Walking the City of London

Category: Quirky Page 1 of 3

Bunhill Birds, being told to ‘be quiet’ politely and other information curiosities. And ducks – lots of ducks.

For some reason lately I have been more aware of notices, signs, plaques and other sources of information. I’m usually a bit fixated on the next week’s blog but every now and then a piece of displayed information catches my eye and I take an image of it. So here’s a selection – I hope you find them interesting.

Bunhill Burial Ground is one of the places I love to walk through and indulge in a bit of quiet contemplation. It’s also a haven for bird wildlife as this informative notice shows …

The sighting of ring-necked parakeets is a bit ominous!

A polite way of telling customers to keep the noise down …

This pop up garden has really thrived …

I know at least four people who have had their bike stolen despite them having a locking device. There’s an extraordinary range of bike-stealing methods which you can read more about here if you’re interested. I was prompted to include a comment here because of this friendly warning posted outside the garden …

Around the City there are a number of signs for various City walks. You can do the old City Gates

Or follow the route of the original Roman and Medieval Wall

Here’s my favourite front door just off Whitecross Street …

Everything about it, for example paint colour and style of lettering, just seems so reminiscent of the 1970s. My theory is that people kept knocking on the door because they couldn’t see the bell so the owner fixed the problem with a painterly flourish.

In Whitecross Street itself is this spoof blue plaque erected by the ‘British Hedonists’ and ‘Mad in England’ …

The prison was capable of holding up to 500 prisoners and Wyld’s map of London produced during the 1790s shows how extensive the premises were …

Here is a view of the inside of the prison with probably more well off people meeting and promenading quite normally …

‘Inside the Debtors’ Prison, Whitecross Street, London’ by an unknown artist : City of London Corporation, Guildhall Art Gallery.

You can read more about it, and debtors’ prisons generally, in my blog Mansions of Misery.

This sign in Errol Street made me stop and think …

Nearby is the new YMCA. It seems like a fun place, I liked the colourful signage in the window …

The old multi-storey Whitbread stables in Garrett Street …


Read all about them in my blog Horses and Ale – the end of two eras.

A 17th century ‘price list’ at St Sepulchre-without-Newgate …

Everyone has probably heard of the Blitz and the carnage brought about by German bombing during the Second World War but it’s sometimes forgotten that aerial attacks on civilians were also a terrifying feature of World War 1. A plaque in Central Street commemorates the action of a brave man …

You will also find him on the Watts Mamorial …

PC Smith, 37 years old, was on duty in Central Street when the noise was heard of an approaching group of fourteen German bombers. One press report reads as follows …

In the case of PC Alfred Smith, a popular member of the Metropolitan Force, who leaves a widow and three children, the deceased was on point duty near a warehouse. When the bombs began to fall the girls from the warehouse ran down into the street. Smith got them back, and stood in the porch to prevent them returning. In doing his duty he thus sacrificed his own life.

Smith had no visible injuries but had been killed by the blast from the bombs dropped nearby. He was one of 162 people killed that day in one of the deadliest raids of the war. I have written about him, and other brave officers, in my blog The brave policemen of Postman’s Park.

Proud boast by an Australian removal man …

In case you are wondering, a redback is a highly venomous Australian spider. What an informative blog this is!

What to watch out for …

An old shopfront with very old ads – once upon a time I smoked No.6 fags – really cheap if rather small!

The Players No6 brand, introduced in 1965, was Britain’s best selling cigarette brand for most of the 70s. Player’s advertising claimed it was ‘Part of the British Scene’. Packaging from 1965 to 1980 …

What finished the brand off wasn’t just the fact that more people were giving up smoking, it was the EU. In 1978, tobacco taxation was harmonised with the EU and cigarettes were taxed by retail price, rather than by weight of tobacco and this changed the cigarette market overnight.

Before this change small cigarettes were cheap and big ones were expensive. So King Size cigarettes were a luxury and small ones, like Player’s No 6, were popular. After the tax change, the price difference between a pack of Player’s No 6 and a pack of up-market Benson & Hedges Special Filter was almost incidental; 20 No 6 cost 52p and 20 Benson & Hedges cost 57p. Overnight sales of No 6 tumbled and in the status conscious 80s, No6 was about as popular as a pair flares and a kipper tie. The brand quietly disappeared in 1993.

An early morning visitor to my office …

What about this little chap …

He lives with his friends near the concourse at Liverpool Street station …

A duck for every occupation (and literally hundreds of other versions!) …

And now even more windows I have looked through recently …

The view from my table at the Ivy Asia restaurant …

The HYLO building on Bunhill Row has a virtual fishpond just inside the door …

The ‘fish’ move like they’re alive (it’s a bit spooky, to be honest).

Costumes and props at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama theatre on Silk Street …

I’m pleased this little tailor’s shop on Whitecross Street has survived …

A cute mini-jacket in the window …

A very big teddy!

For some reason this plaque at the Barbican Centre makes me feel a little sad …

And finally, thank you so much to those of you, my lovely subscribers, who made a donation to the Spitz Charitable Trust whom I featured on my blog last week. My friends at Spitz have been really thrilled by your generosity, which will go towards the life-enhancing services they provide. If you didn’t get a chance to read last week’s blog, this is a charity which brings live music to folk who may be feeling isolated or are experienceing dementia. Not just the elderly, but also young people in hospitals like Great Ormond Street who may be spending much of their life receiving care. All charities are having tough times at the moment so do, please, see if you can make a contribution, however modest, to help them in their work. Click here for their crowdfunding page and to find out more about them.

I also think that you might find the interview that Jane Glitre, Spitz’s founder, gave to Robert Elms on Radio London interesting. It’s only 11 minutes long and has a lovely song at the end! Here’s the link.

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Some images I liked that didn’t make it into a blog.

I take lots of pictures as I stroll around London and not all of them make their way into a blog. As I looked through images from the last six months or so I decided to publish a selection of the ones I liked most and hope you enjoy looking at them too.

I’ll start with one of my strangest encounters, the Golden Confessional Booth in the Bishopsgate Institute …

It was donated to the Institute by the artist Franko B in 2022. You can read more about him and the archive held at the Institute here.

If bollards have to be installed they might as well be pretty …

The Goldsmith’s Company leopard at the entrance to their garden on Gresham Street …

The screen in the crypt of St Pauls Cathedral …

The metalwork screen, 3.50 m high x 8 m wide, spans the Crypt of St Paul’s Cathedral, It stands as a permanent memorial to Sir Winston Churchill, the third great national hero to have a state funeral at the Cathedral, alongside those of the Duke of Wellington and Lord Nelson.

