Glasgow’s Olympic Rings
A week after the closing ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games, I was in Scotland. Glasgow had it's own Olympic Rings. It is wonderful to see how this city...
Christmas Carols with Royalty
I had the greatest of pleasures celebrating Christmas, at the 'Together at Christmas' Carols Service in December 2021 by invitation of Royalty - the Duchess of Cambridge. One of the...
William the Conquerer became King of England
The Normans originally came from Scandinavia and were known as Vikings. They had been given land in northern France, which became known as Normandy. So, how did William the Conquerer...
Floating Smallpox Hospitals
The disease was probably the most feared disease after the Plague was smallpox. It stuck all echelons of society – even Henry VIII’s two daughters, Mary and Elizabeth. And his fourth...
40 Year Wait to be at the Olympics
I dreamed of being an Olympian since I could walk, talk and spell IOC. But as the years passed, and circumstances changed, this dream became no more than "that would've...
Mandela’s 90th Birthday in London
On the 29th June 2008 I went to Nelson Mandela's 90th Birthday in London. The concert was held in Hyde Park. This is what I felt at the time: I...
Regent’s Park Zoo
In 1828, the Zoological Society of London opened the Regent’s Park Zoo as a scientific research facility. In 1829 King George IV granted the Society a Royal Charter, and it...
London Fog: Pea Soup & Coats
The London Fog of 1906... It was also the year that John Betjeman (who became Poet Laureate in 1972) was born. In this year an earthquake of 7.8 hit San...
Thomas More & Milk Street
Milk Street was where Londoners could buy their milk from as early as the 1200s. By the 1600s the street was described as having “many fair houses for wealthy merchants"....
Number 1 Canada Square, London
The impressive Number 1 Canada Square (Canary Wharf Tower) is designed to sway 13.75 inches in the strongest wind. As this will probably only happen every 100 years, it was...
Burlington Arcade
The Burlington Arcade is an upmarket shopping mall, just off Piccadilly in London, opened in 1819. Under Lord George Cavendish it employed its own bouncers (wearing Edwardian frock coats and...
Amnesty International
It was in 1961, on the London Underground, where Amnesty International was founded. Peter Benenson’s desire to demand “justice for those whose rights have been violated” was born. He read...