7th Year of Blogging – A Year in Review

Somehow, I have reached the end of February 2021 without missing a Sunday post for seven years. I really did not expect to get here when I started at the end of February 2014.

At the end of the 6th year of the blog, the COVID virus was across the news, but had not really affected everyday life. A year of lockdowns and restrictions, and the horrendous death toll were yet to come.

It seems rather trivial given the impact on so many people, however it has been a difficult year for walking and exploring London. Luckily I always have a sufficient backlog of posts to cover periods when getting to places is not possible. I still have very many of my father’s photos which need a visit to research and take a comparison photo. I also had a long list of places to visit, long walks to explore and research to carry out which has just not been possible; hopefully later this year.

One thing I did manage to achieve was pass the Clerkenwell and Islington Guide Course.

Walking and exploring London has been a passion for so many years. Writing the blog is a rather solitary activity behind a computer screen and I have been thinking about how to develop the blog and transferring the blog onto London’s streets seemed a perfect combination.

The course was brilliant and I learnt so much from the lecturers and others on the course, and I have to thank those running the course for managing completion in such a difficult year.

I am working on a number of walking tours covering areas such as the Southbank, Bankside, Barbican, Wapping, Bermondsey, Rotherhithe and Islington and hopefully towards late Spring and early Summer, walking in groups will be possible.

So if you really do want to hear me on the streets of London, unfortunately with even more stories and detail than in the blog, I will announce details in the blog during the coming months.

That is for the future, for now a quick review of the last year.

I have a number of photographic themes which I have tried to maintain for many years. Pub’s, hairdressers (no idea why, but a theme my father started in the early 1980s), closed shops, buildings and places about to be demolished etc.

One theme has been newspaper stands. They fascinate me as they represent a specific moment in time. Newspaper headlines are also very transitory; they seem of the utmost importance at the time, but are quickly replaced by the next days news, and soon fade into history. These stands are glanced at by people rushing by, occasionally picking up one of the papers. They have been a feature of the London streets for many years.

They also tell a story of how an event develops, and so it was with the virus.

The 6th February 2020, outside Charing Cross Station, and the virus still seemed to be  restricted mainly to China:

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Walking round London that evening and the streets were as busy as normal – outside Green Park station in Piccadilly:

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Another photographic theme is tracking down some of the hidden views of London. There are so many places which are not normally visible simply walking the streets.

If you walk down Allsop Place, off the Marylebone Road by Madame Tussauds, there is a point where the row of buildings along the street ends and a high brick wall fills the gap. The wall is just too high to look over, but hold your camera above the wall and a hidden world opens up:

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Part of Baker Street station is visible, the brightly lit platforms surrounded by the dark walls of the surrounding buildings. In February the underground system was just as busy as usual.

On the 21st February, a news stand in Piccadilly was warning that the killer virus was now spreading fast:

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Despite warnings that the virus was spreading fast, by the 27th February, the country’s borders were still wide open and large sporting events continued to go ahead, mixing supporters from home and abroad.

Arsenal were playing Olympiakos in the Europa League on the evening of the 27th February. This was the home match, with Arsenal going into the game with a 1-0 advantage following a win in Greece the previous week.

Olympiakos would go on to win 2-1 and knock Arsenal out of the Europa League. As with any London game, the away fans from Olympiakos were in central London before heading out to the Emirates Stadium and when I walked by, they were loudly clustered in Piccadilly Circus.

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Other news did continue to make the headlines, and on the 6th March a “Hammer Blow For Heathrow Runway” was reported:

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This referred to a court of appeal decision that the Government’s decision to go ahead with the runway was illegal as they had not considered their climate commitments in coming to a decision.

This decision was overturned by the Supreme Court last December, meaning that the third runway can now move forward to the planning permission stage.

Whether the impact of the pandemic on air travel and the finance of airport operators will influence the need and business justification for a third runway remains to be seen.

