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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/" xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/" xmlns:georss="http://www.georss.org/georss" xmlns:geo="http://www.w3.org/2003/01/geo/wgs84_pos#" > <channel> <title>Footprints of London</title> <atom:link href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" /> <link>https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/</link> <description>Where Londoners Walk</description> <lastBuildDate>Sat, 16 Nov 2024 15:42:04 +0000</lastBuildDate> <language>en-GB</language> <sy:updatePeriod> hourly </sy:updatePeriod> <sy:updateFrequency> 1 </sy:updateFrequency> <site xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">61680468</site> <item> <title>The real London of Wolf Hall</title> <link>https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/2024/11/the-real-london-of-wolf-hall-2/</link> <comments>https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/2024/11/the-real-london-of-wolf-hall-2/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Mark Rowland]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Sat, 16 Nov 2024 15:42:04 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[City of London]]></category> <category><![CDATA[hilary mantel]]></category> <category><![CDATA[the mirror and the light]]></category> <category><![CDATA[the mirror and the light locations]]></category> <category><![CDATA[The Real London of Wolf Hall]]></category> <category><![CDATA[The Tudors London guided tour]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Tudor London]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Tudor London walk]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Wolf Hall]]></category> <category><![CDATA[wolf hall locations]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/?p=16695</guid> <description><![CDATA[With the screening of the first TV episode of The Mirror and the Light, the final instalment of Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall trilogy, interest in all things Tudor is reaching fever pitch. The BBC has scoured the country to find suitably sumptuous locations to form an appropriate backdrop to the epic storytelling and larger than... The post <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/2024/11/the-real-london-of-wolf-hall-2/">The real London of Wolf Hall</a> appeared first on <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live">Footprints of London</a>. ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[ <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/16577_image.png"><img decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-16578" src="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/16577_image-300x151.png" alt="" width="300" height="151" srcset="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/16577_image.png 300w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/16577_image.png 1024w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/16577_image.png 768w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/16577_image.png 1500w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a> With the screening of the first TV episode of The Mirror and the Light, the final instalment of Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall trilogy, interest in all things Tudor is reaching fever pitch. The BBC has scoured the country to find suitably <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2024/nov/16/english-historic-houses-profiting-from-wolf-hall-drama-henry-viii" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sumptuous locations</a> to form an appropriate backdrop to the epic storytelling and larger than life characters. But there are numerous London locations linked to the key characters and events and of the age to be discovered – if you know where to look… <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/B_0-agas-map.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-16702" src="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/B_0-agas-map-300x114.jpg" alt="agas map" width="300" height="114" srcset="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/B_0-agas-map.jpg 300w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/B_0-agas-map.jpg 1024w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/B_0-agas-map.jpg 768w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/B_0-agas-map.jpg 1181w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a>To celebrate the story’s return to our screens, <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/guides/mark-rowland/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mark Rowland</a> will be running either a virtual or a walking version of his Tracing the Tudors -The real London of Wolf Hall tour on four out of the five remaining Sundays on which the episodes will be screened. Dates, times and booking details can be found <a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/mark-rowland-footprints-of-london-4068039327" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>. And don’t worry, they all finish in plenty of time for your evening viewing, providing the perfect hors d’oeuvre to the latest nail-biting instalment! The post <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/2024/11/the-real-london-of-wolf-hall-2/">The real London of Wolf Hall</a> appeared first on <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live">Footprints of London</a>. ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/2024/11/the-real-london-of-wolf-hall-2/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">16695</post-id> </item> <item> <title>Saloop – the forgotten pick-me-up</title> <link>https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/2024/06/saloop-the-forgotten-pick-me-up/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Mark Rowland]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Sat, 08 Jun 2024 18:33:00 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Walks]]></category> <category><![CDATA[aldwych tours]]></category> <category><![CDATA[london guided tours]]></category> <category><![CDATA[London walks]]></category> <category><![CDATA[saloop]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/?p=8525</guid> <description><![CDATA[Often when we are researching new tours, an unexpected nugget of information will pop up its head. Michael Duncan had just such an experience while researching his new walking tour Aldwych – before and beyond. You can join Michael for his tour in 16th June at 10.30 am, booking details are here. When I was... The post <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/2024/06/saloop-the-forgotten-pick-me-up/">Saloop – the forgotten pick-me-up</a> appeared first on <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live">Footprints of London</a>. ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[ Often when we are researching new tours, an unexpected nugget of information will pop up its head. <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/guides/michael-duncan/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Michael Duncan</a> had just such an experience while researching his new walking tour Aldwych – before and beyond. You can join Michael for his tour in 16th June at 10.30 am, booking details are <a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/walking-tour-aldwych-before-and-beyond-tickets-893722115907?aff=oddtdtcreator" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>. <figure class="wp-block-image"><a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Saloop.jpeg"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" width="172" height="300" class="wp-image-8528" src="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Saloop-172x300.jpeg" alt="Saloop" srcset="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Saloop.jpeg 172w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Saloop.jpeg 367w" sizes="(max-width: 172px) 100vw, 172px" /></a></figure> When I was researching my new walk exploring the Aldwych, I came across a long lost London drink that I had never heard of. Just on Fleet Street at the bottom of Bell Yard, I saw various references to a Saloop stall. Saloop (also known as Salep or Salop) was generally sold between midnight and 7 in the morning. It was a milky, soothing liquid. The Georgians believed it would settle the stomach after too many ales, cure hangovers in the morning, or set you up for the day ahead as a cheap, nutritious breakfast. Captain Cook also took it on his voyages to help sailors who became sick. And it was cheap; for tuppence you could enjoy a bowl of saloop with a slice of bread and butter. Henry Mayhew described it as popular among chimney sweeps and Hackney cab drivers. But there is little consensus as to what its ideal ingredients should be. The classic recipe involved grinding orchid tubers, mixing the powder to a paste, and adding milk and sugar. Orchid tubers had been a bit of a wonder drug since Roman times with their suggestive shape helping promote them as an aphrodisiac. But there were lots of other options. As an alternative to orchid tubers, ground sassafras bark or wood could be used. The sassafras tree is found in East Asia and North America, it’s a traditional ingredient in root beer. Substituting this for orchid would give the drink a liquorice taste. Saloop sellers also looked closer to home for their main ingredient, sometimes using the root of the cuckoo flower, which is native to Britain. Adding cinnamon was also an option, as was mixing it with lemon juice or rose water. However, the increasing popularity of tea and coffee, and the fact that Saloop was seen as a drink for the “lower orders” meant its popularity was a relatively brief 100 years from around the mid-1700s. But you can still get it. Saloop was an import from the Ottoman Empire, and it can be found in Greece and Turkey as a drink, or a type of ice-cream called Dondurma. It’s frozen (naturally) but is also very sweet and chewy. And in London it’s been revived by some Turkish ice cream shops. So, after around 150 years saloop, at least in frozen form, is back! The post <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/2024/06/saloop-the-forgotten-pick-me-up/">Saloop – the forgotten pick-me-up</a> appeared first on <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live">Footprints of London</a>. ]]></content:encoded> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">8525</post-id> </item> <item> <title>The Queen of the Blues vs The Queen of Hell</title> <link>https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/2023/11/the-queen-of-the-blues-vs-the-queen-of-hell/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Mark Rowland]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Sat, 04 Nov 2023 15:46:24 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[City of Westminster]]></category> <category><![CDATA[people]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Elizabeth Home]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Elizabeth Montagu]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Home House]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Marylebone walking tour]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Montagu House]]></category> <category><![CDATA[The 8th Earl Home]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/?p=8423</guid> <description><![CDATA[Michael Duncan introduces us to a few of the colourful characters from his walking tour The Haves and Have-nots of Marylebone. You can join him on Sunday 26th November to discover more, follow the link for details and booking. The Blue Stockings are little talked of nowadays but in the mid to late 1700’s they... The post <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/2023/11/the-queen-of-the-blues-vs-the-queen-of-hell/">The Queen of the Blues vs The Queen of Hell</a> appeared first on <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live">Footprints of London</a>. ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[ <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/guides/michael-duncan/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Michael Duncan</a> introduces us to a few of the colourful characters from his walking tour <a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/walking-tour-the-haves-and-have-nots-of-marylebone-tickets-741983812557" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Haves and Have-nots of Marylebone</a>. You can join him on Sunday 26th November to discover more, follow the link for details and booking. <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Elizabeth-Montagu.png"><img decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-8431" src="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Elizabeth-Montagu-226x300.png" alt="Elizabeth Montagu" width="226" height="300" srcset="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Elizabeth-Montagu.png 226w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Elizabeth-Montagu.png 480w" sizes="(max-width: 226px) 100vw, 226px" /></a> The Blue Stockings are little talked of nowadays but in the mid to late 1700’s they were a radical group seen by some as pioneers of feminism. They were co-founded by Elizabeth Montagu, “the Queen of the Blues”. She is thought to have been the richest woman in England at the time. She held the then revolutionary idea that women and men should speak as equals, the aim being to engage in “rational conversation” to achieve moral development and “civic virtue”. Among the Bluestockings were women who strongly disagreed with contemporary ideas of marriage (Montagu among them). Others were abolitionists, some were acclaimed poets and artists. In <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Montagu-House-Portman-Square.png"><img decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-8433 size-thumbnail" src="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Montagu-House-Portman-Square-150x150.png" alt="Montagu House Portman Square" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Montagu-House-Portman-Square.png 150w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Montagu-House-Portman-Square.png 80w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Montagu-House-Portman-Square.png 118w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Montagu-House-Portman-Square.png 239w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Montagu-House-Portman-Square.png 45w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Montagu-House-Portman-Square.png 300w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Montagu-House-Portman-Square.png 450w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a>the group’s later years they met at Montagu’s new house on the North West corner of Portman Square and it was across the road where another Elizabeth, the Countess of Home built her own rather grand house. Montagu was mortified. Hume was known for her “irascible behaviour and lavish parties”. Yes she was rich, but her first fortune came from plantations in Jamaica where she was born. Perhaps it was snobbishness, perhaps prurience or perhaps Elizabeth Home’s behaviour was really out of order. Whatever the reason, Montague took a dim view of her new neighbour and dubbed her the “Queen of Hell”. <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Home-House-Portland-Square.jpeg"><img decoding="async" class="alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-8432" src="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Home-House-Portland-Square-150x150.jpeg" alt="Home House Porman Square" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Home-House-Portland-Square.jpeg 150w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Home-House-Portland-Square.jpeg 80w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Home-House-Portland-Square.jpeg 118w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Home-House-Portland-Square.jpeg 239w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Home-House-Portland-Square.jpeg 45w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a>Elizabeth Home came to London after marrying the son of the Governor of Jamaica. Little is known of her married life or of her subsequent years as a widow. But when she married again, to the feckless spendthrift 8th Earl of Home, her fame began to grow. They married on Christmas Day 1742. By February 1743 he was gone. Nobody really knows why; some say he wanted to conceal his homosexuality, others that he simply needed the cash. Either way he went on to live well for the remaining nineteen years of his life ending up as the Governor of Gibraltar. <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/The-8th-Earl-Home.png"><img decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-8434 size-thumbnail" src="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/The-8th-Earl-Home-150x150.png" alt="The 8th Earl Home" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/The-8th-Earl-Home.png 150w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/The-8th-Earl-Home.png 80w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/The-8th-Earl-Home.png 118w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/The-8th-Earl-Home.png 239w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/The-8th-Earl-Home.png 45w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/The-8th-Earl-Home.png 300w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/The-8th-Earl-Home.png 450w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a>Despite separating from her husband, Elizabeth clung to the title Countess of Home and launched herself full tilt into London society. This was not as easy as it may seem. The colonial elite usually found it difficult to integrate into the London equivalent. Some overcompensated by throwing extravagant parties or showing off their wealth. Elizabeth Home fitted that stereotype. She had no need to build the extravagant Home House. She had no husband to talk of and she had no children. But she engaged the pre-eminent architects of the age to design it. It was a party house. A key part of its layout was that it had to be able to accommodate two large portraits of the Duke and Duchess of Cumberland. They were great friends of Home, but were were the black sheep of the royal family as King George III disapproved of the marriage. The King’s objection was because Anne Luttrell, the Duchess of Cumberland , was a Marylebone girl, a commoner who had been widowed. She was also Hume’s niece (through her first marriage ) and daughter of Simon Luttrell whose reputation earned him the title “the King of Hell”. So perhaps “the Queen of Hell” was too easy an insult to pass up for “the Queen of the Blues”. Sadly it’s impossible to judge if Home deserved the name. Her house however still stands and boasts one of the finest interiors in London. Despite her disreputable reputation she was buried in Westminster Abbey. As for her clever and disapproving neighbour; Elizabeth Montague, her house was destroyed in the Blitz and a modern hotel now stands on the site. The post <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/2023/11/the-queen-of-the-blues-vs-the-queen-of-hell/">The Queen of the Blues vs The Queen of Hell</a> appeared first on <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live">Footprints of London</a>. ]]></content:encoded> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">8423</post-id> </item> <item> <title>Contrasting Cousins</title> <link>https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/2023/10/contrasting-cousins/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Mark Rowland]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Wed, 04 Oct 2023 17:47:19 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[City of Westminster]]></category> <category><![CDATA[people]]></category> <category><![CDATA[City of Westminster guided tours]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Georgina Duchess of Devonshire]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Lady Caroline Lamb]]></category> <category><![CDATA[London walks]]></category> <category><![CDATA[St James's Scandals]]></category> <category><![CDATA[St James's tour]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/?p=8401</guid> <description><![CDATA[  Michael Duncan gives us a sample of some of the characters from his Style and Scandal in St James’s tour which he will next be running on 8th October. There is a link at the bottom of the post if you want to join him to hear more! If you take a walk round... The post <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/2023/10/contrasting-cousins/">Contrasting Cousins</a> appeared first on <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live">Footprints of London</a>. ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[   Michael Duncan gives us a sample of some of the characters from his Style and Scandal in St James’s tour which he will next be running on 8th October. There is a link at the bottom of the post if you want to join him to hear more! <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Spencer-House.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-8412 size-medium" src="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Spencer-House-300x200.jpg" alt="Spencer House, St James's" width="300" height="200" srcset="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Spencer-House.jpg 300w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Spencer-House.jpg 768w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Spencer-House.jpg 800w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a> If you take a walk round St James’s, the Spencer family seems to pop up everywhere. The beginning of their association with the area came with the building Spencer House, by the first Earl. It remains one of the great houses of London with a prime position overlooking the park. It is still owned by the Spencers (the current Earl is Princess Diana’s brother) but has been leased since 1986 to the Rothschilds. <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Georgina-Duchess-of-Devonshire.png"><img decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-8410" src="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Georgina-Duchess-of-Devonshire-193x300.png" alt="Georgina Duchess of Devonshire" width="193" height="300" srcset="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Georgina-Duchess-of-Devonshire.png 193w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Georgina-Duchess-of-Devonshire.png 411w" sizes="(max-width: 193px) 100vw, 193px" /></a>The first Earl’s eldest daughter Georgiana was raised in Spencer House. Reportedly her mother’s favourite, she was a force of nature in Georgian Society. Hardly lacking in social status at her birth she was catapulted further up the ranks through her marriage to England’s most eligible bachelor, the Duke of Devonshire. Her story is well known mostly through the book and the film starring Keira Knightly. She had big hair, big gambling debts, an affair – and a child – with a Prime Minister (Earl Grey). She also had a controversial and for her, a deeply unsatisfactory marriage after her husband asked his mistress to move in with them. And of course, there was at the time a shocking interest in politics through her active campaigning for her distant cousin Charles James Fox. She also had two very contrasting cousins. Both with links to St James’s. Lady Caroline Lamb (the daughter of Georgiana’ younger sister) married William Lamb who was later to become Prime Minister as Lord Melbourne. So her affair with Lord Byron shook society in 1812. <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Portrait-of-Lady-Caroline-Lamb.jpeg"><img decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-8411 " src="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Portrait-of-Lady-Caroline-Lamb.jpeg" alt="Lady Caroline Lamb" width="257" height="298" /></a>Despite coining the phrase “mad bad and dangerous