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  • A Dickens Of A Christmas in London

    More than anyone else, Charles Dickens invented the British Christmas with A Christmas Carol, his story about Ebenezer Scrooge and the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future. It was first published in 1843 and has been adapted for stage and screen many times. No surprise then that there are four museums in the United Kingdom dedicated to Charles Dickens (including one in London), more than any other British writer.

  • 5 Reasons To Visit London During The Christmas Holidays

    Christmas is a magical time of year to be visiting London. There are spectacular decorations everywhere and people are generally in a festive mood. Here are some of our favourite seasonal experiences which are all great reasons to visit London during the Christmas holidays.

  • Stand Up For Handel – The Hallelujah Chorus

    Christmas is upon us and many people – both locals and visitors – will go either to a church or concert hall to experience a performance of the Messiah written by George Frederick Handel, which is a highlight of the festive season. The Messiah was first performed in Dublin in 1742 and soon came to London.

  • Harry Potter’s Importance to Tourism in London and Britain

    Blue Badge Tourist Guides in London are used to taking people around places that have been around for a while and are often asked, ’How old is this place?’. Hogwarts School may have existed for some time, but nothing in the Harry Potter series of books and films is over thirty-five years old. Via this blog post, I’ll take a look at some of the places associated with the boy wizard.

  • Trafalgar Square Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony

    For many Londoners, the Trafalgar Square Christmas tree lighting ceremony along with carol singing marks the start of the countdown to Christmas. The ceremony typically takes place on the first Thursday in  December and is led by the Lord Mayor of Westminster, accompanied by a band and choir followed by the switching on of the Christmas lights.

  • I Want A Picture-Perfect White Christmas In London

    In December our thoughts turn to Christmas. We think about our family, friends, Christmas cards, food (lots of it!) and presents – will Santa pass by this year? Also, just as important, the reason for Christmas: the birth of Jesus. But what we also think about is the weather – will it snow? This question set me thinking – why do we feel Christmas isn’t really Christmas if it doesn’t snow?

Blog Posts

City of London Model. Photo Credit: © Don Brown.

See 3 City of London Models at The London Centre

On the Aldermanbury side of Guildhall, you will find the London Centre, the base for New London Architecture and home to its magnificent London models. These 3D scale models of the capital and its buildings are a great resource if people want to see the architecture of London or the historical development of the city—or simply want to trace routes across the metropolis. Their sheer size is jaw-dropping.

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Scipio-Turaminus Gregorian calendar 1582. Photo Credit: © Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.

Calendar Curiosities: Leap Years, Easter Moves, and the Curious Origins of Dates We Celebrate

Dates on the calendar we normally use have mainly Christian origin but some of them reflect pagan origins and everything changed in the eighteenth century with the adoption of a new calendar.

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William Shakespeare portrait known as the Cobbe painting. Photo Credit: © Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.

William Shakespeare at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London

William Shakespeare (1552 to 1616) was undoubtedly our greatest playwright and poet. He lived until the age of fifty-two and although he was born and is buried in Stratford-upon-Avon, it was in London that he made his fame and fortune. Known as The Bard of Avon, his plays are regularly revived on the London stage, and the Globe Theatre, where he made his reputation as a playwright, was rebuilt in the late twentieth century largely as a result of the efforts of the American actor and theatre director Sam Wanamaker.

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A View of London Bridge in the Year 1616, from an Engraving by John Vischer. Photo Credit: © © The Trustees of the British Museum, released as CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.

History of the Old London Bridge, the Original Bridge Over the River Thames

One of the most striking and admired structures throughout the history of the City of London is its medieval inhabited stone bridge. Bridges with houses were relatively common in medieval Europe; examples include Bath’s Pulteney Bridge, which is still open for business. However, the old London Bridge, aka the Bridge, as it was commonly known, was the most populous of them all. It is calculated that its 140 houses housed 800 people in the fourteenth century, and the Bridge’s population averaged 500.