Meanwhile, commuters at Waterloo Station were still dashing from Underground to station concourse for the train home as the “Virus War Enters Next Phase”:

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On the 12th March outside Great Portland Street station, there was an appeal as the “Country Needs You To Join Virus Fight”:

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But on Sunday 15th March, the previous Friday’s headlines were hinting at the coming lockdown, and that the lockdown may risk even more deaths:

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Headlines continued in much the same way, and on the 23rd October, headlines had shifted from the risk of the virus to the help needed to overcome the restrictions and challenges of lockdowns:

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When a packed underground train was a normal expectation, travelling on the underground, even out of lockdown, was a rather strange experience. Having an empty train carriage became a common, rather than an exceptional event.

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And empty stations – this was Highbury & Islington Station at 3:55pm on Saturday 24th October 2020:

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Even before the first lockdown in March, the streets were empty. Outside the Natural History Museum:

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Piccadilly Circus – so much quieter than when Olympiakos fans had gathered there less than a month before:

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Trafalgar Square:

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Travelling across Tower Bridge:

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Piccadilly:

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I mentioned earlier that pubs are one of my photographic themes. I had long planned to walk around the City to find and photograph all the pubs, and in July 2020 I spent a day doing just that. The majority were still closed, having been closed since the start of the March lockdown. Tiered restrictions and the lack of workers and tourists in the City meant there was no point in reopening – customers were just not there. This continues to be the situation, and even when restrictions are reduced there will probably be a considerable delay until there are sufficient people back in the City to make the number of City pubs economic.

One pub that will not reopen is the Still and Star in Little Somerset Street.

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The Still and Star is the one remaining “slum pub” and has been under threat for some years, however in December 2020, the City of London Corporation approved revised plans for a 15-storey tower to be built on the land in Aldgate High Street, including the space occupied by the Still and Star.

The new plans include a “reimagining” of the Still and Star with a new pub built facing onto Aldgate High Street. A very sad loss of a one off City pub.

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In August, I climbed the O2 Dome with my 12 year old granddaughter, something that she had wanted to do for some time. In the following photo, the view is looking across to the water of the Royal Victoria Dock. It looks almost certain that the new “City Hall” will be the low, long building to the left.

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In 2020 I finally managed to take my father’s old Leica IIIg camera out for a walk around London. The camera that was used for the 1950s photos in the blog, and the lens that was used for all my father’s photos from the 1940s and 50s.

The camera was last used towards the end of the 1970s and needed a repair to fix a sticking shutter, but I was really pleased with the first photo after more than 40 years.

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As lockdown ends I will be ordering more black & white film, and an attempt at developing my own films is the next challenge.

I also continued to revisit some of my early photos, including the following photo of the Globe in Borough Market which I had taken in 1977:

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The same pub in 2020:

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In October, the City was still quiet:

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The view down Ludgate Hill from St Paul’s on a Saturday afternoon:

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Two of the businesses hit the most by the lockdowns and lack of people in the City – travel and hospitality:

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City Thameslink Station:

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The majority of my posts were not about the impact of the virus, and my most popular post of the year, in terms of the number of times the page was viewed, was my post on Broad Street Station, a station I had photographed in 1986, not long before the building was demolished:7th year of blogging

The same view today:

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Whatever happens after the pandemic, London will reinvent and thrive, as it has done so many times before, and it will continue (in my fully biased view) to be the best city in the world to walk and explore.

There will be differences. More home working and reduced numbers of people working 5 days a week in the city. Sir Peter Hendy, chairman of Network Rail has predicted that leisure and holiday travel by train is set to increase, while commuter traffic is likely to continue to fall.

Hopefully many of the trends that have had a negative effect on living and working in the city will change, such as the sale for overseas investment of so many of the flats and apartments being constructed, and there needs to be a reduction in the cost of housing in London.

London also needs its local facilities. it needs local areas with their own specific identity. Some of the recent changes in Soho risk the destruction of the identity of a unique and historic area.

