Hello London

02/01/2024

07/05/2023

I was thinking about coronations recently(!) and my mind ran to this story about the 1953 Coronation. Queen Elizabeth had just arrived back at Buckingham Palace, put her crown down and guess what happened next?

Prince Charles was 4 years old when he attended his mother's Coronation. He was very well behaved. But he couldn't be blamed for being a bit naughty when th...

07/05/2023

I visited the beautiful, well-preserved Sambourne House in Kensington, west London. It was lovely until I let my imagination run riot.

Linley Sambourne, cartoonist & illustrator lived in Kensington, west London for 35 years until he died in 1910. The interior of the house has been beautifull...

07/05/2023

What's so alarming about a few thousand visitors returning from a Beer Festival and trying to cross a busy road?

We went to a great beer festival - BrewLDN - the other night. It was held at Printworks London - a cavernous venue where the Daily Mail and Evening Standard ...

28/04/2023

I love looking at art, watching films, going to the theatre, reading books - but the best bit about it for me is finding out above the private lives of the creators.

Leighton House is a truly beautiful artist's studio/house/museum in West London. But I'm frustrated at how secretive Frederic Leighton was about his private life...

Leighton House in London was built for the acclaimed Victorian artist, Frederic Leighton. He was much travelled which influenced the decoration of this beaut...

28/04/2023

After failing to win Glastonbury tickets in the April resale I thought I'd pop along to see the London Marathon in its early stage. To see some real winners in action...

Film footage of the London Marathon 2023 taken in Woolwich, southeast London. Just before the 4 mile mark. Few spectators at this point.Everyone's hopes and ...

20/04/2023

It's almost Coronation Day! King Charles & Queen Camilla will shortly be crowned at Westminster Abbey. I hope it goes well for them.

But looking back at Royal Coronations of the past things didn't always work out just as planned. The mishaps and blunders ranged from the shocking to the hysterically funny...

I've chosen NINE of the biggest Coronation Cock-ups!

Greatest British comedy moments of royal coronations that went WRONG!The coronation of our kings and queens is a sacred and solemn ritual - barely changed in...

20/04/2023

I was lucky enough to explore the tunnels beneath Trafalgar Square and Charing Cross Underground. This is what I saw and felt.

You’re travelling on London Transport. Charing Cross tube station is where you go for the Northern Line or Bakerloo Line Underground train. Right? But there'...

18/01/2023

I've just uploaded my latest video on to my YouTube channel Hello London Life. It's all about the life and death of Ziggy Stardust. Do check it out!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIFu9pHACog&list=LLcH7PcUwDub7brhq3-xIR4w

Ziggy Stardust was born in January 1972. With this persona David Bowie created one of the greatest rock albums ever - Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mar...

10/01/2023

I love the idea of Immersive Art Exhibitions. Art on every surface, changing all the time, overwhelming you with powerful sound tracks. What could be better?

I went to Frameless Marble Arch to experience it for myself. It was nice, but something was missing...

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/IY98ifnATBM

Are you an art lover? Have you experienced any Immersive Art? If not, do you think you would love it? I was excited to go to Frameless Marble Arch, ...

29/12/2022

The s*xy circus came to town this Christmas. Here are a couple of highlights...https://www.youtube.com/shorts/9UYLOY0DkUQ

La Clique at Spiegeltent, Leicester Square London.Circus cabaret for adults.

29/12/2022

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/43jmRcpu5hU
I didn't think a visit to London's Borough Market would make me feel sad - but it did...

If you love London you have to accept that it will make you sad at times.

10/12/2022

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/nQCrq0CR1AQ
I was just going to nip into Methodist Central Hall to take a coffee with a fellow guide when what should I see but the King's car...

King Charles has had two eggs thrown at him in the last few weeks. They both missed. But now, as the King goes about his business the police and his...

08/11/2022

Long Live The King - or how I became a Royalist... https://hellolondonlife.com/london/i-heard-his-song-and-wanted-to-kill-him/

I cried when I heard the news. Roman, also tearful, stood up and left the room. He knew what had to be done. Returning with two glasses full to the brim of gin and Dubonnet we toasted the Queen with … Continue reading →

13/07/2022

Of all the people who've taken residence at No. 10 Downing Street, this guy is my favourite...

11/07/2022

Here is my latest video where I walk around the City of London at night, exploring 2000 years of history. https://youtu.be/lhYYxVDwZ38

25/04/2022

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgmAN4HCbDc

I've finally finished my latest YouTube video! It tells the tragic story of London cat artist Louis Wain. He became the world's most famous cat artist in the 1880s. But his life took a tragic turn as he descended into penury and then madness.

A fictionalised feature film was recently released about his life: The Electrical Life of Louis Wain starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Claire Foy.

My YouTube video tells his story in a rather different way. As one of millions who can easily lose hours in watching cat videos on Instagram or Facebook, I found it interesting to discover that Louis Wain was largely responsible for this 'cat fervour'.

My partner Roman also appears briefly in my film. He was willing, but my two cats Tixi & Keesha were harder to persuade. I rewarded them with treats but they're still looking a bit grumpy about being feline starlets.

Crazy About cats: the story of Louis WainHave you ever wondered how we became so crazy about cats? In the UK and US there is one man who’s responsible for a...

22/03/2022

I'm posting a rather personal video today. It was inspired by my attending an online seance...I do hope you like it. Please subscribe to my YouTube channel Hello London Life for more videos about London and its history.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4LlMwazLJM

Spirits of LondonAfter attending a seance I took a personal journey into London. I finally understood what my job as a London tourist guide was all about.

