London On The Ground

08/05/2024

Happy 40th to the Thames Barrier! It was officially opened by the late Queen on 8 May 1984, although it had been in operation since late 1982.

Crossing the river between Silvertown and Charlton to protect London from very high tides and storm surges, it means nobody need worry that "London is drowning and I live by the river!"

07/05/2024

The story of Dirty Dick is a poignant and tragic one. As my tour group this evening discovered, it still holds people's attention two centuries after the death of its hero, whose real name was Nathaniel Bentley.

There is an almost bottomless well of stories in the 2,000 year history of the City of London.

My next walking tour in the City is on Saturday 11 May at 11am, entitled Monasteries, Martyrs, Murder & Meat.

I also have a walk in Islington on Sunday 12 May at 2.30pm, called All Around the Houses (Essex Road to the Regent's Canal).

Please join me on one or both (click on the walk titles above to find out more).

Visit the City of London

07/05/2024

The last ever game Arsenal played at Highbury took place (7 May) in 2006 (a match I attended). Read my take on the history of the club's iconic and innovative Art Deco stadium in my recent blog post.

The North London stadium was unique in football architecture, motivated by an innovative manager and inspiring generations of Arsenal players and fans.Arsenal Stadium, part of East Stand facadeArsenal moved from south London to the Highbury area of Islington in 1913, taking a lease on the playing fi...

30/04/2024

The Brunswick Centre in Bloomsbury is a pioneer in 20th century architecture. It has proved highly influential, but, like much good architecture, it divides opinion.

Take a look at my blog post and judge for yourself.

https://www.londonontheground.com/post/the-brunswick-centre-a-pioneer-in-20th-century-architecture

The Bloomsbury structure has proved highly influential, but is it modernism, brutalism or something else?The Brunswick Centre from Marchmont StreetThe Brunswick Centre is a multi-use residential and shopping development in Bloomsbury, near to Russell Square tube station. It has around 600 flats, a b...

29/04/2024

Westminster Bridge from the River Thames.

The current bridge was completed in 1862, designed by Thomas Page, who was also responsible for a number of other bridges and parts of the Embankment. Westminster Bridge has details by Charles Barry, the architect of the nearby Palace of Westminster (the Houses of Parliament).

Its green paint reflects the colour of the benches in the House of Commons, while Lambeth Bridge (the next bridge upstream) has red paint in keeping with the colour of the benches in the House of Lords.

The first Westminster Bridge was opened in 1750. Until then, London Bridge had been the only bridge over the Thames in the area we would now call central London (the next nearest was Putney Bridge, built in 1729).

Its opening sparked a kind of arms race of bridges with the City of London, whose London Bridge had enjoyed a monopoly of traffic over the river, with significant benefits to its merchants and tradesmen. In response, the City of London authorities removed the houses and shops from London Bridge to improve traffic flow and then built Blackfriars Bridge in 1769.

London from the River by London On The Ground

River Thames

26/04/2024

St Paul's Cathedral in 1944 and now.

The first picture was created by artist Walter Spradbery as one of six posters for London Underground under the heading The Proud City. They were designed to enshrine London's spirit of survival and resilience in the face of aerial bombing campaigns in World War II. St Paul's is shown surviving amidst destruction all around.

The second picture is a recent photo taken from One New Change, a shopping centre in the City of London opened in 2010 and designed by architect Jean Nouvel. It's the closest spot today to the viewpoint captured in Walter Spradbery's poster, while still being able to see St Paul's.

The 1944 poster is in the London Transport Museum's Global Poster Gallery.

See a small sample of 20th century posters commissioned for London Underground in my blog post here: https://www.londonontheground.com/post/poster-art-and-design-on-the-london-underground

Visit the City of London London Underground St Paul's Cathedral London Transport Museum

25/04/2024

The British Museum's excellent 'Legion' exhibition focuses on life as a soldier in the Roman Army.

Below are some photos I took when I visited recently. I've focused, mainly, on Emperors and connections with Britain, but the exhibition has many more items illustrating the life of a legionary.

See captions below each photo for a description.

The exhibition continues until 23 June.

British Museum

23/04/2024

Here's one for St George's Day! St George the Martyr, Southwark, London's first St George church, has links to Henry V, Charles Dickens and City Livery Companies - and what a ceiling!

Read more on my blog.

Its 900 years feature Henry V, Dickens, Livery Companies - and what a ceiling!St George the Martyr, SouthwarkThe foundation stone of today's church of St George the Martyr, Southwark, was laid on St George's Day (23 April) in 1734 and work was completed in 1736. Architect John Price adopted a neocla...

23/04/2024

Happy 460th birthday to William Shakespeare!

23 April is widely considered to be the anniversary of the Bard's birth in Stratford upon Avon in 1564.

He also died on 23 April, in 1616.

Here's another chance to watch the recording of the talk I gave last December at the Guildhall Library about Shakespeare, London and the First Folio.
https://youtu.be/6wBpBp2K3UQ?si=ESkqbiBycH7q0U49

How the Bard and London left their mark on each other. A talk at Guildhall Library, City of London, on 14 December 2023.------------------------Many of the m...

23/04/2024

The next Islington Guided Walks tour of the 16th century Canonbury Tower is tomorrow, 24 April at 2pm.

Book now for a unique insight into a fascinating part of London's history and for the views from the top of the Tower!

The view from the top of Canonbury Tower - see it for yourself soon. Our next two small group exclusive tours are on Wed 24th April and Friday 10th May, booking essential canonburytower.eventbrite.co.uk

23/04/2024

Wall to Wall Roman London! From Tower Hill to St Alphege Garden.

