Parts of the City of London can resemble a ghost town at the weekend when offices – along with many pubs and shops – are closed. While a number of new residential developments have sprung up in recent years, the square mile is largely regarded a business district […]
Hackney is not a place that most people would think of heading if they were on the search for Tudor country mansions. But jump off the Overground train at Hackney Central station and history enthusiasts won’t be disappointed. After just a 10 minute walk you arrive at Sutton […]
Jack the Ripper stares you in the face as you emerge from Tower Hill Underground station. He’s not there in person of course, but in the form of advertising boards for nightly tours that charge around the East End sites associated with the infamous murderer and his victims. […]
Sunday morning and the towpath of the Regent’s Canal was a hectic place to be. Joggers – headphones plugged in and sweating from the heat of the sun – and cyclists fought for their share of the narrow space between the water’s edge and towering brick-built buildings. Things […]
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 […]
For many South Africans, Durban is a popular place to go on holiday in the summer months – particularly those who live in Johannesburg and crave a break by the coast. The beaches and marinas brim with activity. But despite the enjoyment that many visitors have, it is […]
Guest blog by Oliver Clark Thousands of tourists flock to Rorke’s Drift every year inspired by the classic 1960s film Zulu which has made this one of the most famous battles in British history, but it is difficult not to feel a little underwhelmed when you first arrive. […]
“Another tough day in Africa,” said our host, as we charged our glasses on the terrace before a lavish dinner. There may have just been an immense downpour of rain, combined with thunder and lighting, but fellow guests didn’t seem deterred and – in the dry under the […]
“We just can’t go on in this way,” said South Africa’s President De Klerk three decades ago as the toils apartheid were bringing his country to its knees. After years of brutally segregating black and white people, De Klerk announced in 1990 that the system would be abandoned […]
Just a short distance from the hustle and bustle of Hillbrow – perhaps Johannesburg’s most notorious, crime-ridden central city suburb – there is an air of calm on Constitutional Hill. So-called because the South Africa Constitutional Court has been here since 2003, visitors are greeted by a smart […]
Past In The Present 