Monthly Archives: April 2014
Claude Monet sighed when he saw Queen Victoria’s funeral cortege pass by in 1901
Queen Victoria died on the 22nd of January 1901. She was buried on Saturday, the 2nd February. Amongst those who watched the funeral cortege was Claude Monet who according to Daniel Wildenstein in his book Monet: The Triumph of Impressionism, ‘watched the cortege pass by from the first-floor window of a house where ha had […]
Essexual Harassment in the aftermath of the London Marathon
On marathon day twenty-somethings from Essex migrate down to Narrow Street, to the Narrow Boat, to do some boozing. The women dress in delicate colours and cream high heals, the men in jeans and shirts, they often walk as if their knees had been smashed in, pronated legs. By the time the marathon has finished […]
The London housing market is a sellers’ market, and an estate agents market too!
It’s a sellers market is the favourite expression on the lips of estate agents at the moment. There is such a demand for housing that sellers can now arrange just one viewing day, during which they can expect a torrent of would be buyers, most of whom have been vetted by the estate agents, who […]
The Nationwide reports London house prices have increased by a fifth in one year, why? And what are the consequences?
House prices in London For the most part of the twenty-first century, London has experienced a growth in house prices, continuing a trend begun in the late 1980s. The most remarkable feature of the growth is that it continued through a period, 2007-2014, during which house prices in many parts of western Europe experienced a […]
The Glorious London Weather
There are difficult days where the stress of London life is just too much, trundling through the cold streets, the bitter rain, you feel your skin wrinkling, your soul clamming up, there’s a sense of desperation and depression, you notice loneliness and struggle inscribed on to the brow and physiognomy of old ladies with baskets […]
London’s Rainbow
London sits under a variegated sea of white cotton wool, which at its thickest bears a grey underbelly, and at its thinnest is punctured with hues of blue. In and out of this water vapour, needles pulling thread, come into and then out of view, emitting a drone, so common a noise that it is […]
How does a Londoner feel as she flies back into the city?
Excitement on a clear day Taking a flight into London Heathrow from an easterly destination on a reasonably clear day is a treat. You will find the plane sweeps over three quarters of the city, missing the northern reaches, but giving a view and experience, which in and of itself is worth the price of […]
Ravish London 