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Category Archives: Miscellaneous

The famous ghost picture of Raynham Hall

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Posted by trev on September 2, 2010 – 4:28 pm
Filed under Attractions, Miscellaneous

This is one of the most famous ghost pictures around, but until recently I didn’t realise it was taken in this country.

The ghostly picture shows an almost-typical white figure at the bottom of the staircase which turns out to be that of Raynham Hall in Norfolk. The house is over 300 years old and has that air of true grandeur, with a long driveway towards the large front – it provides the picture perfect English stately home.

The picture in question was taken in 1936 by a couple of photographers working for the London magazine “Country Living” (Captain Provand and Indre Shira), and unusually the ghost was actually seen descending the by both of them just before the photo was taken rather than simply being an image discovered after developing.

The “Brown Lady” as she has come to be known has been seen occasionally since the photo was taken. And she is by far the only ghost reputed to walk the halls of the grand house, although she is of course the most famous.

Who is the Brown Lady? There is some speculation that she was Lady Townshend who at least apparently died in the house in 1726. Speculation persists however that she was actually still alive after that with the funeral simply being a cover-up, and was actually kept a prisoner in the house by her husband and thus she still walks the corridors to this day.

We have been unable to establish whether Raynham Hall is open to the public as no official web site appears to exist, but suggestions currently are that it is currently an entirely private house.

Other resources:
Wikipedia on Raynham Hall

Speakers Corner in Hyde Park

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Posted by trev on September 1, 2010 – 3:44 pm
Filed under Miscellaneous

Speakers Corner as it’s become known is a paved area on the north east corner of Hyde Park where traditionally anyone has been seen to have the right to speak about any subject without intervention from legal or other authorities.

The legal case for this is a little murky and the police are allowed to intervene if they receive complaints, but generally the corner is seen as a little bastion of free speech where anyone can speak on pretty much any subject without worrying about being “moved on”. More recent court rulings and Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights have strengthened the rights to speak about pretty much anything at the corner, as long as it does not appear to intend to invoke violence.

Today if you go to the corner you’re likely to see a large number of religious groups preaching in various philosophies, but there have been a number of more light hearted characters such as Danny Shine who preached “Don’t believe anyone, including me” and similar ideas about “the absurdity of society”.

Some parties and groups have occupied the corner for quite a number of years such as the Socialist Party of Great Britain (since 1904), Catholic Evidence Guild (1918) and Harry Young who probably holds the record for the longest time served at the corner (1906 to 1999) [speaker for the Socialist Party].

So if you’re ever around Hyde Park and see a large group of people, it might be worth wandering over to see what is being debated today…

Other links:
Attractions around Hyde Park
Hotels and B&Bs in Hyde Park

Great Fire of London started on this day

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Posted by trev on September 1, 2010 – 3:09 pm
Filed under Miscellaneous

On a warm Summer’s night 344 years ago tonight the Great Fire of London started in the the bakery of Thomas Farriner on Pudding Lane, in the then heart of London.

The great fire has become one of the iconic events of London history – not that the city is exactly short on history – but the sheer scale of the destruction and the mystery of exactly how it started* seem to captivate the imagination of many to this day.

We do know for a fact that the fire did start in the bakery and that the fire destroyed a section of central London, although Westminster and Charles II’s Palace of Whitehall were amongst the areas spared from destruction.

The sum total of area damaged was relatively small in reality with the fire stopping around 200 yards from the bakery, but due to the massive overcrowding in the city it’s estimated that around 70,000 or the 80,000 city residents were made homeless along with 87 parish churches and St. Paul’s Cathedral which wasn’t completed again for 32 years.

There were many plans to rebuild the city, a number based on the central Paris design of straight wide avenues with John Evelyn’s being the favourite. However due to wranglings between greedy land owners looking for compensation and to rebuild quickly, the schemes never came to fruition.

* General folklore claims it started from a spark in the bakery, however there’s also suspicion that it was actually started by either Dutch or French activists. However we will never know the true reason.

More London resources:
Tourist attractions in London
Hotel accommodation in London

The Michael Caine tour of London

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Posted by trev on August 31, 2010 – 5:52 pm
Filed under Miscellaneous

For fans of the legendary British actor Michael Caine, we’ve included a quick run down of some of the more important places both from his real life in London and some of the iconic films that made him such a household name.

