Category: London

1. Unknown Warrior Commemoration at Victoria Station 2014

   Posted on 7:00am Thursday 20th Nov 2014

    

   Next to Platform 8, in Victoria Train Station, there is a small plaque to the Unknown Warrior. His final resting place is in the nave of Westminster Abbey. Although we do not know his name or his rank in the army, his tomb is a very poignant remember of all those who died during World War One but whose bodies have never been identified.

   Each year on 10th November the London branch of The Western Front Association holds a ceremony to remember the arrival of the body of the Unknown Warrior at Victoria Station.

2. Sherlock and Speedy's Cafe

   Posted on 8:00am Monday 3rd Nov 2014

   

   Speedy’s Sandwich Bar and Cafe, with its instantly recognisable red canopy, features in all three television series of the BBC’s Sherlock. It's located directly below the first floor flat which is home to Sherlock and Watson. Since featuring in the hit TV series, with its modern day twist on Sherlock Holmes, the cafe has been welcoming fans who visit. So the other day I stopped by for a delicious breakfast.

3. Scones of the Month - October 2014

   Posted on 4:30pm Wednesday 29th Oct 2014

   

    Ham Yard Hotel

   One of the pleasures of writing this blog, apart from eating the scones of course, is discovering new, quirky places, so Yannick and I decided to visit Ham Yard Hotel in Soho, which only opened a couple of months ago. Despite being a Westminster Guide, I have to say to my shame, even I had a bit of difficulty finding it as it's tucked away behind Piccadilly Circus but for me that just added to it's charm. I ordered the scones which arrived warm and beautifully presented wrapped in a napkin in a wire basket.  They were accompanied with a generous portion of clotted cream and two bowls of jam, one strawberry and the other cherry.

4. Featuring in lastminute.com's The Most Haunted Places in London blog

   Posted on 5:43pm Monday 27th Oct 2014

   Great honour to be featured as one of the contributors to lasminute.com's blog, The Most Haunted Places in London. Perfect timing for Halloween.

   If you ejoyed reading this why not join me on a tour, the story about the Haunted Hospital features in my Sinister Smithfield walk.

   Happy Halloween everyone!

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5. Strawberry Hill - Walpole's Magical Gothic Castle

   Posted on 10:00am Tuesday 21st Oct 2014

    

   London is full of amazing buildings and one of my favourite is Strawberry Hill House. It was the former home of Horace Walpole, a writer, collector and the son of Robert Walpole, the first British Prime Minister. What makes the house so special is that it is one of the earliest and finest example of the Gothic Revival, a style beloved by the Victorians when they tried to emulate the medieval architecture of the great cathedrals and created their own interpretation of the Middle Ages. Many years ago when I first moved to London I visited the house when it functioned as St Mary's University so it was wonderful to make a return visit with Yannick following it's magnificent restoration.

6. Scones of the Month - September 2014

   Posted on 9:00am Tuesday 30th Sep 2014

    

   Foxcroft and Ginger

   This month's scone blog is a bumper edition with six reviews and breaking with tradition it's including some of the places I visited while holidaying in Torquay. However before we do a Devon detour we start with Foxcroft and Ginger in London’s Soho.

7. The Art of Brick - A Lego Art Exhibition? Yes, I saw it in Brussels & it's so Cool

   Posted on 9:00am Tuesday 23rd Sep 2014

      

   The Art of Brick, the first art exhibition to exclusively focus on Lego, is opening later this week in London. It is on from Friday 26 September until Sunday 4 January 2015. In March this year, I went to see the exhibition when it was Brussels and thought you'd might like a sneak preview of the sort of things you may see in London.

8. Revealing the Secrets of Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap

   Posted on 9:30am Tuesday 16th Sep 2014

   

   Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap is the world’s longest running stage play. A classic Christie, murder mystery story where any of her characters potentially could have committed the murder. However if you are going to see it don’t commit the crime of rushing to your seats without taking a look at the foyer. 

9. HippopoThames is Just so Cute

   Posted on 10:00pm Sunday 14th Sep 2014

   

   HippoThames is the delightful giant, wooden hippo residing in the Thames near St George's Tower in Vauxhall until Sunday 28 September. It's part of the Totally Thames Festival which has seen Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman creating a 21 metre-long floating hippo sculpture which is semi-immersed in the water so it rises and falls with the tide. I couldn't help but have a big grin on my face when I saw it and here are a few photos.

10. The New Heritage Gallery at the Guildhall Art Gallery

    Posted on 7:30am Friday 12th Sep 2014

    

    Today sees the long anticipated re-opening of the Guildhall Art Gallery which included a new Heritage Gallery. Last night I attended the special reception of the launch which inclued Dame Helen Ghosh, the Director General of the National Trust and the Lord Chief Justice, Baron Thomas of Cwmgiedd, and I was lucky to see the new fabulous display before it opens to the general public today. The centrepiece of the new display is a copy of the 1297 Magana Carta.*