 Horatio Walpole (Horace to his friends), born in 1717, is one of those characters from London’s history books that I’d love to have met in real life. Lauded as a brilliant man of letters, historian and antiquarian, he was also, by all accounts, a legendary socialite, prolific gossip…and an unapologetic eccentric. Luckily for us, a generous slice of Horace’s eccentricity survives. You can still visit the incredible home he built (his self-described “little gothic castle”), Strawberry Hill House, tucked away in Twickenham.  From the outside, you’d be forgiven for thinking it looks like something dreamed up by Disney – brilliant white, with turrets, battlements and a distinct fairy-tale feel. But Strawberry Hill is better known for its theatrical interiors and is widely regarded as the finest example of Georgian Gothic Revival architecture in Britain. Ever the trend-setter, Horace built it long before the Gothic revival properly took off – about a century early, in fact! Inside, Strawberry Hill is theatrical to the point of excess – and all the better for it. From chamber to library, chapel to gallery, the whole place is gloriously, unapologetically fantastical. There’s a royal bedchamber that was never slept in and corridors deliberately kept dark to create what Horace described as “gloomth” – his own word for atmospheric medieval doom and gloom, dialled up to maximum drama. The house was so fantastical that it became a tourist attraction in Walpole’s own lifetime. And being Horace, he handled public interest with characteristic flair, printing his own guidebooks for visitors and imposing strict rules - only four visitors per day and absolutely no children!   A bit more about Horace Horace came from rather grand stock. He was the fourth son of Sir Robert Walpole, the man who dominated 18th-century English politics for 21 years and is widely regarded as Britain’s first Prime Minister. Horace entered Parliament at the age of 24 and sat in the House of Commons for 25 years, representing various boroughs conveniently controlled by the Walpole dynasty. But, in the best traditions of the Georgian era, his father also arranged a series of comfortable sinecures, those wonderfully named (cushy) “jobs” requiring little or no actual work, which gave Horace the financial independence to become a man of leisure and letters.  In fact he was a prolific letter writer – nearly 6000 over 60 years – entertaining his readers with his acute and sardonic observations of Georgian social trends. On the mid-18th-century obsession with spa towns and sea bathing, he wrote: “One would think that the English were ducks; they are for ever waddling to the waters.” Back to the house Strawberry Hill is easy to reach from London. Trains run from Waterloo to Strawberry Hill station in around 35–40 minutes, followed by a short, pleasant walk. The house is typically open for guided tours from Saturday to Wednesday (and yes, children are allowed these days), and even if you don’t venture inside, Strawberry Hill’s 5 acre, Grade II listed garden is a lovely space for picnics and pottering. If you like your history serious and sensible, this might not be the place for you. But if you enjoy characters, drama and a healthy dose of Gothic flair, delivered by a man who coined the word “gloomth”, then I think you’ll find Strawberry Hill an absolute delight.   
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 For 76 years, between 1927 and 2003, London’s post was whisked beneath the city streets on a railway few Londoners even knew existed. Seventy feet underground, driverless electric trains rattled through nine-foot-wide tunnels, carrying letters and parcels between sorting offices. This hidden network, which became known as the Mail Rail, stretched for 6.5 miles, linking Mount Pleasant in Clerkenwell to Paddington and quietly keeping the capital connected. The idea of an underground postal railway was first floated in the mid-19th century, when horse-drawn carts and clogged streets were slowing London’s mail to a crawl. But bureaucracy, budget wrangles and the outbreak of the First World War meant the plan didn’t become reality until 1927.  At its peak, Mail Rail ran for 22 hours a day and carried up to four million letters daily. However, the decline in letter-writing told its own story. In 2003, the railway was deemed uneconomical and suspended, almost overnight, and remains closed for postal purposes. Thankfully, this extraordinary slice of London history wasn’t lost. Take an immersive ride on the Mail Rail Today, Mail Rail forms part of the award-winning The Postal Museum at Mount Pleasant. Visitors can hop aboard a specially adapted train and take an immersive ride through the tunnels, learning how this secret system worked and why it mattered so much to the city.  Once a month, there’s also the chance to walk a 1.2-kilometre stretch of the tunnels on foot – a rare opportunity to explore one of London’s most unusual underground spaces. The museum itself makes for a brilliant, family-friendly day out. Alongside the Mail Rail ride, you’ll find hands-on exhibitions, fascinating stories of innovation and design, and Sorted, a popular play space for younger visitors up to the age of eight.  