to know” about England’s rock star poet, she pitched up dressed as a page boy at his flat in St James’s demanding to see him. She was reluctantly let in – a small crowd seeking entertainment had already gathered outside. Inside she found Byron packing his bags to flee to rural Harrow to escape her attentions but he had clearly mis-timed his getaway. Things started to spin out of control and when she was told to leave she grabbed a knife and tried to stab herself. Byron’s friend Hobhouse restrained her and finally got her to go, we can assume to the delight of gawking Londoners on St James’s Street. Four years later she published a Gothic novel, Glenarvon, which went into lurid details about her marriage as well as her affair. She was shunned by many who read the book who’d spotted thinly disguised and unflattering versions of themselves in its pages. Her far lesser-known cousin Sarah Lyttleton was in huge contrast a pillar of society. She lived in a house which now forms part of the discreet and luxurious Stafford Hotel, tucked away in a side street just behind Spencer House. She was the daughter of 2nd Earl Spencer, (Georgiana’s brother) and granddaughter of the first Earl Lucan. As far as we can tell she was the first of the Lucan family to have an interest in nannies, becoming one herself after the death of her husband. Perhaps slightly more of a super-nanny, she was the governess to Queen Victoria’s children. She was reported to be hugely popular with them and was loved by Victoria and Albert. She resigned her post when her youngest daughter died in childbirth to spend more time with her grandchildren. Michael’s next Style and Scandal in St James’s tour is on 8th October, ticket details below: <div id="eventbrite-widget-1" class="wp-block-jetpack-eventbrite wp-block-jetpack-eventbrite--embed"><a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/walking-tour-style-and-scandal-in-st-jamess-tickets-700151149937?aff=oddtdtcreator" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" class="eventbrite__direct-link" >Register on Eventbrite</a></div>The post <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/2023/10/contrasting-cousins/">Contrasting Cousins</a> appeared first on <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live">Footprints of London</a>. ]]></content:encoded> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">8401</post-id> </item> <item> <title>Our Favourite Objects From The Museum of London</title> <link>https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/2022/12/our-favourite-objects-from-the-museum-of-london/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Rob]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 02 Dec 2022 21:08:19 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Museums and Art Galleries]]></category> <category><![CDATA[museum of London]]></category> <category><![CDATA[museums]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Roman London]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/?p=8349</guid> <description><![CDATA[The Museum of London closes its doors this weekend, in preparation for the move to Smithfield where it will reopen as The London Museum. As London guides, the Footprints of London team have been inspired by the Museum of London over the years. We are all a little bit sad about the current site closing,... The post <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/2022/12/our-favourite-objects-from-the-museum-of-london/">Our Favourite Objects From The Museum of London</a> appeared first on <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live">Footprints of London</a>. ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[The <a href="https://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/museum-london" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Museum of London</a> closes its doors this weekend, in preparation for the move to Smithfield where it will reopen as The London Museum. As London guides, the Footprints of London team have been inspired by the Museum of London over the years. We are all a little bit sad about the current site closing, even if we are excited about the possibilities of the new home for the Museum of London. With that in mind we have chosen some of our favourite objects from the Museum of London’s collection. <h4><a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/stephen-benton">Stephen Benton</a> nominated the lifts from Selfridges</h4> <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/selfridges-lift-door.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="alignleft wp-image-8350 size-medium" src="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/selfridges-lift-door-222x300.jpg" alt="The 1920s lift from Selfridges on display at the Museum of London" width="222" height="300" srcset="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/selfridges-lift-door.jpg 222w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/selfridges-lift-door.jpg 699w" sizes="(max-width: 222px) 100vw, 222px" /></a>                 The Selfridges lifts dating from the late 1920s are just stunning. It is hard to believe something this wonderful was actually in a shop taking people up and down to go shopping. It is like being transported to another world. <h4><a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/rob-smith">Rob Smith</a> chose a Roman amphora – a storage jar used for carrying fish sauce</h4> <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/IMG_20221125_124935.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="alignleft wp-image-8351 size-medium" src="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/IMG_20221125_124935-300x222.jpg" alt="Roman Amphora used for storing fish sauce bearing the name of Lucius Tettianus Africanus on display at the Museum of London" width="300" height="222" srcset="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/IMG_20221125_124935.jpg 300w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/IMG_20221125_124935.jpg 1024w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/IMG_20221125_124935.jpg 768w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/IMG_20221125_124935.jpg 1272w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a>             I like that this amphora, used for transporting fish sauce on board a ship bears the inscription “Lucius Tettius Africanus supplies the finest fish sauce from Antibes” Lucius was a Roman from Africa, so it shows people from Africa were in London right from the start of London’s history. And the inscription is also one of London’s first adverts! <h4><a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/oonagh-gay">Oonagh Gay</a> chose the Lyons Corner House</h4> <h4><a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/lyons-corner-house-museum-of-london.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="alignleft wp-image-8353 size-medium" src="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/lyons-corner-house-museum-of-london-225x300.jpg" alt="Lyons Corner House Reconstructed in the Museum of London" width="225" height="300" srcset="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/lyons-corner-house-museum-of-london.jpg 225w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/lyons-corner-house-museum-of-london.jpg 768w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/lyons-corner-house-museum-of-london.jpg 1152w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/lyons-corner-house-museum-of-london.jpg 1512w" sizes="(max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px" /></a></h4>                 London women secured more freedom with the opening of tea shops like Lyon’s. They could network and importantly, use the WC! Public conveniences for women were very scarce at the beginning of the 20th century. Suffragettes used sympathetic teashops to organise meetings and even plan for window, breaking expeditions. Discover more on Oonagh’s Suffragette City tour. <h4><a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/marilyn-greene">Marilyn Greene</a> chose The Bucklersbury Mosaic</h4> <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/bucklersbury-mosaic.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="alignleft wp-image-8355 size-medium" src="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/bucklersbury-mosaic-300x222.jpg" alt="The Bucklersbury Mosaic in the Museum of London" width="300" height="222" srcset="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/bucklersbury-mosaic.jpg 300w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/bucklersbury-mosaic.jpg 1024w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/bucklersbury-mosaic.jpg 768w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/bucklersbury-mosaic.jpg 1287w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a>             Perhaps one of the most striking items in the Museum of London is the Bucklersbury Mosaic. It may well have been one of the first mosaics I ever remember seeing as I came to the Museum of London and a small child when it first opened. And so began a love of mosaics and I have now literally seen thousands all over the Roman world. It’s an amazing survival of a near complete mosaic from the 3rd century A.D. ( 200-250) in three sections. It has dizzying geometry with a floral design within in a knot pattern and surrounded in a star of overlapping squares. The apse like fan shape is linked to the main design by a band swirling acanthus leaves. The mosaic was discovered when laying Queen Victoria Street in 1869 and caused a great sensation in the press with some 50,000 people coming to look at it and has continued to impress ever since. Marilyn has a number of walks which feature Roman remains and discoveries in the City. <h4><a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/jane-parker">Jane Parker</a> chose the sign board worn by Stanley Green</h4> <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/stanley-green-sign.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="alignleft wp-image-8356 size-medium" src="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/stanley-green-sign-200x300.jpg" alt="Sign belonging to Stanley Green in the Museum of London" width="200" height="300" srcset="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/stanley-green-sign.jpg 200w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/stanley-green-sign.jpg 437w" sizes="(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px" /></a>                 My vote goes to the portable signage worn by Stanley Green, The Protein Man, telling us about the lusty evils of some common foodstuffs, which, ironically, took the form of a sandwich board. This quiet and inoffensive preacher travelled in almost every day 1968-93, excluding Sundays, all the way from Northolt, to quietly preach his findings and sell his leaflets. If you didn’t see him, you felt cheated. I’m looking forward to seeing this exhibit reinstated at the new Smithfield galleries. <h4><a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/sean-patterson">Sean Patterson</a> chose The Charles Booth Poverty Map room at the British Museum</h4> <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/charles-booth-map.