Little Venice is the name given (by Browning or Byron, no one knows) to the intersection of two canals in west London. These are the Grand Union Canal and Regent's Canal. The former was completed in 1814 and the later 1820 - both key to London's industrial infrastructure, before (and after) railways arrived in London [...]
Tag: Science and engineering
St Paul’s Cathedral
More than three hundred years after its completion, St Paul's Cathedral dominates the skyline on Ludgate Hill in the City of London. Seat of the Bishop of London and the mother church of the British Commonwealth, it is the second largest domed church in the world (after St Peter's in Rome). The work of Sir [...]
Albert Bridge – ‘one of the beauties of the London river’
Albert Bridge in south west London, is one of the most attractive bridges crossing the River Thames. It may not be as iconic as Tower Bridge downstream, but it’s actually older. Named in memory of Prince Albert, it provides access to Battersea Park which, disconcertingly for south Londoners today, was originally built for the wealthy [...]
Syon House – London’s last great ducal residence
Syon House, near Brentford, is home of the Percys, Dukes of Northumberland. It sits in a 200 acre estate on the River Thames in Middlesex. The house we see today was built by Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset in 1547, refurbished and enhanced by the Scottish architect Robert Adam in the 1760's and refaced in [...]
The Churchill War Rooms
Among the most popular and famous of sights in London are the Churchill War Rooms. Commissioned in the nick of time in August 1939 the War Rooms were the venue for 115 meetings of the War Cabinet during the 'Blitz' of London in 1939/40. Then used again during the V-1/V-2 'flying bomb' attacks in 1945. When [...]