Behind the scenes, the museum cares for hundreds of thousands of objects, from pillar boxes and postage stamps to uniforms, vehicles and, of course, an entire underground railway. Together, they tell the 500-year story of British postal communication and its lasting impact on everyday life in the United Kingdom. There are also plenty of special events running during February half term 2026 – so if you’re looking for something a little different to do in London, this hidden railway is well worth uncovering. Watch my Fun London Fact video about the Mail Rail on TikTok. Find out more at the Postal Museum website.   “When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life,“ wrote Dr Samuel Johnson. I totally agree with Sam’s sentiment. London has an extraordinary ability to keep surprising you - especially when you step away from the bigger attractions and into its smaller, more personal museums. These are places you might walk past a dozen times without noticing. Former homes. Quiet townhouses. Buildings that still feel more like someone has just popped out for a stroll than formal museums. Here are five small London museums I love – and that you may not have visited yet, starting with the aforementioned Dr Johnson’s former home. Dr Johnson’s House Dr Samuel Johnson is considered one the greatest literary figures of the eighteenth century and is perhaps best known for his monumental A Dictionary of the English Language, published in 1755. He worked on the Dictionary while living at 17 Gough Square - a beautifully preserved 17th-century townhouse tucked away in the courts and alleys off Fleet Street. It’s the only surviving part of the original Gough Square development, and stepping inside feels like slipping through a crack in time. This incredible four-storey townhouse has retained many of its original features, including historic panelling, an open staircase, wooden floorboards, coal holes and even the original eighteenth-century front-door security system, complete with a heavy chain, corkscrew latch and spiked iron bar. Burglars consider yourselves warned! What I particularly love about Dr Johnson’s House is how immersive it feels. You’re encouraged to sit on the chairs and window seats, to pause, to linger – and to imagine Johnson pacing the rooms, wrestling with definitions and deadlines.  Handel Hendrix House Apart from being famous musical marvels, what have George Frideric Handel and Jimi Hendrix got in common? By a remarkable coincidence, they lived next door to each other on Brook Street in central London, albeit two centuries apart. Handel moved into 25 Brook Street in 1723, at the height of his fame. A couple of centuries later in 1966, Hendrix came to London and he lived in a flat at 23 Brook Street for couple of years with his then girlfriend, Kathy Etchingham, while the Jimi Hendrix Experience took the UK by storm. The Handel Hendrix House is now a museum, combining both residences and carefully recreated to reflect life in their respective centuries. You can wander from baroque London to swinging sixties London in the space of a staircase, with plenty of music to accompany you along the way.  Benjamin Franklin House Benjamin Franklin could never be accused of underachieving. Despite only having two years of formal education, he not only went on to become a founder of the United States, but he is considered to have helped advance the Age of Enlightenment through his experiments with electricity, his inventions, writings, and his extensive activities as a printer and philosopher.  At 36 Craven Street, just off Trafalgar Square, is the world's only remaining home of Benjamin Franklin. He lived here for 16 years between 1757 and 1775, and during that time the house effectively became the first unofficial US embassy in London. It opened as a museum in 2006. Today, the house is a museum and uses live interpretation, sound, lighting and visual projections to bring Franklin’s London years to life. One small warning: it’s a tall, narrow, five-storey house with uneven floors and stairs. You may be stepping back into the eighteenth century, but mind your footing while you do. Sir John Soane’s Museum Sir John Soane’s Museum may be the smallest of the National Museums, but it’s an absolute treasure trove. Soane is considered one of England’s greatest architects, and he built and lived in the house, until his death in 1837.  The house is preserved exactly as Sir John left it, offering visitors a wonderful opportunity to journey through the rooms, learning about his life and his vast curated collection of over 30,000 architectural drawings, models, sculptures and paintings. It feels like a brilliant, eccentric mind made physical – a place you could visit ten times and still notice something new on each visit. 2 Willow Road If modernist architecture is more your thing, 2 Willow Road in Hampstead is well worth seeking out. Designed and lived in by architect Ernő Goldfinger and his family, the house was built in 1939 and is one of only two modernist houses in the UK open to the public. Now a National Trust property, it offers a rare chance to see modernist design principles applied to everyday family life. Knowledgeable guides are on hand to explain how a philosophical and artistic movement became a way of living.  The house is due to reopen on 5 March 2026, and visits must be booked in advance – so a little forward planning is required. These small museums are reminders that some of London’s richest stories are tucked away behind unassuming front doors.
