Category: London

The suburb of Bromley in south-eastern Greater London has long been recognised as a brilliant place to raise a family. Quiet, safe and green; Bromley offers the best of city living with splendid country views. Property in Bromley Bromley’s populace is relatively young, with an average age of 39. Therefore, family homes are the most popular. Semi-detached and detached homes make up 50% of Bromley’s community. Families have been joined by an influx of young professionals who commute to London each day and generally prefer to live in new build…

Summer is heralded by many different things, but you know that despite the weather that when the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships starts that summer is well and truly here. The Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum is located within the heart of Centre Court and follows the history of the game from its beginnings in the 1870’s to modern day power plays that are seen at the height of the annual tournament played out here in an effort to win the coveted championship trophies, the originals of which can be viewed as…

The City of London has had a long and colourful history; the people that lived here across the centuries have ranged from the impossibly rich to the impoverished poor, but all of them had one thing in common, the church. They were welcomed into the arms of the church at birth and dispatched at death into the consecrated grounds of the many churchyards that litter the city. That is providing of course, that they lived their lives free from sin. For those on whom the church turned their back on…

The National Portrait Gallery was founded in 1856 with the aim of collecting the portraits of famous men and women.  The brains behind the idea was Philip Henry Stanhope and a bust of him can be seen as you enter into the gallery.  Along with Thomas Carlyle and Thomas Babington, Stanhope took his idea to the House of Commons and it was on the third time of pleasing that along with the Queen’s blessing, the National Portrait Gallery was formed. History Not Art Unlike most of the other galleries that…

There is nothing that sparks the imagination like a Mummy’s Curse, a curse that has wrought devastation and destruction across the centuries and around the globe. This particular curse revolves around the mummy case of a woman, believed to be a priestess at the temple of Amen-Ra. From the time that the artefacts were acquired in 1860 there have been a string of deaths and bad fortune for all who have been involved in the transportation and housing of this 3,500 year old relic excavated from a tomb in Luxor,…

There are so many famous sights to see when you visit London that after a while you feel the need to see something different, something off the beaten track, something unusual that sets itself apart from the run of the mill visitor attractions, something that makes you think. Now Pinner is not generally on many tourist routes but if you are looking for some such diversion then Pinner is where you need to head, specifically the 14th century church of St John. The church may be ancient and atmospheric but…

If you have ever wondered where the phrase ‘in the Clink’ come from, when referring to someone being behind bars it all comes back to the Clink prison. The Clink is probably the oldest prison in the country so it is no wonder that is was use as a term of reference for the majority of the population over the centuries. The Clink Prison was situated in the Southbank area of the city and dates back to 1144. Visitors to the prison museum will be able to not only see,…

The uniquely beautiful Temple Church is one of the most historic in the city of London. With a history dating from the time of the crusades to the present day the church has been the focal point of much religious and musical activity for centuries. The church was built during the 1100’s by the Knights Templar. There are two distinct parts of the church, the chancel and the round. The round was designed to reflect the most holy place in the world of the Crusader Knight, the Church of the…

From the moment that the infamous shadowy figure stepped out of the darkness in the back streets of Whitechapel, Jack the Ripper has never left the public’s consciousness. It was August 31st 1888 when he cut short the life of his first prostitute on the streets of London. Perhaps it is the fact that he was never caught and brought to justice or the fact that there was something so sinister about the way that the bloody trails led to nowhere and that he could seemingly vanish that has kept…

While people have been clamouring for tickets for the Olympic Games there are plenty of other things happening in London during the games that do not require a ticket.  London is hosting a myriad of free events to coincide with the games, here is a selection: No Ticket Required Sporting Events Not all of the events at the games require a ticket, events like the Marathon and the 50km and 20km Road Races, as well as the Road Cycling and Time Trials are available to view without a ticket.  All…