Category: Camden

Random Observations on Currants

I strike a blow for small dried black grapes in this modest, whimsical and ever-so-slightly-festive post

‘That Absurd Excrescence’: The life & death of Middle Row

A hazard to traffic for at least 700 years, this block of tenements had a remarkable ability to survive the disapproval of generations of Londoners.

To a London blogger, no street is dull

Can I find anything interesting about a 70-yard road which on the face of it has severely limited blog post potential? Read on to find out ...

Respectable Widows in Little Sodom

In this post I examine the remarkable survival of St Giles-in-the-Fields almshouses, sited in what was for centuries one of the most deprived neighbourhoods of London.

Dancing with the Devil: The Life and Times of Bleeding Heart Yard

A small courtyard just north of Ely Place in Holborn seems to have collected more than its fair share of fascinating myths and legends.

Getting Dolled Up On The East Side

The Belle Époque produced some extraordinary London hotels. In this post I briefly consider the life and times of two of them - near neighbours in Bloomsbury.

Drowning in Beer, Trading with the Enemy & Murdering the Manager

Tales of disaster, shootings and musical comedy - an everyday story of a London corner.

The ‘Belle Époque’ hotel built in 1914 … and 1937 … and 1962

The architectural style of a building can be deceptive. In the case of 252 High Holborn I know the truth that lies hidden behind the Portland stone facade because, dear reader, I worked there.

What Treasures Lie Beneath

... at least for the observant historian. Oscar Wilde once said 'We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.' Sometimes, it pays to look more thoroughly at the gutter.

Books. Lots of books. Really, mind-boggling amounts.

I am now the proud owner of a reader's pass for the British Library, a truly extraordinary national institution. However, extraordinary national institutions, operate in very strange ways.
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