And if a few of them sound familiar, that’s no accident. Many of these places, and plenty more like them, crop up in my book, Why is Downing Street Painted Black?: and 364 Other Fun London Facts, where I explore the quieter corners of the capital and the stories they tell. After all, as Dr Johnson knew, London rewards curiosity - and there’s always another door worth pushing open. My book can be ordered here. One of the great joys of London is that just when you think you’ve seen it all, another blockbuster exhibition pops up and drags you somewhere entirely unexpected - into a writer’s mind, an artist’s studio, or a world made of plasticine and penguins. There are some fabulous exhibitions coming to London this year and I wanted to share my top five - plus one extra that I couldn’t quite leave out.   Agatha Christie: 50 years of mystery British Library - opening October 2026 Fifty years since her death feels like the perfect excuse to revisit the woman who turned murder into a national pastime. This landmark exhibition promises to delve into Agatha Christie’s life, work and extraordinary cultural legacy, from Poirot’s moustache to Miss Marple’s quiet brilliance. The British Library is promising a wealth of evocative photographs, personal belongings, notebooks, early manuscript drafts and excerpts from her novels – some of which have never been on display before. This is your chance to explore how Christie’s life, travels and interests became the foundation for her most unforgettable stories. It’s a must see for crime fiction or Agatha Christie fans!  Frida Kahlo: The Making of an Icon Tate Modern - opening June 2026 Frida Kahlo’s image is everywhere, but the woman behind it is often simplified or mythologised. This major Tate Modern exhibition promises to explore how Kahlo consciously shaped her own identity and image, and how that image has travelled the world. The exhibition will feature over 130 works by Kahlo, her contemporaries and the artists she inspired from later generations. It will also include some of her most well-known paintings, as well as documents, photographs and memorabilia taken from Kahlo's archives. David Hockney: A Year in Normandie and Some Other Thoughts about Painting Serpentine Galleries - opening March 2026 Hockney never really slows down, does he? This exhibition focuses on his time in Normandy, where he recorded the changing seasons with relentless curiosity and colour. It has been conceived in close collaboration with the artist and brings Hockney’s celebrated ninety-metre-long frieze ‘A Year in Normandie’ which was inspired by the Bayeux Tapestry (coming to the British Museum this year), to London for the first time. Anish Kapoor Hayward Gallery - opening June 2026 If you like your art subtle and polite, Anish Kapoor probably isn’t for you. His work tends to loom, swallow, distort and unsettle - and that’s exactly why I’m drawn to it. The Hayward Gallery feels like the perfect setting for Kapoor’s large-scale, immersive pieces. This is likely to be an exhibition you feel as much as see - one that messes with your sense of space, scale and certainty. Renoir and Love National Gallery - opening October 2026 This major exhibition exploring Renoir through the lens of love - romantic, familial and artistic, sounds too good to miss. With over 50 works 'Renoir and Love' will be the most significant exhibition of the French impressionist’s work in the UK for 20 years. Expect softness, sensuality and some very fine brushwork indeed.  Bonus exhibition - Wallace & Gromit (and friends) Young V&A - opening February 2026 If you grew up anywhere near a television in the 1990s, this one needs no selling. The Young V&A’s exhibition celebrating Aardman’s most beloved creations looks set to be joyful, inventive and quietly brilliant, much like Wallace & Gromit themselves. Expect sketches, models, sets and a deep dive into the craft behind the animations that include Morph, Shaun the Sheep and Wallace & Gromit. Proof, if any were needed, that British eccentricity is one of our finest cultural exports.  Whether your taste runs to murder mysteries, modern masters, impressionist romance or animated dogs and wrong trousers, 2026 is shaping up to be a very good year for exhibition-hopping in London. My advice? Book early and remember that this city rewards curiosity, especially when you follow it indoors on a rainy afternoon.