I never get tired of photographing the Cathedral …

A stroke of planning genius putting a water feature here …

Outside St Thomas’ Hospital, Edward VI looks in good shape considering how long he’s been in the open air …

It’s one of two statues of the king at the hospital, both commemorating his re-founding of the institution in 1551. This one was carved by Thomas Cartwright in 1682 and originally formed the centrepiece of a group of figures which adorned a gateway on Borough High Street. It was moved to its current location in the 20th century.

Old gravestones in Postman’s Park …

According to the estimable Percy Rushen, the full inscription on the stone in the middle reads ‘FANNY wife of WILLIAM SNOWLEY of the parish, died 22 November 1847 aged 48’. The one in front is the marker for ‘JOSHUA HOBSON, of the parish, died 5 February 1833 aged 49’.

The Gothic masterpiece that is St Pancras, built 1868 …

Nearby Kings’s Cross. It’s the older of the two buildings (1852) but certainly doesn’t look it …

The mysterious McLaren sports car that’s been parked outside the St Pancras hotel for ages …

You can read more about it here.

If you order oysters at Searcey’s Restaurant at St Pancras the plate is rested on this rather special holder …

The giant gnomon on the sundial at Tower Hill …

Numerous important events are recorded around the dial ..

The Emperor Trajan outside the nearby Underground entrance. Disrespectful visitors often place an empty drinks can in his hand …

I spotted this cinema poster in a restaurant. Certainly typical of its period (1967) …

The critics were not kind and I don’t think they made another movie!

Barbican hanging gardens …

Duck tucking into one of his ‘5-a-day’ …

The circus still comes to town …

Blackfriars reflection …

Unusual sundial on the Thames River Walk near the Millennium Bridge …

Inside Battersea Power Station – lots of big brands but not a lot of people …

Two important messages …

The wall in the distance is all that remains of the notorious Newgate Gaol, demolished in 1902 …

Great ghost sign at Finchley Road Underground Station …

Lovely idea at Kilburn Station …

And another transport related image, the magnificent roof at Stockwell Bus Garage – at one time it was Europe’s largest unsupported roof span …

Licence plate humour (well, I’m easily amused) …

And finally, lunch last week at Brutto, a great way to start the New Year …

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It’s Christmas decorations time – let’s get into the Festive spirit!

Wandering around the streets on a quiet Sunday afternoon at this time of year can be rather atmospheric and got me into quite a Christmassy mood.

This year there are a number of installations that you can walk into.

The ‘Happy House’ at City Point …

The ‘Bauble’ in the churchyard of Holy Sepulchre Church …

The arch at One New Change …

The ‘tree’ at the same location is as pretty as usual …

As is the view of St Paul’s …

The tree outside nearby St Mary-le-Bow …

Also in the churchyard …

At this time of year offices look a bit cosier than usual …

I wonder what’s going to be put in the big red stockings – this year’s bonus maybe (it is a bank!) …

The Shard, looking up from ground level …

… and a small selection of the constantly changing light display on the upper levels …

And finally, this year’s Barbican Christmas tree …

Remember, next week is the Christmas Quiz, so it’s time to do a bit of swotting since the questions will all be about blogs published in 2023.

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Spooky special edition!

I know Halloween ended a few days ago but it did inspire me to look again at spooky aspects of the City and produce a special edition. I was also enthused by a quite extraordinary house I encountered in a trip to Hampstead which had totally embraced the Halloween spirit. Here’s a sample …

More later.

What better place to start in the City than Samuel Pepys’s ‘own church’, St Olave Hart Street.

It has a really gruesome but stunning churchyard entrance incorporating impaled skulls and crossed bones dated 11th April 1658. The Latin inscription, roughly translated, reads ‘Christ is life, death is my reward‘ and the central skull wears a victory wreath.

Charles Dickens called it ‘St Ghastly Grim’.

It’s even more disturbing becuse the banked-up surface of the churchyard is a reminder that it is still bloated with the bodies of plague victims, and gardeners still turn up bone fragments. Three hundred and sixty five were buried there including Mary Ramsay, who was widely blamed for bringing the disease to London. We know the number because their names were marked with a ‘p’ in the parish register.

Note how much higher the graveyard is than the floor at the church door.

The crypt of the ‘Journalists’ Church’, St Brides in Fleet Street, is home to a fascinating museum containing an extraordinary coffin …

Until well into the 18th century the only source of corpses for medical research was the public hangman and supply was never enough to satisfy demand. As a result, a market arose to satisfy the needs of medical students and doctors and this was filled by the activities of the so-called ‘resurrection men’ or ‘body snatchers’. Some churches built watchhouses for guards to protect the churchyard, but these were by no means always effective – earning between £8 and £14 a body, the snatchers had plenty of cash available for bribery purposes. A tempting advertisement …

The idea was not popular with the clergy and in 1820 the churchwardens at St Andrew’s Holborn refused churchyard burial to an iron coffin. The body was taken out and buried, which led to a law suit. The judgment was that such coffins could not be refused but, since they took so much longer than wooden ones to disintegrate, much higher fees could be charged. This no doubt contributed to the relatively short time iron coffining was used.

St Brides also contains a charnel house, only opened by special arrangement. As you walk around the crypt, bear in mind that there are quite a few old Londoners resting nearby …

The primary customers for fresh corpses were the trainee surgeons at St Bartholomew’s Hospital so it’s no surprise that the nearby church of St Sepulchre had its own watchhouse. Sadly this was destroyed in the Blitz but there is a charming replica that you can see today …

Just around the corner is the entrance to the church so do call in if you can and visit a grim reminder of the days of the notorious Newgate Gaol and public executions.

Carts carrying the condemned on their way to Tyburn would pause briefly at the church where prisoners would be presented with a nosegay. However, they would already have had an encounter with someone from the church the night before. In 1605, a wealthy merchant called Robert Dow made a bequest of £50 for a bellman from the church to stand outside the cells of the condemned at midnight, ring the bell, and chant as follows:

All you that in the condemned hole do lie, Prepare you, for tomorrow you shall die; Watch all and pray, the hour is drawing near, That you before the Almighty must appear; Examine well yourselves, in time repent, That you may not to eternal flames be sent: And when St. Sepulchre’s bell tomorrow tolls, The Lord above have mercy on your souls.

