Carolineld

LATEST ARTICLES ( 803 )

• Books, Glorious Books

  A reminder that the Lewisham Literary Festival is now underway. I visited yesterday, and enjoyed a really friendly event with the bonus of great cake! Read more

  Posted on 12 September 2011 CULTURE, HISTORY

• Find Us Near the Pump...

  

  I love this little newspaper advertisement from 1702, because it reminds us not only of Deptford's manufacturing past but also of the difficult of giving... Read more

  Posted on 11 September 2011 CULTURE, HISTORY

• The Thames Festival

  

  A reminder to those of you in London that this weekend is the Thames Festival. As I found last year, it's very varied with some parts better than others so... Read more

  Posted on 10 September 2011 CULTURE, HISTORY

• Lost Property

  

  Baker Street has several claims to fame: Sherlock Holmes of course, but also the more utilitarian Lost Property Office. If you lose a treasured possession on... Read more

  Posted on 06 September 2011 CULTURE, HISTORY

• Ghost Signs (63): Underneath the Arches

  

  This ghost sign in Morlaix, Brittany is pleasant but unremarkable in itself. However, its location is eye-catching: a little way in front of the Victorian... Read more

  Posted on 05 September 2011 CULTURE, HISTORY

• Lantern Houses

  

  The fifteenth and sixteenth-century houses of Morlaix, on the northern coast of Brittany, are unique. Wealth from the linen industry and maritime trade... Read more

  Posted on 31 August 2011 ARCHITECTURE, CULTURE, HISTORY

• Take a Letter...

  

  There are often quirky displays at Brittany's farming festivals. On Sunday at Plouguenast, there was a collection of old phonographs including an early... Read more

  Posted on 30 August 2011 CULTURE, HISTORY

• From the Archives: Deptford and Fingerprints

  

  Deptford has a little-known place in legal history. A horrific crime on the High Street led to the use of a then-novel form of evidence. Although their... Read more

  Posted on 29 August 2011 CULTURE, HISTORY

• London, 1940s

  After spending last week looking at the Festival of Britain, I enjoyed watching these film clips which show London in the same period as it left the 1940s. Read more

  Posted on 26 August 2011 CULTURE, HISTORY

• Lewisham Literary Festival

  

  The programme has now been released for the inaugural Lewisham Literary Festival. It runs from 9-16 September, in various venues around Hither Green and... Read more

  Posted on 24 August 2011 BOOKS, CULTURE, HISTORY

• Ghost Signs (62): Oxo and Buses

  

  This sign in Harrogate is fairly obviously for Oxo stock cubes. On a closer look, it is actually a palimpsest: the large 'Oxo' has been painted over an earlier... Read more

  Posted on 23 August 2011 CULTURE, HISTORY

• From the Archives: London's Broken Bridge

  

  Since I originally wrote this post three years ago, the bridge pillars I consider here have been promised a new neighbour. Work is well underway on the new... Read more

  Posted on 22 August 2011 ARCHITECTURE, CULTURE, HISTORY

• Festival of Britain (5): Crown

  

  As the Museum of 51 highlights, a massive range of souvenirs were sold at the Festival of Britain. One of the most popular was the Festival Crown, a... Read more

  Posted on 21 August 2011 CULTURE, HISTORY

• Festival of Britain (4): Pleasure Gardens

  

  My mum was among the millions who visited the Festival of Britain. Aged six, she travelled up from south Wales and still has vague memories of looking around... Read more

  Posted on 19 August 2011 CULTURE, HISTORY

• Festival of Britain (3): Museum of 51

  

  For most Londoners, the 1951 Festival of Britain is intimately associated with the South Bank complex, so it's appropriate that a temporary museum of the event... Read more

  Posted on 17 August 2011 CULTURE, HISTORY

• Festival of Britain (2): Concrete London

  

  The best-known London architecture from the early 1950s is probably the Festival complex on the South Bank. However, they were just one example of concrete... Read more

  Posted on 16 August 2011 ARCHITECTURE, CULTURE, HISTORY

• Festival of Britain (1): the Vintage Bus

  

  It's the sixtieth anniversary of the Festival of Britain this year, and its most lasting legacy - the South Bank Centre - is hosting various events to... Read more

  Posted on 15 August 2011 CULTURE, HISTORY

• From the Archives: Chunee, a Tragic Story

  

  The Royal College of Surgeons' Hunterian Museum lost many of its exhibits thanks to a World War II bomb. Among these was the skeleton of a once-beloved London... Read more

  Posted on 14 August 2011 CULTURE, HISTORY

• Printer's Devil, Minerva's Owl

  

  No one is quite sure why an apprentice printer was called a printer's devil, although there are a number of theories. Perhaps the most popular is that of the... Read more

  Posted on 12 August 2011 CULTURE, HISTORY

• Ghost Signs (61): List of Visitors

  

  If you made a visit to the fashionable spa town of Harrogate, you would want to know who else was in town. (Good company might distract you from the taste of th... Read more

  Posted on 11 August 2011 CULTURE, HISTORY