Category: Outdoors

Where the Weird Things Are

Try spotting the eccentricity - more difficult than you might expect - as I outline the history of the Eccentric Club. It's a story of thespians, beaver hats, philanthropy, Mr. Fulham and the owners of Chelsea FC's ground.

A Bite-Size Post on Peek Frean (& Camels)

Why a stone depiction of camels in Eastcheap has me dreaming of twiglets

All Creatures Great and Small

A not-very-heartwarming look at some of the more obscure animals to make their home in the Smoke.

The City’s Lost Midsummer Spectacular

Once one of London's great annual festivities, don't turn up for the Midsummer Watch this year - you'll be almost 500 years too late.

The Shady World of Willy Clarkson

What stories can lie behind a simple blue plaque ... prepare to enter a murky world of blackmail, fraud and wig-making.

How to Talk in the Wild West

If you think the City has always been a well-governed place, think again

A Road By Any Other Name … Part 2

In need of entertainment, I've reached again for my copy of 'Street Names of the City of London'. It hasn't let me down ...

The Gaiety Theatre and the ‘Orchid Girl’ who never was

Surely, facts stated on a commemorative plaque are checked and rechecked before the plaque goes up. Apparently not.

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.

A Road By Any Other Name …

... wouldn't be anywhere near so interesting. Here are just a few of my favourite street names from London history.
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