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="alignleft wp-image-8357 size-medium" src="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/charles-booth-map-298x300.jpg" alt="Charles Booth's map" width="298" height="300" srcset="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/charles-booth-map.jpg 298w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/charles-booth-map.jpg 150w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/charles-booth-map.jpg 80w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/charles-booth-map.jpg 118w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/charles-booth-map.jpg 45w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/charles-booth-map.jpg 546w" sizes="(max-width: 298px) 100vw, 298px" /></a>                 Over a twenty year period from the early 1880’s the successful businessman Charles Booth surveyed the streets of London from a socio-economic perspective. He created a series of maps for books such as ‘The Life and Labour of the People of London’ which used several colours to indicate the degree of poverty or wealth on each street in an area that roughly corresponds to our travel zones 1 and 2. The Museum of London’s Booth exhibition room is clever in covering three sides of the room in his maps, creating a wrap around immersive effect enhanced by a touchscreen with additional information. Visitors are always fascinated, seemingly compelled to look up places they know, or even live, to compare the late 19th Century with now. As someone who conducts a series of guided walks in the areas Booth covers, using extracts from his notes as readings, I very much hope the new museum will continue to hold a torch for this important survey and create another, perhaps even more interactive, exhibition. The post <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/2022/12/our-favourite-objects-from-the-museum-of-london/">Our Favourite Objects From The Museum of London</a> appeared first on <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live">Footprints of London</a>. ]]></content:encoded> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">8349</post-id> </item> <item> <title>Voyage of discovery</title> <link>https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/2022/07/voyage-of-discovery/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Mark Rowland]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Sat, 16 Jul 2022 08:26:32 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Industrial History]]></category> <category><![CDATA[The River Thames]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/?p=8283</guid> <description><![CDATA[We’ve been working with InvestIN for a number of months preparing and planning tours for over 250 students attending their Sustainable Engineering: The Young Engineer Summer Experience 2022 course. As always, we planned for as many eventualities as we could. But every now and again, something wonderfully unexpected (and perfectly timed) happens that illustrates a... The post <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/2022/07/voyage-of-discovery/">Voyage of discovery</a> appeared first on <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live">Footprints of London</a>. ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[ We’ve been working with <a href="https://investin.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">InvestIN</a> for a number of months preparing and planning tours for over 250 students attending their Sustainable Engineering: The Young Engineer Summer Experience 2022 course. As always, we planned for as many eventualities as we could. But every now and again, something wonderfully unexpected (and perfectly timed) happens that illustrates a point you happen to be making. <a href="http://footprintsoflondon.com/guides/neil-sinclair/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Neil Sinclair</a> takes up the story: <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Viking-Venus.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-8294" src="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Viking-Venus-1024x569.jpg" alt="Viking Venus" width="806" height="448" srcset="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Viking-Venus.jpg 1024w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Viking-Venus.jpg 300w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Viking-Venus.jpg 768w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Viking-Venus.jpg 1536w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Viking-Venus.jpg 2048w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Viking-Venus.jpg 1612w" sizes="(max-width: 806px) 100vw, 806px" /></a> As Footprints of London tour guides we’re used to the occasional interruption when in full flow. Emergency vehicle sirens, noisy aircraft and, thankfully very rarely, an inebriated heckler or two. We take them all in our stride. But never before have we been upstaged by a 47,800 ton cruise ship; until last Thursday that is… Footprints of London guides were entertaining and informing engineering students about London’s tidal and storm surge barrier at Woolwich Reach on the River Thames when the 227 metre long Viking Venus glided through the barrier en route to Greenwich at the end of a 14-day cruise from Bergen in Norway. The 29 metre wide, 930 passenger capacity ship cruise ship passed easily through one of the barrier’s main 61 metre wide channels, watched from Barrier Park Gardens, Silvertown, by our engineering students. They had chosen Footprints of London to tailor-make a guided walk around the Royal Victoria Dock and west Silvertown area to learn about the historic role docklands played in London’s economic development and how the moveable flood barrier has protected over 1.3 million Londoners from tidal and storm surge flooding for nearly 40 years. <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Millenium-Mills-1.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-8293" src="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Millenium-Mills-1-300x225.jpg" alt="Millenium Mills" width="300" height="225" srcset="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Millenium-Mills-1.jpg 300w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Millenium-Mills-1.jpg 1024w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Millenium-Mills-1.jpg 768w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Millenium-Mills-1.jpg 1536w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Millenium-Mills-1.jpg 2016w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Millenium-Mills-1.jpg 1612w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a> Footprints guides also showed how, after decades of post industrial decay, the Silvertown area was being regenerated and revitalised culminating in the very recent go ahead for a £3.5bn commercial and housing scheme centred around the iconic art deco Millennium Mills and Pontoon Dock.   The post <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/2022/07/voyage-of-discovery/">Voyage of discovery</a> appeared first on <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live">Footprints of London</a>. ]]></content:encoded> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">8283</post-id> </item> <item> <title>10 Things In London That Have Moved From Their Original Location</title> <link>https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/2022/01/10-things-in-london-that-have-moved-from-their-original-location/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Rob]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Tue, 18 Jan 2022 15:31:26 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Architecture]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Brent]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Camden]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Capital Ring]]></category> <category><![CDATA[City of London]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Hounslow]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Islington]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Merton]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Sport]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Virtual tours]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Walks]]></category> <category><![CDATA[arsenal]]></category> <category><![CDATA[brentford]]></category> <category><![CDATA[buildings]]></category> <category><![CDATA[memorials]]></category> <category><![CDATA[monuments]]></category> <category><![CDATA[obelisk]]></category> <category><![CDATA[st pauls]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://footprintsoflondon.com/?p=8162</guid> <description><![CDATA[London has many old buildings, memorials and institutions, but they are not always in the same place they originally were. The Footprints of London guides choose their favourite things in London that have moved from their original location. 1. St Andrews Church Kingsbury – Rob Smith There are a few buildings in London that have... The post <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/2022/01/10-things-in-london-that-have-moved-from-their-original-location/">10 Things In London That Have Moved From Their Original Location</a> appeared first on <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live">Footprints of London</a>. ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[London has many old buildings, memorials and institutions, but they are not always in the same place they originally were. The Footprints of London guides choose their favourite things in London that have moved from their original location. 1. St Andrews Church Kingsbury – <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/rob-smith">Rob Smith</a> <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/st-andrews-kingsbury.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-8183 size-medium" src="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/st-andrews-kingsbury-219x300.jpg" alt="St Andrews Church Kingsbury" width="219" height="300" srcset="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/st-andrews-kingsbury.jpg 219w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/st-andrews-kingsbury.jpg 631w" sizes="(max-width: 219px) 100vw, 219px" /></a>There are a few buildings in London that have been partially rebuilt in a new location, but rebuilding a whole church with its interior intact is very unusual. That’s the story of St Andrews Church in Kingsbury. The church was first built in Wells Street in Marylebone in 1847, designed by Samuel Daukes. At that time Marylebone’s population was rising and so a new church made sense, but by 1931 the congregation was not large enough to support St Andrews and the similar sized All Saints nearby. One had to go. At first demolition looked likely, but St Andrews had a particularly good interior, with work by some of the best Victorian church architects – Pugin, Butterfield, G E Street and William Burges, and some beautiful stained glass. Too good to break up this collection. Fortunately an opportunity arose in London’s North West Suburbs, where a rapidly rising population in Kingsbury had outgrown the ancient St Andrews church that had been there since 1100. It was proposed to carefully take the Marylebone St Andrews apart, numbering every block, and reassemble it on new concrete foundations next to the old St Andrews. The work carried out by Holland & Hannen and Cubitts took two years, and became a tourist attraction in itself. A newsreel about “The Worlds Largest Jigsaw Puzzle” was made when the work was finally finished in 1933. The two churches sit side by side in Kingsbury. St Andrews has now been in Kingsbury longer than it was in Marylebone. While London’s Victorian churches are perhaps less interesting than the many older churches, St Andrews is worth a visit for its entirely Victorian interior. Moving to Kingsbury saved it from damage in World War Two and modernisation in the 1960s so it’s a good survivor. Rob will be talking about more of <a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/virtual-tour-brents-best-buildings-tickets-239964830267">London Borough of Brents Best Buildings</a> on 21st February 2. St Lawrence & Mary Magdalene Drinking Fountain – <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/jill-finch">Jill Finch</a> <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Picture1.