 
The Underground Map Added: 8 Dec 2020 00:24 GMT |
Othello takes a bow
On 1 November 1604, William Shakespeare’s tragedy Othello was presented for the first time, at The Palace of Whitehall. The palace was the main residence of the English monarchs in London from 1530 until 1698. Seven years to the day, Shakespeare’s romantic comedy The Tempest was also presented for the first time, and also at the Palace of Whitehall.
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Linda Webb Added: 27 Sep 2021 05:51 GMT |
Hungerford Stairs
In 1794 my ancestor, George Webb, Clay Pipe Maker, lived in Hungerford Stairs, Strand. Source: Wakefields Merchant & Tradesmens General Directory London Westminster 1794
Source: Hungerford Stairs
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Roy Batham Added: 7 Jan 2022 07:17 GMT |
Smithy in Longacre
John Burris 1802-1848 Listed 1841 census as Burroughs was a blacksmith, address just given as Longacre.
Source: Batham/Wiseman - Family Tree
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Jeff Owen Added: 20 Mar 2021 16:18 GMT |
Owen’s School
Owen Street is the site of Owen’s Boys’ School. The last school was built in 1881 and was demolished in the early 1990s to make way for the development which stand there today. It was a “Direct Grant” grammar school and was founded in 1613 by Dame Alice Owen. What is now “Owen’s Fields” was the playground between the old school and the new girls’ school (known then as “Dames Alice Owen’s School” or simply “DAOS”). The boys’ school had the top two floors of that building for their science labs. The school moved to Potters Bar in Hertfordshire in 1971 and is now one of the top State comprehensive schools in the country. The old building remained in use as an accountancy college and taxi-drivers’ “knowledge” school until it was demolished. The new building is now part of City and Islington College. Owen’s was a fine school. I should know because I attended there from 1961 to 1968.
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Scott Hatton Added: 11 Sep 2020 19:47 GMT |
Millions Of Rats In Busy London
The Daily Mail on 14 April 1903 reported "MILLIONS OF RATS IN BUSY LONDON"
A rat plague, unprecedented in the annals of London, has broken out on the north side of the Strand. The streets principally infested are Catherine street, Drury lane, Blackmore street, Clare Market and Russell street. Something akin to a reign of terror prevails among the inhabitants after nightfall. Women refuse to pass along Blackmore street and the lower parts of Stanhope street after dusk, for droves of rats perambulate the roadways and pavements, and may be seen running along the window ledges of the empty houses awaiting demolition by the County Council in the Strand to Holborn improvement scheme.
The rats, indeed, have appeared in almost-incredible numbers. "There are millions of them," said one shopkeeper, and his statement was supported by other residents. The unwelcome visitors have been evicted from their old haunts by the County Council housebreakers, and are now busily in search of new homes. The Gaiety Restaurant has been the greatest sufferer. Rats have invaded the premises in such force that the managers have had to close the large dining room on the first floor and the grill rooms on the ground floor and in the basement. Those three spacious halls which have witnessed many as semblages of theatre-goers are now qui:e deserted. Behind the wainscot of the bandstand in the grillroom is a large mound of linen shreds. This represents 1728 serviettes carried theee by the rats.
In the bar the removal of a panel disclosed the astonishing fact that the rats have dragged for a distance of seven or eight yards some thirty or forty beer and wine bottles and stacked them in such a fashion as to make comfortable sleeping places. Mr Williams. the manager of the restaurant, estimates that the rats have destroyed L200 worth of linen. Formerly the Gaiety Restaurant dined 2000 persons daily; no business whatever is now done in this direction.
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Bruce McTavish Added: 11 Mar 2021 11:37 GMT |
Kennington Road
Lambeth North station was opened as Kennington Road and then Westminster Bridge Road before settling on its final name. It has a wonderful Leslie Green design.
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Bernard Miller Added: 12 Apr 2022 17:36 GMT |
My mother and her sister were born at 9 Windsor Terrace
My mother, Millie Haring (later Miller) and her sister Yetta Haring (later Freedman) were born here in 1922 and 1923. With their parents and older brother and sister, they lived in two rooms until they moved to Stoke Newington in 1929. She always said there were six rooms, six families, a shared sink on the first floor landing and a toilet in the backyard.