And you can still see the bell today, displayed in a glass case in the church …

About five minutes’ walk away is the beautiful church of St Bartholomew the Great inside which is what I think is one of the most disturbing sculptures in the City …

Entitled Exquisite Pain, as well as his skin St Bartholomew also holds a scalpel in one hand and a pair of scissors in the other. The second surprise, to me anyway, was that this work was by Damien Hirst, the modern artist known particularly for his spot paintings and the shark swimming in formaldehyde. St Bartholomew is the patron saint of Doctors and Surgeons and Hirst has said that this 2006 work ‘acts as a reminder that the strict demarcation between art, religion and science is a relatively recent development and that depictions of Saint Bartholomew were often used by medics to aid in anatomy studies’. He went on to say that the scissors were inspired by Tim Burton’s film ‘Edward Scissorhands’ (1990) to imply that ‘his exposure and pain is seemingly self- inflicted. It’s kind of beautiful yet tragic’. The work is on long-term loan from the artist …

There’s nothing like a nice relic – even if it’s not on open display.

This is St Ethelreda’s Roman Catholic church in Ely Place (a road strange in its own right since it is privately managed by its own body of commissioners and beadles) …

The building is one of only two surviving in London from the reign of Edward I and dates from between 1250 and 1290. It is dedicated to Aethelthryth or Etheldreda, the Anglo-Saxon saint who founded the monastery at Ely in 673. According to the story, sixteen years after she died of the plague her body was exhumed in 695 and was found to be pure and uncorrupted with even her clothes having miraculous properties. Although her body has been lost it is said that her uncorrupted hand still rests in a casket in this church.

Unfortunately, this reliquary is kept beside the high altar and I couldn’t gain access so we must make do with an online image …

Nevertheless, it wasn’t a wasted visit. The church is a fascinating place as can be seen from some of the images I did take …

So I shall be back.

And finally, the Hampstead house on Flask Walk that truly embraced the spirit of Halloween.

Disabling the burglar alarm …

Hilarious!

The gang’s all here …

Welcome!

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A terrific new exhibition – a Roman cat, Georgian rabbits and much more.

Earlier this week I visited the recently opened Roman Wall exhibition in Vine Street. Entrance is free but you need to book a time slot online.

Looking down through a window near the entrance you get an excellent sense of Roman London’s street level …

Once inside the imposing nature of the wall itself is immediatly apparent…

The exhibition signage is first class throughout …

It is also complemented by Museum of London plaques …

Archaeoligical finds from the site (which served as a cesspit for many years) are beautifully displayed ..

As regular readers will know, I rather like quirky stuff, and some of the finds displayed fall into that category.

The paw prints on this tile are a cat’s …

The Romans brought cats with them to Britain although there is some evidence of domesticated felines before this time. Like modern cats, they knew no boundaries. When this tile was still soft and lying on the ground of the tile yard to dry, one of our cats’ ancestors strolled casually across it, leaving its territorial mark for posterity.

This rabbit skeleton has been dated to between 1760 to 1770 …

There are no visible butchery or skinning marks, so it was probably not kept for eating. It is likely that it was kept as a domestic pet, perhaps by the children of the family. Alongside it are the vertebrae and jawbones from a younger rabbit. These bunnies may have been much loved when alive. But having died, it appears that both were dropped unceremoniously into the cesspit in the backyard. Or maybe, horror of horrors, they fell in accidentally and drowned.

Of course I had to include this, a charmingly named ‘stool pan’ …

Another useful explanation …

Nice to see he’s wearing a decidedly modern-looking anti-Covid mask.

How the terraced houses on the site may have looked …

Some of the other artefacts on display include the following.

Pretty chinaware – someone must have been very unhappy when these articles were broken and had to be consigned to the rubbish pit. Or maybe they had just fallen out of fashion and were discarded …

Clay pipes galore …

A familiar brand …

Lots to see, very well displayed and explained …

As you leave you get a fine view of the outer face of the wall …

The last thing to admire is the artwork by Olivia Whitworth, the East London-based artist who creates wonderfully detailed illustrations …

If you are in ‘London Wall mode’, don’t forget there are two other wonderful examples nearby.

Just five minutes’ walk away at Cooper’s Row, round the back of a hotel, is an equally spectacular stretch of wall that is off the tourist trail. Here you can see the marks of former staircases and medieval windows cut through to create a rugged monument of significant height …

Also, alongside Tower Hill Underground Station, the Roman Emperor Trajan stands in front of another magnificent section …

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Tubes on the Tube – and other interesting shapes.

Every now and then I start noticing new shapes appearing around the City in addition to the fascinating Sculpture in the City project that I wrote about recently. Here’s my selection for this week. I’ll start with the largest and most colourful, Holly Hendry’s joyful work entitled Slackwater currently exhibited on the flat roof of Temple Underground Station. That’s what I like, sculpture that makes you smile …

The view from above gives a really interesting perspective (image by CoLab) …

Read all about it …

For over a month I watched the very careful erection of this extraordinary structure on Moorfields …

Commissioned in 2019 as part of The Crossrail Art Foundation’s public art programme for the Elizabeth line (with the support of Victoria Miro Gallery), Manifold (Major Third) 5:4 is by British artist Conrad Shawcross RA. ‘It represents a chord falling into silence extrapolated from observations of a Victorian pendulum-driven drawing machine known as a harmonograph, which was instrumental in the birth of the science of synaesthesia. This sculpture is the physical incarnation of the mathematics within a chord’. So now you know.

A crazy oasis outside nearby City Point (EC2Y 9AW) …

Yummy colours …

And finally, have you ever noticed this chap? I often see him looking out of the window of the Chiropractic clinic. Like the Manifold sculpture he’s also on Moorfields, just off London Wall …

I presume he likes to watch the world going by when he’s not treating patients …

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Some stuff to cheer me up!

Becauase I was going on holiday I started this blog on a May day when the weather was so miserable, wet and cold that I started browsing through my image library for some cheery pics. This also meant I didn’t have to go out!

This blog is the result – it’s a bit random but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless.

My balcony is perfectly situated to watch flypasts on their way to Buckingham Palace. This is the Coronation one …

What do you do with an abandoned car park …

Obviously you turn it into an artwork …

More cheerful street art …

Hot Mexican street food ..

More Pimlico Plumbers licence plate wit …

Posh spare loo roll storage at Mosimann’s …

Nice table adornments too …

Crazy crocheting on a post box in Great Ormond Street …

This is my animal selection.

Faithful doggy in Highgate Cemetery …

Whitecross Street toucan …

Friendly Mudchute Farm goats …

The last animal, the Tower Bridge cat …

My pal Mat …

And, for the first time in my blog history, a food section.

My Hotel Chocolat Easter Egg …

Patisserie perfection at Bob Bob Gerard …

Bombe at the Ivy ..

