Blog

Blog Posts

Sutton Hoo helmet at British Museum. Photo Credit: © Geni via Wikimedia Commons.

Sutton Hoo, Treasure Of The British Museum And Inspiration Behind The Dig Film

As a Blue Badge tourist guide in London, I am very familiar with the story behind the film The Dig. When giving a tour of the British Museum where the result of the famous excavation is displayed, it is usually a real highlight for visitors, both young and old. Let me tell you a little more about this amazing archaeological adventure story.

Read more
Poster for Bridgerton, a period drama series from Netflix. Photo credit: © Netflix.

London Locations For Netflix’s Bridgerton TV Series

Bridgerton, the most successful series to be produced by Netflix to date, has surpassed other period dramas in colour, drama and romance. The locations are exaggeratedly beautiful, the relationships are beguiling and the costumes dazzle with vivid tones and rich textures. London is the setting for many scenes and you yearn to visit each location, but do not watch Bridgerton for historical accuracy!  

Read more
Red hot pokers flower. Photo Credit: © Karen Dawson.

RHS Garden Wisley: A World Class Garden Southwest Of London

Twenty miles south-west of London is ‘one of the world’s great gardens.’ The garden is Wisley, owned by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), the world’s leading garden charity. The RHS was established in 1804 at a meeting of seven men in Hatchard’s book shop on Piccadilly. The idea came from John Wedgwood, son of Josiah, founder of the fine china company.

Read more
Battle of Barnet - Edward (centre) leads his army to victory, as Warwick's men flees to the right. Photo Credit: © Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.

London Battlefield Sites Within The M25

2021 year marks the 550th anniversary of one of the most significant battles in British history. On the 14th of April 1471, the Yorkist army led by Edward IV defeated a Lancastrian army just north of the town of Barnet effectively ending the first part of that turbulent period of history colloquially known as the Wars of the Roses.

Read more
Quack doctor Lionel Lockyer 1600-1672 on the Southwark Cathedral tomb he designed for himself. Photo Credit: © Richard Jones.

Lionel Lockyer: A 17th-Century Quack Doctor In London

Blue Badge Tourist Guide Richard “Rick” Jones explores sites in London with links to Lionel Lockyer, a physician espousing questionable remedies in the plague era. According to Chambers dictionary, a quack is ‘someone who claims, and practises under the pretence of having, knowledge and skill that he or she does not possess.’ A quack doctor, then, is a fraud.

Read more
American Red Cross Rainbow Corner. Photo Credit: © Imperial War Museum.

American Entertainers In London During World War II & The Venues They Played

During the Second World War London was home to, or visited by, tens of thousands of American Servicemen and women. When they wanted entertainment in the evenings they headed to the West End and the American Red Cross (ARC) Club was the first stop for many of them. There were several ARC clubs in London and many around the world offering meals and recreational activities, and the larger ones could provide overnight accommodations and facilities such as barbers and laundries.

Read more
Gothic inner gates to the cemetery, designed by Sir William Tite. Photo Credit: © Matt Brown via Wikimedia Commons.

South Of The River Thames To Norwood In London

Until perhaps the last thirty years, there was some truth in the belief that north of the River Thames was smart, wealthy and desirable but south of the river was the haunt of thieves, vagabonds and only approached with caution. Even London’s cabbies were reputed to be reluctant to go south of the river at night. Times have changed. Peckham and Brixton as well as Clapham are now achingly trendy and expensive and other areas like East Dulwich and Forest Hill are up and coming.

Read more
The Beatles arriving at John F. Kennedy International Airport, 7 February 1964. Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.

Trinidadian Calypsonian Lord Woodbine & His Early Influence On John Lennon & Paul McCartney

Many of London’s Blue Badge Tourist Guides have a knowledge of contemporary popular music, in particular the Beatles, the famous group who came from Liverpool but settled in London and recorded their music here. A little known early influence on them was the calypso musician called Lord Woodbine, whose real name was Harold Adolphus Phillip.

Read more
Tower of London

4 UNESCO World Heritage Sites In London

When it comes to important locations around the world, you cannot go wrong with following guidance from UNESCO, THE United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation. The organisation has listed a number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, which are places that are deemed to be of particular cultural or physical importance.

Read more
Interior of the Tooting Granada cinema. Photo Credit: © Katie Wignall.

Historic Cinema Buildings In London

Since its inception in the first part of the 20th century, the cinema has been a staple of British entertainment. The multiplexes of the 21st century have enjoyed a resurgence following the nadir of the 1980s and early 1990s, but the real golden age of cinema came with the development of the “talkies” in 1927 and the subsequent boom in the construction of new cinemas in the 1930s.

Read more
Frost Fair on the River Thames near the Temple Stairs. by Thomas Wijck. Photo Credit: © Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.

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?

Read more
Olaudah Equiano, aka Gustavus Vassa. Photo Credit: © Unknown Artist via Wikimedia Commons.

The Black Sailors Of Georgian London

Inspired by the new exhibition “Black Greenwich Pensioners” at the Old Royal Naval College (which at the time of writing I have yet to visit), my mind recently turned to Britain’s Black seafaring past, particularly to the time Britain was most actively involved in the Transatlantic Slave Trade and the enslavement of Africans, a time which loosely coincides with what we refer to as the Georgian age (1714-1837).

Read more