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MCNALLY Added: 17 May 2021 09:42 GMT |
Blackfriars (1959 - 1965)
I lived in Upper Ground from 1959 to 1964 I was 6 years old my parents Vince and Kitty run the Pub The Angel on the corner of Upper Ground and Bodies Bridge. I remember the ceiling of the cellar was very low and almost stretched the length of Bodies Bridge. The underground trains run directly underneath the pub. If you were down in the cellar when a train was coming it was quite frightening
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Robert smitherman Added: 23 Aug 2017 11:01 GMT |
Saunders Street, SE11
I was born in a prefab on Saunders street SE11 in the 60’s, when I lived there, the road consisted of a few prefab houses, the road originally ran from Lollard street all the way thru to Fitzalan street. I went back there to have a look back in the early 90’s but all that is left of the road is about 20m of road and the road sign.
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Tom Added: 21 May 2021 23:07 GMT |
Blackfriars
What is, or was, Bodies Bridge?
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Richard Roques Added: 21 Jan 2021 16:53 GMT |
Buckingham Street residents
Here in Buckingham Street lived Samuel Pepys the diarist, Charles Dickens and Rudyard Kipling
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Jude Allen Added: 29 Jul 2021 07:53 GMT |
Bra top
I jave a jewelled item of clothong worn by a revie girl.
It is red with diamante straps. Inside it jas a label Bermans Revue 16 Orange Street but I cannot find any info online about the revue only that 16 Orange Street used to be a theatre. Does any one know about the revue. I would be intesrested to imagine the wearer of the article and her London life.
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sam Added: 31 Dec 2021 00:54 GMT |
Burdett Street, SE1
I was on 2nd July 1952, in Burdett chambers (which is also known as Burdett buildings)on Burdett street
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Erin Added: 2 May 2022 01:33 GMT |
Windsor Terrace, N1
hello
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Watts Added: 17 May 2022 20:29 GMT |
Baeethoven St School, also an Annex for Paddington College of FE.
In the early 70’s I took a two year science course at Paddington CFE. The science classes were held on weekday evenings at Beethoven Street school, overseen by chemistry teacher, Mr Tattershall.
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Added: 25 Apr 2022 22:11 GMT |
Southover, N12
Everyone knows Central Woodside is the place to be. Ever since kdog moved from finchtown, Woodside has been thriving.
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Bernard Miller Added: 12 Apr 2022 17:36 GMT |
My mother and her sister were born at 9 Windsor Terrace
My mother, Millie Haring (later Miller) and her sister Yetta Haring (later Freedman) were born here in 1922 and 1923. With their parents and older brother and sister, they lived in two rooms until they moved to Stoke Newington in 1929. She always said there were six rooms, six families, a shared sink on the first floor landing and a toilet in the backyard.
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Brian Lynch Added: 10 Apr 2022 13:38 GMT |
Staples Mattress Factory
An architect’s design of the Staples Mattress Factory
An image found on the website of Dalzell’s Beds, in Armagh Northern Ireland.
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Added: 19 Feb 2022 16:21 GMT |
Harmondsworth (1939 - 1965)
I lived in a house (Lostwithiel) on the Bath Road opposite the junction with Tythe Barn Lane, now a hotel site. Initially, aircraft used one of the diagonal runways directly in line with our house. I attended Sipson Primary School opposite the Three Magpies and celebrated my 21st birthday at The Peggy Bedford in 1959.
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Emma Seif Added: 25 Jan 2022 19:06 GMT |
Birth of the Bluestocking Society
In about 1750, Elizabeth Montagu began hosting literary breakfasts in her home at 23 (now 31) Hill Street. These are considered the first meetings of the Bluestocking society.
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Added: 14 Jan 2022 03:06 GMT |
Goldbourne Gardens W 10
I lived in Goldbourne Gardens in the 50,s very happy big bomb site
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Chris Nash Added: 10 Jan 2022 22:54 GMT |
Shortlands Close, DA17
Shortlands Close and the flats along it were constructed in the mid-1990s. Prior to this, the area was occupied by semi-detached houses with large gardens, which dated from the post-war period and were built on the site of Railway Farm. The farm and its buildings spanned the length of Abbey Road, on the south side of the North Kent Line railway tracks.