Thank you to The Worshipful Company of Fruiterers for asking me to lead my Londinium tour for this very engaged and engaging group recently.

For details of all my tours, whether for public booking or private groups, please go to LondonOnTheGround.com

22/04/2024

Lambeth Palace from the River Thames, 2024 and 1709.

The London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury since around 1200, the buildings in my photo are mainly 15th century. They are (left to right) the Lollards' Tower, the Great Hall the brick Gatehouse and the 14th century tower of St Mary at Lambeth (now part of the Garden Museum).

London On The River by London On The Ground.

21/04/2024

Fifty years ago my dad took me for my first visit to Arsenal's Art Deco stadium at Highbury, built in the 1930s. Unique in football architecture, it reflected the ideas of the club's innovative and influential manager, Herbert Chapman (who also persuaded London Underground to change the nearby station's name to Arsenal).

Read more on my blog.

Arsenal London Underground

The North London stadium was unique in football architecture, motivated by an innovative manager and inspiring generations of Arsenal players and fans.Arsenal Stadium, part of East Stand facadeArsenal moved from south London to the Highbury area of Islington in 1913, taking a lease on the playing fi...

21/04/2024

A clock on the Royal Exchange (founded by Sir Thomas Gresham in the 16th century*) appears to hover above Tower 42 (built on the site of Sir Thomas Gresham's 16th century mansion).

*rebuilt in the 17th century and again in the 19th

20/04/2024

County Hall and the London Eye from the River Thames.

County Hall was the headquarters of the London County Council and, from 1965, of its successor the Greater London Council until the abolition of the GLC in 1986. It was designed by architect Ralph Knott in an Edwardian Baroque style and opened in 1922. Two blocks were added in the 1930s and a final block was added in 1974. Today it houses hotels and tourist attractions.

The London Eye opened on 31 December 1999 as the Millennium Wheel as part of the celebrations for the new millennium. It was then the world's tallest Ferris wheel and is today described as the world's tallest cantilevered observation wheel. It was designed by husband and wife team Julia Barfield and David Marks and was originally intended to stand for only five years.

London On The River by London On The Ground.

20/04/2024

Sun 21 April at 2.30pm. Walk in the footsteps of the Bard. Shakespeare in the City of London
Tickets: https://www.londonontheground.com/service-page/shakespeare-in-the-city-of-london?referral=service_list_widget

19/04/2024

The York Watergate, Victoria Embankment Gardens.

It was built in 1626 by architect Inigo Jones at York House, a riverside mansion on the Strand, for the first Duke of Buckingham, George Villiers (after whom nearby Villiers Street is named).

The Embankment, built in the 1860s, pushed the River Thames more than 100 metres away from the gate and the mansion is long gone.

18/04/2024

The MI6 Building and Vauxhall Bridge from the River Thames.

Vauxhall Bridge was completed in 1906, when it became the first bridge in London to carry trams. It replaced an earlier bridge of 1816 (known as Regent Bridge), which had been the first iron bridge over the Thames.

The building behind the bridge, on the south bank, is the headquarters of the Secret Intelligence Service, SIS, also known as MI6. The building was completed in 1994 and was designed by Terry Farrell and Partners.

The statue visible on Vauxhall Bridge in the first photo is 'Pottery' by FW Pomeroy, one of eight allegorical bronzes on the structure (four on the upstream side by Pomeroy and four on the downstream side by Alfred Drury).

The second statue is Pomeroy's 'Engineering'.

London On The River by London On The Ground.

16/04/2024

Sun 21 April at 2.30pm: Shakespeare in the City of London. Walk in the footsteps of the Bard.

Tickets: https://www.londonontheground.com/service-page/shakespeare-in-the-city-of-london?referral=service_list_widget

Visit the City of London

15/04/2024

My Thomas Becket's London walk is on Thu 18 April at 3pm.

Please join my tour to discover the 12th Century Londoner and saint's life and legacy in the City.

"Thanks for a great tour Jonathan. We were very impressed by your in-depth knowledge..."
"...well informed and well delivered bites of history."

To book your place on the walk, please click on this link: https://www.londonontheground.com/service-page/thomas-becket-s-london?referral=service_list_widget

Visit the City of London

14/04/2024

'Work', by Ford Madox Brown, is a painting to rival a Dickens novel. The artist tackles Victorian social attitudes, the class divide and urbanisation in this vivid Hampstead scene.

Find out more on my blog.
https://www.londonontheground.com/post/work-by-ford-madox-brown-a-painting-to-rival-a-dickens-novel

The artist tackles Victorian social attitudes, the class divide and urbanisation in this Hampstead scene.Work, by Ford Madox Brown, 1852-1865On a visit to Manchester last year, I was particularly taken with Ford Madox Brown's painting Work at the Manchester Art Gallery. Ostensibly about manual labou...

11/04/2024

Horace Taylor's 'Brightest London', 1924, from London Transport Museum's must-see gallery of 20th century posters commissioned for London Underground.

You can see my selection of posters from the Museum on my blog at this link:
https://www.londonontheground.com/post/poster-art-and-design-on-the-london-underground

It includes stunning images created by a wide range of artists including Dora M Batty, Eric Ravilious, Edward Bawden and Howard Hodgkin.

London Transport Museum London Underground

10/04/2024

A personal selection from the London Transport Museum.See London's Gardens, by Dora M. Batty, 1927The London Transport Museum's Global Poster Gallery, which only opened in October 2023, must surely be seen as one of London's most significant venues for 20th century graphic art and design. Walks avai...