Last week I was admiring the wonderful images in David Hoffman’s recently published book Endurance & Joy in the East End 1971-1987 (you can order your own copy here from Spitalfield Life Books). All the images are in black and white and some of you may remember that I tried this approach some years ago regarding my exploration of City Alleys.
There is definitely something, isn’t there, about black and white images – atmosphere, the means to play with geometric shapes, seeing a new perspective of a familiar image and so on.
So I’ve been looking at some candidates for taking this approach and these are the results. I hope you like them.
The view from The Grapes pub, Limehouse. Entitled Another Time, it is a life size figure by the sculptor Anthony Gormley …
Below are five images from the viewing gallery at 22 Bishopsgate, Horizon 22.
Looking down on Tower 52. It was originally the NatWest Tower, hence, seen from above, it’s shaped like the NatWest logo …
The viewing gallery …
I like the shadows …
Back on the streets, Blackfriars tower refelection …
Roman Wall and offices at Tower Hill …
Merchant Navy War Memorial, also at Tower Hill …
The Firefighters Memorial at St Paul’s …
Temple Bar viewed from the St Paul’s Cathedral crypt …
Crypt memorial …
Battersea Power Station …
Flypast!
The Stockwell Bus Garage roof. In 1952, the time of its construction, it was Europe’s largest unsupported roof span – it’s still impressive now …
The Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao …
Maman (1999), by Louise Bourgeois …
The demolition of an old building opened up a temporary new view of the Guildhall and the Shard …
Panorama looking east with little St Giles church tucked away on the right …
The poor Gherkin, and even Tower 52, becoming dwarfed and enclosed by new developments …
City skyline with The Tower in the foreground …
Bunhill Burial Ground …
St Stephen Walbrook …
St Dunstan-in-the-East …
Various architectural images I liked …
The Gherkin and the church tower of St Andrew Undershaft reflected in the glass of The Scalpel building …
London Wall…
Lloyd’s of London meets Leadenhall Market …
St Pancras Station with Sir John Betjeman’s statue in the foreground …
Tower 52 looking up …
Finally, a few from the Barbican (as you might expect!) …
Where archers can be deployed if necessary …
In colour for comparison …
I hope you enjoyed that little excursion into black and white. Clearly, I think, some images work better than others.
Normal service will be resumed next week.
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Last Friday I was watching a fascinating programme about Jack the Ripper, hosted by the historian Lucy Worsley, and noticed that she made occasional reference to this interesting publication.
Those of you who have read my book, Courage, Crime & Charity in the City of London, will know that I used illustrations from this journal in some of my stories. I hope, therefore, that you would like to know more about it …
The Illustrated Police News (1864 – 1938) was a weekly illustrated newspaper that printed accounts of the week’s most sensational crimes, tragedies, and scandals, in addition to regular updates from the police courts. Priced at a penny for the majority of its 74 years of publication, The Illustrated Police News (hereafter known as the IPN) had a large circulation across the country. It was particularly popular in the later decades of the nineteenth century, and according to an advertisers’ handbook, by 1888 the circulation had reached an impressive 300,000, eclipsing the News of the World (100,000) and Pictorial News (95,000). The newspaper continued to be printed up until 1938, long after other newspapers containing similar content ceased publication.
The first edition of the IPN, 20 February 1864 – The Great Murder and Piracy Case …
Despite its commercial success, it received regular criticism and opposition, which was particularly caustic during its early years. Such criticisms regarded the content and style of the IPN’s illustrations, reports, and advertisements as unsuitable for the reading masses and responsible for the degeneration of society. This will become more clear as you look at the examples of content I have included in this blog.
I’m writing this on 5th January 2025. If I were reading the IPN on this day in 1895, for example, what stories would I have been treated to? Well, here are some of them.
As well as high drama, ‘Extraordinary Murder by Women’, ‘Mysterious Death in Long Acre’ and a man who seems to mistake a Trafalgar Square fountain for a swimming pool …
… there is also some factual news. For example, progress on the excavation of the Blackwall Tunnel and some intriguing snippets about the population of America …
Plus some corny jokes and stories (which I rather liked) …
On another page in the same edition …
Apart from the dramatic illustrations, on the same page you can read about Christmas Burglaries, a Fire at the Royal Exchange, Jealousy and Spiritalism and the Most Powerful Ship Afloat. I’d happily tuck in to stories like these over breakfast.
I am indebted to Will Noble, writing in The Londonist, for these further excerpts.
An ice skating tragedy in Regent’s Park …
Around 200 skaters plunged into the icy waters of a lake in Regent’s Park in January 1867, prompting the horrific scene above — and the death of some 40 people. The image is so vivid, you can almost hear the melee. The tragedy prompted new safety measures, which ensured that when another similar accident happened a few years later, everyone survived.
A policeman gets a kicking in a bizarre attack …
Students from Paddington’s Civil Service Training College don’t take kindly to being arrested for throwing snowballs.
