LONDON on the Ground

Islington’s cricketing legacy includes Lord's, the MCC, Middlesex County Cricket Club and women’s county cricket. The Gentlemen’s Club playing on White Conduit Fields, by Robert Dighton 1784. Source: Yale Centre for British Art, public domain. Today, Islington is well known as the home of Arsenal Football Club, while the sport of cricket hardly features. The borough is home to only one public cricket pitch (Wray Crescent off Hornsey Road), but Islington played an important ro

Inspired by Arsenal’s historic achievements in 2026, this blog post looks at the origins of the streets on its trophy parade route. Arsenal Football Club will be parading in four open top buses around Islington on 31 May 2026 to celebrate the men’s team’s clinching of its first Premier League title since 2004 and the women’s team’s victory in the FIFA Women’s Champions Cup. The men’s team may also be celebrating a UEFA Champions League win if they beat Paris St Germain on 30

Built in 1907 as a Christian Science Church, the Byzantine Revival hall is now one of London’s foremost music venues. The 950 seat concert hall is home to the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and offers a programme that also includes other top orchestras and choirs in addition to rock, pop, jazz, folk, musical theatre and other events. After visiting this unusual and interesting building recently for the first time (for a concert by the English Chamber Orchestra), I decided to

Over more than 300 years it has staged everything from aquatic shows and Shakespeare to pantomime and ballet. Today Sadler’s Wells is London’s leading venue for dance, both classical ballet and contemporary dance. The corridors of its 1,500 seat main auditorium and 182 seat Lillian Baylis Studio serve as a museum to its long and varied history. All the artworks, engravings and sculptures in this post are London On The Ground photographs of items displayed at the Theatre and S

Which are the six London churches mentioned in the nursery rhyme and what is its message? Oranges and Lemons makes references to the...

10 songs suggested by London On The Ground blog readers. Three years ago I posted my personal top 10 songs with 'London' in the title ....

Pepys, Amazing Grace, The Times, Frankenstein, Joe Orton, The Beatles, mobile phones and more. To celebrate New Year's Day 2024, here is...

Intimate early 20th century music venue boasts a striking 'Soul of Music' mural by Gerald Moira. Wigmore Hall opened in 1901, at 36...

Once a Victorian self-education institute, Salvation Army barracks and a novelties store, it's now one of London's best loved theatres....

Test your knowledge of London and Christmas with this challenging quiz. For those who love London, Christmas and trivia, The London On...

A quiet Islington side street tells of urbanisation, social history, post war reconstruction - and two walls. Britannia Row is a quiet...

My favourite London songs part two: top 10 songs about or inspired by London (but without 'London' in the title). The first part revealed...

For the holiday season, this is a departure from my usual history-themed writing, but still very much about London. It reveals my...

London was the Liverpool band's backdrop and stage. This picture, taken by photographer Ethan Russell on 30 January 1969, combines two of...