History - Archive Articles

Victorian London’s double-decked cable cars

Plans for a cable car in London are as old as Victorian inventiveness -- for example, this double-decker cable car which would have run from Monument in the City over to Hyde Park Corner.

200 years ago — the London Beer Flood

200 years ago a tsunami wave roared down several streets in central London laying waste to the area and drowning a number of people. The tsunami wave was made of beer.

Wartime bunker under Eltham Palace to be restored

As part of a range of upgrades just announced for the art-deco Eltham Palace, the WW2 bunker underneath the building is to be restored to its wartime appearance.

130th anniversary of the closure of Tower of London tube station

On this day, 130 years ago, the Tower of London station on the London Underground closed. No, not the one we know today, nor that other one you are thinking of. It's in fact the original of the three that closed.

From Beef Tea to Battleships

The Guildhall Library in the city has put on a small display based on the personal letters and experiences of those who served during World War One.

Visit the Museum of Methodism

In 1778, a new chapel opened on the edges of the City of London for the new Christian movement known as the Methodists, and it's still there, just down the road from Old Street tube station, with a museum in its basement.

The little noticed frieze on Temple Bar Monument

Where once a mighty stone gate stood baring the entrance to the City of London now stands a tall ornate monument.

World’s oldest clock museum to move home

The world's oldest clock museum has closed to the public -- because it is about to move home.

Did you visit the Temple of Mithras in 1954?

This September marks sixty years since the discovery of the Roman Temple of Mithras under a building site near to Mansion House in the City of London.

Brixton’s Electric Avenue to glow again

The first shopping street in the UK to be lit by electricity is to get a makeover after the Heritage Lottery Fund allocated a £2.6 million grant to refurbish buildings along the street.

Brunels’s original rail infrastructure excavated near Paddington Station

Remains of structures built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel for his Great Western Railway have been unearthed near Paddington in west London.

Inside the derelict Crystal Palace subway

Just under 150 years ago, a subway was built linking a railway station to a shopping arcade, but was closed 60 years ago, and has been largely sealed up ever since. Which is a pity as it is a true marvel of Victorian brickwork.

100th anniversary of THAT famous poster

Today marks the 100th anniversary of the publishing of one of the most famous posters from WW1 -- the one of Lord Kitchener pointing a finger at the viewer telling them that their country needs them.

Prefab Museum saved till 2017

A temporary museum that chronicles the soon to be terminated permanence of a temporary housing estate has itself started to ape its subjects by becoming increasingly permanent itself.

150th anniversary of the Thames Valley Railway

Just under 150 years ago, a new railway line opened linking Shepperton to Twickenham. As with so many grand railway schemes, grand plans to expand it further came to nothing, but 150 years later, that little bit of railway is still there, and still very much in use.

The Illustrated London News goes online

The Illustrated London News -- that venerable newspaper that is still technically publishing, albeit very rarely -- has published something.

People abseiling down Big Ben’s clock face

Something to look out for -- as people will be abseiling down Big Ben's clock face next week

For 100 years, it’s been a Long Way to Tipperary

On this day, 100 years ago was the first reported observation of soldiers singing the music hall song, It's a Long, Long Way to Tipperary, which was to become one of the most famous songs of World War 1.

TV show about London Underground’s flood barriers

Next week, the BBC's Coast TV programme will have a segment about the flood barriers that were installed on the London Underground at the start of WW2.

Visit a museum in the middle of an MoD firing range

A hundred years ago, a man died, and in doing so set in chain a series of events that was to see a large island off the coast of Essex sealed off from the general public, and it remains so to this very day.

A mighty memorial to the dead of WW1 in Canary Wharf

Somewhat hidden at the moment, around the back next to a fire exit, can be found a mighty memorial to those who died during the two great wars of the last century.

Remembrance Wreaths being lain at London Transport locations today

If you travel around London today, keep an eye out for remembrance wreaths laid at key transport locations -- in memory of transport staff who died in WW1.

Queen Anne is Dead

Early this morning, 300 years ago, Queen Anne died, and set in place the events that would lead to the Georgian era of Monarchs.

This Friday — visit the Clown’s Museum in Dalston

For a good many years, once a month, the clowns come out to play, but not any more. A church they played in has turned into a school, so the clowns are in a side room.