A horrific carriage accident at Hackney Marshes …
Before there were car accidents, there were horse and carriage accidents, and a tragic one occurred at Hackney Marshes in August 1867, when a horse pulling a phaeton containing a young family got spooked and tipped them into the Hertford Union Canal (then the Duckett’s Canal). The article reports that one of the young girls drowned, while another was not in a good way. “The carriage was completely destroyed, and the horse so much injured that it had to be killed,” ends the piece. Brutal.
Suicide at the Crystal Palace …
“He shouted loyally ‘Good bye, chaps.’ He was standing on the rail that surrounds the gallery at the base of the great tank, and was waving his cap. Instantly he threw his cap up into the air, and sprang from the gallery.” Thus 43-year-old workman Thomas Jennings ended his life from high up on the North Water Tower of the Crystal Palace. Suicides were regularly covered in the news (the more shocking the better), and although in today’s tabloids depicting such a thing would be considered beyond the pale, it was par for the course on the front page of the IPN.
The boundaries of taste were most severely tested when to came to reporting the 1888 ‘Jack the Ripper’ murders …
Few women have had the moment of their deaths returned to more often, and with as much relish, as Mary Ann “Polly” Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes and Mary Jane Kelly.
In each case their throats were cut, and four of them had their entrails removed. Kelly, the only one of “the canonical five”, as Jack the Ripper’s known victims are called, to die in her bed, was completely mutilated. Forests have been felled in the interests of unmasking the murderer, but until now no one has bothered to discover the identity of his victims. A superb recent book, The Five, is ‘an angry and important work of historical detection, calling time on the misogyny that has fed the Ripper myth’. It’s written by Hallie Rubenhold who Lucy Worsley interviews in her programme – do try and watch it on catch-up. There are further interviews and comments here and a detailed review of the book here.
Only one location of a ‘Ripper’ murder still exists. It is Mitre Square, near Aldgate, where poor Catherine Eddowes was killed on 3oth September 1888 …
To be fair to the IPN, it played a part in drawing attention to the terrible poverty, crime and deprivation that was literally only a few hundred yards from the the City of London, the thriving heart of the Empire.
The Punch engraving of The Nemesis of Neglect …
On 18 September 1888, in the wake of the murders of Mary Ann Nichols and Annie Chapman, The Times published a letter by philanthropist Lord Sidney Godolphin Osborne (1808–1889) that deplored the great social and economic divide that separated the West End from the East End. To Osborne, the murders were a consequence of the great poverty of the East End, and this poverty in turn a result of the people of the West End living lives of luxury. Inspired by this letter, Alice in Wonderland illustrator John Tenniel (1820–1914) drew “The Nemesis of Neglect” for Punch Magazine. The image, published 29 September, shows a semi-transparent spectre with a gaping maw, bulging eyes and a large knife in its hand. The illustration was accompanied by a poem, the last line of which gave it its name.
I also feel I should point out that the IPN not only covered stories that featured female victims. Some of the women written about were responsible for truly heroic acts that confounded the female stereotypes of the times.
For example, it reported in great detail the heroism of the brave Alice Ayres …
The IPN ceased publication in 1938 when it transformed into The Sporting Record. Before its transformation, the editorial of the IPN would proudly state: ‘The Police News made its first appearance in 1864 and at once became a rare favourite. It created a sensation with its reports of the week’s most interesting court cases and by being the first newspaper to publish illustrations. Throughout the years the Police News has been in great demand, but…time marches on…now the topic of the day is sport, and then more sport’.
The last edition, 3 March 1938 …
If you would like to immerse yourself more fully in the history of the IPN and its times I strongly recommend Alice Smalley’s brilliant PhD Thesis Representations of Crime, Justice, and Punishment in the Popular Press: A Study of the Illustrated Police News, 1864-1938. It was the source for much of today’s blog. You can find it here.
I ended the old year with a visit to this extraordinary exhibition which I highly recommend although, sadly, there are only a few days left.
It’s described in the introduction material as follows: Featuring artwork by over 30 Indian artists, this major exhibition is bookended by two transformative events in India’s history: Indira Gandhi’s declaration of a state of emergency in 1975 and the Pokhran nuclear tests in 1998. The fraught period between these years was marked by social upheaval, economic collapse, and rapid urbanisation.
Within this turbulence, ordinary life continued, and artists made work that distilled historically significant episodes as well as intimate moments and shared experiences. Across a range of media, the vivid, urgent works on show – about friendship, love, desire, family, religion, violence, caste, community, protest – are deeply personal documents from a period of tremendous change.
This is the first institutional exhibition to cover these definitive years, with many works never before seen in the UK.
You can buy timed tickets and watch a short video here.
A Christmas present I would have liked as a child (in fact, I’d probably enjoy getting it now) …
Illustration from the Transport Ticket Society newsletter (yes, I confess to being a member!).
The St Mary Woolnoth 1810 ‘price list’ …
Note the fees for ‘Churching a Woman’ …
Childbirth was seen as dangerous for both mother and child so the churching ceremony was viewed as a way to give thanks for a successful delivery. It was performed even when the child was stillborn or had died unbaptised.
Concert Hall delivery, I think I can guess what’s in them …
What could those wriggly white things possibly be?
It’s an art work by UrbanSolid. The premises were once an art gallery but are now a nail bar.
