True harmony and brotherhood
18th century freemasons meeting in and around the Strand The history of freemasonry as a secular, fraternal organisation in England dates from the late seventeenth century, when several private lodges are known to have existed before four London-based lodges formed the first Grand Lodge in 1717. Another group of masons formed a rival Grand Lodge…
Read MoreKing’s College London Calendars go online
King’s Archives have been digitising and publishing online King’s College London Calendars, which describe life at the College from its opening in 1831. The calendars, which were published annually until 1985, contain a wealth of information on King’s remarkable students and staff, listing names, academic courses, examination results and even student reading lists, prizes and…
Read MoreStrand Lane: Getting into the Bath
There’s good news for anyone who has been frustrated by having to peer into the Strand Lane ‘Roman’ Bath through its often misted-up and damp-infested window. Thanks to two recent developments it is much easier than it used to be to get inside it, physically and virtually. Besides the appointments to view that you can…
Read MoreLord Nelson and the Strand
On a bright, cold afternoon at the end of January 2003 I made my way down the Strand towards Trafalgar Square in the company of American audio artist and playwright Gregory Whitehead and BBC radio producer Neil McCarthy. Ahead of us, high up on the column in Trafalgar Square and silhouetted against a clear blue…
Read MoreLight hearted
Today I walked down the Strand with two things under my arm: a loaf of artisan bread, destined to accompany weekend soup, and Paul Virilio’s book Lost Dimension. There was something pleasing in the conjunction: man does not live by bread alone; we need food for thought. The day holds significance for Strandlines because, after…
Read MoreStrandlines update October 2013
It’s time for some news from Strandlines to our community. First of all, news about Dr Hope Wolf who did so much to create the site, design activities and inspire us all with creativity. Hope is going to a Junior Research Fellowship in Cambridge, starting now. The usual formula is to say we wish her…
Read MoreCovent Garden Project 2013
Between May and July 2013 the Centre for Life-Writing Research collaborated with Westminster Archives and the Covent Garden Community Association on a Lottery Heritage Fund project, ‘Gentlemen We’ve Had Enough: the Story of the Battle to Save Covent Garden.’ The project aimed to tell the stories of Covent Garden residents who campaigned to prevent GLC…
Read More"I sing of a world reshaped": editing your local area; editing your story
This was my second session leading the creative writing group at the Connection at St Martins. The previous week I met Judith Chernaik, who, with poets, has selected poems for display on London’s Underground. Over 300 poems have been displayed on the Tube since the ‘Poems on the Underground’ programme was launched in 1986. Judith…
Read MoreThe Mineral Shop at 149 Strand
Stanley Gibbons’s stamp shop was not the only mecca for nineteenth-century collectors, as Dr Adelene Buckland (English Department, King’s College London) demonstrated at the ‘Shows of London’ seminar series last Monday night at King’s. On the opposite side of the street to Gibbons’s establishment, at 149 Strand, was a mineral shop from 1804-1881. Dr Buckland told us…
Read MoreTransforming the Strand: A Virtual Walking Tour
22 October 2012, 19:30-21:00; Anatomy Museum, King’s College London An exciting evening event run by the Centre for Life-Writing Research: the Cabinet of Artists will be leading an imaginative tour of London’s busy thoroughfare, the Strand. The tour will bring the Strand to the Anatomy Museum at King’s College London. Not only transforming the museum space,…
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