Whatever time of day you emerge from Angel tube station in Islington, the surrounding streets always seem hectic. People rush from cafe to cafe to grab their morning coffee and then later on move from bar to bar as they unwind after work. This area – like many […]
Barbican is like Marmite – you either love the area on the fringes of the City of London or you hate it. There is no middle ground. For some, it is one big brutal concrete monstrosity that is a blot on the landscape and should never have been […]
Load up the website of the Worshipful Company of Cutlers and look at the organisation’s coat of arms. Flanking a red painted shield with three pairs of crossed swords, the eye is drawn to two white elephants standing on their back legs and with their trunks raised. The […]
The history books have a very precise date for the end of Roman Britain. In 410AD the superpower refused a request from the British for military aid and Britain ceased to be a Roman province. Within a generation Londinium – today the vast area that is the City […]
Out of the dust, a new European headquarters for media company Bloomberg is emerging near Bank station. The new building will consist of two bronze-and-stone towers, connected by sky-bridges, and as well as office space will contain restaurants and shops. Bloomberg says it will become a “dining and […]
Roman London in the second century AD would have been an impressive place to visit. Spanning both sides of the Thames, it was by then the largest city in Britain – a cosmopolitan settlement that was full of hustle and bustle. The skyline was dominated by the forum-basilica, […]
The ‘Square Mile’ has seen its fair share of fires since a settlement was first founded here by the Romans 2,000 years ago. But two big events dominate in the history books – the Great Fire of 1666, which left four-fifths of the City in ruins, and incendiary […]
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 […]
Even when temperatures plummet the Thames does not completely freeze over these days, as it did in the past during the so-called “little ice age”. Demolishing the old London Bridge in 1831 improved the flow of the river and following the construction of its replacement structure, with wider […]
After a short break, Pastinthepresent.net returns. In my last post I was in Israel so, now back in London, it’s appropriate that I kick things off again today by tracing Jewish heritage across the capital. I’ve had a fascinating day visiting the oldest surviving synagogue in Europe, exploring […]
Past In The Present 