Thanks to everyone that supported Pastinthepresent.net during 2014. Over the past 12 months I’ve had great fun uncovering history in Britain and beyond – and I’ve really enjoyed sharing my adventures with you on these pages. Given that I live and work in London, most of my blogs […]
Taking stock of the surroundings after getting off the bus at Croydon Airport, there are the familiar signs that suggest you have arrived at a passenger terminal. Look one way and there’s a Premier Inn, while the other a Hilton – the places that people often stay the […]
For the staff and pupils of a historic Croydon school there has been plenty to celebrate this year. Over the course of 2014, Archbishop Tenison – named after founder the Archbishop of Canterbury – has been marking the tricentenary of its establishment for the teaching “ten poor boys […]
It is somewhat ironic that one of the first things I do after getting off the train at Letchworth Garden City – a pioneering Hertfordshire town founded in 1903 without any pubs serving beer – is stock up on alcohol. At a Sainsbury’s superstore on the edge of […]
On Guildford’s bustling high street the build up to Christmas is in full swing. The decorations are up, the Salvation Army band is playing and the shops are packed. Here in commuter belt land, the tills are ringing like there is no tomorrow. But a mere 20 minutes […]
At kitchen tables and offices across Britain right now many are likely to be engaged in an annual festive conversation: “How many Christmas cards should we send and who should they go to? That’s if they are to send any printed cards at all……” In an age where […]
With discarded pizza boxes, overflowing industrialised-sized wheelie bins and a strong smell of vomit, the shabby back alleys and open air car parks of Manchester hardly portray the city in the best light. As you would expect, the Christmas market stalls and high street stores are doing a […]
What with centenary commemorations marking the beginning of the First World War in 1914 and it being 25 years since the Berlin Wall fell, we are at risk of becoming exhausted from historical anniversaries this year. But as a proud Bristolian now living in exile in London, I […]
“The commerce of Liverpool extends to every port of importance in every quarter of the world,” journalist Thomas Baines wrote in 1852. “In this respect it far surpasses the commerce of any city of which we have a record from past times, such as Tyre, Venice, Genoa, Amsterdam, […]
Boarded up and becoming derelict, the Royal Victoria Pavilion is an eye sore in a prominent spot on Ramsgate’s seafront. The distinctive white building, which opened in 1906 and was popular with daytrippers from London in the first half of the century, has stood empty since 2008. Today, […]
Past In The Present 