This was how Londoners of the late nineteenth century looked back upon the city that had gone within living memory, a London that was already vanishing into reminiscence and anecdote in their time – a ...

Jeanette Crawley sent me her transcript of ten pages of a memoir written in 1935 by her great-grandfather William Henry Knapp (1872-1952), describing his early life working in the City of London for a ...

Ben Shapiro has lived much of his life outside this country, since he left as a youth with his family to go to America where they found the healthier existence they sought, and escaped the racism and ...

Peter Parker came across the remarkable figure of Judith Piepe (1920-2003) while researching ‘male vice’ in the East End for the second volume of his anthology Some Men in London: Queer Life, ...

The time in the year for apple pie has arrived again. So I take this opportunity to present The Tragical Death of an Apple Pie, an alphabet rhyme first published in 1671, in a version produced by ...

Just south of Commercial Rd, Rogg’s delicatessen stood at the junction of Cannon Street Rd and Burslem St with its white-tiled doorway directly on the corner. One step transported you into a world of ...

This course is suitable for writers of all levels of experience – from complete beginners to those who already have a blog and want to advance or refresh their approach. We will examine the essential ...

Spend a winter weekend with me in an eighteenth century weaver’s house in Spitalfields, eat cakes freshly baked to historic recipes, enjoy delicious lunches catered by Townhouse and learn how to write ...