For more than half a century the few blocks between Blackfriars and Whitefriars in the City's south western corner were dominated by the City of London Gas Light and Coke Company.
The centuries-old Fellowship of Free Porters couldn't survive the seismic changes of the Victorian era. I chart its chaotic and tragic collapse mainly through the eyes of newspaper journalists.
Nothing to do with fleas, nor even the plague. Instead, I describe another two of those administrative curiosities that London seems to specialise in - the Inner and Middle Temples.
Was he a liberal reformer and the first black Lord mayor of London, a figure to be celebrated, or an imperialist unaware of his own ethnicity? Read on to discover why I don't really answer the question.
A post for devotees of municipal governance. Welcome to a world of Freemen, Liverymen, Councilmen, Aldermen, Sheriffs, Aldermanic Sheriffs and a Lord Mayor, in a city that is home to less than 10,000 people.
Welcome to the bizarre world of the Southwark Courts Leet, City outposts south of the Thames that have had no purpose for centuries and yet are still with us, alive and ... er ... well, they are certainly alive.
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.
