Come share in London’s history…
A foiled dastardly deed!
On the evening of 23rd February 1820, a group of radicals met secretly in this house on Cato Street, just off the Edgware Road, with just one thing on their mind. To murder the entire British cabinet. This was not the more famous Guy Fawkes Gunpowder Plot of 1605...
London Hotel’s sobering secret
The Corinthia hotel located in Whitehall Place is undoubtedly one of London’s premier hotels. A hotel has stood here since 1885 when it originally opened as the Metropole Hotel. But it is sobering to consider that during the building’s illustrious career as a hotel,...
Julius Caesar – an early visitor
Funny to think that Julius Caesar, one of the world’s most famous historical characters, came to London long ago. He arrived in 55bc, though admittedly there wouldn’t been much of a reception for him, seeing as London didn’t exist at that time. Caesar had tried his...
Charles I statue
Did you know the small traffic island in front of Trafalgar Square is called Charles I Island? No, nor did I until I did the Knowledge, the exhausting test to become a London cabbie. But that’s not the secret thing here. Let me try this one on you. Did you know the...
The secret behind the lions
Everyone’s familiar with the large four bronze Lions at the base of Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square. They are an iconic and much-loved London sight. Their job is to guard the statue of Admiral Nelson who gave his life to win the battle of Trafalgar. Close up they...
Not a Nazi dog
When you’re doing The Knowledge, the world famous but fiendishly difficult test to become a London black cab driver, you’re presented with a series of tough challenges. Firstly, you have to learn the name of thousands of roads, how they fit in to London’s road system,...
Charles de Gaulle
Statues of French Military leaders (and French politicians in general) are in pretty short supply in London based on the fact that we spent the best part of the past 900 years either at war, or at least in some sort of conflict, with them. However, our traditional foe...
Who’s that guy up there?
“So, who’s this guy up there” an American visitor once asked me looking up at the imposing statue on Waterloo Place. “He must have been pretty successful right, to be on top of such a tall column.” Well actually no. The story goes that it was just the opposite. The...
Psst…want to know a secret?
Psst. Want to know a secret? There’s something not quite right about this statue of Edward VII. Edward VII was the eldest son and heir to Queen Victoria. He was King from November 1901 until his death in 1910, just under ten years, a comparatively short reign. That’s...