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="wp-image-8172 alignleft" src="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Picture1-199x300.jpg" alt="" width="153" height="230" srcset="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Picture1.jpg 199w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Picture1.jpg 524w" sizes="(max-width: 153px) 100vw, 153px" /></a>The Grade II listed St Lawrence & Mary Magdalene Drinking Fountain (left) looks very much at home opposite St Paul’s Cathedral, but it has a moving story. Despite the Metropolitan Water Act of 1852 outbreaks cholera remained a reality in London and philanthropic bodies started to provide fountains. But this one, designed in an elaborate Gothic style by architect John Robinson (who studied with Pugin) was erected jointly by the City parishes of St Lawrence Jewry and St Mary Magdalene in 1866; and it stood outside the <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Picture2.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-8173" src="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Picture2-190x300.jpg" alt="" width="146" height="230" srcset="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Picture2.jpg 190w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Picture2.jpg 219w" sizes="(max-width: 146px) 100vw, 146px" /></a>Church of St Lawrence Jewry for more than 100 years (right). St Lawrence holds his grid iron on the north side and St Mary Magdalene, with a skull at her, feet. holds a cross and faces south. When Guildhall yard was redeveloped in 1970 the fountain was dismantled into 150 pieces languished in a City vault before moving on to an Epping barn. The decision to put it, like Humpty Dumpty, back together again came in 2010 – as did the decision to relocate it. It’s a rather lovely piece of City ‘Street Furniture’ with a quirky past. A bronze plaque on the east side of the monument tells the story and you can read more about it <a href="http://stlawrencefountain.co.uk">here</a> 3. Arsenal Football Club – <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/jane-parker">Jane Parker</a> The football team we know today as Arsenal FC was first created in 1886, the players being munitions workers from Woolwich Arsenal, in south-east London. At first, the men played on various open grounds in and around the local area until they settled on nearby Plumstead Common. An arson attack by suffragettes in 1913 caused such extensive damage that the club made the decision to cross the Thames to north London, specifically to Highbury where a new stadium was constructed on the lumpy sports fields of St John’s College of Divinity. In <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/arsenal.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-8180 size-medium" src="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/arsenal-300x226.jpg" alt="Arsenal Highbury East Stand" width="300" height="226" srcset="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/arsenal.jpg 300w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/arsenal.jpg 766w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a>1925 Herbert Chapman was installed as manager of the club, implementing many innovative changes that would as good as turn him into the patron saint of Arsenal. One of Chapman’s best achievements was the complete rebuild of the 1913 ground and, in 1932, a multi-tiered Art Deco style terrace was constructed on the west side, followed six years later by an even more impressive East Stand in Avenell Road, shown here. It’s a beautifully-designed building redolent of the Hoover factory in Perivale, west London, but here with cannon motifs and Arsenal red paintwork. During this period the name of the area and the local tube station was changed to echo the team name. In 2006 the club again relocated, this time a stone’s throw away, within the newly-constructed Emirates Stadium in Holloway, N7. The Art Deco terraces at Highbury have subsequently been converted into residential properties overlooking private gardens that replace the football pitch. An almost parallel story, but in the opposite direction, is that of Millwall FC, founded in 1885, just one year before Arsenal, and made up of workers from a canning and preserves factory on The Isle of Dogs on the north of the Thames. Since 1910 Millwall’s home ground has been near New Cross in south London. Find out more about Arsenal’s Highbury ground and buildings on Jane’s ‘<a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/art-deco-arsenal-and-finsbury-park-a-guided-walk-tickets-241120988367">Art Deco Arsenal to Finsbury Park</a>‘ guided walk, one of many Art Deco routes she offers both online and along the streets. 4. Temple Bar – <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/marilyn-greene">Marilyn Greene</a> The grand, architectural gateway that marks the entrance to Paternoster Square, is Temple Bar. However, it only moved to this site in 2004 as the completion of the redevelopment of Paternoster Square. <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Screenshot-2022-01-17-170043.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-8170 size-medium" src="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Screenshot-2022-01-17-170043-300x232.jpg" alt="Temple Bar" width="300" height="232" srcset="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Screenshot-2022-01-17-170043.jpg 300w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Screenshot-2022-01-17-170043.jpg 741w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a>Temple Bar is the last remaining gateway to the City of London and originally marked the entrance of the City of London from Westminster, where the Strand meets Fleet Street. This version was deigned by Sir Christopher Wren in 1672, replacing a wooden structure which had been damaged in the Great Fire of London. A bar was first mentioned in 1293 comprising a chain between two wooden posts, but by 1351 there was a gate with a prison above. It is believed that Sir Christopher Wren built the new temple bar with statues of Charles I and Charles II on the western face and of James I and Anne of Denmark (Charles I mother) on the eastern side. The heads of traitors were displayed here between 1684 and 1746 as a warning to anyone entering the City. During the nineteenth-century, the increase of traffic, meant that the gateway was causing an obstruction and in 1878, it was taken down piece by piece and placed in storage. Ten years later it was acquired by Lady Meaux and reconstructed by Sir Henry Bruce Meux (brewers) for their country estate in Theobalds Park, Hertfordshire– where it gradually fell into disrepair. There it stayed until as a result of a long campaign to return it to the City by the Temple Bar Trust, it was restored and repositioned at the entrance of the Paternoster Square. A monument from 1880 to The Temple Bar by Horace Jones marks the spot in Fleet Street where the original Bar was. You can learn more about its fascinating Story in Marilyn’s virtual Tour <a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/virtual-tour-between-two-bars-strolling-along-fleet-street-tickets-240120124757">Between Two Bars: Strolling along Fleet Street</a> 5. Model Dwellings in Kennington Park – <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/stephen-benton">Stephen Benton</a> <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/model-houses-for-families.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-8164 size-medium" src="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/model-houses-for-families-300x225.jpg" alt="Model Houses in Kennington Park" width="300" height="225" srcset="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/model-houses-for-families.jpg 300w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/model-houses-for-families.jpg 1024w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/model-houses-for-families.jpg 768w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/model-houses-for-families.jpg 1148w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a>Just inside Kennington Park is a building now used as offices but which was built for the Great Exhibition of 1851 as a four flat “model” dwelling by the Society for Improving the Conditions of the Labouring Classes. Prince Albert had considerable interest in improved housing for the poor and was president of the Society. The Society wanted it built on the Exhibition grounds, but the Exhibition commissioners were unwilling to have an exhibit that addressed such social issues. Following Prince Albert’s intervention, it was agreed that the building could be constructed close to the Exhibition grounds, so it was put up at Knightsbridge Barracks. Afterwards it was dismantled and rebuilt in Kennington Park in 1852. You can see this on Stephen Benton’s “<a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/walking-tour-in-vincents-footsteps-from-covent-garden-to-stockwell-tickets-243738457287">In Vincent’s Footsteps</a>” tour which is running on 26 February and 26 March. This follows the route which Vincent Van Gogh might have walked home in 1873/74 when he was working in Covent Garden and living in Stockwell. This tour also includes a visit to the house at Stockwell. 6. The Wrought Iron Gates to St John’s Hampstead Parish Church – <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/marilyn-greene">Marilyn Greene</a> <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Screenshot-2022-01-17-151341.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-8167 size-medium" src="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Screenshot-2022-01-17-151341-300x300.jpg" alt=": Church railings looking to Church Row, Hampstead by Gebruiker Voyageur " width="300" height="300" srcset="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Screenshot-2022-01-17-151341.jpg 300w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Screenshot-2022-01-17-151341.jpg 150w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Screenshot-2022-01-17-151341.jpg 768w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Screenshot-2022-01-17-151341.jpg 80w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Screenshot-2022-01-17-151341.jpg 118w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Screenshot-2022-01-17-151341.jpg 239w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Screenshot-2022-01-17-151341.jpg 45w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Screenshot-2022-01-17-151341.jpg 847w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a>The wrought Iron gates and railings that front the entrance to Hampstead parish church have an interesting history. They were adapted to surround the site of the original Medieval parish church of St Mary’s Hampstead which had been completely rebuilt by John Sanderson and re dedicated to St John on 8th October 1747 by the Bishop of Llandaff. In the same year the estate of James Brydges, the First Duke of Chandos (6 January 1673 – 9 August 1744) was sold off. Hampstead Parish’s Church’s gates came from the demolition sale of the estate of the family seat of Cannons held from 1-16 June. James Brydges estate at Cannons Park had been bought by Sir Thomas Lake in 1604 from the Cannons of St Bartholomew, Smithfield. At the beginning of the 18th Century, Mary Lake married James Brydges who sat in the English and British House of Commons and later the House of Lords. He was subsequently created Earl of Carnarvon and then Duke of Chandos. Chandos made his fortune as Paymaster general to the to the Duke of Marlborough and his estates included 1,492 acres including 481 acres of Cannons Park. George Frederick Handel was music master to him from 1719-20 and Cannons was considered the height of fashion. However, he lost his wealth in the South Sea Bubble of 1720 leaving his son, the second Duke of Chandos, to sell off the estate. The house was demolished, and the cabinet maker William Hallet built a house on its foundations. In 1929 North London Collegiate School bought this house and some of its grounds. 