As London prepares to ease out of lockdown, museums, galleries and music venues are starting to come out of hibernation, and across our theatres, the lights will soon flicker back on. Here is a glimpse of what’s on in London after lockdown 2021, including some
Source: What’s on in London after lockdown 2021 | Theatre, art exhibitions & music
The royal family has been saved the potential awkwardness of appearing together at Trooping the Colour as it has been cancelled for the second year in a row.The annual parade to mark the Queen’s
Source: Trooping the Colour is off once again | News | The Times
Community groups and local councils can buy telephone boxes for just £1 and convert them in new and inventive spaces for locals!
Source: You Can Adopt A Telephone Box For £1 And Transform It For A Good Cause – Secret London
A photography series capturing the melancholy beauty.
Source: The Eeriness Of The Tube During Lockdown | Londonist
The most scenic view in London can be found atop Primrose Hill, according to the results of a new survey to find the UK’s favourite views.
Source: The Most Scenic View In London Has Been Revealed, And Honestly We’re Not Surprised – Secret London
A brand new London Underground-style map, known as the Greenground Map, shows you all of the city’s parks, green spaces and waterways for you to explore.
Source: London Greenground Map Shows You All The City’s Parks – Secret London
The Cranebank centre, near Heathrow, was used to train some 17,000 cabin crew and 4,000 pilots, equipping them for emergencies on its Boeing 737 simulator.
Source: Derelict British Airways training centre at Heathrow is left to rot | Daily Mail Online
The Elizabeth Line, a more expensive feat of engineering than the Channel Tunnel, is over budget and beset by delays, but is making up for lost time to open by Christmas, months earlier than expected
Source: Your first Crossrail service may arrive in time for Christmas . . . | News | The Sunday Times
Curated by the Illuminated River artist.
In a blow to campaigners, judges say ministers’ decision to approve the runway was legitimate.
Source: Supreme Court lifts ban on Heathrow third runway – BBC News
I’ve been flying over and photographing London from a helicopter for almost twenty years. I work from AS355s, which are twin engined machines, giving access to the whole city. Harnessed and leaning out of the side door, you get stunning views. It’s amazing fun most of the time, but a challenging place to work from. It’s pretty cramped with all your camera gear, incredibly noisy and in the winter months definitely gets a little cold.
Source: Over London by Jason Hawkes
This is truly wonderful. What a joy to scroll through!
London owes its very existence to bridges, since the location of the capital upon the banks of the Thames was defined by the lowest crossing point of the river. No wonder that the London & Middlesex Archaeological Society collected this edifying series of pictures of bridges on glass plates to use in their magic lantern shows at the Bishopsgate Institute.
Confronted with deserted streets during the pandemic, drivers are turning in their rented black cabs by the hundreds.
Source: ‘Field of Broken Dreams’: London’s Growing Taxi Graveyards – The New York Times
Very sad. One hopes that these icons will all return to the roads when we’re all able to return to London.
The former Bayswater shopping centre, Whiteleys, is being transformed into a brand new luxury retail, dining and hotel complex.
Have fond memories of the ‘old’ Whiteleys shopping centre in the early 2000s. Bought a lot of books from the bookshop there and it’s where I discovered Muji. I miss it already. Oh well.
London is a city of constant change.
Christmas might look different this year, but nothing can stop London from decking its proverbial halls. Here are the city’s best displays, in pictures.
Source: Christmas In London: 17 Photos Of Central London Looking Fabulously Festive
Miss it this year so much. 🙁
Coaches converted into ambulances. Crowds of Londoners sleeping all the way up escalators. Children’s Christmas parties thrown in the depths of Holborn station.
This was the London of the second world war — and a virtual exhibition from TfL has the pictures to tell these remarkable stories.
Source: Check Out These Incredible Images Of Wartime London – Released By TfL | Londonist
With formal events and travel canceled, the tradition-bound tailors are gently embracing technology — and finding leverage on their landlords.
Source: To Survive the Pandemic, Savile Row Cuts a Bespoke Strategy – The New York Times
In these grey cold days, I get a powerful urge to seek refuge in a cosy corner of an old snug and settle down for the rest of the day. Since all the pubs are shut, I must take consolation in this selection of attractive options from the popular magazine Wonderful London edited by St John Adcock and produced by The Fleetway House in the nineteen-twenties.