Add hot chocolate …

And finally, even more calories at Bouchon Racine …

Paradise …

Yep, I quite like chocolate.

Normal blog service will be resumed next week.

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Shapes, patterns, views, an interesting architectural curiosity and witty tributes to the new King!

Last week I set off without any particular purpose, seeking shapes, patterns and views that might look interesting as images.

It’s often just as fascinating to keep looking down as well as up and here are some of the curiosities I came across in Spitalfields.

Some intricately designed coal hole covers that have survived road works and redevelopment …

The above is a typical Hayward Brothers plate. One of their greatest services to Victorian society was saving pedestrians from nasty and embarassing injuries or even death-by-coalhole. Falling down coalholes through an unfastened plate was a regular occurrence in those times and the Hayward Brothers ‘safety plate’ using a ‘twist and lock’ mechanism was supposed to cure the problem.

The Gentle Author has written about them specifically in his blog Manhole covers of Spitalfields.

As well as the coal hole covers, the pavements of Spitalfields are also the home of a number of circular metal plates set into the pavement and known as roundels. They are the result of a commission by the 1995 Bethnal Green Challenge and are intended to be emblems reflecting the diverse culture and history of Spitalfields. They were designed by Keith Bowler and you can read more about them in two blogs, one by The Gentle Author and one by Katie Wignall. Here are images of the three I came across.

One of the prettiest is the one on Fournier Street, taken from floral fabric designs by Anna Maria Garthwaite (1688-1763), the textile designer whose official blue plaque is on 4 Princelet Street …

At the corner of Brushfield Street and Commercial street are some apples and pears. A nod to the original fruit and vegetable Spitalfields market with a flourish of cockney rhyming slang thrown in …

And finally this very cute one outside the local primary school on Brick Lane. A boy and girl in a book surrounded by pencils …

There were 25 originally but it’s believed there are only a dozen left.

I wandered around the Barbican looking for angles, shadows and reflections …

Here are some colours and shapes from ‘Them’s the breaks’ by the RESOLVE Collective at The Curve Gallery …

I’d also like to include a few favourites from a previous blog where I experimented with black and white images.

Tower 42 …

Plus Leadenhall Market …

Here are some of the more unusual things I came across during my walk.

I have entered the Barbican Highwalk from the Barbican Station footbridge on dozens of occasions and never paid any attention to this doorway which is obviously no longer in use …

Last week I peered through the grubby glass and was astonished to see this lively jungle scene …

I’m trying to find out more about it.

In the Smithfield Rotunda Garden there is a reflection with a poetic message …

‘Mirror, mirror, on the wall … Litter left here reflects badly on us all’.

On display in the Barbican Centre is this stunnng architectural model of the Estate …

The City is still full of new developments despite changes in working patterns and in many cases this means the demolition of existing buildings. A new view has now temporarily opened up looking south from the St Alphage Highwalk showing the north side of the Guildhall with the Shard in the distance …

Finally, I laughed out loud when I popped in to St Giles church and noticed two acknowledgements of the Coronation. Milton was surrounded by flags as he clutched a volume of his works …

But by far the most witty gesture was kitting out the famous parliamentarian and regicide Oliver Cromwell with a golden crown and a ‘Long Live King Charles’ postcard …

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Bollardology!

Oh, bliss, someone has written a book about the City of London bollards.

Odd as it may seem, I’ve always wanted to know more about them and now my curiosity has been satisfied by this wonderful book, Bollardology, by Dr Cathy Ross, the historian and former Director of Collections at the Museum of London.

To suggest that this is just a book about street furniture is not to do it justice. It’s a combination of a fascinating history of the City itself, beautifully written, along with what I can only describe as a bollard love affair. I promise that, if you read this book, you will never look at the humble bollard the same way again. For example, you’ll trace its development from the 18th century to the present day, from when it protected us from rampant coach and horse traffic to when it helps to protect us now from the actions of terrorists. To say I learnt a lot would be an understatement.

If you can, do what I did and pop in to the Guildhall Art Gallery and purchase it at their little shop, or buy it online here – they tell me it’s their current bestseller. It’s an absolute bargain at £12:99. I read it at one sitting and then set out with my camera to track down some examples.

There is a little platoon of bollard soldiers gathered in Idol Lane alongside the beautiful ruined church and garden of St Dunstan in the East

And surely this one is their commanding officer. Look at the striking City emblem and the 1886 date …

And, the most extraordinary feature of all, it’s hollow …

Here’s the story of this remarkable little artefact as told in Cathy Ross’s book along with extracts from the excellent Look up London blog by Katie Wignall.

Cathy’s sleuthing revealed that in October 1886 the City of London Corporation unveiled a new public urinal at the corner of Gracechurch Street and Eastcheap. This was the original site of the hollow bollard where it formed part of the ventilation system. Here are the loos today – all locked up …

It was hard to find any 19th century images of the public toilet, but you can see the urinal (circled in yellow) on the 1893-96 OS map below.

layersoflondon.org – OS maps 1893-96

To further visualise it, there’s a description detailed in Bollardology. It comes from William Haywood, an Engineer and Surveyor who was the City of London’s Commissioner of Sewers (think of him as the Joseph Bazalgette, specifically for the City). He was an extraordinary man and one of the pleasures of this book is finding out more about him (along with his somewhat ‘unconventional’ personal life).

In his report in 1887 he notes there is a ‘large five light lamp standard placed at the centre of the refuge, the base of which forms a ventilating shaft… The other lamp standards and dwarf posts [bollards] placed near the footway curbs are so designed to assist the ventilation.’

Although Katie couldn’t find any 19th century images of the five light lamp standard, she guesses it was similar to the remaining one by the public toilets outside the Royal Courts of Justice …

Five Light Lamp Standard, Royal Courts of Justice | Look Up London

Today only the base of the original large lamp remains and it’s still an attractive bit of street furniture, now painted black and cream …

No record seems to exist as to how the Idol Lane bollard ended up where it is now, about five minutes walk away.