Crossrail (the Elizabeth Line) will finally open. The Museum of London move to Smithfield opens up so many opportunities (and risks) to the area, however the proposed concert hall that was to take the museum’s place at the Barbican has been cancelled due to “unprecedented circumstances” and will be replaced by an upgrade to the Barbican complex.

The upwards growth of the City does look to continue, with at least five new glass and steel towers being planned.

At the end of the 7th year, can I thank you so much for reading the blog. I learn so much from the comments and am grateful for the corrections when I (thankfully not that often) get something wrong. There is a considerable amount of knowledge and experience of London out there.

I also hope that later in 2021 I get the opportunity to take you on a walk around some of the places I write about and show more of the history and stories of this fascinating city.

alondoninheritance.com

86 thoughts on “7th Year of Blogging – A Year in Review

  1. Nic

    Thank you for sharing your father’s photos and your observations. I look forward to hearing more about more when I join some of your tour guides. I’ve learned and enjoyed so much. I like your compassion for the city and inhabitants. Congratulations on 7 years!

    Reply
  2. Charlie Richmond

    We look forward to attending your guided walks when available! Keep up the great work and thank you for all the years….

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  3. Robert Harris

    Thank you for this weekly Sunday morning tweet. They have often either brought back memories or inspired me to jump on a bus and explore further. I am sure I am one of many, many normally silent readers who value your work.

    Reply
  4. Jo W

    Well done Admin,on passing your guide course. Longing for the day we can all just ramble around our town again. There is still so much to explore and I’m not getting any younger! Born in London but I don’t think I’ll ever see it all.
    Thank you for all those seven years of the blog. We both look forward to reading them every Sunday and maybe adding a few names to our ‘places to go’ list.

    Reply
  5. Susan Howes

    Thank you so much for your poignant blog. It summoned a variety of emotions within me. Congratulations on achieving your your tour guide status; hopefully, in the future my husband and I will join a walk.

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  6. John Potter

    Thanks for doing these! I’ve been interested and inspired by your work all year, a high point of Sunday morining.
    I’ve been reading the blogs for the last year (and most of the earlier ones) and, as an ex-Londoner (now Midlands), I’ve always loved exploring the city.
    I spent a lot of time wandering the streets back in the 70’s& 80’s when I was a student and afterwards, particularily South Kensington, Knightsbridge and the West End. I sometimes got on a bus at random and explored wherever I ended up.
    I may well turn up on one of the tours when the world starts turning again, and I’m not shielding.

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  7. Amanda

    I love this blog – I lived in London in the 1980s and used to love cycling around to my various jobs and walking around on my days off, mostly in the West End, and so I have a lot of nostalgia for London. The demolition of older buildings to make way for weirdly lopsided glass towers doesn’t make sense in an era when the office building is clearly going to become redundant in its present form. So many times when looking on old maps for my family research I find a street where an ancestor lived, only to find that a big glass and concrete structure has now completely obliterated it! Your photographic record is invaluable, Keep on blogging!

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  8. Jane Barnett

    Congratulations on seven years. Always enjoy reading your blog. It inspires me to find out more about my hometown. One thing that intrigued me was your reference to The Still as a ‘slum pub’. Not heard of this term and would love an explanation.
    Look forward to your eventual tours

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  9. Ricolas

    Whatever else my Sunday should feature, I make sure to put aside a little time to sit down and read this blog; it is always interesting, and a great thing indeed. Well done on 7 years.

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  10. Maureen Sanchez

    Congratulations on your tremendous success. Please accept a well earned ‘Thank you’ I look forward to many more.

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  11. Annie Green

    Congratulations! What an excellent thing to be, a London guide. These photos are wonderful, a rather chilling reminder of how we seemed to walk headlong into danger this time last year. On March 12th I made a day trip down to meet friends and was struck by the emptiness of the City streets as I crossed from Kings Cross to Billingsgate. For the first time ever I found myself the only customer in a London pub at lunchtime. We are living in the strangest of times. Here’s to a good year to come.

