Purple Passages: British Authors and their Love of Plonk
British poets and writers have long had a fascination with wine, making for some of the most memorable passages in writing...
Consider the Word: Elegant
Consider the word ‘elegant’ and try to conjure up a figure more refined than the 19th century English dandy...
A Brief History of The World’s First Dating Agency
On this day, the 29th September, in 1650, exactly 372 years ago, the world’s first dating agency opened in London...
A Brief History of the Summertime Festival
It rains, a few of our mates get detained, but we’re out, running free. Here it comes again… festival season is upon us...
London’s fishy history: A tale of the Thames
Yes, the river was declared biologically dead. Yes, it was riddled with cholera...
Southwark Stories: Forgotten Prostitutes & Outcast Dead
Strapped by its horn to a cast iron gate on Redcross Way, a pink ‘My Little Pony’ peeks out sheepishly from behind a sea of ribbons. Just a couple
AVENUES & ALLEYWAYS: Me old china
London has racked up quite a number of ‘firsts’ over the years – ice rinks, machine guns, television, to name just three – so few will be shoc
The Truth About Keats… Romantic or Cockney?
Since he was born in Moorgate ‘within a mile of Bow Bells’, John Keats was technically the truest of East End Cockneys...
Judy Garland: From London to Stonewall, and Back Again
Despite all her hopes, London wasn’t able to save her. But little spectres of those hopes, as well as her glittering triumphs, still linger over the
The Life and Times of George Formby, Britain’s First Pop Star
Twenty years before Elvis, Formby was an old hand at the gruelling treadmill of hit records and that became Presley’s life...