The Strand’s Arisings
Like many Strandliners I was away from the Strand during Covid-19 lockdowns. A long absence! Seventeen months! What would it be like after so long? On my first day back in London, I thought a stroll along the Strand was in order, to catch a little of the atmosphere of cautious reanimating and contribute to…
Read MoreKingsway’s Ghost Station: London’s first underground tramway
For seventy years now, the once-bustling environment on the platforms of Kingsway Tram Tunnel has been displaced by darkness and disuse. Previously a key transit point connecting north and south London, the tunnel now fades into the backdrop of Kingsway’s ceaseless motor and pedestrian traffic. Opened in 1906, Kingsway’s Tunnel was fully operative for only…
Read MoreTemple Church: Magna Carta and the Knights Templar
The filming location of the Da Vinci Code [2006], survivor of the Fire of London and WW2 bombing, a secret meeting place of a back-stabbing king, the core of the City’s major legal district, and London’s first bank – Temple Church has witnessed milestones in English history. In medieval London there were ‘more churches than…
Read MoreIndigenous actors at the heart of empire: A letter from the Strand to Buffalo Creek
In 1818, seven members of the Seneca nation were in London performing in the Theatre Royal on Drury Lane. The Hartfort Courant, an American newspaper that ran in Connecticut, published a letter they intercepted from the performers to their families and friends. Through the words of the performers themselves, this article hopes to highlight their…
Read MoreVoices from the Strand – Dr. Geoffrey Browell @ King’s College Archives
A week in the life of an archivist I sometimes get asked what an archivist does, exactly? That’s if it’s not confused with the job of an archaeologist or architect! Archivists come in different shapes and sizes depending on the sector and the type of information that they curate: I am a university archivist at…
Read MoreSavoy to Albemarle: The Tale of Wilde’s Demise
The Savoy On the 2nd March 1893, the Savoy Hotel’s adjoining rooms 362 and 361 were checked into by an Oscar Wilde rapidly approaching the apogee of his dramatic career. Soon to be joined by Lord Alfred Douglas – or ‘Bosie’ – to whom Wilde had been introduced some two years earlier, the pair would…
Read MoreBuilding Bush House: Britain and America’s ‘Special Relationship’
Before Bush House was home to the BBC or, more recently, to King’s students, it was a personal project of one Irving T. Bush within his larger agenda of cementing America and Britain as pillars of international trade. Bush’s vision for an international trade centre was unlike the primarily electronic centres of exchange we might…
Read MoreSt. Mary-Le-Strand – its history and a special announcement
As promised, we reveal the bonus footage from our talk with Canon Peter Babington, Priest -in-charge of St. Mary-Le-Strand about its history and a special announcement! The first video reveals some of St. Mary’s history, which we also explore in our previous post on the Island Churches, but also some stories that are not as…
Read MoreLondon’s First Taxi Rank – The development of urban folklore?
Introduction: That title may seem either overly grandiose or simply just confusing, however, I promise there is good reason for the confusion. I began looking into this, seemingly simple, story of London’s first taxi rank around 4 weeks ago. One afternoon I was watching a video about the history of London taxis, the joys of…
Read MoreVoices from the Strand – Peter Babington, Priest in charge of St. Mary-Le-Strand
In this episode of Voices from the Strand we talk to Canon Peter Babington, Priest-in -charge of St. Mary-Le-Strand who only started last September 2020! We warmly welcome Peter to the Strand community and in this recorded conversation he regales us on his life’s calling, how the pedestrianisation project will affect the church and his…
Read More