Quirky Topics

The great thing about London, and like most cities – is that it’s not just the ‘big’ stuff in terms of history, that is interesting – there are so many ‘quirky’ landmarks scattered across the metropolis, that people probably take no notice of, or don’t even know are there – and last week I stumbled ...Read more...

My entry published onto the London Shoes (londonshoes.blog) website this week, involved me adopting a slightly different approach, in terms of the subject matter – as the topic focusses on a very old children’s ‘nursery rhyme’, that has been sung by children in London, and no doubt elsewhere, for hundreds of years……. namely “Oranges & ...Read more...

       It made such a pleasant change to conduct this week’s blog for the London Shoes website, in warm sunny weather, rather than the grey, cold and wet backdrop I’ve contended with throughout the previous months. The subject matter for this week’s little jaunt out to the ‘smoke’ focussed on a tiny little ...Read more...

For my venture out into London’s beautiful city this week – my ‘London Shoes’ decided to take a ‘festive’ route through the West End’s busy shopping streets of Oxford Street and Regent Street, for the specific purpose of viewing and enjoying all the seasonal ‘Christmas Lights’ of London Now – for me personally, at the ...Read more...

  My London Shoes ‘culture’ gig this week got me researching and exploring the history behind what was, (and to some extent still is -as it is still emblazoned on many items of souvenir merchandising) – a major London related cultural visual icon, that is instantly recognisable across the globe – and that is the ...Read more...

For my ‘culture’ gig this week my London Shoes took me to Walthamstow “E17” (the post code-not the boy band) – an area of London that I personally had the pleasure of working in during the early 1980’s and again (as a manager) in the mid 1990’s. A short 15min train journey north from the ...Read more...

  For my culture gig this week, my London Shoes led me to explore London’s historic lost ‘Cock Fighting Pits’. The origins of this barbaric, cruel sport, dates back from across the globe, some 6000 years – but it wasn’t until the Tudor period that it came to prominence in the UK and in particular ...Read more...

  My ‘culture’ gig for this week was an extremely unusual one, which was to see if I could locate, what have legendary become known as the “7 Noses of Soho”!!!! In 1997 an artist by the name of ‘Rick Buckley’ so aggrieved at the continuous implementation of CCTV surveillance cameras on almost every street ...Read more...

  With all the recent media coverage concerning ‘Uber’ and its regulator ‘Transport for London’ (TfL) refusal to renew their operating licence in London , I thought that I would focus my ‘culture’ day out this week, on one particular aspect of one of the most iconic and globally recognised of London’s institutions…….the “Black Cab” ...Read more...

For my ‘culture’ day out last week, I had the honour of being accompanied by Peter – a dear old mate of mine, who I worked with at Barclays in Wardour Street, Soho W1 back in the mid 1970’s (I worked there from the age of 17 to 21 during the years 1974 to 78). ...Read more...