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  • Zadok The Priest: A Hymn Sung At Every Coronation in Westminster Abbey Since 1727

    George Frideric Handel’s Zadok the Priest has been sung at every coronation since that of King George the Second in 1727. The coronation ceremony takes place at Westminster Abbey when the incoming monarch is crowned by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the head of the Church of England. Westminster Abbey is the royal church of the United Kingdom and stands near to the Houses of Parliament.

  • 8 Christmas Trees in London for the 2023 Festive Season

    Like every major city in the Western world, London celebrates Christmas. For the visitor the most obvious sign of this are elaborate Christmas trees around the capital. Here are a few of them:

  • Best Places To See London From Above

    A viewing gallery has opened on top of the new skyscraper at 22 Bishopsgate.  Visitors to London can get views of the City without paying if they find the London Eye or The Shard too expensive. It joins the Sky Garden on top of the Walkie-Talkie building as a viewing platform which is accessible to the general public and free of charge. Café/bars serving hot and cold drinks can be found in both locations, but visitors are under no obligation to buy anything. Both viewing platforms have free toilet facilities.

  • Borough Market in London: A Culinary Oasis in the Heart of Southwark near London Bridge

    London has many street markets that visitors can visit. Smithfield Meat Market and Billingsgate Fish Market are probably the most famous wholesale markets in the capital, but both are facing great challenges. Despite operating for centuries, they face an uncertain future, with supermarkets preferring to deal directly with their suppliers these days.

  • The Extraordinary Life of Margaret Ann Bulkley aka Dr James Barry

    I recently visited The National Portrait Gallery, which re-opened in June 2023 to much fanfare – and it is duly deserved. It was apparent whilst viewing the rooms that more women across the centuries were featured. Before the gallery’s closing in 2020 for refurbishment, exhibits and images of women were approximately 20% of the collection; now, it is 48%!

  • London Millennium Footbridge, also known as The Wibbly Wobbly Bridge

    Officially known as the London Millennium Footbridge, this iconic pedestrian bridge gracefully spans the River Thames, connecting the Tate Modern Art Gallery to St. Paul’s Cathedral, two of London’s most recognizable landmarks. But to many Londoners, this bridge has another, more affectionate name – “The Wibbly Wobbly Bridge.” This moniker hints at the bridge’s unique history, a tale of design, engineering, and the resilience of a city that embraces its quirks.

Blog Posts

Guide London A to Z: Letter X

Guide London A – Z: Letter X London Landmarks And Tourist Attractions

How many London landmarks and tourist attractions can you name that start with the Letter X? Blue Badge Tourist Guide Sarah Wood continues our Guide London A-Z video series and provides insights on the historical events, famous and not-so-famous landmarks in London starting with the Letter X.

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Guide London A to Z: Letter W

Guide London A – Z: Letter W London Landmarks And Tourist Attractions

How many London landmarks and tourist attractions can you name that start with the Letter W? Blue Badge Tourist Guide Gavin Skerritt continues our Guide London A-Z video series and provides insights on the historical events, famous and not-so-famous landmarks in London starting with the Letter W.

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Yeoman Warder Emma Rousell and Blue Badge Tourist Guide Russell Nash. Photo Credit: © Russell Nash.

Lady Beefeaters At The Tower Of London

The first female Yeoman Warder appointed at the Tower of London was Moira Cameron who comes from Scotland and took up the role in 2007. Like all Yeoman Warders, who are often called Beefeaters, she was a former non-commissioned officer who had served in one of Britain’s military forces – the army, navy, air force or royal marines – for a minimum of twenty-two years with an ‘unblemished record’ and had been awarded a good conduct medal. As an often repeated Beefeater joke has it, ‘that just means we never got caught.’

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Guide London A to Z: Letter V

Guide London A – Z: Letter V London Landmarks And Tourist Attractions

How many London landmarks and tourist attractions can you name that start with the Letter V? Blue Badge Tourist Guide Vania Gay continues our Guide London A-Z video series and provides insights on the historical events, famous and not-so-famous landmarks in London starting with the Letter V.

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The site of Wimbledon Common's former aerodrome. Photo Credit: © Antony Robbins.

The Wonders of London’s Wimbledon Common

London is a series of villages and we Londoners are all villagers at heart, fiercely proud of our own corner of the city. I live in urban Islington but was born in leafy Wimbledon on the other side of London. Wimbledon Common was a frequent destination in my youth – for childhood rambles, winter snowballing, and teenage high-jinx. So, on the 150th anniversary of the Wimbledon Common’s 1871 creation, I re-visited this much-loved green space finding it much as I’d always remembered.

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Guide London A to Z: Letter U

Guide London A – Z: Letter U London Landmarks And Tourist Attractions

How many London landmarks and tourist attractions can you name that start with the Letter U? Blue Badge Tourist Guide Fiona Lukas continues our Guide London A-Z video series and provides insights on the historical events, famous and not-so-famous landmarks in London starting with the Letter U.

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Guide London A to Z: Letter T

Guide London A – Z: Letter T London Landmarks And Tourist Attractions

How many London landmarks and tourist attractions can you name that start with the Letter T? Blue Badge Tourist Guide Karen Dawson continues our Guide London A-Z video series and provides insights on the historical events, famous and not-so-famous landmarks in London starting with the Letter T.

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Jules Léotard. Photo Credit: © Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.

The Man In Tights – Jules Leotard in London

The word ‘leotard’ is used to describe a one-piece stretch garment in various colours and styles and is commonly used in dance, sport, and exercise. Leotards allow flexibility of movement and are worn by dancers, gymnasts, and fitness fanatics. The name is referred to without thought for its origin, but it is interesting to learn that a young Frenchman, Jules Léotard, who wanted to show his acrobatic skills in mid-air, created this functional garment which continues to provide comfort for those who wear it.

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Guide London A to Z: Letter S

Guide London A – Z: Letter S London Landmarks And Tourist Attractions

How many London landmarks and tourist attractions can you name that start with the Letter S?  Blue Badge Tourist Guide Katherine Alcock continues our Guide London A-Z video series and provides insights on the historical events, famous and not-so-famous landmarks in London starting with the Letter S.

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Battersea Power Station at night. Photo Credit: © Christopher Hayden.

The Battersea Power Station – One Of London’s Great Landmarks

One of London’s iconic buildings, the Battersea Power Station has gone from being an engineering marvel to a symbol of industrial dilapidation and is now home to one of the capital’s most prestigious redevelopment schemes. Gossip news may reveal a stream of high profile celebrities moving in but chief amongst its tenants will be Apple, which will use six floors of the station’s former Boiler House, as its main London HQ.

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Guide London A to Z: Letter R

Guide London A – Z: Letter R London Landmarks And Tourist Attractions

How many London landmarks and tourist attractions can you name that start with the Letter R? Blue Badge Tourist Guide Justin Roxburgh continues our Guide London A-Z video series and provides insights on the historical events, famous and not-so-famous landmarks in London starting with the Letter R.

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Christ among the Doctors oil on panel by Albrecht Dürer 1506. Photo Credit: © © Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid via National Gallery in London.

Albrecht Durer Exhibition at the National Gallery in London

A blockbuster exhibition at the National Gallery traces the travels of Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528), the ‘Apelles of the black line’ as Erasmus called him. These journeys were principally to cities along the Rhine (1490-4), twice to Venice (1505-7), and the Netherlands (1520-21). No other artist has produced a comparable body of work from the experience of travel. Like the landmark self-portrait of 1500, which evokes Christ (above) Durer’s art signals a self-awareness that crosses frontiers.

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