Unbuilt London: Brutalist Whitehall

Whitehall, the heart of government is lined mostly with grand Victorian and Edwardian buildings, but it nearly looked like the Southbank – lots of concrete.

London Public Art: Queen Anne in Queen Anne’s Gate

A posh street in Westminster has a statue of Queen Anne resting against the side wall of one of the posh houses.

A memorial to the legend of Vincent Square

Two hundred years ago a huge plot of land was secured as an open park, by means of simply ploughing a deep ditch all around it.

London’s Alleys: Long’s Court, WC2

This is one of those alleys that exist today purely to give access to back entrances and store rubbish. Yet it was once lined with houses and offices, and a very famous occupant.

Westminster tube station turned into a jungle

Only for a two days, and it was an advertising takeover stunt, but Westminster tube station temporarily became Westminster Jungle station.

London’s Alleys: Whitcomb Court, WC2

This is one of those dirty alleys that that overflows with rubbish and mess, but it also has the moon in the midst of its grime and clutter.

Restoring St. Margaret Church’s 300 year old clock

Next to mighty Westminster Abbey is the rather smaller St. Margaret’s Church, and at the moment, the Tudor era tower is covered in scaffolding.

London’s Alleys: Cockpit Steps, SW1

Named after an inn and a dark period of history, this rather posh passage and charming steps can be found just around the corner from Parliament.

The lost history of a mosaic in Victoria

A small side street near Victoria contains a mosaic that people will tell you is an old advert for the Victor Talking Machine Company. They are wrong.

Pink Floyd re-release rare London Underground music video

In 1968, Pink Floyd took a trip on the London Underground, to film a video for their second album and they’ve just released the rarely seen video once more.

Westminster Council plans to pedestrianise part of Strand

Having only just cancelled plans to pedestrianize Oxford Street, Westminster Council has now announced plans to pedestrianize part of Strand instead.

London’s Alleys: Lewisham Street, SW1H

This is a fairly difficult to trace alley that seems to be ancient heritage, but is probably quite modern.

London’s Pocket Parks: Ebury Square Gardens, SW1

Ebury Square takes its name from Ebury Farm, which used to be where Victoria Coach Station is today.

Abseilers installing art inside Westminster tube station

Last week as London slept, abseilers were seen working their way around the cavernous box that is the Westminster tube station.

Overnight rehearsal of the State Opening of Parliament

Had you been in Westminster at 4am this morning, a most unusual sight would have greeted you. Not the occasional night bus, delivery truck or worker, but the whole area was sealed off and given over to the military.

Unbuilt London: The Victorian proposal for a railway to Westminster Abbey

Fairly recently, a chap called Moffat wrote a story about an underground railway in Westminster — to considerable fury of tube geeks who spent an inordinate time chewing over holes in the plot.

A small garden of calm moments from Oxford Street

On the 9th November 1889, a new public garden was opened just to the south of Oxford Street as part of the clearance of slums and their replacement with social housing for the working classes.

200th anniversary of London’s public gas supply

Two hundred years ago the first public gas supply was built in London, initially to light the streets, but also to supply some local houses.

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