45 acres of Cannons Park is now public, cared for by the London Borough of Harrow. Marilyn’s walks: Constable’s Hampstead, <a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/walking-tour-modernist-hampstead-tickets-247850917767">Modernist Hampstead</a> and Lamplit Hampstead pass these historic railings and gates. Picture Credit: Church railings looking to Church Row, Hampstead by Gebruiker Voyageur Wikimedia Commons 7. The Duke of Wellington Statue, Hyde Park Corner – <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/richard-watkins">Richard Watkins</a> People walking past the equine statue of Wellington at Hyde Park corner today may have little idea of the fuss that was made over the original statue! M<a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Wellington-statue-HPC-1850s-on-Arch.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-8175 size-medium" src="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Wellington-statue-HPC-1850s-on-Arch-300x212.jpg" alt="Statue of Wellington Hyde Park Corner" width="300" height="212" srcset="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Wellington-statue-HPC-1850s-on-Arch.jpg 300w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Wellington-statue-HPC-1850s-on-Arch.jpg 768w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Wellington-statue-HPC-1850s-on-Arch.jpg 903w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a>atthew Coates-Wyatt was commissioned to make a large equine statue of Wellington in the 1830s. Made of bronze from French cannon from Waterloo, weighing 40 tonnes, it took three years to complete. It was unveiled on 28 September 1846, with 29 horses pulling the carriage to Hyde Park Corner and hoisted up on top of the Wellington Arch to massed cheering crowds. The statue was 26 feet long and rose to 90 feet above the ground on the Arch: the largest equine statue in Britain at the time. T<a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Wellington-statue-image-in-Aldreshot.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="wp-image-8176 size-medium alignright" src="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Wellington-statue-image-in-Aldreshot-300x200.jpg" alt="Mathew Wyatts statue re-erected at Round Hill Aldershot in 1885. Weight 40 tons, Height 30ft, Length 26ft. 1769-1852 Educated at Eton and French military academy. Entered British Army 1787. Fought in Falnders, India, Portugal, Spain and France before his famous victory at Waterloo. Thereafter in public life served as a cabinet minister and Prime Minister 1828-1830 as well as Foreign Minister and C-in-C of the Army. Buried in St Pauls Cathedral London." width="300" height="200" srcset="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Wellington-statue-image-in-Aldreshot.jpg 300w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Wellington-statue-image-in-Aldreshot.jpg 750w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a>he statue was lambasted by the press as being an oversized work of hubris. The horse was said to look nothing like Copenhagen Many considered it dangerous and warned people not to pass under the Arch. Even the Queen thought it an eyesore. Eventually in 1883, it was pulled down when the Arch was repositioned to allow better traffic access, and moved to Aldershot barracks, then re-erected at Round Hill there where it still stands today. The statue in Hyde Park Corner today (not on the Arch) is by Edgar Boehm, 1888, and is surrounded by soldiers from English, Scots, Welsh and Irish regiments. Richard talks about the statue on his walk, “The Peacemakers of Belgravia”. 8. Brentford FC – <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/alan-fortune">Alan Fortune</a> From the back streets near Griffin Park to the glitz of Kew Bridge On the hot, tension-filled afternoon of 29 May at Wembley Stadium, the chant of “We’re just a bus stop in Hounslow” rang around the arena as the Bees (Brentford FC), a small club in south west London, defeated Swansea City 2-0 to complete their remarkable eleven year rise from the fourth tier of English football to its pinnacle, the Premier League – the most popular league the world over. Less successful neighbours, Queens Park Rangers, had taunted Brentford fans with the bus stop jibe for several years, usually as a response to being heavily defeated. So Brentford reached the Premier League for the first time since the league’s foundation in 1992, and the top tier of English football for the first time in 74 years! And just one year after leaving their old home. Fr<a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/brentford.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-8178 size-medium" src="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/brentford-291x300.jpg" alt="Brentford Community Stadium" width="291" height="300" srcset="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/brentford.jpg 291w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/brentford.jpg 768w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/brentford.jpg 45w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/brentford.jpg 860w" sizes="(max-width: 291px) 100vw, 291px" /></a>om the old place… The football club was founded in 1889 by members of the town’s rowing club who wanted to pursue a winter sport, and moved in 1905 to Griffin Park, a stadium located in the town’s terraced back streets, and unique in English football for having four pubs immediately outside, one located at each corner of the stadium. To a new home (a club on the rise)… The current owner, Matthew Benham, bought the club in 2012 from the fans’ trust which had rescued the financially troubled club a year or so before. Since then Brentford, stuck in the lower leagues of English football for most of its existence, has gone from strength to strength. In 2020 the club left Griffin Park after 115 years for the newly built state-of-the-art Brentford Community Stadium at Kew Bridge, deep in the heartland of Barbour-jacketed rugby fans. Clever planning allowed it to be erected in the middle of a triangle of railway lines beside Kew Bridge station. The increased capacity and better facilities now allow the club to attract more fans and to hire out the stadium for concerts and other events. For example, London Irish Rugby Club hire the stadium for all their home games. The new stadium is at the heart of plans to regenerate the surrounding area, including new homes and commercial opportunities. Indeed, the rise of the football club matches the ongoing rapid regeneration of the town of Brentford itself. Having a Premier League football club is certainly raising the profile of the area. The first game of the Premier League season saw the Bees start with a bang. An excited, raucous crowd in a full stadium witnessed the 2-0 defeat of north London ‘giants’, Arsenal. ‘Discovering Brentford: Aits, Bees, Butts and Griffins’ is a new walk devised by Alan Fortune (a Brentford FC season ticket holder) and Elaine Wein. Alan will lead the walk for Footprints for the first time in the spring of 2022. 9. St George’s Hospital archway – <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/stephen-benton">Stephen Benton</a> <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/John-Hunter.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-8165 size-medium" src="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/John-Hunter-300x226.jpg" alt="Memorial to John Hunter" width="300" height="226" srcset="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/John-Hunter.jpg 300w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/John-Hunter.jpg 1024w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/John-Hunter.jpg 768w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/John-Hunter.jpg 1143w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a>Rather hidden away on the perimeter road of the modern day St George’s Hospital in Tooting is a stone archway. This archway stood by the original St George’s Hospital at Hyde Park Corner and was moved to Tooting in about 1980 as a reminder of the old hospital. It is topped with a replica of a bust of the renowned 18th Century surgeon John Hunter – the original of which can be found inside the medical school where it sits opposite a display telling the history of the hospital. You can see this on Stephen Benton’s walk “<a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/walking-tour-bec-to-broadway-untold-tales-of-tooting-tickets-239944078197">From Bec to Broadway – untold tales of Tooting</a>” which runs on 11 February at 11am. 10. Obelisk to Robert Wraithman – <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/rob-smith">Rob Smith</a> All our examples have been in more than one location but spare a thought to the Obelisk to Robert Wraithman which is just about to move to its fourth location in London. While it might be one of London’s least remembered memorials, Wraithman was an interesting person, who played a role in the long road to democracy in Britain. Robert Wraithman was born in 1764 the son of an iron worker in Wrexham who wanted his son to move into trade in London. He became an apprentice in a drapers shop, and by the age of 22 had his own shop in Fleet Street. Like<a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/wraithman.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-8185 size-medium" src="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/wraithman-224x300.jpg" alt="Obelisk to Robert Wraithman in Salisbury Square" width="224" height="300" srcset="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/wraithman.jpg 224w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/wraithman.jpg 652w" sizes="(max-width: 224px) 100vw, 224px" /></a> many Londoners, Wraithman felt hardship during the Napoleonic War’s – the high taxes levied to pay for the war hit hard but they also meant customers did not have spare spending money for luxury goods that many London craftsmen produced. Wraithman started to speak out against the war at public meetings. He became involved in politics and in 1800 he published a pamphlet demanding an end to the war, parliamentary reform and a more equal society. These were dangerous views at the time. The government had banned any publications that were seen as critical of the King or the Government and public meetings calling for democracy were forbidden. In 1818 Wraithman was elected MP for the City of London, despite being dismissed as a common tradesman by some of the land owning MPs in Parliament. He also became Lord Mayor of London. While never being the most radical politician he was part of the growing campaign for electoral reform in the early nineteenth century. When he died in 1933 an appeal was made to build a monument outside his shop in Fleet Street near Ludgate Circus. The new memorial stood there until 1951 when it was found to be in the way of traffic going towards Blackfriars Bridge so it was relocated in Bartholemew Close. Sometime around then a plaque was added with the words “The friend of liberty in evil times”. That site was redeveloped in 1971 and there were plans to send it to Wraithman’s home town of Wrexham, but instead it was located in the centre of Salisbury Square just south of Fleet Street. The buildings here are now being demolished, and so the obelisk is on the move again, though not too far – in a new garden that will feature when Salisbury Square is rebuilt over the next few years. Interestingly a portrait of Wraithman was sealed in a bottle and hidden in the base of the obelisk when it was first built. It will be interesting to see if it is still there when the obelisk is moved in 2022. You can hear more about people who campaigned for peace and reform during the Napoleonic War in Rob’s talk <a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/virtual-tour-radical-islington-tickets-190155830207">“Radical Islington”</a> on 7th February The post <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/2022/01/10-things-in-london-that-have-moved-from-their-original-location/">10 Things In London That Have Moved From Their Original Location</a> appeared first on <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live">Footprints of London</a>. ]]></content:encoded> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">8162</post-id> </item> <item> <title>A Dickens of a Podcast</title> <link>https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/2022/01/a-dickens-of-a-podcast/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Rob]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Mon, 10 Jan 2022 18:48:09 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Charles Dickens]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Footprints of London in the Media]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Southwark]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Dan Snow]]></category> <category><![CDATA[History Hit]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Podcast]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://footprintsoflondon.com/?p=8147</guid> <description><![CDATA[David Charnick was recently asked to help historian Dan Snow with an episode of History Hit podcast, based around David’s walk A Dickens of a City. It was on 8 December, a cold but clear Wednesday morning, that I met a genuine giant of history called Dan Snow. I had the honour of giving my... The post <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/2022/01/a-dickens-of-a-podcast/">A Dickens of a Podcast</a> appeared first on <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live">Footprints of London</a>. ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/david-charnick">David Charnick</a> was recently asked to help historian Dan Snow with an episode of History Hit podcast, based around David’s walk <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/walks/?guide=David+Charnick">A Dickens of a City.</a> <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/dan-snow.jpeg"><img decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-8148 size-medium" src="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/dan-snow-241x300.jpeg" alt="David Charnick and Dan Snow" width="241" height="300" srcset="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/dan-snow.jpeg 241w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/dan-snow.jpeg 821w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/dan-snow.jpeg 768w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/dan-snow.jpeg 1232w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/dan-snow.jpeg 1440w" sizes="(max-width: 241px) 100vw, 241px" /></a> It was on 8 December, a cold but clear Wednesday morning, that I met a genuine giant of history called Dan Snow. I had the honour of giving my tour <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/walks/?guide=David+Charnick">A Dickens of a City</a> to Dan and his people, to be recorded for inclusion on his History Hit podcast. Brandishing the recording equipment was Mariana Des Forges, a Senior Producer with History Hit and the overseer of Dan’s podcast. We began in the shadow of the parish church of St George the Martyr on Borough High Street and made our way northwards. As I took the group to the sites on the tour associated with London’s emergence from Georgian times to Victorian, Dan and his team were an ideal audience. It was easy to forget that we were recording the item for transmission. Instead we discussed ideas and enjoyed the visual details around us. Of course, the practicalities of recording intruded from time to time. Thankfully most of the tour’s route is off of the main roads, but there were places where background noise was too intrusive. This meant using our ingenuity to find places where we could get enough ambient sound to maintain the outdoor feeling, but not so much of it that we wouldn’t be heard. <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/2021-12-08-3-crop.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-8149" src="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/2021-12-08-3-crop-300x250.jpg" alt="David Charnick and Dan Snow" width="480" height="400" srcset="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/2021-12-08-3-crop.jpg 300w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/2021-12-08-3-crop.jpg 1024w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/2021-12-08-3-crop.jpg 768w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/2021-12-08-3-crop.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px" /></a>Much of the pleasure of being with Dan and the team was their enthusiasm. The inscribed paving stones on the site of the Marshalsea Prison were popular with them, and Dan picked up on the prison-like feeling you get there on Angel Place with the Brutalist post-war buildings hemming you in on the northern side. And of course the George Inn on Borough High Street was received very well, being decked out in its festive finery for Christmas. As we were chatting, a delivery man obliged us by running his trolley around the inn’s cobbled yard so it could be recorded as a sound effect. Of course there were challenges, most particularly when we got to the north side of Southwark Cathedral. We intended to record by the riverside, but a fire alarm was ripping through the air. As it happened we were able to record in a small corner right by the river. Inevitably, just as we finished we noticed that the alarm had stopped and everyone had gone back inside! Curiously enough, among the people milling around in the cold was a fellow Footprints of London guide, <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/daniella-king">Daniella King</a>. The tour features moments in A Christmas Carol, and given the time of year, this was quite appropriate. We reflected in the narrow Bengal Court on the loneliness of Ebenezer Scrooge in his rooms when Jacob Marley comes to call, in a time before office blocks. In the churchyard of St Peter Cornhill we thought of the unhealthily crowded churchyard where Scrooge is taken by the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. And we finished on a positive note by the statue of George Peabody on Threadneedle Street, an example of the many philanthropists addressing crises in Victorian London, just as the reformed Scrooge goes on to address those wrongs Jacob Marley sees but cannot help to alleviate. My morning with Dan, Mariana and the team was hugely enjoyable. The atmosphere was relaxed and it felt like strolling around with friends, pointing out items of interest such as the timber-framed building next to the Blue Eyed Maid pub on Borough High Street, and the arms of George III on the King’s Arms pub on Newcomen Street. Incidents like a procession of women pushing children in pushchairs through the confines of Bengal Court reminded us of the variety of experience to be had whilst out and about in the City. I had a great time, and I’m very grateful to Dan for agreeing to feature my tour on his podcast: it was added on 23 December. Also I’m exceedingly grateful to Mariana for arranging everything, and to the rest of the team, who were a thoroughly engaged and enthusiastic audience. You can join David on his <a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/walking-tour-a-dickens-of-a-city-tickets-235331190927">Dickens of a City Walk</a> on 29th January. There’s also an online <a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/virtual-tour-a-dickens-of-a-city-tickets-235345764517">Virtual Tour version of A Dickens of a City</a> on 18th January. You can hear History Hit Podcast <a href="https://podfollow.com/dan-snows-history-hit/episode/f85b31136ce8338869481258784d0c17da79ec00/view">here</a>.   The post <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/2022/01/a-dickens-of-a-podcast/">A Dickens of a Podcast</a> appeared first on <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live">Footprints of London</a>. ]]></content:encoded> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">8147</post-id> </item> <item> <title>Our Favourite Richard Rogers Projects</title> <link>https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/2021/12/our-favourite-richard-rogers-projects/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Rob]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Tue, 28 Dec 2021 20:47:46 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Architecture]]></category> <category><![CDATA[City of London]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Newham]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Virtual tours]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Walks]]></category> <category><![CDATA[architects]]></category> <category><![CDATA[architecture]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Lloyds Building]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Richard Rogers]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://footprintsoflondon.com/?p=8129</guid> <description><![CDATA[December saw the sad news of the death of Richard Rogers, one of the architects who have made a major contribution to the look of modern London. We look at three of our favourite Richard Rogers projects. The Lloyds Building – chosen by Marylin Greene One of the things I like most about the City... The post <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/2021/12/our-favourite-richard-rogers-projects/">Our Favourite Richard Rogers Projects</a> appeared first on <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live">Footprints of London</a>. ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[December saw the sad news of the death of Richard Rogers, one of the architects who have made a major contribution to the look of modern London. We look at three of our favourite Richard Rogers projects. The Lloyds Building – chosen by <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/guides/marilyn-greene/">Marylin Greene</a> One of the things I like most about the City of London is the juxtaposition of different periods of architecture. One of the most exciting is the approach from Horace Jones’s iron structured 1880-1 Leadenhall Market into to Lime Street when you exit and are confronted by the dramatic steel “Bowlism” the Lloyds Building. <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lloyds-building-marilyn.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-8132" src="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lloyds-building-marilyn-300x225.jpg" alt="Lloyds building London" width="385" height="289" srcset="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lloyds-building-marilyn.jpg 300w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lloyds-building-marilyn.jpg 1024w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lloyds-building-marilyn.jpg 768w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lloyds-building-marilyn.jpg 1183w" sizes="(max-width: 385px) 100vw, 385px" /></a>This is one of the most radical and architecturally important buildings of the 20th century. Its architecture complements its function as a market rather than a company and the service functions (bowls) of the building such as lifts, ventilation and toilets bulge out in a series of service towers from the main structure. These free up space for the meeting of clients for brokering deals. Richard Rogers previously designed the Pompidou Centre in Paris with Renzo Piano along the same principles. Inside a huge atrium is criss-crossed by souring escalators almost like a Jacob’s ladder to the heavens. Richard Rogers won an international competition launched in 1977 to design a building for Lloyds Insurers to take it into the next century. It was completed in 1986 and in 2011 was awarded Grade I listing status by Historic England; the youngest building at the time to gain such status. Situated where the original East India House was, it largely replace an older Lloyds building deigned by Edwin Cooper from the 1920s when Lloyds moved from offices in the Royal Exchange. The ornate original Cooper frontage is still present in Leadenhall Street but now leads directly into the Rogers building. Founded in 1680s by Edward Lloyd in a coffee shop first in Tower Street followed by Lombard Street, it originally specialising in shipping insurance. The company now negotiates all kinds of insurance from ships, art-work to celebrities body parts! The building features in several of <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/walks/?guide=Marilyn+Greene">Marilyn’s City walks</a>   Tidal Basin Pumping Station – chosen by <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/guides/rob-smith">Rob Smith</a> The Lloyds building made features out of the service functions of the building by putting them on the outside for all to see. Rogers continued that idea in a much more humble structure in East London next to the vast Royal Victoria Dock. <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/rogers-tidal-basin-pumping-station.