The first ever issue of the Strand Magazine was published in January 1891. Its opening sentence informs the reader: ‘The Editor of the Strand Magazine respectfully places his first number in the hands of the public’. In its inaugural issue, the magazine plays on the place of London’s Strand in the popular imagination as a site of history, culture, and ...

A new public consultation, initiated by the City of Westminster, is currently  exploring the feasibility of pedestrianising the Strand south of Aldwych. The project, if approved, would create a new public space linking King's College London, Somerset House and the historic church of St Mary le Strand, currently islanded in a sea of often slow moving traffic. It is envisaged that the resulting ...

Walking through Embankment Gardens at the end of January, I was half hopeful of seeing signs of the crocuses under the plane tree near the tube station: they normally appear as an early sign of spring. But lo, no crocus! An outdoor gym has sprung up instead. The Embankment Gardens in January 2019 Meanwhile, remarkably early, at the other end of ...

Following the success of Dialogues of the Dead: A Day of Explorations of Life Writing and Death, presented by the Centre for Life-Writing Research last year, The Wildgoose Memorial Library is hosting a series of events in association with CLWR as part of the Arts & Humanities Research Institute’s pop-up research studios, taking place in KCL’s East Wing (Surrey Street, ...

"This month, a new National Trust exhibition opens in London, shining a light on the rich social history of one of the city’s most fascinating community spaces: The India Club. Founded shortly after Indian independence by Krishna Menon, President Nehru and Lady Mountbatten, the India Club is perhaps better known for its close links with the India League. Originally located ...

Isn’t it suggestive? Just the very name makes one wish to know more. Why was a house named like that in central London, in the midst of the Strand? Perhaps a Mr. Bush ordered it built? Perhaps, mysteriously, there is a link to the nearby Australia House... That would be fascinating! When I was studying literature as an undergraduate I ...

The Strand is ready for Christmas: thanks to the Northbank Association, strung with stars to brighten the cold skies. Looking along the street, however, is a less starry affair. A theme emerges, of the housed and the unhoused, picked up in the big window display of Coutts Bank, where paper houses press home the point of home. I counted fifteen ...

Behold that narrow street which steep descends Whose building to the slimy shore extends Here Arundel's famed structure rear'd its frame The street alone retains an empty name There Essex' stately pile adorn'd the shore There Cecil, Bedford, Villiers – now no more. For several centuries, before the Georgians built Mayfair and when Chelsea was little more than a riverside ...

Since its retirement from public service in 1994 Aldwych tube station (née Strand) has been busily pursuing a second career in showbusiness. Scoring a part in The Prodigy’s ‘Firestarter’ video (1996) before going on to star in films like V for Vendetta (2005), Atonement (2007) and Fast and Furious 6 (2013), it’s also broken into interactive entertainment, featuring prominently in Tomb ...