London has never been very good at standing still. Just when you think you’ve got a handle on it, the city quietly reinvents itself - opens a new museum, restores a Victorian market, launches a bus that turns into a boat, or decides you should now be able to channel your inner chimney sweep from Mary Poppins and walk on rooftops. Here are a few things coming up in 2026 that have caught my eye - and might just take your fancy too.  Smithfield Market: a museum comeback story Coming to the historic Smithfield Market at the end of the year is the first phase of the new London Museum (formerly the Museum of London), which boldly claims it will “reconceive what a museum could be.” The mind boggles! This glorious Victorian market complex closed back in the 1990s, so it’s wonderful news that it’s being brought back to life as the new home for the museum’s vast collections, after it outgrew its London Wall site and closed in 2022. The General Market Building will open later this year, showcasing the museum’s permanent collections. The Poultry Market will follow in 2028, housing collection stores, learning spaces and major temporary exhibitions. Smithfield, it seems, is finally getting its second act.  The 2026 French exchange In July 2025 France and England signed a historic loan agreement. In return for some treasures from across all four nations from the UK, including some chess pieces, the British Museum will receive the 70m long Bayeux Tapestry, which is essentially an embroidered cartoon from 1066 depicting the Battle of Hastings. The tapestry is due to go on show at the British Museum in the autumn and will be the first time that it has been shown in the UK since it was made, almost 1,000 years ago. It’s expected to be one of the museum’s most popular exhibitions ever, so prepare to queue!  Is it a boat? Is it a bus? No it’s the duck tour! I’m all for encouraging people to step off the tube and explore London above ground, so I was delighted to hear that the amphibious ‘duck tours’ are officially returning to London this year. Fifteen years ago, these bright yellow bus-boats were a familiar sight, trundling through the streets before splashing into the Thames. They were forced to close in 2017 when their launch site was swallowed up by Thames Water’s super sewer works. Dates for the official launch are yet to be announced, but worth keeping a look out for! Talking about transport… Londoners love to complain about its transport network (that and the weather), but the city wouldn’t function without it – and there are some intriguing developments on the horizon for 2026. These include a trial of self-driving cabs across 20 London boroughs, the possible pedestrianisation of Oxford Circus, and the arrival of the new Piccadilly line trains. Expect walk-through, air-conditioned carriages, more capacity, double doorways, real-time digital displays and a smoother, more energy-efficient ride. No confirmed dates for any of the above yet - so try not to get too excited  Grosvenor Square’s glow-up After more than 300 years of quietly minding its own business (and watching Mayfair strut past), Grosvenor Square is having a glow-up. And this is not just any makeover. This multi-million pound transformation marks only the fourth redesign since the 1720s - proof that even London’s grandest addresses like to reinvent themselves every few centuries. Now managed as a public garden on a not-for-profit basis by Grosvenor Property UK, the new Square is due to open this summer. Designed as a natural haven for wildlife and habitats, it blends historic design with modern eco-thinking, and beauty with biodiversity, creating a place where residents and visitors pause and reconnect with nature. I, for one, can’t wait to visit. V&A East Museum - opening April 2026 The long-awaited V&A East Museum opens its doors on 18 April 2026. More than a decade in the making, this new branch of the Victoria & Albert Museum will be a cornerstone of the East Bank cultural quarter in Stratford’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Conceived as part of the legacy of the 2012 Olympics, the project takes inspiration from South Kensington’s post-Great Exhibition boom and the South Bank after the Festival of Britain. The museum will feature two free permanent Why We Make galleries, displaying over 500 objects spanning global art, architecture, design, performance and fashion. Its first temporary exhibition, The Music is Black: A British Story, explores 125 years of Black music-making in Britain. The exhibition will feature Joan Armatrading’s childhood guitar, fashion worn by Little Simz and newly acquired photographs by Jennie Baptiste, Dennis Morris, Eddie Otchere and Sam White, as well as a partnership with BBC Music and East Bank. Up on the roof at Ally Pally Opened in 1873, Alexandra Palace, or Ally Pally, as it’s affectionately known - is getting a brand-new perspective in 2026. From 14 February, visitors will be able to take part in the Ally Pally Rooftop Adventure, the UK’s highest roof walk. Guided group and private tours will run at different times of day, from sunrise climbs to sunset and after-dark London lights experiences. It’s open to families, couples and anyone with a head for heights (or a taste for adventure). Booking slots are already available - and the views, I’m told, are rather spectacular.  Fancy going a bit deeper?