Here’s my personal bollard collection, starting with this semi-circle of 36 lumps of granite installed in 1874 around the west end of St Paul’s Cathedral. They were not called bollards at the time – The Times described them as ‘dwarf, ornamental granite posts’. This part of the Cathedal precinct had previously been closed off by iron railings and the stones marked the new and porous boundary between public and private land – a modernising ‘improvement’ …

The tops of some bollards remind me of a lemon squeezer …

Outside St Margaret Pattens, this is one of a pair dated 1817 …

In the courtyard of St Helen’s Bishopsgate is what is often claimed to be the oldest bollard in the City. Experts identify this as the ‘cascable’ end of an 18th century French naval cannon …

These skinny versions date from 1993 and apparently were often positioned in the spot where parking meters once stood before they were removed …

Some show a fair bit of wear and tear …

From the 1990s onwards the City started taking branding really seriously and the bollards reinforced the fact that you were in a very special part of London …

Moveable versions …

There’s a positive invasion taking place at Bank Junction …

I was surprised to find some wooden versions. These are outside St Mary-le-Bow and date from the 1990s …

These are on Paternoster Row near the entrance to St Paul’s Churchyard …

Unfortunately wooden varieties are very prone to damage …

Standing guard at the entrance to St Paul’s Churchyard, these are probably HVMs (Hostile Vehicle Mitigation bollards) helping to keep us safe …

These HVMs are a bit more obvious …

I think they’re really sinister. They reminded me of the alien robot in the 1951 movie The Day the Earth Stood Still. Watch the terrific trailer here

Here colour is used to create a more friendly appearance …

These versions aim to be both decorative and informative …

On a more jolly note, some bollards have been colourfully dressed up to promote the City’s Culture Mile

Finally, how about this quote from the City of London Corporation Street Scene Manual 2005. The writer gets carried away and waxes lyrical as to how bollards positively added to the gaity of City life :

In parts of the City rush hour ‘bollard ballet’ is performed as office workers dodge both each other and the forest of bollards on their way to and from work.

Bollard ballet indeed!

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Ending 2022 on a lighthearted note.

I’ve been taking a relaxing break over Christmas so haven’t really thought about a theme for the last blog of 2022. So this is a bit of a mish-mash of images that I hope you might find interesting and amusing.

Delivering Christmas cards by hand I came across this doormat (it doesn’t take much to make me laugh this time of year) …

Mr Coot finding his way to the Barbican Centre by following the trusted yellow line …

Cute image of the year – proud mum …

Laid-back Bermondsey cat …

Lego Christmas tree at the Royal Exchange …

Building works on Coleman Street – what nice ideas …

Leadenhall market Christmas tree constantly changing colour …

Nice architectural lighting on Fore Street …

Betty Boop and Donald Duck on my Christmas tree …

Some of this year’s eating out experiences.

Bonkers mural in my favourite restaurant Trattoria Brutto in Farringdon …

Impressive entrance to Ivy Asia …

And finally, one of my favourite restaurant desserts – Chocolate Bombe at The Ivy City Garden …

Add hot chocolate …

Wow, that was good …

Best wishes to all my friends – thank you so much for subscribing. I wish you a happy, healthy and successful 2023!

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More Christmas decorations and an unexpected snowfall.

I’ve been out snapping again seeing how places and organisations are getting in the Christmas mood.

Here’s the shopping mall at St Pancras …

And on guard at Searcey’s Restaurant …

Chiswell Street law firm …

The City tree in front of St Paul’s …

Another alongside St Mary-le-Bow ,,,

At the Mansion House …

On Moorgate …

At WeWork …

One of the nicest efforts, the Institute of Chartered Accountants …

Also brilliant is the ‘tree’ at One New Change …

88 Wood Street always looks welcoming …

London Wall …

Bread Street …

Goswell Road …

Festive pharmacy …

And finally, some real snow!

Do remember to log-in next week for the famous Christmas Quiz!

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It’s Christmas decorations time – let’s get in the mood!

Yes, it’s that time when I go out and about trying to capture a bit of decorative joy before the Festive Season begins in earnest.

And what better place to start than the stunning display at the Leadenhall Building, fondly known by all as The Cheesegrater …

I love the arch through the tree …

It’s also home to Emma Smith’s neon artwork We (2019).

We are alone …

We are all one …

Read all about the thoughts behind its design here.

Whilst there I enjoyed a rather lovely lunch at Bob Bob Ricard which is situated on the third floor …

The view from the lift …

The Gherkin, my favourite modern City building …

Another beautiful piece of architecture, King’s Cross Station …

Outside the Station …

At The Landmark Hotel …

On London Wall …

Illumino at City Point …

Also at City Point …

At the Barbican …

Just off Bishopsgate …

And finally, something a bit bonkers near Great Ormond Street that made me smile …

Little aliens have landed on a post box …

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Random subjects I found interesting, from street animals to stained glass. And did Batman and Robin share a bed?

Having a camera on my phone is a great asset but also leads to me taking pics of all kinds of random subjects that don’t have a particular theme. The time then comes when I don’t have a blog theme in mind so I cop out by publishing examples of this miscellaneous collection.

This is one of those times and I hope you enjoy this occasionally quirky selection.

I’ll start with the street animals.

Cricklewood Station boasts a friendly multi-coloured cow …

A cow painted in the red and green colours of the Portugal national football team stands outside a souvenir shop in the Algarve …

Same street – different cow …

Leadenhall market porker …

Every year the Worshipful Company of Paviours bring an inflatable animal (known as a St Anthony’s pig) to the Lord Mayor’s Show …

In medieval times the London meat market at Smithfield released pigs that were unfit for slaughter into the streets to fend for themselves. They were identified by a bell around their neck and some prospered sufficiently to get fat enough to eat. Every now and then the paviours (who maintained the roads) rounded them up and delivered them to feed the poor and needy in the care of St Anthony’s Hospital.

Now, from pigs to swans.

The Vintners and Dyers Companies share in the ownership of mute swans with the monarch and it is their job to catch and ring them in a ceremony known as ‘swan upping’ done each June. This man, the Swan Marker, is in charge of the Vintners’ Swan Uppers for the event, but also wears the uniform of Barge Master, dating back to the time when the Company owned a ceremonial barge on the Thames. Here he is with a feathered companion outside the church of St James Garlickhythe

The Barge Master badge …

Clever advertising in Portugal …

Gifts to take home from Portugal …

Gifts to take home from London …

A sunny day at the Regent’s Canal, St Pancras …

I grabbed this image since the sky and clouds were so attractive. St Stephen Walbrook (1672) was Christopher Wren’s prototype for the dome of St Paul’s Cathedral. It was the first classical dome to be built in England at the time …

Whoever decided to place this pool here in Cannon Street was a genius …

Lots of creative ideas for your pastry …

Batman and Robin street art snog …

You may be surprised to know that in the early 1950s comics they seemed to share a bed …

When observations were made about this the publishers were quick to make a statement, and I quote it here :

‘It’s necessary to point out that, no — they’re not sharing a bed, as many mistakenly think. You can distinctly make out a gap in the backboard, meaning that, though they are sleeping unusually close together for an adult guardian and his teen ward, they’re not in bed together‘.