Source: Pubs Of Wonderful London | Spitalfields Life
Simply marvelous.
I miss London so much.
For one weekend only.
Source: Art Lovers! Get 50% Off London Transport Museum’s Massive Poster Collection | Londonist
Although they were taken only thirty years ago, these photographs by Mark Jackson & Huw Davies preserved in the archive at Bishopsgate Institute, seem now to be images from the eternal night of history – with fleeting figures endlessly running, fetching and carrying, pushing barrows from the flaring lights out into the velvet blackness, where a bonfire burns beneath the great tower of Christ Church, Spitalfields, looming overhead.
This year many buildings found themselves unable to open their doors to the public as in previous years. We decided that it was the perfect opportunity to bring them to more people than ever by creating short film tours presented by the experts that live and work in them. Since July, Open House has been shooting these short films in a spectacular range of locations including manor houses, embassies, public lidos and tower blocks, recreating the intimate behind the scenes experiences and anecdotes that make Open House building visits so memorable.
Source: Films – landing page — Open City
This is great!
Photography has long been banned in Westminster Abbey, but they have finally joined the other major cathedrals in London, and relaxed the ban.
Source: Westminster Abbey lifts its ban on photography – ianVisits – London news and events
This is great news!
The show must go on.
Oxford Street’s famous Christmas lights will be switched on, on Monday 2 November.
This year, the 27 LED light curtains which run the length of the shopping street — and debuted last Christmas — will display a ‘heartwarming poem’, according to Oxford Street’s PR team. The poem will celebrate London itself, as well as people across the country who’ve shown ‘incredible acts of care, kindness and support ‘ this year.
Source: The Oxford Street Christmas Lights Switch-On Date Has Just Been Announced | Londonist
From the team behind WC Clapham.
Source: A Victorian Toilet Has Been Transformed Into Bloomsbury’s Newest Wine Bar | Londonist
The Postal Museum reopens this month
Source: London Mail Rail and Postal Museum reopens for tours
There are picture-worthy spots around every corner in London. Ahead of London Cocktail Week, we’ve rounded up the prettiest bars in the city.
Source: Prettiest Bars In London: 21 Spots For Picture-Perfect Cocktail Dates
Fancy a stroll around the West End with Frank Derrett in the seventies? This invitation is possible thanks to the foresight of Paul Loften who rescued these photographs from destruction in the last century. Recently, Paul contacted me to ask if I was interested and I suggested he donate them to the archive at the Bishopsgate Institute, which is how I am able to show them today.
Source: Frank Derrett’s West End | Spitalfields Life
These photos are incredible! What a find! Beautiful time capsule of London’s past.
Marking the 15-year anniversary of the New London Architecture galleries, the Changing Face of London revisits its 2005 exhibition to capture the transformation of the city’s famous landmarks. Aerial photographer Jason Hawkes talks us through his images
Source: Aerial views of London: then and now – in pictures | UK news | The Guardian
This is incredible!
Network Rail says the coronavirus pandemic has delayed talks about the line from Reading to the airport.
Source: Heathrow rail link to be delayed by up to two years – BBC News
Platform 9 ¾ is flogging the fictional brew.
Source: You Can Now Buy Butterbeer At King’s Cross Station | Londonist
The Palace of Whitehall was the primary residence of English monarchs from AD 1530 until 1698, located in Westminster, London. – HeritageDaily – Archaeology News
Source: The Lost Palace of Whitehall – HeritageDaily – Archaeology News
London at night is a different place, where you can be blinded by the lights or hidden in the shadows. See the city in a whole new light with these photos!
Source: London At Night: 50 Photos Of London Looking Spectacular After Dark
Whoopi Goldberg reprises her lead role from the hit 1992 film Sister Act, which will also star Jennifer Saunders as the Mother Superior.
Source: Sister Act: Whoopi Goldberg Leads West End Revival In Summer [Tickets]
How much I wish I could go back to the bookshops of old London. When I saw these evocative photographs of London’s secondhand bookshops taken in 1971 by Richard Brown, it made me realise how much I miss them all now that they have mostly vanished from the streets.