If all this has whetted your appetite for more London stories, allow me a small plug. This year I’m launching the Curistorian Club - a series of intimate evening events celebrating London’s history and culture. Each Curistorian Club night takes place on the last Tuesday of the month, upstairs at The Devereux, a cracking pub tucked just off Fleet Street. I host the evenings and invite two London experts along, one with a historical angle, the other more cultural, to share their specialist knowledge or chat it through with me. The first two events are already sold out. You can find out about future events here! If you like your London stories told in person, in a pub, by people who really know their stuff - I’d love to see you there!  Tucked away on a quiet, leafy residential street just off the busy Finchley Road in north London, 20 Maresfield Gardens looks like any other attractive London townhouse. Which is exactly what makes it so good. This was the final home of Sigmund Freud (1859 – 1939), the founder of psychoanalysis. Freud fled here in 1938 after the Nazis annexed Austria, bringing with him his family, his library, and enormous collection of ancient artefacts.  When Freud came to London, he was suffering from heart problems and mouth cancer. He died a year later in 1939 and the house continued to be a family home for 44 years. Anna Freud (1895 – 1982), the youngest of Sigmund and Martha Freud’s six children, continued to live in the house after her father’s death up until her own death in 1982. After that, she left instructions in her will for 20 Maresfield Gardens to become a museum dedicated to the life and work of her father, which opened in 1986. The house has been preserved in a way that feels intimate rather than shrine-like. You’re not stepping into a grand museum; you’re stepping into someone’s living room.  Freud’s study is arranged to resemble, as closely as possible, the rooms he practiced in during in his lifetime. His famous couch is here, sitting quietly in the study like it’s waiting for you to lie down and start talking. It’s covered in rugs and throws and surrounding it are shelves crammed with hundreds of books and objects Freud collected throughout his life – Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Asian – all of which he believed helped him think. These really are a set of bookshelves that make you feel you need to up your game.  One of the joys of the Freud Museum is that it’s small. It’s not overwhelming. Instead, you poke around rooms, read a few labels, and gradually realise you’re learning things without being lectured at. It is full of intriguing snippets. From Freud’s fascination with the Biblical figure of Moses, despite the fact he rejected religion, to his begonia still very much alive and thriving at the museum, years after his death. The museum regularly hosts talks, tours, events and presents exhibitions of work by contemporary artists which resonate with Freud’s life and work. The current exhibition Cathie Pilkington: Housekeeper is enthralling. Cathie Pilkington’s work explores domestic spaces and female identity and she combines sculpture with immersive installations using diverse materials and studio furniture. At the Freud Museum she sheds light on the care and work of Paula Fichtl, the Freud family’s live-in housekeeper. “She knows this place better than all of us” Freud said of her. Placing Pilkington’s sculptures inside Freud’s former home is inspired and slightly unsettling – in the best possible way.   Her uncanny figures appear in corners, on furniture, half-blending into the house itself. They feel like they belong there, whilst also disrupting the spaces in a mischievous way – as if they’re whispering to each other as soon as you turn away. The exhibition plays with ideas of care, control, and the roles people occupy within domestic spaces – themes that breathe new life into Freud’s own home.  The Freud Museum is one of those places that rewards curiosity. You don’t need to know your id from your ego to enjoy it. Just turn up, have a wander, and let the house and gardens do their thing. You’ll leave having learned something – about Freud, about art, about houses, or possibly about yourself.
Things to know: The museum is open Wednesday to Sunday. Cathie Pilkington: Housekeeper exhibition dates: 29 October 2025 – 1 March 2026 Other places of interest near the Freud Museum: Hampstead Heath, Fenton House and Garden, Camden Art Centre, Kenwood, 2 Willow Road. STRAIGHT TO CURISTORIAN CLUB TICKETS I’ve thought for a long time it’d be nice to organise some events related to London history and culture and invite different speakers to share their specialist London knowledge . Well, I’ve got my arse in to gear and am delighted to announce the first three Curistorian Club events kicking off later this month. Each event will take place in the evening on the last Tuesday of the month in a room above The Devereux, a lovely pub nestled off Fleet Street, next to one of the Inns of Court. Every Curistorian Club night will be hosted by me and involve two guests either presenting their specialist subject or doing a Q and A with me. One guest will have a historical angle and the other a more cultural emphasis and all of them will be London experts of some sort. I’ve booked in the guests for January, February and March and they include: a Thames Mudlark, a crime writer, two artists, a nature writer / London tree