So that’s cleared that up!

Nothing odd about a bit of nude sunlamp toning either, by the way …

Speculation as to the pair’s sexuality is discussed in The Slate article entitled, rather unfortunately, A Brief History of Dick.

I was invited for lunch at the Institute of Chartered Accountants and so got to see some of their splendid stained glass …

Another highlight of my year was seeing Tower Bridge raised. I have lived in London all my life and can’t recall witnessing this before in person rather than on TV …

And finally, another big ‘thank you’ to our wonderful City of London gardeners who work so hard all year to keep the place looking fresh and green …

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Great sculpture and flying broomsticks, all within a 15 minute walk.

Sculpture in the City is back along with a fun new pop-up shop in Leadenhall Market. If you work nearby scroll down to the end of this blog for more details – you won’t be disappointed. Here’s a hint of what’s in store …

Let’s look at some sculpture first, and I shall include the explanatory plaques that accompany the works. This is just a selection – go to the website for full details.

I’ll start with the seriously weird at Aldgate Square EC3N 1AF …

Onward now to others starting with Summer Moon at Undershaft EC3A 8AH (Next to St Helen’s Church) …

I love the texture …

… and the location …

Sandwich at Undershaft, EC2N 4AJ (In front of Crosby Square) …

Rough Neck Business at 100 Bishopsgate EC2M 1GT …

Orphans at Cullum Street EC3M 7JJ …

Burial at St Botolph-without-Bishopsgate Churchyard EC2M 3TL …

Cosmos at Undershaft EC3P 3DQ (Between Aviva and the Leadenhall Building) …

Untitled at 70 St Mary Axe EC3A 8BE …

Generations (Part2) at The Leadenhall Building EC3V 4AB …

Miss at the corner of Bishopsgate & Wormwood Street EC2M 3XD …

And finally The Granary at Cunard Place EC3A 5AR …

Now for something completely different and lighthearted.

The fantastic Monster Supplies Company has opened a pop-up store in Leadenhall Market only a few steps from the Lamb Tavern …

Train strike day – no problem! Just grab a very reasonably priced flying broomstick and soar above the traffic as you head home …

The store was packed with visitors when I called in yesterday …

With Halloween coming up, and Christmas not far behind, there are lots of wacky present opportunities …

Kids seemed to love items with rather disgusting or gruesome names …

These are difficult times so pop along to Leadenhall Market. I guarantee you will feel more cheerful after your visit and maybe come away with Hope and Laughter …

The shop is open Tuesday to Friday from 11:00am to 6:00pm. If you can’t visit in person for any reason you can buy online here.

All proceeds from sales go to support the wonderful Ministry of Stories charity, a creative writing and mentoring centre for young people in Hackney aged 8 to 18. You could also visit their store in Hoxton which I have written about before in my blog entitled, not surprisingly, A visit to the Monster Supplies Store.

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Hats, heads, handsome models and spooky manikins – a stroll down Commercial Road.

I have driven along Commercial Road hundreds, probably thousands, of times and often thought it would be good to take a closer look. These images are the result.

Commercial Road was constructed in 1802–6 as a direct route to link dock traffic between the West India Docks and East India Docks to the City of London. It’s now flanked on either side by numerous businesses involved in the garment trade, which has been historically based in the area. Many are small enterprises and most seem to be ‘wholesale only’ although some are happy to take orders as low as £150.

Here are my favourites.

First up – rather spooky manikins …

They reminded me of the scary shape-shifting robot in the Terminator movie …

They’re a bit less scary when dressed up …

Hats and heads, starting with the obvious place …

Across the road … Boy George? …

Heads awaiting hats …

Why do I find this one so disturbing?

Hey, good looking …

A nice window composition …

Some miscellaneous pics …

When I first read this I thought it said ‘naughty wear’. Actually, I suppose it is …

Every window frame seems to be plastered with ads like these …

Items I was tempted to buy.

Surely my wife would appreciate this …

… and maybe I should plan in advance for a cold Winter …

Someone has misbehaved …

I really enjoyed my visit to this vibrant part of London and I hope you enjoyed viewing the images.

I went home via Aldgate East Underground Station, admiring the 1930s roundel at the entrance …

… and the fascinating tiles on the platform …

I have written about them before in my September 2019 blog.

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The Whitecross Street Party Art – even better this year. Check out the robin with the positive Covid test!

The announcement I always look forward to …

Crazy creatures blocking the road mean something interesting is happening further up the street …

Lots of stalls …

You won’t go hungry …

There’s a friendly dragon …

A sunbathing fox …

And a shy whale …

Over the weekend there is art being created everywhere ….

Aspiring future exhibitors …

Some of the finished work …

Look at what the jackdaw has in his beak …

Extraordinary work by Stringman …

And the ones that made me smile …

Goodbye until next year …

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‘Cock a Doodle Doo’ – Special farm animal edition – with added Jubilee Corgis!

More animals this week with, of course, a nod to Her Majesty’s special weekend. More of this chap and his friends later …

Researching this blog has led me to some fascinating facts. I didn’t, for example, know that a cockerel is a young male bird which, after it’s a year old, is called a rooster. Generously, I provide important information like this to my blog subscribers free of charge.

The rooster had profound religious significance. In the Bible, Jesus foretold that Peter, one of his most devoted disciples, would betray him. “…Verily I say unto thee, that this night, before cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.” (Matthew 26:34). And so the rooster became an emblem of Peter’s betrayal. Sometime between 590 and 604 A.D., Pope Gregory I declared that the rooster, emblem of St. Peter, was the most suitable symbol for Christianity. In the 9th century, Pope Nicholas made the rooster official and declared that that all churches must display the rooster on their steeples or domes. I’ve found three in the City.

All Hallows-by-the-Tower …

St Andrew Undershaft …

And St Dunstan-in-the East …

The weathervane above the Rookery Hotel in Smithfield references the nearby meat market …

The building is at the junction of Cowcross Street and Peter’s Lane. Wander down the Lane and you’ll see that the brick walls of the tower have been embellished with bulls’ and cows’ heads modelled and cast in glass reinforced resin by Mark Merer and Lucy Glendenning. The bovine theme was used as a decorative motif because for centuries Cowcross street was part of a route used by drovers to bring cows to be slaughtered at Smithfield …

Another bull at the Smithfield Tavern on Charterhouse Street (EC1M 6HW) …

A herd moves along the north side of the street opposite the meat market …

Two rams are following up the rear. There a quite few of them around the City.