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  12. Eric

    Thankyou. Reading your excellent blog accompanied by a coffee is such a part of my routine. I am looking forward to being able to come up to town with my newly acquired crumbly persons oap travel pass and appreciate the locations you have written about. Thanks !

    Reply
  13. ken peers

    Many thanks to you and your Dad for the photo’s and observations.I have been following for a couple of years now and so look forward to Sunday mornings,and a few midweek treats.Congratulations on seven years and thank you for all your great work,be good.

    Reply
  14. Alec Goulden

    I always enjoy your blog and appreciate the hard work you put into your research – often to reveal some unexpected nugget of information.
    Thank you.

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  15. Frances Bulwer

    Good luck with your next guiding and London walks preps! I recommend looking at Dr Alfred Salter and his wife Ada Salter who worked tirelessly for the people of Bermondsey in the early 20th century and who are still revered and commemorated in the area (street names, statues, rose garden in Southwark Park, a very good recent biography of Ada, a notice in Southwark Station and lots online). I did a talk and walk on them for an SE16-based group a couple of years ago.
    Our website has been rather neglected during the pandemic.

    Reply
  16. Bernard Steel

    I thought I knew London until I started reading this blog 3-4years ago.
    Thank you so much for the many discoveries and I’m looking forward to the day when we can tramp the pavements again.
    Congratulations!

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  17. Phil

    Saddened to see the loss of another pub. I was last in the city at the very beginning of the pandemic, early February last year and was aghast at some of the architecture.
    I wondered then how the city I remember from Sunday walks with my Dad in the mid to late 1960s could have come to this.
    I just read that in 2016 the Corporation had net assets of 2.3 billion pounds.
    I suppose that in part answers my question. Money talks.

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  18. Carey Green

    Congratulations on your seven year anniversary and on passing the Clerkenwell and Islington guide course. I’ve followed your blog for a number of years and look forward to Sunday morning readings. Brilliantly researched, wonderfully written and an endlessly fascinating view of our constantly shifting city.

    Reply
  19. Janice Mackenzie

    Thank you for your blog discovered 4 years ago. Having been born in London but left as a baby then living back there for 9 years in the 70`s plus all my ancestors coming London for the past 200 years makes fascinating reading.

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  20. Alex

    I came across your blog only this year during our own lockdown on the other side of the world in Melbourne, Australia. I think I originally stumbled on it thanks to your post about the pubs of the City. I’ve found reading your blog a brilliant read about so many aspects of a city I won’t be able to visit again for at least a few years; when all this is over. You provide a personal richness of detail that’s a pleasure to read. I hope to go through your back catalogue in due course. Cheers again, keep up the great work.

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  21. Hilary Melton-Butcher

    Many congratulations on your achievement – and wonderful your father’s photos inspired you and to utilise our 21st century technology … I love looking at your photos and comparisons – you highlight many hidden places we almost certainly haven’t seen. All the best for the future … while that 02 walk must have been so much fun with your granddaughter. Stay safe .. .and here’s to many more Sunday posts – Hilary

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  22. Tony Murray

    Hi Thanks for being a window on the world in these lock down times. I love the photos of the pubs, when I was young I liked them because they sold beer, but as I have got older I appreciate the buildings themselves. One of my favorites is the Princess Louise on Holborn and I always liked a stroll down, to visit the pubs backing on to the river at Wapping. What history and a great area to avoid the crowds in the West End. I did start taking photos of the old pubs and will continue, you never know when they will be gone to redevelopment. People of a certain age might remember the Cockney Pride at Piccidilly Circus of the Wards Irish House over the road down under the cinema. Both long gone alas.

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  23. Steve Ehrlicher

    So, the equivalent to a blog every day for a whole year – almost (364) or is this your 365th?. Quite remarkable. Born and grew up in London, now living 100 miles away and rarely visiting, your blog keeps me grounded. As a fairly recent attendee on a Sunday, I will have to make time to dip into your past posts – something to look forward to in these new-fangled times. Many thanks and all strength to you for the future.