expert. Tickets are £15 per person and available through Eventbrite, with only 30 or so tickets available for each night. Here’s the full line up: Tuesday 27th Jan (7pm – 11pm) Curistorian Club #1 Ben Wilson & Monika Buttling-Smith (chewing gum art and a Thames river finds) Ben Wilson Better known as ‘the Chewing Gum Man’, Ben Wilson has spent over two decades painting amazing miniature pictures on to discarded pieces of chewing gum so it’s entirely possible you’ve already come across him. For the last 10 years or so he’s been an almost permanent fixture on the Millennium Bridge, but you can find his tiny bits of masticated art all over the city’s streets …and elsewhere in the UK and beyond. I’ll be chatting to him about his life, his art, how he came to be ‘the Chewing Gum Man’ and encouraging him to share with us some of his adventures along the way. Monika Buttling-Smith Monika Buttling-Smith co-founded and runs the popular Hands on History Mudlarking Exhibitions, which pop-up all over London. She is a member of the exclusive Society of Thames Mudlarks and a major contributor to the London Museum's Secrets of The Thames Exhibition (ends 1st March). Monika and her museum-worthy treasures have been regularly filmed and published, and she’s ditching her muddy boots and knee pads to share with us some of her most special finds, including a rare medieval Pax, a religious artefact so demonised by Henry VIII and Edward VI that owning one could lead to your death!   Tuesday 24th February (7pm – 11pm) Curistorian Club #2 Paul Wood & Nadine Matheson (London tree hunting and not so cosy crime) Paul Wood Paul Wood is a London-based writer, blogger and photographer who bloomin’ loves trees. His book London’s Street Trees was the first book dedicated to the city's frontline trees, is now in its third edition and has not been out of print since it was first published nine years ago. He has written three other books about trees and urban nature: Tree Hunting: 1,000 Trees to Find in Britain and Ireland’s Towns and Cities (Particular Books 2025), London is a Forest (Quadrille 2019, 2022) and London Tree Walks (Safe Haven 2020), he is also the editor of the Great Trees of London Map (Blue Crow Media 2021). I’m looking forward to learning more about London as an urban forest and hopefully becoming more aware of the nature that surrounds us …even in London. Nadine Matheson Nadine Matheson is a born and bred Deptfordonian (if that’s a word) criminal defence lawyer who somehow finds time to write amazingly brilliant crime novels set in and around south east London. Her first crime novel, The Jigsaw Man was shortlisted for the Dead Good Reader and the Adult Diverse Book Awards in 2022, and has been translated into fifteen languages. Her latest book The Kill List was longlisted for the Theakston Crime Novel of the Year in 2025. Nadine is currently the chair of the Crime Writers’ Association, and host of the podcast, The Conversation with Nadine Matheson. As it happens, her fifth novel The Shadow Carver is being published in February, so I’m hoping she’ll tell us all about that, her career thus far and reveal more about her ties to Deptford and its inspiration in her novels.  photo credit - London Soul Photography  Tuesday 24th March (7pm – 11pm) Curistorian Club #3 Ed Gray & Jonnie Fielding (Painting London and fun London facts) Ed Gray For the last thirty years, Ed Gray has dedicated his life to painting London in all its grime and glory, capturing from real life Hogarthian scenes of the modern metropolis. Through attentive observation, Gray records everyday individuals in his sketchbooks, later translating these studies into multi-layered compositions that resonate with allegory and symbolism. Many of his paintings are massive, crammed with real life characters, reflecting back the ever changing cityscape and those who inhabit it. His paintings were once described as “an ongoing transmetropolitan tapestry”. He’s going to join me for a special Q and A to get under the skin of his work and to share with us his fascination for London and his ceaseless desire to commit it to canvas. Jonnie Fielding Jonnie Fielding …is me. I’ve been a tour guide in London for 16 or so years and have run Bowl of Chalk for 14. It’s been an amazingly tumultuous journey, but one which I continue to enjoy immensely through my regular walking tours and online videos. Last year I was lucky enough to have a book published, ‘Why is Downing Street Painted Black? (and 364 other fun London facts). I’ll be talking in more depth about some of the fun London facts I’ve discovered and answering any questions you might have about London and / or stories from my years guiding in London.   In a nutshell
