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Lecture at The National Portrait Gallery
Gary Arber, Printer & Flying Ace It is my great honour to give an illustrated lecture of portraits from the pages of Spitalfields Life at the National Portrait Gallery on July 25th at 7pm....
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The Gentle Author Needs Your Help
With your kind assistance, I plan to publish a beautiful album of my favourite pictures from Spitalfields Life on October 17th. Already, David Pearson who designed my first book Spitalfields Life has...
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Reunion of The Old Girls of The Central Foundation School in Spital Sq
Click to enlarge When Beryl Happe of the Old Girls of the Central Foundation School (which was in Spital Sq from 1892 until 1975) contacted me to write about them, I asked if I could come to one of...
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At Wilton’s Music Hall
Wilton’s Music Hall by Marc Gooderham When The Gentle Author invited me to take over for a week my first thought – being daunted and flattered in equal measure – was to visit Wilton’s Music Hall in...
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At The Monument
If you lay The Monument on its side to the West, the flame hits the spot in Pudding Lane where the fire broke out in Mr Farriner’s bakery during the early hours of 2nd September, 1666. One of my...
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The Pointe Shoe Makers of Hackney
Contributing Photographer Patricia Niven and Novelist Sarah Winman visited the Freed of London factory in Well St to create these portraits of the Pointe Shoe Makers, an elite band of highly-skilled...
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Roger Pertwee, Manufacturing Stationer
Roger Pertwee with his envelope-making machine When Roger Pertwee joined his family firm of Baddeley Brothers, the City of London was full of printers – as it had been for centuries – producing...
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Barn The Spoon at Leila’s Cafe
Behold the mighty Barn the Spoon, a titan among Spoon Carvers “It was Leila’s idea,” confessed my friend Barn the Spoon, when I came upon him fitting this handsome willow spoon rack at Leila’s Cafe in...
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At Plashet Park Bowling Club
Photographer Colin O’Brien and I went over to visit the Plashet Park Bowling Club in hopes of witnessing some exciting action on the green and reporting back to you. But, with temperatures rising in...
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Andrew Coram’s Collection
Andrew Coram‘s Antique Shop at 86 Commercial St has long been my favourite window in London – it has all the mystery and romance that you might hope for in such a place. And recently, Andrew has put...
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Among The Cockneys & The Mockneys
“Barry Grantham & John Barnes, ‘Underneath the Arches’…” There are two floors at the Bethnal Green Working Men’s Social Club. Downstairs, where the original members who are long-term residents of...
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Cruikshank’s London Almanack, 1835
In 1835, George Cruikshank drew these illustrations of the notable seasons and festivals of the year in London for The Comic Almanack published by Charles Tilt of Fleet St. Produced from 1835 – 53,...
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At The 41st Swale Sailing Barge Match
Crossing the marshes beyond Faversham on Friday night, heading towards Oare Creek, my heart leapt in anticipation to see the mast of the Thames Sailing Barge Repertor outlined against the last fading...
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At The Caslon Letter Foundry
While researching the work of William Caslon, the first British type founder, whose Chiswick, Doric & Brunel typefaces, newly digitised by Paul Barnes, are being used by David Pearson in The Gentle...
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Cruikshank’s London Almanack, 1837
This set of engravings is the third in a series of calendars illustrating the seasons and festivals of the London year, drawn annually by George Cruikshank for The Comic Almanack published by Henry...
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Save The Rochelle Infants’ School
Back in February, Tower Hamlets Council Planning Committee voted to refuse alterations to the Rochelle Infants’ School that would erase the social history of this important building at the core of...
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Cruikshank’s London Almanack, 1838
This set of engravings is the fourth in a series of calendars illustrating the seasons and festivals of the London year, drawn annually by George Cruikshank for The Comic Almanack published by Henry...
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At Barts Pathology Museum
You enter a door at the hospital and over it are the words, ‘Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.’ Then the first thing you come upon as you climb the stairs is a vast stone...
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In Search of the Spitalfields Nippers
Portrait of Tommy Nail, Courtesy of The Religious Society of Friends “Let me introduce you to the Spitalfields Nippers of 1901-2 as photographed by Horace Warner. Although the origin of these pictures...
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Anna Carter, Carters Steam Fair
“It’s my baby” Carters Steam Fair graces Victoria Park this weekend and Contributing Photographer Colin O’Brien & I went along yesterday to meet Anna Carter, who started the fair with her husband...
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