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Alsatia Alsatia was the name given to an area lying north of the River Thames covered by the Whitefriars monastery. Fleet Market The Fleet Market was a market erected in 1736 on the newly culverted River Fleet. Lisle’s Tennis Court Lisle’s Tennis Court was a building off Portugal Street in Lincoln’s Inn Fields in London. Temple Bar Temple Bar is the point in London where Fleet Street, City of London, becomes the Strand, Westminster, and where the City of London traditionally erected a barrier to regulate trade into the city. Aldwych, WC2B The name Aldwych derives from the Old English eald and wic meaning ’old trading town’ or ’old marketplace’; the name was later applied to the street and district. Andrews Crosse, EC4A Andrews Crosse stood on the site of the courtyard of the former Andrews Crosse Inn. Ashentree Court, EC4Y Ashentree Court was named after the ashen trees formerly located here at the Whitefriars’ monastery. Bell Yard, EC4A Bell Yard is a small lane off the Strand where the Bell hostel once stood. Bolt Court, EC4A Bolt Court is one of the streets of London in the EC4A postal area. Bouverie Street, EC4Y Bouverie Street is named for the Pleydell-Bouveries, Earls of Radnor, who were landowners in this area. Brick Court, EC4Y Brick Court is one of the streets of London in the EC4Y postal area. Bride Court, EC4Y Bride Court is one of the streets of London in the EC4Y postal area. Bride Lane, EC4Y Bride Lane is one of the streets of London in the EC4Y postal area. Carmelite Street, EC4Y Carmelite Street continues south from Whitefriars Street, which itself is just off Fleet Street. Chancery Lane, WC2A Chancery Lane has formed the western boundary of the City of London since 1994, having previously been divided between the London boroughs of Westminster and Camden. Dorset Rise, EC4Y Dorset Rise is one of the streets of London in the EC4Y postal area. Drury Lane, WC2B Drury Lane is one of the streets of London in the WC2B postal area. Essex Court, EC4Y Essex Court is one of the streets of London in the EC4Y postal area. Falcon Court, EC4Y Falcon Court is a courtyard off the south side of Fleet Street between Chancery Lane and Fetter Lane. Fetter Lane, EC4A Fetter Lane is corrupted from ’Fautre’ which was the name for a spear rest - spears were made close by. Hare Court, EC4Y Hare Court is one of the streets of London in the EC4Y postal area. Hare Place, EC4Y Hare Place is one of the streets of London in the EC4Y postal area. Hind Court, EC4Y Hind Court is one of the streets of London in the EC4A postal area. Hood Court, EC4Y Hood Court is one of the streets of London in the EC4Y postal area. John Carpenter Street, EC4Y John Carpenter was town clerk of the City of London in the fifteenth century, and founder of the City of London School. Kean Street, WC2B Kean Street is one of the streets of London in the WC2B postal area. Kingsway, WC2A Kingsway is one of the streets of London in the WC2B postal area. Magpie Alley, EC4Y Magpie Alley marks the position occupied by the dorter (dormitory) of the Friary of the Blessed Virgin of Mount Carmel, commonly called the Whitefriars Monastery New Square, WC2A New Square is one of the streets of London in the WC2A postal area. Norfolk Street, WC2R Norfolk Street ran from the Strand in the north to the River Thames and, after the Victoria Embankment was built (1865–1870), to what is now Temple Place. Pemberton Row, EC4A Sir James Pemberton was Lord Mayor of London in 1611, and a member of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths. Pump Court, EC4Y Pump Court is one of the streets of London in the EC4Y postal area. Red Lion Court, EC4A Red Lion Court forms part of labyrinth of little passages behind the shops on the north side of Fleet Street. Sardinia Street, WC2B Sardinia Street, formerly Duke Street, was a street that ran from Prince’s Street in the south to the western side of Lincoln’s Inn Fields in the north. Shoe Lane, EC4A Shoe Lane is one of the streets of London in the EC4A postal area. St Brides Avenue, EC4Y St Brides Avenue is a narrow alley which leaves Fleet Street almost opposite Shoe Lane. Star Yard, WC2A Star Yard is one of the streets of London in the WC2A postal area. Strand, WC2E Strand, as it nears the Aldwych, is home to many London theatres. Strand, WC2R Strand is one of the streets of London in the WC2N postal area. Surrey Street, WC2R Surrey Street was built on land once occupied by Arundel House and its gardens. Tallis Street, EC4Y This street honours Thomas Tallis, composer whose name is engraved on the façade of the nearby former building of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Temple Pier, WC2R Temple Pier is one of the streets of London in the WC2R postal area. The Arcade, WC2B The Arcade is one of the streets of London in the WC2B postal area. The Strand, WC2R The Strand is one of the streets of London in the WC2R postal area. The Strand, WC2R The Strand is one of the streets of London in the WC2N postal area. Tweezer’s Alley, WC2R Tweezer’s Alley probably got its name after the tweezers used by smiths to heat items in the forge that stood there.
Victoria Embankment, EC4Y Victoria Embankment is part of the Thames Embankment scheme of 19th-century civil engineering that reclaimed land next to the River Thames. Watergate, EC4Y Watergate is one of the streets of London in the EC4Y postal area. Cella Karaoke Lounge This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Doggetts coat & badge This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Grand Union This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Kanaloa This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Knights Templar This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Pegasus Bar This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Punch Tavern This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Slug and Lettuce This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. St Brides Tavern This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. The Albion This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. The Bridewell Theatre This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. The Hack & Hop This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. The Harrow This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. The Hoop & Grapes This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. The Old Bell Tavern This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. The Seven Stars This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. The White Swan This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Tipperary This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Ye Olde Cock Tavern This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so.