Bowl of Chalk’s Curistorian Club is an informal way to meet like-minded people in the cosy setting of an historic London pub and learn from experts about London, its history and how it continues to inspire writers, musicians and of course the incurably curious. I hope you’ll be able to join us for one of the events. I will be hosting more monthly events to be announced soon, so keep an eye on my website, Instagram and other channels for updates. Tickets for all three Curistorian Events are available HERE. At the British Library. The current temporary exhibition, Secret Maps at the British Library does pretty much what it says on the tin. It is an exhibition about Secret Maps. A year or so ago I posted a video about the origins of the trusty London A to Z and I was amazed by the response, and the nostalgia attached to it. I think maps have long held a fascination for people and if they’re secret maps …well, even better. This exhibition (which finishes on the 18th January 2026), won’t disappoint for those, even with a distinct lack of interest in maps. As you might expect, the 100 or so items featured are arranged chronologically from the very earliest attempts to map our world, but then explores how the creators of maps or at least those that ruled, could use them for their own benefit. After all, knowledge is power. The control has not always been physical in a ‘lines drawn in the sand’ kind of way, but far more coercively by tweaking here and shrinking there or in many cases, just ensuring that certain things simply don’t exist.  War, secrecy and spies feature heavily, from hiding air fields from maps, to a map of central London carried by a German bomber during World War Two with certain buildings he was required to target, highlighted in red. They even have Lady Mountbatten’s underwear, created from silk World War Two escape maps and prisoner of war maps hidden in hairbrushes. The British Library also doesn’t shy away from imperialism with top secret documents relating to the partition of India in 1947 and South African maps during Apartheid which completely omit black townships altogether. There are far more recent additions with refugees creating maps to navigate their way through Europe.  I was lucky enough to meet a couple of the curators of the exhibition and they commented that one of the things they hadn’t expected was the personal connections that many visitors have encountered on their visit to the exhibition. I found two exhibits that resonated with me. One was a map of the Post Office Tower (now the BT Tower) and its surrounds which due to that the fact that it was a massive telecommunications tower, was said to not appear on maps. The point they’re making is that in this instance it did. However, on the map is the Middlesex Hospital which no longer exists, where my parents met. They remember being evacuated from the area in the early hours of the morning of the 31st October 1971 when a bomb went off on the 31st floor. The second is a map produced for the Somme Offensive in July 1916. It includes British trenches which at the time (and for obvious reasons) were omitted from maps used by the British, unless they were (as this one was) in the hands ‘top brass’. On the right hand side of the map is the edge of Mametz Wood, which in the second week of July saw horrendous hand to hand fighting and the deaths of about 4,000 (mostly Welsh) soldiers. My great-grandfather was involved in that battle, and survived (otherwise I wouldn’t be writing this now), but unfortunately his brother, my great-great uncle did not. Sergeant James Fielding was killed on the 11th July 1916.  One of my favourite pieces in the exhibition was a short novel, ‘For your Convenience’ produced in 1937 telling the story of two men discussing London’s public toilets. At the back of the book is a map, showing where each of the public toilets are situated. The book and the accompanying map was produced for the use of gay men to navigate the city to find sex, some thirty years before homosexuality would be made legal.  I talk about Charles Booth’s 1889 ‘Poverty Map’ regularly on my London walking tours, so was delighted to see a section devoted to that along with his note books. The final exhibit is a wall, displaying the kinds of digital maps that we produce ourselves each time we tap in and out of the tube or a bus, or have the location switched on our phones, or when we buy something using a credit card or online, or use social media. It is our very own map, that we are largely unaware of, but is very much visible to advertisers, tech companies and the government ...and others. You will leave Secret Maps, thrilled, enthralled, enlightened and sobered.      London doesn’t just do Christmas well, it helped invent it. From crackers and Christmas cards to Dickensian cheer and a tree gifted in gratitude, many of the festive traditions we now take for granted have their roots firmly planted in our capital. Here’s a little wander through Christmas in London uncovering the stories behind the snap, the card, the carol and the tree - and a few places you can visit to see where the magic began. The Christmas Card Did you know that the first Christmas card was a London invention? It was created in 1843 by Henry Cole, the Victoria & Albert Museum’s founding director. These days the number of cards sent at Christmas is dwindling, but back in 1843 Henry went large. He had 1000 cards depicting his family raising their glasses in a toast printed. It wasn’t that Henry overestimated the number of friends and family in his address book, he was hoping to sell the cards for a shilling a piece. Apparently the venture was considered a commercial flop, but the idea eventually took off and marked the start of the commercialisation of Christmas. The Christmas Cracker Christmas crackers were also invented in London. Inspired by French bonbons, London confectioner Tom Smith began selling the novelties from his Goswell Road shop in the 1840s. Almost from the start, they contained a sweet or small toy, and a joke or riddle. The snap wasn’t added until 1850. The crackers proved so popular that he later opened a factory near Finsbury Square and to this day, Tom Smith (the brand, not the original person – that would make him about 150 years old), holds the Royal Warrant as Suppliers of Christmas Crackers and Wrapping Paper by appointment to His Majesty. If you visit Finsbury Square, check out the memorial fountain to Tom Smith and see if you can spot the hidden cracker motif on the statue.  