Category: History

On Stage Coaches

In my terraced street there have been a few false starts. The pavements were taken up to lay cables for TV; roofs were adorned with giant white mushrooms for TV; a proposal to communally install solar panels did not gain traction; plastic caddies for bio-waste likewise did not get wide take-up.

Sir Walter

The most interesting of the Gilbey brothers is Walter. They were all good businessmen and philanthropic but Walter had a deeper hinterland. “In 1858, the year after his return from the Crimean War, Walter had married Ellen Parish, the fourth daughter of the landlord of the White Horse Inn at North Street, and soon after… Continue reading Sir Walter

From Gilbey to Guinness

W. A. Gilbey was founded in 1857 and was initially successful because wine imported from South Africa attracted less duty and the brothers passed on this advantage to their customers. That got them off the ground but almost immediately, in 1860, the rules changed.

Basilica of Saint-Denis

If you watch rugby you will have heard of the Stade de France in Saint-Denis. It was built for the 1998 football World Cup. I went to Saint-Denis, three stops north of Gard du Nord on the RER, on Monday morning to see an older building.

Gwendwr Gardens

This is a pre World War II map showing part of West Kensington, north of Talgarth Road and west of North End Road.

On the Beach

You don’t have to have read Howards End to know its epitaph: “Only connect”. Only one other book has a similarly well known inscription; On the Beach.

Furnivall Gardens

On the north bank of the river, south of the A4, aka The Great West Road, lies Furnivall Gardens. You may think of it as being between The Rutland Arms and The Dove.

Osip Mandelshtam

When emails were at the cutting edge of technology a friend sent his son, at boarding school, the well known mnemonic Willy, Willy, Harry, Stee.