Morning visitor to my office …
At Liverpool Street Station …
A joyful doorway in Kensington …
Sweet meeting place idea at London Bridge Station ..
Pretty door and heart combined at 65 Banner Street – surely the same artist …
One of my favourite paintings at the Guildhall Art Gallery, The Carlyle Hotel, Bayswater …
It’s by the wonderfully talented Doreen Fletcher. As is this print, Hot Dogs, Mile End Park, which I’m delighted to own …
Disgruntled ULEZ objector …
Memento Mori – a lady dances with Death in St Stephen Walbrook. Like the lady, Death also wears a skirt …
Stunning stained glass at Two Temple Place, commissioned by and built for William Waldorf Astor in the 1890s …
An owl casts a worried glance at a woodsman doing some drastic pruning …
I almost can’t believe that this is my eighth Christmas quiz. When I started my blog way back in 2017 I wasn’t sure I could maintain a weekly publication, but here I am now writing blog number 379!
Happy Christmas and thank you so much for subscribing.
Here are the questions. They are all based on blogs published during 2024 and the answers are at the end of today’s edition.
1. What animals are waddling around Fleet Street this Christmas?
2. Where can you find this friar carrying a pig in a wheelbarrow …
3. What was in this box on display at the Ashmolean Museum and mysteriously marked NOT TO BE OPENED EXCEPT IN THE PRESENCE OF TWO SENIOR OFFICERS OF THE ROYAL MINT …
4. Where am I ‘driving’ the train …
5. Where is the origin of the mysterious green glow …
6. This exotic Indian Bean Tree can be found on what 19th century estate …
7. What’s wrong with this signage in Gresham Street …
8. What famous store at the junction of Queen Victoria Street and Poultry did this clock once adorn …
9. This is Wesley’s Chapel on City Road, home of Methodism …
A very famous lady got married here, had her children baptised here, and donated these altar rails …
Who was she?
10. In St Botolph without Aldersgate is this memorial window commemorating the life of Matthew Webb. What was he famous for?
11. Is the symbol of the City of London a dragon or a gryphon …
12. On Watling Street, what ancient trade is this man practising …
13. At the Guildhall Art Gallery, who is the subject of this terrific sculpture of a thoughtful, gentle man, created by someone who knew him very well personally …
14. This font cover in All Hallows by the Tower is by one of the most famous sculptors and wood carvers of all time. Who was he (a clue, his initials were GG) …
15. This memorial on the Embankment commemorates a famous Brigade consisting of four regiments, a mixture of British, Australian and New Zealand soldiers. What was the Brigade commonly known as …
16. In this church you will find Wren’s finest dome based on his original design for St Paul’s …
There’s also an old fashioned telephone …
What’s the name of the church and what’s the significance of the telephone?
17. This is one of the Guildhall Art Gallery’s most famous paintings. It’s called La Ghirlandata, who is it by …
18. There are six churches in the City that include the name Mary in their title but only one of them contains a fabulous plaster fan-vaulted ceiling that is more reminiscent of a cathedral. It’s is the only parish church in England known to have one, which ‘Mary’ is it ?
This is the nave …
This is the south side aisle …
19. This man is Percivall Pott (1714-1788) as painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds …
And here’s his tombstone outside St Mary Aldermary …
Why is his name familiar to most medical professionals?
20. An easy one to finish. He was often known as ‘The Bastard’ and he started the construction of this building in 1066 ….
7. The Apostrophe is in the wrong place – surely it should be before the ‘S’?
8. Mappin & Webb. The old building in 1994 just before demolition …
It’s replacement …
I make no comment!
9. Baroness Margaret Thatcher. You can see more of the chapel and the surrounding area here.
10. He was the first man to successfully swim the English Channel. His first attempt was on 12 August 1875 but poor weather and sea conditions forced him to abandon his attempt. Twelve days later, he set off again and, despite several jellyfish stings and strong currents, he completed the swim, which was calculated at 40 miles, in 21 hours and 40 minutes …
Tragically, he drowned in 1883 while attempting to cross the Whirlpool Rapids below Niagara Falls. A memorial in his home town of Daley, Shropshire, reads: “Nothing great is easy.”
12. He is a Cordwainer. Here on Watling Street you are in the Ward of Cordwainer which in medieval times was the centre of shoe-making in the City of London. The finest leather from Cordoba in Spain was used which gave rise to the name of the Ward’s craftsmen.
13. It’s a sculpture of Terry Thomas, a major star in the 1950s and 60s best known for playing disreputable members of the upper classes especially ‘cads’, ‘toffs’ and ‘bounders’ …
19. Today, over 300 years since his birth, he is known as one of the founders of orthopaedics and occupational health. His name lives on in a number of conditions that he identified, such as Pott’s disease of the spine and Pott’s Puffy Tumour. The one that initially intrigued me, however, was Pott’s Fracture and how it came to get its name. It was literally by accident! Read all about it and this very likeable man here.
20. William the the Conqueror. Read more about him and other famous monarchs with City connections here.
Happy New Year! Thank you again for subscribing.
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