Westminster - heart of government.
While the underground station dates from 1868, Westminster itself is almost as old as London itself. It has a large concentration of London’s historic and prestigious landmarks and visitor attractions, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey and Westminster Cathedral.
Historically part of the parish of St Margaret in the City and Liberty of Westminster and the county of Middlesex, the name Westminster was the ancient description for the area around Westminster Abbey – the West Minster, or monastery church, that gave the area its name – which has been the seat of the government of England (and later the British government) for almost a thousand years.
Westminster is the location of the Palace of Westminster, a UNESCO World Heritage Site which houses the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
The area has been the seat of the government of England for almost a thousand years. Westminster is thus often used as a metonym for Parliament and the political community of the United Kingdom generally. The civil service is similarly referred to by the area it inhabits, Whitehall, and Westminster is consequently also used in reference to the ’Westminster System’, the parliamentary model of democratic government that has evolved in the United Kingdom.
The historic core of Westminster is the former Thorney Island on which Westminster Abbey was built. The Abbey became the traditional venue of the coronation of the kings and queens of England. The nearby Palace of Westminster came to be the principal royal residence after the Norman conquest of England in 1066, and later housed the developing Parliament and law courts of England. It can be said that London thus has developed two distinct focal points: an economic one in the City of London; and a political and cultural one in Westminster, where the Royal Court had its home. This division is still very apparent today.
The monarchy later moved to the Palace of Whitehall a little towards the north-east. The law courts have since moved to the Royal Courts of Justice, close to the border of the City of London.
The Westminster area formed part of the City and Liberty of Westminster and the county of Middlesex. The ancient parish was St Margaret; after 1727 split into the parishes of St Margaret and St John. The area around Westminster Abbey formed the extra-parochial Close of the Collegiate Church of St Peter surrounded by—but not part of—either parish. Until 1900 the local authority was the combined vestry of St Margaret and St John (also known as the Westminster District Board of Works from 1855 to 1887), which was based at Westminster City Hall on Caxton Street from 1883. The Liberty of Westminster, governed by the Westminster Court of Burgesses, also included St Martin in the Fields and several other parishes and places. Westminster had its own quarter sessions, but the Middlesex sessions also had jurisdiction. The area was transferred from Middlesex to the County of London in 1889 and the local government of Westminster was reformed in 1900 when the court of burgesses and parish vestries were abolished, to be replaced with a metropolitan borough council. The council was given city status, allowing it to be known as Westminster City Council.
The underground station was opened as Westminster Bridge on 24 December 1868 by the steam-operated Metropolitan District Railway (MDR) (now the District line) when the railway opened the first section of its line from South Kensington. It was originally the eastern terminus of the MDR and the station cutting ended at a concrete wall buffered by timber sleepers. The approach to the station from the west runs in cut and cover tunnel under the roadway of Broad Sanctuary and diagonally under Parliament Square. In Broad Sanctuary the tunnel is close to Westminster Abbey and St Margaret’s church and care was required to avoid undermining their foundations when excavating in the poor ground found there.
The station was completely rebuilt to incorporate new deep-level platforms for the Jubilee line when it was extended to the London Docklands in the 1990s. During the works, the level of the sub-surface platforms was lowered to enable ground level access to Portcullis House. This was achieved in small increments carried out when the line was closed at night.
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 |  |  |  The Ring, Blackfriars Road, SE1 (1925)
Although established as a boxing venue in 1910, the building dated from 1783 as the Surrey Congregational Chapel by the Reverend Rowland Hill - who reportedly opted for the unusual, circular design so that there would be no corners in which the devil could hide.
The person responsible for overseeing the chapel’s conversion was Dick Burge, a former English middleweight champion from Cheltenham. The former place of worship was then a warehouse.
Dick and his wife Bella Burge enlisted the help of local homeless people to clean out the building and transform it into a state fit for presenting boxing to the public.
The Ring opened on 14 May 1910, with the Blackfriars arena soon staging events four to five times a week, and the name from the circular shape of the building. The term "boxing ring" is not derived from the name of the building, contrary to local legend, but - still from the capital - instead from the London Prize Ring Rules in 1743, which specified a small circle in the centre of the fight area where the boxers met at the start of each round. The term ’ringside seat’ dates from the 1860s.TUM image id: 1509724629Licence: |  |
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Garden Court is one of the streets of London in the EC4Y postal area.