At the end of New Street off Bishopsgate (EC2M 4TP) you will find this one over the gateway leading to Cock Hill …

It’s by an unknown sculptor, dates from the 186os and used to stand over the entrance to Cooper’s wool warehouse.

The Worshipful Company of Clothworkers have a ram in their coat of arms, Here one presides over the entrance to Dunster Court, Mincing Lane (EC3R 7AH) …

I have always been curious about these ram’s heads on the corner of St Swithen’s Lane and Cannon Street …

I consulted a great source of City knowledge, The City’s Lanes and Alleys by Desmond Fitzpatrick. He writes that …

For well into the second half of the last century, the building was a branch of a bank dealing with services to the wool trade, a business connection pleasantly expressed … by the rams’ heads crowned with green-painted leaves, as if Bacchus and Pan had met!

There are sheep in the City too.

In Paternoster Square is a 1975 bronze sculpture by Elisabeth Frink which I particularly like – a ‘naked’ shepherd with a crook in his left hand walks behind a small flock of five sheep …

Dame Elisabeth was, anecdotally, very fond of putting large testicles on her sculptures of both men and animals. In fact, her Catalogue Raisonné informs us that she ‘drew testicles on man and beast better than anyone’ and saw them with ‘a fresh, matter-of-fact delight’. It was reported in 1975, however, that the nude figure had been emasculated ‘to avoid any embarrassment in an ecclesiastical setting’. The sculpture is called Paternoster.

Outside Spitalfields Market, is the wonderfully entitled I Goat. In the background is Hawksmoor’s Christ Church …

It was hand sculpted by Kenny Hunter and won the Spitalfields Sculpture Prize in 2010.

The sculptor commented …

Goats are associated with non-conformity and being independently-minded. That is also true of London, its people and never more so than in Spitalfields.

And now to those Corgis.

I just had to visit the magnificent Elizabeth Line shortly after it opened. Looking down the escalators at Farringdon I noticed a flash of pink on the left …

Fortunately I didn’t have to run backwards to get a close up shot since you’ll find these little creatures looking out at you on numerous walkways and platforms …

Inside the carriages you can admire the specially designed moquette …

‘Moquette’ is a woven pile fabric. With an almost velvet-like texture, it’s comfortable but still extremely durable, making it ideal for seats on public transport. Transport for London’s moquette designs tend to consist of a repeat geometric pattern, making it easy to match fabrics when upholstering seats, as well as helping to reduce wastage and keep costs down. You can read more about the background to the design here.

If you really like it you can buy a matching scarf and socks! Or maybe a nice bench – a snip at £450. If you’re working from home perhaps you could sit on it and pretend you’re commuting.

I took the train to Whitechapel and had a quick look at some of the portraits by Chantal Joffe. She has lived in east London for many years and her 2m-tall portraits are made from laser-cut aluminium. They’re inspired by her Sunday wanderings among the cosmopolitan crowds thronging the streets and markets around the station—a neighbourhood that has been home to many of London’s migrant communities for centuries. Here are a few examples of her work …

Definitely worth a visit.

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More Street art (particularly work supporting Ukraine).

I popped over to the Brick Lane area in order to see what was happening in the flourishing street art scene and noticed that Ukraine and its struggle is beginning to emerge as a subject. I took these images in Fournier Street …

I’m indebted to The Londonist blog for further images …

And one I particularly like. Crystal Palace folk know how to send an authentic London message! …

Meanwhile, in Paris …

And this City of London shop repainted its signage …

Here are some other pics from my wanderings …

And some that made me smile …
And I did!

This one (and several like it) is on the wall beneath a warehouse now converted into apartments. Made me stand back and wonder what on earth could fall on my head …

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From Submariners to the Blitz Firefighters – a walk along Embankment towards St Paul’s.

A lovely Sunny day last Saturday tempted me out for a walk.

The national Submarine Memorial Memorial on Victoria Embankment (EC4Y 0HJ) is, I think, one of London’s most moving.

Although able to hide when submerged, once struck the vessels were often unable to rise to the surface and became effectively underwater coffins. In the First World War fifty four boats were lost and with them the lives of 138 officers and 1,225 men. At the inauguration in 1922 Rear Admiral Sinclair, the Chief of the Submarine Service, reminded those present that, during the Great War …

The number of those killed in the Submarine Service was greater in proportion to its size than any other branch of His Majesty’s fighting forces … one third of the total personnel.

In November 1959 new panels commemorating Second World war losses were unveiled by Rear Admiral B W Taylor.

Wright and Moore, writing for the 20th Century Architecture website, describe the memorial as a complex mixture of narrative and symbolism …

Sculptor: F B Hitch Architect: A H R Tenison Founder: E J Parlanti

The central figures recreate the scene set inside the submarine exaggerating it into a small, claustrophobic tunnel. The crew use charts and follow dials, the captain is braced at the centre with the periscope behind his head. Around the vessel a shallow relief depicts an array of sea creatures or mermen appearing to trap and haul the submarine in fishing nets, reminding us that the submarines were as much prey to the tempestuous elements as they were to the enemy.

On both corners are allegorical figures. Next to the list of vessels lost between 1914 and 1918, Truth holds up her mirror. Just further to the left in the picture are two of the 40 bronze wreath hooks in the form of anchors …

On the right, next to the vessels lost in the Second World War, Justice wears a blindfold and as usual holds a sword and scales …

On a more lighthearted vein, walk east from the Memorial on the north side of the road and you’ll find this chap frantically trying to hail a taxi …

Taxi! by the American Sculptor J Seward Johnson is cast bronze and is now interestingly weathered. If you think the baggy trousers, moustache and side parting are erring on the retro, that’s because this particular office worker was transferred from New York in 2014. It was sculpted in 1983 and originally stood on Park Avenue and 47th Street.

I love this pair of ‘dolphin’ lamps (although they are actually sturgeon) ..

Neptune also makes an appearance …

Further east you can wave to the pretty mermaid who embellishes the Art Deco style Unilever Building …

Further along the lamps repay detailed study …

Across the road, a jolly friar looks down from the Blackfriar pub …

Carry on along Queen Victoria Street and admire the imposing College of Arms building …

… and its ornate gate …

St Peter’s Hill runs north alongside the College and at the top you will find the Firefighters Memorial. On its octagonal bronze base are the names of the 997 men and women of the fire service who lost their lives during the conflict. The sculpture features two firemen ‘working a branch’, with their legs spread to take the strain of the hose …

A sub-officer directs others to assist. There are clues to the identity of this figure scattered among the debris at the figures’ feet: the letters CTD for C.T. Demarne. At the unveiling, his colleagues from the fire service claimed that there was no need for such clues. One who was interviewed by the Telegraph stated: ‘You can tell it’s Cyril by the way he’s standing…he always waved his arms about like that when he was ordering us about’.