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  24. Paul Mulvihill

    The blog is brilliant and has become a solid fixture in my week, I know from reading the other comments posted I’m not alone. Besides providing a great deal of pleasure I think it is a very important historical resource by documenting London in its unique way. I could envisage this televised but dread to think someone else would try and do it.

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  25. Paul Langham

    I would like to second many of the other posts and congratulate you on your blog and tell you how much the information provided means to me. I wish you great success when London is opened up again and as you say everyone, London, all of us will reinvent.

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  26. Sheila

    Congratulations on 7 years and on passing the guide course. I’ve really enjoyed reading your fascinating blog over the last few years, and I look forward to joining you on one of your walks!

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  27. Elizabeth P

    Thank you and congratulations on seven years of fascinating postings – and particular thanks for this Sunday’s. It beautifully conveys the reality of Lockdown, which may be difficult to bring home to future generations without this sort of evidence. I do hope you are all keeping journals!

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  28. Henry Irwig

    A great big thank you also, from Boston, Massachusetts. We look forward to joining you in person on your walking tours later this year. Hopefully well before the autumn.

    Congratulations on your new qualification and on the start of the 8th year of your wonderful Sunday morning visits!

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  29. Deborah Solberg

    I want to congratulate and thank you for for you commitment and passion about sharing your and your fathers photos. You do him proud. Both of you are so important to preserving history and sharing it with all of us is something that I look forward to every week. My grandmother used to play on tower green with the custodian’s daughter and she told me many stories. When I took back photos of Tower Bridge long after she forgot who I was, she remembered where she grew up. It’s been a source of fascination for me to learn more about where my people lived. And I was so happy to learn about you when Covid hit that I’m sharing you with my English friends in Canada. I am now waiting for time so I can look at all your previous blog posts and if I ever get to London again, I would love to go on a walking tour with you. I love brilliant storytelling

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  30. Steve Howes

    Thank you so much for your brilliant blog and well done on passing your
    guiding course. Looking forward to joining you on a tour hopefully in the not too distant future.

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  31. John S

    Another vote of thanks for all your work putting together what has become for me the most anticipated Sunday read! Captivating photographs, engaging writing and guaranteed to bring some new facts or insights into even the most familiar areas of London. I’ve lived here 30-odd years, yet there’s still so much of the city I’ve never explored – your blog often inspires a new destination for me to head to, when I scoot off on a TFL Cycle Hire bike for some exercise. Long may it continue!

    Reply
  32. Paul

    I look forward in a few months’ time to a virtual tour of your darkroom. in the early 1960’s, my late grandfather had a dark room and developed his own photographs, claiming that he could do a better job than the professionals. He was a Leica user too, so there is an element of déjà vu in your intention.

    I would like to join you on a stroll around London, which I hope will conclude in a carefully selected hostelry!

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  33. Anne

    Thank you for all the hard work and so much interesting detail. I often start reading by thinking ” Oh yes, I know this area” but no! There’s so much more!

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  34. john Cardorka

    I look forward to your posts, a high lite of the week. Hope to be able to join you on your tours later in the year,

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  35. Sue B

    I am in the queue for any/all your guided walks.
    Your weekly mail was a small beacon of light during the first lockdown when London was like a revist of’ 28 Days ‘:unusal to walk along Oxford St and meet only one person, in fact it was somewhat scary . Living on my own, your regular mail did help deliver some normalcy into that very unnerving period .
    Like several other commentators I have a stack of walks to do once we are out of LD.
    Thank you.

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  36. Sara

    Congratulations on reaching your seventh year of blogging and on passing your guiding course. I look forward to reading your post each Sunday and attending one of your walks. I really miss travelling around London, last time I was in the City was September, hopefully will be back after May!!

