Miao Zhao is a PhD candidate at the Department of Physics, King’s College London. She was one of these students who first returned to work in the lab at Strand Campus shortly after the lift of full lockdown and witnessed a Strand unprecedented. Here, she shares with us her personal experience and memory of a Strand life during a most ...

This article translation into English by Katie Webb from the original Italian, ‘Il sentiero dell’imaginario’ by Loris Ferri, was published in El Ghibli magazine on 10th December 2021 http://www.el-ghibli.org/il-sentiero-dellimmaginario/#sdfootnote2anc. El Ghibli is an international literary magazine for migration. The poem ‘Wanderer’ appears in the original English taken from the pamphlet Wanderer published by The Pottery Press in 2020 and with ...

Why write about this? Though the website of Simpson’s-in-the-Strand advertises itself as the “Home of Chess,” this is not what drew me to writing about this almost-two-century old restaurant. I was reading a novel by J.G. Farrell, The Singapore Grip, when I stumbled upon the following passage. “But then, one day in 1925, on a visit to London to see ...

The Freedom Narratives project is an open-source digital repository that includes biographical accounts of individuals born in Africa between the sixteenth and the nineteenth centuries. This mostly comprises people who were born free but later became enslaved and who many times regained their freedom later in life.   This project contributes in original ways to the recognition and reclamation of the ...

The recent 3-day strike over university teachers’ pay has begun a new debate over why women are not paid as much as men, is there real equality within university pay, and pen- sion-related issues. On December 1st I received a number of auto-emails in my inbox telling me that my messages wouldn’t be read by teachers on strike until after ...

Nowadays, tracking down out of print books involves a quick email or checking booksellers’ websites. Two or three centuries ago, anyone hunting rare volumes wrote to booksellers and other collectors although few examples of this correspondence survive. During the 18th century the Strand was a flourishing centre for London’s book trade and associated industries, including print sellers, engravers and binders. ...

Thus poor Black Billy's made his Will, His Property was small good lack, For till the day death did him kill His house he carried on his back. The Adelphi now may say alas! And to his memory raise a stone: Their gold will be exchanged for brass, Since poor Black Billy's dead and gone. (section from will of Billy ...

It’s incredible what you come across on a small walk along the Strand. I was walking towards the Temple tube station after finishing an interview with the India Club's Phiroza Marker, when I came across a small gathering of 6 people outside a gated building. I didn't know what the building was or who the people were but they revealed a ...

Who is The Northbank BID and what is your role within it?  The Northbank Business Improvement District (BID) is a business collective working to enhance the area and drive local economic growth. We were officially established in July 2013, after a ballot of the local business community. There are over 70 BIDs in central London and The Northbank is one ...