Source: The Bookshops Of Old London | Spitalfields Life
These are amazing!
New TfL app to help Londoners plan ahead and travel safely
Source: New TfL app to help Londoners plan ahead and travel safely – Transport for London
It’s pretty good! And it’s free!
A variant on the classic London Underground tube map has been released, with all the stations renamed after astronomical objects and events.
Source: London tube map based on the stars in the skies – ianVisits – London news and events
#london
Next stop: etymology.
Ever alighted at Earl of Oxford’s Roundabout? Visited Beorhstige’s Meeting-Stone? Or caught a mainline train from Muddy Pond Street?
Chances are you’ve actually done all of these: at least you have if you go by this etymological tube map.
Source: This London Tube Map Tells You Where The Station Names Originated | Londonist
Pets, fictional creatures and zoo escapees all feature.
Source: This Incredibly Detailed London Map Highlights The Capital’s Wild Side | Londonist
Ever since the discovery of the site of William Shakespeare’s first theatre in Shoreditch, I have found myself thinking about where else in London I could locate Shakespeare. The city has changed so much that very little remains from his time and even though I might discover his whereabouts – such as his lodging in Silver St in 1612 – usually the terrain is unrecognisable. Silver St is lost beneath the Barbican now.
Read more here: Source: In Search Of Shakespeare’s London | Spitalfields Life
The Phantom of the Opera will close in the West End in a stark blow for London theatre fans. Producer Cameron Mackintosh confirmed today in an article for the Evening Standard that the London
Source: The Phantom of the Opera has been ‘permanently shut down’ in the West End | London Evening Standard
In news that will gladden cultured Londoners and stressed-out summer-holidaying parents alike, three of the capital’s biggest museums have announced that they w
Source: Natural History Museum, Science Museum & V&A to reopen in August
I feel it important to note that Americans must still quarantine for 14 days upon arrival to the UK.
A stunning gallery of images and a look at London in the high Victorian era!
In celebration of the granting of planning permission for the Museum of London to covert Smithfield General Market as its new home, here is my account of a visit to explore this cavernous site.
As one of those who fought to save Smithfield General Market from demolition six years ago, I was delighted have the opportunity of exploring the infinite dark recesses of this vast structure which extends deep underground. This was the first time I have been inside Horace Jones’ market building of 1868 and it was a heart-stopping experience to enter his soaring iron cathedral and walk beneath the vast dome at last.
Read more:
Source: New Home For The Museum Of London | Spitalfields Life
Welcome to the Derelict London Summer 2020 updates page.
Join the mailing list HERE to find out about Derelict London guided walks as soon as tickets are released plus news on my latest books and website updates. My latest book London’s Lost Music Venues is out now and more information can be found at www.londonslostmusicvenues.com.
Check the agency website HERE for any available tickets for walks. Walks scheduled to take place during the Covid 19 restrictions have been postponed to dates later in Summer & Autumn. If restrictions on gatherings continues then the agency will contact you with confirmation that your tickets have been transferred to the postponed date.
Source: Summer 2020 New Pics – Derelict London – Photography, Social History and Guided Walking Tours
Important new discoveries illuminate the form and history of the houses that lined one of London’s most celebrated lost landmarks. Dorian Gerhold explores the remarkable story of their construction and development.
Many London art galleries are reopening in the coming weeks, and we’ve rounded up the major returners in one place for your convenience.
Source: Here’s When All Of London’s Art Galleries Are Planning To Reopen – Secret London
Theatres are facing an extremely tough time right now, but a glimmer of hope is on the horizon: it’s been announced that Sir Ian McKellen will star in an age-bl
Source: Sir Ian McKellen will play Hamlet in a new age-blind production – and rehearsals begin next week
This is great news! I thought he was done doing stage work. This will definitely help London’s theatres when they open back up.
Slowly life returns to London’s cultural landscape as museums and galleries wake from their virus imposed slumber and prepare to welcome visitors again.
This is a fantastic resource.
I should also add that if you’re outside the UK, you should not travel there unless you’re prepared – and can afford – to be quarantined for 14 days.
https://isbritainstillundertravelquarantine.com/
