Belsize House was, according to historical accounts, a notorious entertainment venue. Just two years after it opened as a pleasure garden in what is now Belsize Park, a 1722 satirical ballad described the “scandalous, Lew’d House” where in amongst rioting and gaming visitors could eat, drink and dance, […]
Take a trip to the World’s End pub on a Saturday night and the place is often packed. It’s a sprawling, barn-like drinking establishment, with a vast island bar in the main room, yet it can still be hard to find a spot to stand as locals and […]
Artists, poets, authors and other famous people have long been attracted to live in Highgate, one of north London’s hilltop villages. The City and other parts of central London are easily reachable, yet – thanks to the fact that it borders onto Hampstead Heath and other open spaces […]
If a proposed scheme had gone the way a group of businessmen had wanted 170 years ago, there wouldn’t be a Regent’s Canal today. The eight and a half mile stretch of water between Little Venice, near Paddington, and Limehouse Basin would have been drained and converted to […]
London was once surrounded by the vast palaces and estates of senior clergymen from across Britain. On land now lying in Zone Two and built up with homes, shops and offices, bishops could until enjoy all the pleasures of being in the countryside whilst having an important base […]
On a weekday lunchtime the brightly coloured Central Saint Giles, to the east of Oxford Street and Tottenham Court Road, is buzzing with activity. Workers pour out of their offices into the shops and restaurants set around a covered courtyard forming the heart of this £450 million development. […]
The re-development of Euston station is back on the agenda after George Osborne declared that the Sixties eyesore should be pulled down and rebuilt. Brand-new offices, apartments and a shopping centre could form part of the new plan, completed in time for arrival of High Speed 2. “I’m […]
Behind the hustle and bustle of King’s Cross station, a huge swathe of waste land is being transformed. Developers are turning what was once a dirty, industrial area into a new district that will house 6,000 residents and 30,000 office workers. At the heart of King’s Cross Central, […]
Past In The Present 