J on February 11th, 2012

Pic by kjpickwick Outside a small house in Gough Square, just north of Fleet Street in London is a bronze statue of a proud and slightly fierce moggie. Why might this be? The house in question was inhabited by Samuel Johnson, compiler of the very first English dictionary, and it was here that he compiled [...]

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Thanks to Boris Johnson and TFL, we were treated to a free walk with London Walks as part of Walk4life yesterday. The walk we chose was Subterranean London, and we were told to meet at 10:30 at Embankment Station. We arrived at 10:15 to an enormous crowd, a fair proportion taking advantage of the free [...]

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J on January 18th, 2012

I was expecting the four mile Parkland Walk to be little known and tranquil. This wasn’t the case on a beautiful Sunday afternoon, unfortunately, though I’ll pretend to be magnanimous about it and say that it’s great to see it being well used by the citizens of North London. By cyclists especially… The walk runs [...]

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J on January 13th, 2012

10 of the best cultural events in London 2012, in Quirky Travel’s opinion, anyway

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J on November 21st, 2011

Much, much music from London has infiltrated the world’s charts over the years. Below, I’ve listed some of the songs that have a specific connection to the London underground. “Warwick Avenue” Formerly popular Welsh warbler Duffy first came across Warwick Avenue tube station near posh Little Venice as a nineteen year old, not long after [...]

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J on October 23rd, 2011

This one was taken very recently. It was part of the Frieze Art Fair Sculpture Park and witnessed on a beautifully sunny, mild autumnal day. It’s called “Icon” and was created by American artist and former playwright Will Ryman. Apparently Ryman has said about his sculpture that “I am taking this global symbol and its [...]

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J on October 15th, 2011

These names are lifted shamelessly from the book What’s in a Name?: Origins of Station Names on the London Underground by Cyril M Harris. Thanks Cyril. Barbican Named after the “barbicana” or Roman Tower that stood in the area. A latin word probably derived from the Persian language originally, it meant upper chamber. The Saxons [...]

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Nikita’s is a restaurant near Earl’s Court that bills itself as the “Best Russian Restaurant and Bar in London”. We went on a Saturday night after watching a play at the nearby Finborough Theatre (a light and airy wine bar and pub theatre – try the house white at £3.50 per glass – yummy.) The [...]

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J on September 11th, 2011

Here’s QT’s pick of the upcoming events in London 2011. V&A Postmodernism: Style and Subversion 1970 – 1990 This exhibition looks athe ideas behind and features of the movement known as postmodernism in art, design and architecture. Runs from 24th September 2011 to 15th January 2012. Private Eye: The First 50 Years Private Eye magazine [...]

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J on August 5th, 2011

Who was Charles Dickens? Wander through London and it won’t be long before you come across places that help piece together some detail about the author of David Copperfield and A Christmas Carol – places that featured in his fiction and in his real life. St Michael’s Alley Walk along Cornhill to the Church of [...]

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