Officer Demarne in full flow.

By 1943 over 70,00 women had enrolled in the National Fire Service in the United Kingdom. This memorial commemorates those who lost their lives in the London bombings …

The lady on the left is an incident recorder and the one on the right a despatch rider.

Across the road, just south of the Cathedral, is this rather handsome bearded gentleman …

John Donne 1572-1631 by Nigel Boonham (2012).

In 1617, two years after his ordination, Donne’s wife died at age 33 after giving birth to a stillborn child, their twelfth. Grief-stricken at having lost his emotional anchor, Donne vowed never to marry again, even though he was left with the task of raising his ten surviving children in modest financial circumstances. His bereavement turned him fully to his vocation as an Anglican divine and, on November 22, 1621, Donne was installed as Dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral. The power and eloquence of his sermons soon secured for him a reputation as the foremost preacher in the England of his day, and he became a favourite of both Kings James I and Charles I.

His bust points almost due west but shows him turning to the east towards his birthplace on Bread Street. The directions of the compass were important to Donne in his metaphysical work: east is the Rising Sun, the Holy Land and Christ, while west is the place of decline and death. Underneath the bust are inscribed words from his poem Good Friday – Riding Westward :

Hence is’t that I am carried towards the west, This day when my soul’s form bends to the east

The most familiar quotation from Donne comes from his Meditation XVII – Devotions upon Emergent Occasions published in 1624:

‘No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main … and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee.’

Incidentally, if you walk around the east side of the Cathedral you will see scars from the Second World War bombing which illustrate just how close the building came to destruction …

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A mystery solved and some things that made me smile.

Let’s start with the mystery.

Back in August last year I spoke of a mystery connected to these two gravestones in the old parish churchyard of St Ann Blackfriars in Church Entry (EC4V 5HB) …

My ‘go to’ source of information when it comes to grave markers is the estimable Percy C. Rushen who published this guide in 1910 when he noticed that memorials were disappearing at a worrying rate due to pollution and redevelopment …

So when I came across the last two stones in this graveyard with difficult to read inscriptions I did what I normally do which is to consult Percy’s book in order to see what the full dedication was.

There was, however, a snag. Neither headstone is recorded in Percy’s list for St Ann Blackfriars. Let’s look at them one by one. This is the stone for Thomas Wright …

Fortunately, the book lists people in alphabetical order and, although there isn’t a Wright recorded at St Ann’s, there is one recorded at St Peter, Paul’s Wharf. It’s definitely the same one and reads as follows :

THOMAS WRIGHT, died 29 May 1845, father of the late Mrs Mary Ann Burnet.

The inscription of another stone recorded in the same churchyard reads …

CAROLINE, wife of JAMES BURNET , died 26 July 1830, aged 36.

MARY ANN, his second wife, died 12 April1840, aged 36.

JAMES BURNET, above, died … 1842, aged …3

St Peter, Paul’s Wharf, was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666 and not rebuilt but obviously its churchyard was still there in 1910. And it was still there in the 1950s as this map shows. I have indicated it in the bottom right hand corner with the other pencil showing the location of Church Entry and St Ann’s burial ground …

This is the present day site of Thomas Wright’s original burial place, now Peter’s Hill and the approach to the Millennium Bridge …

The stone must have been moved some time in the mid-20th century, but the question is, was Thomas moved as well? Have his bones finally come to rest in Church Entry? I have been unable to find out.

This is the headstone alongside Thomas’s …

It reads as follows …

In Memory of MARY ROBERTS wife of David Roberts who died the 14th February 1787 aged 34 years. Also two of their children who died in their infancy … the aforesaid DAVID ROBERTS who died the 25th May 1802, aged 52 years.

The mystery surrounding this stone was that, although there are quite a few people called Roberts recorded in Percy’s memorial list, none of them are called Mary or David. So, assuming, the book is complete (and Percy was obviously very fastidious) I wondered where this marker came from.

As a result of the blog, I was contacted by Leah Earl who had been researching old parish records. She discovered that the burials of David and Mary Roberts are recorded in the burial registers for St Peter, Paul’s Wharf, so the grave marker ought to have been there when Percy was transcribing. Since Percy was so careful I can only imagine that he missed this stone either because it had fallen on its face or it had been hidden behind some stones that had been stacked up.

Here are the two pages from the records.

David Roberts is fourth from the bottom on this page …

In this page you can see the tragic year of 1787 unfolding …

The record states that Mary, David’s wife, was buried on the 18th February and her newborn son, John, ten days later. Another child, Sophia, is buried three months after her mother on 30th May. These must be the two children of theirs who ‘died in infancy’. You’ll see that Mary’s age is given as 34 on the gravestone but 35 in the written record.

There is also a record of an Ann Roberts who died aged four on 22nd November 1787 but presumably she is not the child of David and Mary since she’s not mentioned on the marker.

About one in three children born in 1800 did not make it to their fifth birthday and maternal deaths at birth have been estimated at about five per thousand (although that is probably on the low side). Just by way of comparison, in 2016 to 2018, among the 2.2 million women who gave birth in the UK, 547 died during or up to a year after pregnancy from causes associated with their pregnancy. The 1800 equivalent rate would have meant 11,000 deaths.

If you are interested to know more about maternal mortality, its history and causes, you’ll find this incredibly informative article in The Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. Most disturbing is how doctors who discovered the underlying cause of many deaths were disbelieved and vilified by the medical profession as a whole, thus allowing unnecessarily high mortality to continue for decades.

Now, on a more cheerful note, here are a few things that made me smile recently.

As I descended the stairs to Mansion House Station from Bow Lane I came across this little oasis of calm tucked away in a corner …

I have no idea what this is all about but it really cheered me up – so nice that it hasn’t been vandalised.

A couple of cars caught my eye …

Lord knows what this was doing parked outside the Linklaters law firm. Maybe the partners were going to a wedding.

And surely this car belongs to an old – school yuppie …

I wouldn’t argue with the sentiment above this door …

And finally, the City is being populated with some cheery new benches. These are in Aldermanbury …

Incidentally, the tree in the background is Cercis siliquastrum. It is also known as the ‘Judas tree’. This comes from the legend that Judas Iscariot, full of shame after his betrayal of Jesus, hanged himself from one of its branches.

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