First of three blog posts featuring Black women who have lived in London over the centuries.
Part one looks at Mary Fillis, a sixteenth century servant, and Dido Elizabeth Belle, an aristocrat in the eighteenth century.
Tag Archives: London
Memoirs of a Londoner: Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
Recounting the story of one Britain’s most famous composers of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Samuel Coleridge-Taylor was a Croydon local, who went on to study at the Royal College of Music, visited the White House, and conducted his pieces to huge audiences at the Royal Albert Hall.
5 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Bloomsbury
Amazing women, dystopian strongholds, and aristocratic estates – a few quirky facts with which to impressive your friends and family next time you’re in Bloomsbury.
The Bells of London Town
On this day (11th July) in 1859, Big Ben rang for the first time because (spoiler alert!) Big Ben is a bell not a tower. I used this anniversary moment to shine a light on some of London’s most exciting bells.
Memoirs of a Londoner: Olive Morris
It was only today that I learned of the existence of Olive Morris. A campaigner and activist, a radical Black feminist, an inspiring young woman, who fought for racial and social equality in South London in the 1960s and ’70s.
Today would have been her 68th birthday.
Thoughts On… Three Years Ago
I wasn’t planning to write anything today. It’s an emotional time for all of us in North Kensington. But I think it’s even more important to keep the conversation going.
I wrote a blog post six months after the fire and I’ve written another one now. What’s heart-breaking is to try and spot what’s changed.
Despite everything, we continue to stand together.
A Little Bit More Lockdown Art
This is Part Two of my jaunt through the Royal Academy, bringing you some beautiful art and its relation to the general lockdown experience.
The Lockdown through Painting
Some of the best pieces from the Royal Academy which, I think, sum up the Lockdown experience.
Many of us are stuck at home and all the galleries are closed, so I decided to bring the gallery to you!
Memoirs of a Blue Badge Guide
This is a very special blog post to me. In March, I qualified as a Blue Badge tour guide, and I am proud to be following in my Grandma’s footsteps. She has been a Blue Badge Guide since 1972! I decided to use all my extra lockdown time to interview her and hear some of her guiding stories.
When England went Bananas
On 10th April 1633, the earliest recorded bananas went on sale in England, in an apothecary on Snow Hill in London.
I’ve read more about bananas in the last 24 hours than I have in my entire life, but it was completely worth it – a bit of creative writing, a bit of fascinating history!