10/01/2022

It doesn’t seem like SIX years since David Bowie died. Heddon Street, London W1 is one of the few places in London where people come to have their photo taken and to remember him. It’s here where he posed for the Ziggy Stardust album cover.

Those who are interested in the history of London phone boxes - and there are many - will be disappointed to note that this is not the original box used for the back of album cover. Ziggy posed in a K2 series phone box and this one is a K6 (more modern one).

Still, it’s a good day for poignant memories.

24/12/2021

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnctEHjtZck&t=838s

This is my latest Hello London Life YouTube Video. It tells the story of a S*x Scandal that shocked Britain in the 1960s. (No, this time it is not the Profumo Affair). It concerns the public shaming of Margaret, Duchess of Argyll.

This film is a bit longer than the others - nearly 16 mins long. I have chosen to tell the whole of Margaret's life story in that time - and it doesn't all focus on her s*x life!

It is an interesting tale nevertheless and making this film has kept me busy for quite a while.

I do hope you like it. While you're on my YouTube channel do consider clicking the Like button under the film. And if you were to subscribe to my YouTube channel you would help me considerably. You CAN subscribe without being plagued by notifications. Currently, I have 24 subscribers. I'm aiming for 1000 in which case YouTube might start paying me!

For those of you who live in the UK, you might be interested to see a 3-part drama of Margaret's story on BBC TV. It will be shown on three consecutive evenings starting on Boxing Day (26th Dec).

It stars Claire Foy who played the young Queen in the first two parts of The Crown.

I'm really looking forward to it!

Happy Christmas, everyone!

This is the story of a s*x scandal that shocked British society in 1963. It’s called: The Duchess and the Headless Man: A S*x Scandal.Newspaper headlines scr...

31/10/2021

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gw8O1gjEn3s

I've just published my latest Hello London Life YouTube video. It tells the story of a tragic murder-suicide.

Do let me know what you think of it.

Katreya

Is this London's saddest grave?In 1834 The Times Newspaper reported a murder-suicide. This shocked people throughout Britain, but particularly those living c...

21/09/2021

Camden Lock, Regents Canal.
We can see Dingwall’s iconic music venue. Opening in 1973 it was named after T.E. Dingwall who first owned this 19th century industrial building and emblazoned his name upon it.

Vince Power, the great impresario and founder of The Mean Fiddler group lost most of his business empire some years back. As part of his attempts to restore his fortune he bought ‘Dingwalls’ last year during Lockdown(!) He changed its name to Powerhaus and is now filling the venue with live bands again.

01/09/2021

Secret Garden No More

This beautiful garden of St. Dunstan in the East is a casualty of the Internet. When I first discovered it 20 years ago it really felt like a secret garden, a prize discovery.

Now, if you want to take photos in there you have to join the queue.

But it is still really lovely. There was once a church called St. Dunstan in the East built on this site in around 1100. Destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666 it was rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren. Then, in WW2 a bomb destroyed most of the church - leaving just the tower and steeple. Out of this bomb site, the Corporation of London converted the wreckage into a beautiful garden - a place for rest and contemplation.

If you wish to visit the exact address is: St Dunstan in the East Church Garden, St. Dunstan’s Hill, London EC3R 5DD. Or you could just Google it…

01/09/2021

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGlfBug-1Ds&t=3s
Here is my third film for my YouTube Channel. It's about a loveless and tragic royal marriage....

In 1795 Prince George arranged to marry his German cousin Princess Caroline. He thought it would be the solution to his money problems. They’d never met but ...

02/07/2021

This is my very first YouTube video. It tells the story of two bareknuckle boxers two hundred years ago. Tom Cribb is remembered as a prizefighting champion - but what about his opponent, Tom Molineaux, a former slave from America?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTS6sA-oC0Q

This is the story of two bareknuckle boxers. One was Tom Cribb, a coal porter from Bristol; the other was Tom Molineux, a former American slave who came to E...

02/07/2021

Here's my second YouTube film. It tells the story of a Top Secret nuclear reactor hidden in a rather surprising London location!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qogdc7aApFE&t=30s

TOP SECRET EXPOSED!These magnificent buildings were built in Greenwich, south-east London, 300 years ago. They were designed to house sick and destitute seam...

02/07/2021

I've started my own YouTube Channel: Hello London Life and invite you to take a look at it.
I'll be posting stories about London and a bit of vlogging about my life too.
If you like the look of it, please subscribe to my YouTube channel.

Hi! I’m Katreya. As a London tourist guide I seek out amazing sights of London and tell the history behind them. I’m now putting some of these incredible sto...

22/06/2021

A very bizarre tomb in Bunhill Fields, City of London.

Here lyes Dame Mary Page, relict of Sir Gregory Page Bart. She departed this life March 4 1728 in the 56th year of her age.

In 67 months she was tap'd 66 times. Had taken away 240 gallons of water without ever repining at her case or ever fearing the operation.

Poor Dame Mary Page. She was 18 years old when she married Sir Gregory Page, later to become a director of the East India Company and an MP. She bore four children and spent her time doing good works and philanthropy. Thirty years later, in 1720, Sir Gregory died and left Mary a wealthy widow.

Shortly afterwards she became ill. Her doctor diagnosed ovarian dropsy but modern doctors suspect she had Meigs’ syndrome. But whatever the name it caused her to suffer so much build-up of fluid that her doctor had to perform monthly draining operations.

At first, he wrote, she took it well, even getting up to exercise and dance between operations.

But eventually, after losing nearly 1000 litres of water, she weakened and died ‘an easy death’.

In case you’re wondering, it was Dame Mary herself who insisted on this inscription on her tomb ‘for the information of posterity’.