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  37. Bill

    I’ll add to the long list of those above thanking you for this wonderful endeavor. Having lived there long ago, and now confined an ocean away during these times, London, and the many extensive walks I’ve taken there over nearly 30 years, remains in my heart. I learn something from each of your posts, an accumulation of knowledge layered on revisited experience that I treasure.

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  38. David Tuckwell

    Having always enjoyed your posts immensely, I look forward to more of your celebratory and sensitive views of London, past and present.

    Congratulations and well done for your contribution to the historical record of the city.

    Reply
  39. Roy Beadle

    Congratulations on the sustained high quality of your wonderful blog over such a period. Looking forward to details of the walking tours.

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  40. Roger

    Thank you. As many above have said, a great read on Sunday morning. I wonder if I will ever get to visit London again (I live in Canada), but your blogs help fill my interests.

    Reply
  41. Celia Crangle

    Congratulations and many thanks for reminding me of a past life in London. As a new member I enjoy looking at previous years. Wish I’d found you earlier. I’m a History lover and Genealogist, whenever I find a new place of residence in London I check Google Maps so I can relate to the area. So much of London has been destroyed and replaced with Steel & Glass. Love the Black & white photos. It feels like I`m back walking around London again- hopefully in the Future. Wonderful work!!
    Your Father would be proud of You.

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  42. Lori

    Your Sunday blog is something I always look forward to. They are well researched and written, and always an engrossing read. Most importantly for me, they keep me in touch with the city I was born in and lived and worked in for 50 years but sadly no longer live in and is now in another country to me. Thank you so much.
    So hoping for another 7 years of your excellent blog. Congratulations on passing your tour guide course, your tours will be very popularl

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  43. Stefany C. Reich-Silber

    Congratulations on your 7 years of uninterrupted blogging and photography. I love your posts. They are so interesting and informative and thorough. I was born and raised in London and walking and exploring and photographing this fabulous city is one of my most favourite things to do in life!!! Unfortunately I have lived a long way away for a very long time coming back every year at least once or twice for a couple of months or so each time. I will most definitely join you on your walks when I can. I can see how your project and its research would be a solitary one, fascinating and engrossing nonetheless, but how adding the actual sharing with people in real time would just enhance it for you and benefit us all. Thank you so much. Keep it the good work.

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  44. John Campbell

    Many thanks to you for another year of excellent posts. It is always a highlight of my week and I look forward to many more. Great work, thankyou.

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  45. Mary

    Thank you and congratulations on your seventh blogging year. Have learned much from your posts/photos and greatly appreciate the work you put into each one. Best of luck with walking tours this year. Looking forward to your eighth year of posts about London–a place where I grew up, but now only get to visit when crossing the Pond. Hopefully, will be able to walk familiar (and not so familiar) London streets in person again, if not later this year, then next year.

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  46. Charlie Forman

    Your eye for the way London changes is so compelling. I am especially fascinated by the visual richness of the photography moving between the 1940s, 1980s and now. Thanks so much for what you’ve shown us. Always eager for more

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  47. rob pilch

    Another great post and thanks for all the prior ones – here’s to your next 7+ years!
    On the subject of Newstands: back in the day when you paid for your newspaper the guys (it was always a bloke in my experience) who manned the stands were real characters and they may still be, I no longer live in London. Most tube and rail stations had a stand outside. Back in the early 70s there was a chap who was based outside Tower Hill tube station who had a “shout out” on every Saturday night……. “Every Result”! Good memories.

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  48. Anne

    Congratulations on completing your recent guides course -I feel sure you could give the course yourself! I also send heartiest congratulations on your seven year blog. May there be at least another 7 years of delightful Sunday morning tours. Many, many thanks.

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  49. Patrick

    Congratulations and thank you for all the hard work. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading your blog for years. It is honest, inciteful, well researched and interesting to read. We look forward to attending your walks once you start them!