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New Tower of London Ravenmaster Barney Chandler. Photo Credit: © Historic Royal Palaces.

Tower of London Ravenmaster: Guardian of Birds and Legend

According to legend King Charles the Second, who ruled Great Britain for twenty five years after the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, was told, when the astronomer royal Sir John Flamsteed complained about the ravens, that the safety of the kingdom was threatened if the birds ever left the Tower of London. King Charles then decreed that there should always be at least six ravens there to prevent the Tower – and the kingdom – falling down. History does not record what Flamsteed thought of this decision but he had to accept it.

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The Copper Horse in Windsor Great Park. Photo Credit: © Ildi Pelikan.

Exploring Windsor Great Park

If you are in London and planning a trip to Windsor Castle, why not make it a full day and include a visit Windsor Great Park? In 2021, the park was crowned the UK’s most popular free attraction. This ancient Royal landscape of forests, lakes, and gardens really deserves a visit, boasting over 1000 years history, monuments and rare wildlife, a national collection of plants, champion trees, a farm, vineyard and forest.

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View of River Thames and Lambeth Bridge in London. Photo Credit: © Justin Norris via Wikimedia Commons.

Major Bridges Over The River Thames in London

There are now many ways to cross the River Thames in Central London – although for many years, the only bridge across the river was London Bridge. Originally built by the Romans and moved from its original site, London Bridge was replaced in 1971 by a modern bridge that takes people from Southwark to the City and affords them fine views of Tower Bridge. This article looks at each of the main bridges over the River Thames in London, starting with the famous Tower Bridge.

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View of Tower Bridge from Horizon 22. Photo Credit: © Ursula Petula Barzey.

London Bridge vs Tower Bridge

London’s 35 bridges over the River Thames whisper tales of Roman conquests, Victorian ingenuity, and soaring modern visions. Among them stand London Bridge and its grand neighbour, Tower Bridge. Despite their stark differences in history and design, some visitors often confuse London Bridge and Tower Bridge, unaware of the rich narratives that set them apart.

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Pancake Day race

Shrove Tuesday aka Pancake Day in London

If you are looking for a quintessentially British event in February, then you must witness Pancake Day racing.  The old religious festival of Shrove Tuesday is when Christians ate a rich meal using butter and sugar before beginning the fast of Lent.  This day always falls 47 days before Easter Sunday, so the date varies yearly and falls between February 3 and March 9.  This year, Shrove Tuesday will take place on Tuesday, 13th February.

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Vauxhall Cross, Secret Intelligence Service aka MI6 Building in London. Photo Credit: © Richard Cooke via Wikimedia Commons.

Vauxhall London: Unveiling the Mysteries of a Historic Neighborhood

The main attraction in Vauxhall is a building you cannot enter. Vauxhall Cross is the headquarters of the Special Intelligence Services (formerly MI6) and the employer of Britain’s most famous fictional secret agent, James Bond, often referred to simply by the number 007. The double 00 prefix indicates that Bond has a ‘licence to kill’, an invention of his creator Ian Fleming who worked for Naval Intelligence during the Second World War when the double 0 symbol indicated that a document was classified as ‘top secret.’

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Notre-Dame, the Augmented Exhibition at the Arsenal art contemporain museum in Montreal. Photo Credit: (c) Paul Litherland via Westminster Abbey.

Notre Dame is Coming to Westminster Abbey in London from Paris

Westminster Abbey is the venue for an augmented reality exhibition that will transport visitors through the history of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Notre Dame de Paris, The Augmented Exhibition will be in the Chapter House between 7th February and 1st June 2024. It is the only time the exhibition, which began in Dubai and has been seen in America, China, Germany, Canada, and Mexico, will be seen in Britain, and entry is included in the admission price to the Westminster Abbey.

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Portrait of George Frideric Handel at The National Portrait Gallery in London. Photo Credit: © Ursula Petula Barzey.

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.

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