Steeped in history, full of pomp, ancient ceremony. But have you ever wondered who all those soldiers were? Those soldiers on sentry duty at Buckingham Palace and those soldiers who march and ride during Changing of the Guard ceremony? This blog explains who’s who, where is where and how they got here.
Welcome to the definitive guide and timetable for Changing of the Guard ceremony at Buckingham Palace….St James’s Palace, Wellington Barracks and Horse Guards Parade. 
Buckingham Palace Did I just…
The Great Hall – from Medieval to Victorian London. Continuing our exploration of Guildhall, this post looks at the architectural history, up to the 20th century, of its original and most important building. For centuries the words ‘Guildhall’ and ‘the Great Hall’ were interchangeable. Today the Guildhall complex is made up of lots of buildings…
More songs have been written and recorded about New York than any other city. ‘New York, New York’ is one of many. Starting from ‘’A’ Train Lady’ by Mink DeVille and ending at ‘Zulu Bronx River’ by Afrika Bambaataa there are over 3500 entries on the Wikipedia list for NYC. 
The Mayor of London’s ‘Borough of Culture’ award aims to put culture at the heart of local communities, enabling boroughs to fund events and support local artists and performers. The first LBC was Waltham Forest in 2019 and the second is my home London borough of Brent. What is Brent? Following the hugely significant London…
As I write this blog post we have just passed the 372nd anniversary of the execution of Charles I, outside the Palace of Whitehall in the heart of ‘royal’ Westminster. His death marked an end to what is always referred to as ‘The English Civil War’. Various English monarchs have met a bloody ending, perhaps…
Posh Mayfair, upmarket Mayfair, moneyed Mayfair, you get the picture; it’s nice in Mayfair. Mayfair is in the West End of central London, which is not one district but a patchwork of neighbouring areas that developed through the 17th and 18th centuries (St James’s and Soho were others). The West End formed the mainly well-to-do areas…
St John’s Wood is a residential, mainly well-to-do, area on the north west edge of central London. It’s fair to say that St John’s Wood is best known for two world famous locations: Lord’s Cricket Ground and Abbey Road Studios (of which more later). Like many parts of London, this area has a history stretching…
The West End of central London is not one district but a patchwork of neighbouring areas that developed through the 17th and 18th centuries (Soho and Mayfair are others). They formed the mainly well-to-do areas developing west of the ancient City of London and, you could say, were the launch pads for the suburbanisation of…
The West End of central London is not one district but a patchwork of neighbouring areas that developed through the 17th and 18th centuries (Soho and Mayfair are others). They formed the mainly well-to-do areas developing west of the ancient City of London and, you could say, were the launch pads for the suburbanisation of…