The Trafalgar Square Christmas Tree Christmas trees weren’t a London invention, and you probably know that the giant Norwegian spruce that stands proudly in Trafalgar Square every Christmas is an annual gift from Norway. But do you know why Norway gifts us a Christmas tree each year? Like many royal families around Europe, the King of Norway and his family took refuge in London during the second world war and much of the Norwegian resistance network was organised from our capital city. The tree was first gifted in 1947 as a thank you for being Norway’s closest ally during the war and has been gifted ever since. Takk Norway! Dickens’ A Christmas Carol There are estimated to be over 400 film and TV adaptations of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, making it one of the most filmed stories ever. My favourite is hands down, 1992’s The Muppet Christmas Carol! A Christmas Carol is based in Victorian London, with Scrooge’s office in City of London's financial district (Bank/Cornhill), and Bob Cratchit's home based in the poorer area of Camden Town, where Dickens himself lived as a child. Leadenhall Market today, right next to where the fictitious Ebenezer Scrooge lives is a slither of Victorian London well worth a visit if you’re visiting over Christmas. Given its history as a major poultry market, I like to think it’s where Scrooge sent the child to buy the prize turkey for the Cratchits on Christmas day.  St Martin in the Fields Christmas Appeal St Martin-in-the-Fields is a Church of England parish church at the north-east corner of Trafalgar Square. Back when it was built in the early medieval period it was built in the middle of farmland – hence the name. The St Martin-in-the-Fields charity supports homeless and vulnerably housed people. Since 1920, its Christmas Appeal, which began being broadcast on the BBC in 1927, has raised vital funds for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness. This year is the 99th BBC Radio 4 Christmas Appeal. If you have any cash to spare this Christmas, they would welcome your donations.   Step into the (Muddy) Shoes of a Mudlark.You probably already know that the 95-mile stretch of the Thames from Teddington to Southend is tidal. But did you know that twice a day, when the sea water dramatically retreats, the river can drop by up to seven metres (23 ft)? And did you know there’s a whole band of people whose happy hobby is to scour the exposed riverbed in search of fragments from London’s past? These fascinating folk are called ‘mudlarks’ and some of the remarkable treasures they’ve uncovered over the years are now on display at the 'Secrets of the Thames’ exhibition at the London Museum Docklands, running until 1st March 2026. I’d genuinely recommend a visit. I’ve had a soft spot for the Thames and its mudlarks ever since I met my first one, Nicola White, back in 2015. That was shortly before I walked the entire length of the river, from the North Sea to the Source. Another adventure I’d recommend, if your knees are up to it.  I’ve been itching to see the exhibition since it opened, and I wasn’t disappointed when I finally popped in last week. It’s an absolute treasure of an exhibition - pun fully intended. And if you’re quick and you time your visit right, you’ll even get to meet a mudlark or two in person. They’re in attendance on Tuesdays and Sundays until 21st December. When I was there, Sean Clarke (a mudlark) who came on a walk with me a few months ago, was at the exhibition showing people his collection of finds, which included Roman dice and also 17th century trade tokens.  Mudlarking: London’s peculiar but popular pastime. Historically, 'mudlarks' referred to some of the poorest Londoners, sadly, often children, who searched the Thames riverbeds for anything they could sell to survive. Today’s mudlarks have uncovered all sorts of extraordinary finds from Bronze Age swords, Roman jewellery, Tudor clothing accessories, and even neolithic human skeletal remains. Doesn’t it make you want to don your marigolds and get down there? If so, you’ll need a permit, and there are currently 10,000 people on the waiting list. Turns out it’s not just me that’s got a burning ambition to roll my sleeves up and rummage for relics.  London’s liquid history London owes its very existence to the Thames - from the Romans settling here 2,000 years ago, to the reason medieval London prospered. In the early 20th century, politician John Burns called it London’s ‘liquid history’ – a term I’d love to have coined myself, but sadly can’t take any credit for.  I’ve devoted a whole chapter to London’s rivers in my book, ‘Why is Downing Street Painted Black? And 364 Other Fun London Facts’, but you should definitely visit the exhibition and step into the shoes of a mudlark, uncovering the artefacts and secrets of London and all its people – past and present. Check out this link to discover some of the highlights from the exhibition. If you visit the exhibition, then I’d love to hear what you thought of it!   |
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