Maurice Micklewhite as he was originally called was born on 14 Urlwin Street, just off Camberwell Road in South East London, an area which today would be described as “extremely impoverished”. He grew up in squalid conditions with shared accommodation and even a shared outside loo. In one of his many interviews, he said probably the first acting role he had was convincing the rent-man that his mother wasn’t in, as paying the rent was such a struggle for his family.

Moving on, Michael did quite well at the Wilson’s Grammar School located on Mollison Drive, Wallington, gaining a certificate in 6 subjects when he left school at 16.

Michael’s acting talent was first seen at the drama group run in the Walworth Methodist Church in 54 Camberwell Road (SE5 0EN). He played a robot to good reviews and thus a talent was born.

One of the early defining films for Michael was the 1966 classic, Alfie, which was set and filmed in London…where else. So we arrive at 22 St Stephen’s Gardens in Bayswater which was the home of the loveable rouge and rather promiscuous Alfie.

Another early film for Michael was the The Ipcress File which featured in various locations, but possibly the most well known was Harry Palmer’s flat which is located at 9 Stanlake Villas, Shepherd’s Bush.

Of course we couldn’t have a rundown of Michael Caine locations without mentioning the film which probably most people know and contains some of the most quoted lines in film history – The Italian Job. Much of this was filmed abroad, but Charlie’s flat was in London really located at 18 Denbigh Close in Notting Hill. For those who remember it, this is where Laura (Charlie’s real girlfriend) throws the clothes of his rather unofficial girlfriends out of the flat window.

That gives you a little bit of a rundown of how Michael Caine influenced and was influenced by London.

William Lyttle, aka the Moleman of Hackney

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Posted by trev on August 31, 2010 – 1:42 pm
Filed under Attractions, Miscellaneous

Brits have always had a reputation for being a little eccentric, but every now and then you find someone who took this to the extreme. One example of this was William Lyttle – aka the Moleman of Hackney – who spent around 40 years digging tunnels and shafts under his house in the London Borough.

The exact extent of the tunnels isn’t known as many were filled in by Mr Lyttle, but sonar readings suggested tunnels stretched around 60 feet from the house, and possibly as deep as 24 feet. According to neighbours, he would dig down and then across until he got bored, and then fill the tunnels in.

Many locals and journalists asked him over the years why on earth he wanted to dig so many tunnels, but non really got to the bottom of it. Some of the best answers included “I was digging under the local bank to rob it, but when I got there it’d turned into a wine bar” and simply “I just have a big basement”.

In 2006 Hackney council ordered Mr Lyttle to stop digging, and rehoused him locally while they surveyed the extent of the tunnels and the state of the house. In June 2010 William Lyttle died at this new flat aged 79. Apparently he’d already started trying to tunnel, without much success in the new flat!

The rather run down house is located on the corner of Mortimer Road and Stamford Road in the De Beauvoir area of North London.

RIP one of the great British eccentrics.

Further links:
More attractions in Hackney (not all quite this eccentric)
Hotels in Hackney

The ghosts of Heathrow Airport

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Posted by trev on August 26, 2010 – 4:12 pm
Filed under Miscellaneous

It might not seem like the most logical place to start looking for ghosts, with it’s clean modern design and having only existed since as a civil airport since 1946, but there are a surprising number of ghostly reports and not just from the passengers.

One of the most famous seems to that of a person dressed as a highwayman who appears around Terminal 3. Before Heathrow was built there was a hamlet of Heathrow situated on Hounslow Heath and back in the 1700’s this was known to be the residence for many local highwaymen. The reports come from both passengers and flight crews alike making them much more credible.

Another earlier report seems to revolve around the crash of a Belgian Airlines DC3 in 1948 on Runway 2-8-Right. Just after the crash a gentleman startled the rescue crews by appearing out of the fog asking if they’d found his briefcase, then disappearing again – he was later found amongst the wreckage.

This gentleman has also been seen many times since, usually walking along the same runway. Those who’ve seen him say that he appears dazed and appearing to be looking for something, but then simply vanishes.

Generally the reports simply involve people being seen, although one night in 1970, the airport police were called out to a report of someone showing up on radar wandering along the runway. Having reached the runway no one could be seen even though the search party and the mysterious figure both converged at least on the radar screen. No one was ever found.

A final haunting involves a mysterious man who appears occasionally in the business lounge. Witnesses say he appears worried and searching, but then just disappears a few seconds later. His identity has not yet been established.