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-8134" src="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/rogers-tidal-basin-pumping-station-1024x520.jpg" alt="Richard Rogers Tidal Pumping Station" width="394" height="200" srcset="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/rogers-tidal-basin-pumping-station.jpg 1024w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/rogers-tidal-basin-pumping-station.jpg 300w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/rogers-tidal-basin-pumping-station.jpg 768w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/rogers-tidal-basin-pumping-station.jpg 1536w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/rogers-tidal-basin-pumping-station.jpg 1738w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/rogers-tidal-basin-pumping-station.jpg 1612w" sizes="(max-width: 394px) 100vw, 394px" /></a>The Tidal Basin Pumping Station is designed to channel surface water into the nearby River Thames, but rather than make a discreet anonymous building Rogers designed a colourful eye catching structure. It makes a feature out of the pumping equipment using blue green and yellow to turn it into a local landmark visible from the Docklands Light Railway. It’s ironic that this humble water pumping station is more eye catching than many of the newer hotels and housing blocks that are springing up in the area. When the Royal Victoria Dock was built in 1850 it was built on marshy ground – an achievement in itself, but when the area started to be redeveloped in the 1980s draining the marshy land was still an issue. Rogers pumping station fits in to the tradition of the great Victorian engineering projects, like Bazalgette’s sewage pumping stations, where infrastructure buildings were seen as a thing of pride, and not to be hidden away. Rob will be talking about the Pumping Station in his <a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/virtual-tour-newhams-best-buildings-tickets-234354700217">Virtual Tour – Newham’s Best Buildings</a>   Air Vents – chosen by <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/guides/jane-parker">Jane Parker</a> <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/RRogers_JAP_88WoodSt.png"><img decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-8135" src="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/RRogers_JAP_88WoodSt.png" alt="Air vents Wood Street Richard Rogers (c) Jane Parker" width="405" height="306" srcset="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/RRogers_JAP_88WoodSt.png 703w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/RRogers_JAP_88WoodSt.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 405px) 100vw, 405px" /></a>I really like the colourful air vents that can be found adjacent to most of Richard Rogers’ marvellously innovative buildings where functionality doubles as street sculpture with personality. These were first seen, I think, at The Pompidou Centre in Paris in the 1970s. They often look like periscopes from a Teletubbies-style landscape. The various groups of different sized red and blue vents along London Wall at 88 Wood Street, always bring a smile to my face, resembling meerkats keeping watch in all directions above an underground den. Jane leads <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/walks/?guide=Jane+Parker">walking and virtual tours</a> featuring London Buildings, especially ones on <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/walks/?guide=Jane+Parker">Art Deco London</a> The post <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/2021/12/our-favourite-richard-rogers-projects/">Our Favourite Richard Rogers Projects</a> appeared first on <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live">Footprints of London</a>. ]]></content:encoded> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">8129</post-id> </item> <item> <title>Exports and extinguishers</title> <link>https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/2021/09/exports-and-extinguishers/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Mark Rowland]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Wed, 29 Sep 2021 20:13:17 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Literary Footprints]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Broadway Buildings]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Casino Royale]]></category> <category><![CDATA[James Bond]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Literary Footprints 2021]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Literary London]]></category> <category><![CDATA[London literary festival]]></category> <category><![CDATA[London literary tours]]></category> <category><![CDATA[London literary virtual tours]]></category> <category><![CDATA[London literary walks]]></category> <category><![CDATA[London spy stories locations]]></category> <category><![CDATA[London spy stories tour]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://footprintsoflondon.com/?p=8074</guid> <description><![CDATA[With Literary Footprints 2021 nearly upon us, David Charnick tells us about a London building with a remarkable heritage in both the factual and fictional London spy scene. You can hear more on Dave’s tour Secret Writing which he is running as part of our October literary festival, as a walking tour on Saturday 2nd... The post <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/2021/09/exports-and-extinguishers/">Exports and extinguishers</a> appeared first on <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live">Footprints of London</a>. ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[With <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/literaryfestival/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Literary Footprints 2021</a> nearly upon us, <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/guides/david-charnick/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">David Charnick</a> tells us about a London building with a remarkable heritage in both the factual and fictional London spy scene. You can hear more on Dave’s tour Secret Writing which he is running as part of our October literary festival, as a walking tour on Saturday 2nd October and the virtual version on Monday 11th October (both start at 11.00 am). Full details are on <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/walks/?guide=David+Charnick" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dave’s tours page</a>. You can find the full Literary Footprints 2021 tours schedule <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/literaryfestival/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>. <img decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-5663" src="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Footprints-of-London-LitFest-wordcloud-300x199.jpg" alt="Footprints of London Literary Festival" width="300" height="199" srcset="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Footprints-of-London-LitFest-wordcloud.jpg 300w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Footprints-of-London-LitFest-wordcloud.jpg 768w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Footprints-of-London-LitFest-wordcloud.jpg 1024w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Footprints-of-London-LitFest-wordcloud.jpg 1078w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /> <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Casino-Royale.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-8076" src="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Casino-Royale.jpg" alt="Casino Royale" width="135" height="204" /></a>Casino Royale, the first James Bond novel, opens with Bond leaving the eponymous Casino in the early hours. He is there as a result of a meeting with M, his superior officer, in his office “on the top floor of the gloomy building overlooking Regent’s Park“. This is the headquarters of the Secret Service, as conjured up by Bond’s creator Ian Fleming and while it may be fictional, it is based on a real building. The real one is also tall, and it also overlooks a park, although not Regent’s Park. Broadway Buildings, sited on a street called Broadway, overlooks St James’s Park. Facing the north side of St James’s Park underground station, Broadway Buildings was from 1926 to 1964 the headquarters of SIS, the Secret Intelligence Service, known at the time as MI1(c). Since World War Two it’s been known more familiarly as MI6. <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Broadway-Buildings.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-8075 size-medium" src="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Broadway-Buildings-300x168.jpg" alt="Broadway Buildings" width="300" height="168" srcset="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Broadway-Buildings.jpg 300w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Broadway-Buildings.jpg 1024w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Broadway-Buildings.jpg 768w, https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Broadway-Buildings.jpg 1500w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a>Broadway Buildings opened in 1924 as an office block. At that time the SIS was based in Holland Park to save money in the wake of WW1 budgetary cuts. (Holland Park has come up in the world since then!) But Rear Admiral Hugh Sinclair, who became head of SIS in 1923, decided that his people needed to be closer to the centre of operations. It’s a tall building, overlooking a park, and had a chief designated by a single letter – although the head of MI6 is known not as M, but as C. But was it a gloomy building? To answer this, let’s turn to the words of arch-traitor Kim Philby, one of the notorious Cambridge Spies. Philby had no love for Broadway Buildings. In his autobiography My Silent War, he describes it as ‘a dingy building, a warren of wooden partitions and frosted-glass windows’. However, he acknowledges the benefits of being there, at the nerve-centre of intelligence. When SIS moved into Broadway Buildings it did so under the cover name of ‘Minimax Fire Extinguishers’. This use of a fictional company to provide cover began with the original C, Mansfield Smith-Cumming, who started operations in 1909 under the cover ‘Messrs Rasen, Falcon Ltd, Shippers and Exporters’. As a result, he is credited as the originator of the classic ‘import and export’ cover. Similarly, the cover for Fleming’s Secret Service is ‘Universal Exports’. There is one other connection between Broadway Buildings and James Bond. MI6 moved out of Broadway Buildings in 1964, to go south of the river to Century House. It was in 1964 that Ian Fleming died. John le Carré, the other twentieth-century giant of espionage fiction, created The Circus, a fictional version of MI6 located off of Cambridge Circus near Leicester Square. But Mick Herron, creator of the Slough House spy novels, follows Fleming by locating a Secret Service HQ at Regent’s Park. Ironically – or deliberately – it isn’t that of MI6: it’s the headquarters of the Security Service, also known as MI5!   The post <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/2021/09/exports-and-extinguishers/">Exports and extinguishers</a> appeared first on <a href="https://footprintsoflondon.com/live">Footprints of London</a>. ]]></content:encoded> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">8074</post-id> </item> </channel> </rss>