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Busting the budget
Massive overspending on public projects has plagued governments for centuries and iconic London landmarks, such as the Palace of Westminster and Trafalgar Square, are but two such examples
A woman’s place is in Parliament Square
Women in the UK did not gain universal suffrage until 1928, but the first milestone was reached in 1918, when some women became eligible to vote. On the centenary of this first victory, Parliament Square made way for a statue of a woman to commemorate the many who fought to secure universal suffrage
A London peculiarity: men only need apply
The Garrick Club, which has been going for almost two centuries, enabled respectable gentlemen to mix with the acting fraternity, not generally considered reputable members of society in Victorian times
A retro gem in Regent Street
What started out as a pioneering theatre that used optical illusions in its plays became the first cinema in Britain to show films to the paying public in the 1890s. Today, it’s a place to enjoy a good film amid its art deco interior and occasionally listen to a tune played on its unique organ
Faithful friends remembered
Tucked away in a corner of Hyde Park is a patch of green scattered with tiny headstones, a place where well-to-do Victorians commemorated joyful times in the park with their beloved pets Cherry, Spot and dear old Topsy
The Strand: the route from trade to power
Long gone are the grand houses that once lined this thoroughfare linking London’s centres of government and commerce, but traces of their past grandeur can still be found, as Felicity Wenzel explains
The British public is invited…
When Harry Gordon Selfridge opened his splendid establishment in London, shopping became an entertainment as well as a necessity
Westminster’s Byzantine marvel
Built on the site of what has at various times been a plague burial ground, pleasure garden and house of correction, stands a magnificent, yet unfinished, cathedral
Dickens: his final chapter
Poets’ Corner would seem to the perfect place for the renowned author’s last resting place, but Dickens himself had requested an ‘unostentatious’ and ‘private’ funeral. So why were his wishes disregarded?