century artist William Hogarth than on a sunny autumn day in Chiswick, in the company of London Historians? Read more

  Posted on 20 November 2011 CULTURE, HISTORY

• Doll's House

  

  The Hotel Russell in Bloomsbury is an elaborate late-Victorian structure, full of carved details and decorative flourishes. No excuse is missed for a bit of... Read more

  Posted on 18 November 2011 DESTINATIONS, TRAVEL