top of page
To receive blog posts and walking tour schedules by email, please subscribe (for free) at the bottom of the home page
Search
Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway together in London - new research
The Bard, his wife and a new London address in Trinity Lane? Shakespeare's image on the Queenhithe mosaic, close to where he and Anne...
London On The Ground
May 46 min read
The Cornhill Carvings: doors into history
On Cornhill in the City of London, carvings on a pair of mahogany doors tell the long history of the area. The doors are at 32 Cornhill,...
London On The Ground
Apr 195 min read
Dorothy Annan’s “striking and highly distinctive” murals
The 20th century ceramic murals in the Barbican Estate celebrate technological advancement. The Dorothy Annan murals on Cromwell Highwalk...
London On The Ground
Apr 124 min read
A zebra bolted from London Zoo to Camden Town during an air raid
The World War II story was painted by artist Carel Weight. On a recent trip to Manchester, I came across a four-panel oil painting...
London On The Ground
Mar 225 min read
Secrets of the gatehouse of St Bartholomew the Great
A medieval arch, a Tudor house and moving memorials to fallen sons The entrance to the churchyard of St Bartholomew the Great from...
London On The Ground
Mar 155 min read
Cleary Garden: Peonies, Romans, the Tube and hogs
A former City of London bombsite with pretty plants. And hidden secrets. The lower tier of Cleary Garden Cleary Garden is a small park on...
London On The Ground
Mar 25 min read
Elizabeth Mallet, the first daily newspaper editor
The woman responsible for The Daily Courant, Britain's first daily newspaper in 1702. The launch issue of The Daily Courant was...
London On The Ground
Feb 84 min read
What the Dickens? In Islington? Not on your Nelly!
When Ellen ‘Nelly’ Ternan first met Charles Dickens, she lived in Islington. What was his interest in her? Dickens’ 13 year relationship...
London On The Ground
Jan 256 min read
Vagabondiana: street beggars of John Thomas Smith’s London
Scraping a living in the early 19th century: contemporary drawings. John Thomas Smith's artistic eye recorded buildings, streets and a...
London On The Ground
Jan 188 min read
A cow, an arrow and a Dame: Alice Owen’s 400 year legacy
Her legacy in Islington, the City of London and Hertfordshire has lasted more than four centuries and includes one of the country’s...
London On The Ground
Jan 126 min read
More songs with 'London' in the title
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 ....
London On The Ground
Dec 31, 20244 min read
The first ice skating report: London 850 years ago
William FitzStephen wrote the world’s earliest description of ice skating in around 1174. Londoners and visitors enjoying outdoor ice...
London On The Ground
Dec 21, 20245 min read
Charles Barry in Islington
The Parliament architect honed his Gothic Revival design skills on four Islington churches. Architect Sir Charles Barry (1795-1860) is...
London On The Ground
Dec 14, 20246 min read
Smithfield Market to turn lights out on a millennium of history
An 850 year old document describes a livestock market for swine, cows, oxen and woolly flocks at Smithfield. Smithfield meat market, the...
London On The Ground
Dec 2, 20245 min read
The Royal Agricultural Hall and Christmas past
Islington's Business Design Centre has a history of festive family fairs in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The Business Design...
London On The Ground
Nov 23, 20245 min read
King’s College London’s Maughan Library reveals its secrets
The site’s 800 year history includes housing Jews converted to Christianity, and legal and national records. During London Open House...
London On The Ground
Nov 16, 20244 min read
City of London Street names: a dozen of the best
The Square Mile has a wealth of unusual, colourful and deceptive street names. Many of London's most curious and unlikely street names...
London On The Ground
Nov 10, 20244 min read
George Francis Train, the aptly named American behind London’s first trams
The 19th century entrepreneur and real-life Phileas Fogg who ran for US President. London’s first tram services were set up in 1861 by an...
London On The Ground
Nov 2, 20245 min read
Lost Gardens of London at the Garden Museum
Excellent new exhibition of vanished parks, squares and gardens at the museum in Lambeth. Curated by landscape architect and historian Dr...
London On The Ground
Oct 27, 20245 min read
The Monument, the relief and its meaning
The sculpture on the Monument to the Great Fire of London is rich with symbolism . It illustrates the catastrophe that destroyed...
London On The Ground
Oct 20, 20247 min read
bottom of page