Stainer Street, London Bridge

Stainer Street was once a traffic tunnel, that was dimly lit and where few pedestrians would dare to linger.

It was closed during the refurbishment and enlargement of London Bridge station and reopened as a pedestrianised thoroughfare, still linking St Thomas Street with Tooley Street, but also allowing for passengers to traverse from the mainline station to the London Underground.

Three glass cups, etched with abstract patterns and containing messages, now hang above the pathway, and are entitled 'Me. Here. Now.' by Mark Titchner. The messages read:

"One foot in front of the other"

"The distance means nothing"

"Only the first step is difficult"

But, you could reverse this, depending on which way through the tunnel you are walking.

Brompton Cemetery (West of London and Westminster Cemetery)

The West of London and Westminster Cemetery was the fifth of the eight private garden cemeteries to open.

Opened in 1840, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, it was originally designed by Stephen Geary, but he was replaced by Benjamin Baud who designed a more formal layout, including the central avenue and domed chapel.

Brompton Cemetery is the only Crown Cemetery and as such is managed by The Royal Parks. It is still in operation.

Amidst the bustling, affluent sprawl of West London lies an island of absolute stillness.

Established in 1840, Brompton Cemetery is one of the capital’s famed 'Magnificent

Eight' Victorian burial grounds, constructed to rescue a rapidly growing 19th-century

London from the hazardous, overflowing state of its parish churchyards.

London's Mews

London's Mews: From Stables to Private Residences

With over 2,000 years of history, London is an intricate lattice of architectural marvels. A place where the Roman, Medieval, Norman, Gothic, Tudor, Elizabethan, Georgian, Regency, Victorian, Edwardian, Art Deco, Modernist and Brutalist can all be found.

Often you can find two, three or four architectural styles standing beside each other, with centuries separating the styles. A prime example of this is St Andrew Undershaft church, which was built between 1520-1532, standing almost next door to 30 St Mary Axe (the Gherkin), which was built between 2001-2003.

Metropolitan Police Marine Policing Unit

The Marine Policing Unit (MPU) is one of the most fascinating corners of London’s law enforcement history. While Robert Peel’s "bobbies" took to the streets in 1829, London’s river police were already decades into the job. In fact, they are recognised as the oldest continuously serving police force in the world.  

Today, they are the waterborne arm of the Met, swapping heavy boots for lifejackets and pavement beats for 47 miles of the River Thames.

The Shocking Origin: The Marine Police Office (1798)

In the late 18th century, London's docks were absolute chaos. The Port of London was the busiest in the world, and an estimated £500,000 worth of imported cargo, which was a staggering sum at the time, was being stolen every year by organised river pirates and corrupt dockworkers.  

Whitechapel Bell Foundry

Voice of the East End: The Cast-Bronze History of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry

Think about the most iconic sounds of history: the deep, resonant chime of London’s Big Ben, or the sharp, historic ring of America’s Liberty Bell. Now, imagine a single, humble workshop in London’s East End responsible for creating both of them.

Welcome to the story of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, a place that did not just witness history, but actively cast it in bronze.

Four Centuries of Heavy Metal

Before its doors closed, the Whitechapel Bell Foundry held a Guinness World Record as the oldest manufacturing company in Great Britain. While its famous home on Whitechapel Road was established in the eighteenth century, the foundry's origins trace all the way back to 1570, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Some historians even argue that its lineage stretches back to a 1420 workshop in Houndsditch known as the Lester & Pack Bell Foundry.

For nearly four and a half centuries, through the Great Fire of 1666, the Blitz of World War II, and the rise and fall of global empires, the foundry kept its furnaces burning. Early in its history, the workshop secured its legendary reputation by casting the historic bells for Westminster Abbey.