This week marks the 150th anniversary of Charles Dickens’ death. The celebrated author shares his London secrets with me and tells me how Queen Victoria is a big fan of his acting. Dick – do you mind if I call you Dick? I do. But you may call me Boz. What is your go-to pub?
Joseph Mallord William Turner was born, bred and died in London and was a Londoner through and through. During his lifetime he was one of the most celebrated figures in the country, the art critic John Ruskin referring to him as the “father of modern art.” Let’s follow Turner in London, meet some of the
The Savoy Hotel in London is the hostess with the mostest, London’s grande dame who has partied through two world wars and slept with movie stars, politicians and royalty. If her walls could talk, they would whisper about the great and the godly and the bold and the beautiful that graced her foyer. The Savoy
Nancy Mitford was born in London and spent many years in the capital, writing her bestseller The Pursuit of Love here. In advance of the much-anticipated release of the BBC series, let’s discover Nancy Mitford’s London and see she was born and where she lived, partied and romanced. Nancy Mitford Nancy was the eldest of
Oh, give me a good book about London history any day of the week. There’s nothing like it for peeling back the layers of the city and for taking a jaunt into London’s past sights, smells and sounds. The “magic lantern” has always fascinated writers, readers and historians, and for those of us who like
Chances are, you’ve never heard of the Berners Street Hoax, one of the world’s biggest pranks and one which brought Georgian London to a virtual standstill. Concocted by Theodore Hook who was a celebrity of the time, it was designed to show that any old London house could become the most talked-about address in town
Most people think the Savoy Hotel was built by a hotelier. It wasn’t. Richard D’Oyly Carte was a theatre impresario who needed a place for his opera-going audience to sleep. That distinction matters — because it explains everything about the man, his money, and the monument he left in central London. D’Oyly Carte died in
You know the bear. But do you know the street where his creator sat down and wrote the first line? Most literary tours skip the London part entirely — they jump straight to Ashdown Forest in Sussex. That misses the point. A.A. Milne wrote Winnie-the-Pooh in a house on Mallord Street, Chelsea, while his son
Beau Brummell didn’t invent the suit. He made it a weapon. In the 1810s, this tailor’s son talked his way into the Prince Regent’s inner circle, then built a code of dress so sharp it still dictates how men wear trousers today. This walking route hits the five streets where Brummell lived, dressed, gambled, and