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  50. François Marc Chaballier

    Thank you so much for your wonderful blog which only makes me yearn for a time (will it happen again?) when we can again walk around London and discover its (her? his?) many hidden charms.
    From a Parisian, born and bred, who looks forward to his Sunday morning read of your, and your father’s, discoveries.

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  51. Matt Robinson

    I am a new reader in the past year and am also slowly working my way through the other 6 years. The blogs are a delight to read, fantastically concise for such a breadth of time and issues, and a mini-book in each case. Keep on keeping on and thank you!

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  52. Linda Ziemer

    Thank you so much for your blog. I enjoy reading it every week, especially during the pandemic, when I have had to cancel my yearly trip to London. I am with you 100%–London is the best city to walk around and explore. I hope to go on a walking tour with you in person some day.

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  53. Peter Clift

    Once again an excellent blog, many thanks. I look forward to joining one of your guided walks in the, hopefully, not too distant future. Peter

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  54. Lesley Thompson

    Yet another thank you for your great blog, which I look forward to each week. Congratulations, too, on qualifying as a Clerkenwell and Islington Guide. I qualified in 2019, was just getting going on offering some walks when the pandemic hit, and am now preparing, in hope, to be able to guide again in a few months. Maybe see you out on the streets and at a guides meeting.

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  55. Trevor Haynes

    Congratulations on achieving your two important milestones. I’ve learned so much from your weekly reports. Keep up the good work!

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  56. Paul O'Connor

    Your posts are so well crafted and detailed, every posting has been delightful to read and I’ve enjoyed them so much. I’d love to go on your guided tours. Thanks so much for what you’ve revealed about London’s past and present and I wish you all the best as you continue unwrapping the wonder that is London.

    Reply
  57. Charlene

    Congratulations on another year! I thoroughly enjoy your walks around the city I hope to visit again one day. Could I make a request?? I’m a Regency period fan and would love to see some of the places that survive from that time as well as some of the oldest buildings in the city. I look forward to your continuing walks!

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  58. Peter Holford

    Always a pleasure to read tour blog each week and learn a bit more about places I thought I knew. And on the rare occasion I comment I hope it adds to the fount of knowledge. A big ‘thank you’.

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  59. Joseph Pigg

    I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the last 7years of Sunday morning history lessons.
    Looking forward to the ‘Tours on foot’,
    I’ll buy the first pint!!
    Have you posted this morning, nothing received yet : Sunday 7th.
    Many thanks

    Reply
    1. admin Post author

      There is a technical problem with the subscriptions application preventing new posts being sent via e-mail. Today’s new post is on the website.

      Reply
  60. Tim Chamberlain

    Going for a stroll around London with you would be fascinating. Hope I can join one of your tours in the future. And how wonderful to get your Dad’s old Leica back in action! – Looking forward to seeing you replicate some of his photos with the same camera and lens. What a wonderful thing to be able to do!

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  61. Jane Froggatt

    Thank you for all your posts, so interesting to read. I hope to maybe join you on one of your walks and talks this year if they can go ahead! My ancestors are from around Shad Thames and Bermondsey.
    Jane from Cambridge.

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  62. Ann Ranshaw

    Thank you so much for your fascinating blog which has helped me to keep going through lockdown and a series of health crises. It has reminded me of my roots, younger self at college and enjoying living in and exploring the best city for me. My regular visits from Northampton to friends and family in London have been curtailed because of covid but I am saving my strength and energy to enjoy your guided walks when you get the go ahead. Keep posting and thanks again.

    Reply
  63. Randy L Moore

    Your blogs are excellent; thank you so much for all the time and work that you devote. You take me back to the times when I lived there, and my regular weekend explorations. You tackle a subject, and dig deep with information and photos; you even seem to anticipate my “next” question and even answer it. London is a city where, no matter how long you continue this effort, or how detailed you go into a particular topic, you simply cannot ever run out of interesting subjects. Thank you for keeping us informed and entertained. Cheers from Saint Louis, USA!

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