So if you head out of the country from Heathrow in the future and the signs say “Keep an eye out for anything unusual”….well it might not just be unattended baggage you want to be looking for.

Shopping, culture and history…and more shopping

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Posted by trev on August 26, 2010 – 3:02 pm
Filed under Attractions, Eating & Drinking, Miscellaneous

If you ever felt a bit guilty about going to a fantastic city like York or Chester, famed for their  architecture and history, but spent most of the time doing a little retail therapy then the Shambles in York might have the answer.

Voted recently the most picturesque street in Britain, the Shambles is also often regarded as the best preserved Medieval street in Europe with it’s narrow cobbled street and buildings that almost seem to lean over you.

Actually many of the original buildings do lean, sometimes rather alarmingly in towards the street from the upper floors, but this design from the 15th Century seems to have weathered both nature and history plus a few conflicts to stand the test of time. The street was even mentioned in the Doomsday book, so we know it was in existence around the end of the 1080’s.

The name Shambles signifies that the street was once the home of many butchers with the name being a corruption of the Medieval word “Shamel” meaning flesh. Records show in 1872 there were 27 butchers on this one street alone!

Today there are a wide range of shops to browse from general shops to tourist attractions and restaurants, so there’s sure to be something to suit all kinds of retail therapy….then you can sit down with a cup of tea to admire the historic nature of the area. There are also plenty of other shops around as the Shambles is right in the heart of the city.

More links to York:
York things to do
Hotels in York
Holiday cottages in York

Air conditioning arrives in London (1883)

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Posted by trev on August 25, 2010 – 2:06 pm
Filed under Miscellaneous

It might not be news today, but when the Lloyds Law Courts restaurant opened in 1883, the idea of an air-conditioned building in London was quite a novel idea.

Due to the slight lack of electricity however, they needed a way to power this concept so some ingenious fellow came up with the idea of huge bellows powered by 2 women riding a tandom bike!

Exactly how long each day they had to ride this and whether they got any breaks is a little unclear, but hats off to anyone who is prepared to ride presumably for very extensive lengths of time just to keep the judges and barristers cool.

The idea only lasted 3 years, but still deserves a mention if only to remember the brave souls who powered this.

The hidden world of the Camden Catacombs

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Posted by trev on August 19, 2010 – 6:09 pm
Filed under Attractions, Miscellaneous

Hidden below Camden in London are a long forgotten network of tunnels created by the Victorians as stables and access points for warehouses around Camden Dock and markets.

The tunnels have lain empty for many years, but for those looking carefully around the area there is still evidence of their paths by following mysterious grates spaced at regular intervals around the market area. Those who visit Euston Station are also walking above the tunnels, although most will never realise.

Situated around 21 feet below the surface, the tunnels even have a canal basin for connecting the docks to the warehouses, presumably to allow easier access for goods to be transported in and out of the market area.

Access to the tunnels is now restricted due to the risks of flooding, but several web sites document the tunnels including the Camden Guide.

Why is the Elephant & Castle so named?

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Posted by trev on August 19, 2010 – 4:59 pm
Filed under Miscellaneous

One thing that has always puzzled me about London is the slightly bizarrely named area “Elephant & Castle” which I assumed for years was just a nickname, but apparently not.

Doing a little research I’ve come across the top 3 most popular reasons for the name, although whether any of these are right, well you tell me…

1) This one made least sense to me, but some claim it’s simply an anglisised corruption of corruption of  “la Infanta de Castile” which is generally regarded as the Spanish for Eleanor of Castile who was Edward I’s wife. In Spanish and Portuguese a monarch’s daughter is referred to as a “Infanta”.

That one has been pretty much dismissed by the etymologists (people who study the history of words) as not a very likely reason.

2) The area took the name of the pub which stands in the middle of the area and has done in one form or another since the 18th Century. However although pubs do often have odd names, there’s the question – where did the name of the pub come from? Plus there’s documented evidence that this name was around in the 17th Century.

3) The best one I’ve found mostly for quirkiness was a story from the 1600’s when a resident of London was said to have stood on London Bridge, looked into the sky and seen a cloud shaped like an elephant with a castle riding upon it’s back. Other people would then “see” this, and the idea grew.
Of course it is just possible that someone was, as some say today, “thinking outside the box” and has been confusing everyone for the next several hundred years…?