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Occasional items in blank verse.





Hurvin Anderson at Tate Britain14 weeks agoBirmingham artist Hurvin Anderson introduces himself...
Tracey Emin22 weeks agoReview of Tracey Emin exhibition A Second Life at Tate Modern 2026
Caravaggio25 weeks agoReview of Caravaggio's painting Salome with the Head of John the Baptist at the National Gallery...
Gwen John 25 weeks agoReview of Gwen John exhibition Strange Beauties at the National Gallery of Wales in February 2026.
Wright of Derby26 weeks agoI'm Joseph Wright of Derby permanently at Tate Britain and temporarily in From the Shadow at the National Gallery in 2026
Charles the First29 weeks agoA walk from Charles I's portrait in the National Gallery to his bust on St Margaret's Church Westminster
Thomas Thynne of Longleat - Barbarously Murdered31 weeks agoverse on Thynne's tomb in Westminster Abbey
Turner's Sketchbooks32 weeks agoShort article on the delightful small drawings JMW Turner made on his travels
Ronald Moody34 weeks ago
Fenner Brockway, MP and Conscientious Objector40 weeks ago
Theatre Picasso 202543 weeks agoExhibition at Tate Modern of Picasso's theatrical works both as contributions to the stage and as theatre in themselves
Rachel Jones Gated Canyons 45 weeks agoA visit to Dulwich Picture Gallery October 2025 to view an exhibition of an artist's teeth
Leonardo Michelangelo and Raphael85 weeks agoVisit to the exhibition of the three masters of the High Renaissance at the Royal Academy, Jnuary 2025
David Hockney LA Paintings 85 weeks ago
The Darkward Trail208 weeks agoA few observations about The Darkward Trail by Nicole Eisenman which is one of the artworks on my Tate Modern Highlights Tour...
The LSHTM212 weeks agoDescription of what the students at UCL calls the Big White Building or the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine Keppel Street and Gower ...
Change and The Queen214 weeks agoReview of the Platinum Jubilee exhibition at St Paul's Cathedral
Brenda Jones Tribute 219 weeks agoA tribute by Rick Jones to his mother delivered at the funeral of the latter on Thursday 9 June 2022.
The Friday Club220 weeks agoAn account of the members of the Friday Club or the Sireniacal Gentlemen who met on the first Friday of the month at the Mermaid Tavern, Friday St ...
Charles Bernard Mortlock224 weeks agoThe vicar of St Vedast-alias-Foster was also President of the Critics Circle in 1947
Maria Reiche and the Nazca Lines 232 weeks agoOn a visit to Peru, I visit the scientist who spent her life uncovering and charting the ancient Nazca Lines carved into the desert floor....
Parliament Square249 weeks agoDescription of Parliament Square a thousand years ago in iambic pentameneter for a history app
Percy Pott251 weeks agoThe church of St Mary Aldermary has a memorial to the Dr Percy Pott
The Guild Lecture253 weeks agoI host the Guild lecture and introduce the speaker Mr London
Magnus Martyr253 weeks agoThe story of Magnus Martyr, last stop on the TS Eliot The Waste Land Centenary Tour.
The work of Andre Fougeron255 weeks agoThe French communist painter Andre Fougeron painted figuratively throughout his life and accused the abstract painters of escapism
St George's AGM255 weeks agoIt's the Annual General Meeting of St George's German Lutheran Church in Whitechapel, East London. As Events Organiser, this is my report...
Joseph Beuys Centenary256 weeks agoThe centenary of the German artist and father of environmentalism is celebrated prominently at Tate Modern
Rodin at the Tate260 weeks agoBrief reflection on the Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) exhibition at Tate Modern, August 2021.
St Antholin Leaves the City262 weeks agoThe number of churches in the City of London has reduced over time. Some disappear, others move elsewhere...
And Andriessen Set Plato to Music264 weeks agothe Dutch minimalist composer Louis Andriessen has died. His masterpiece was De Staat, a setting of Plato's The Republic
The Royal Fusiliers265 weeks agoThe Royal Fusiliers have had their HQ at the Tower of London since 1685
The Waste Land Centenary 266 weeks agoThe background to the poem....
The Iron Lady Tells a Few Jokes267 weeks agoStop 3 on the Iron Lady Tour through Chelsea stops at Wellington Square, SW3....
The Peasants' Revolt 270 weeks agoIt is mid June 1381. Farm labourers in Essex and Kent are violently demonstrating against the shilling poll tax.....
The Origins of Football271 weeks agoButchers once would pump air into a bladder and the inflated organ became the sign of a butcher's shop
William Shakespeare plays Cupid271 weeks agoShakespeare and John Harvard's mother were friends from Stratford. The question is, did he introduce her to his Southwark butcher whom she married?
Mary Arden Wore the Tights272 weeks agoWilliam Shakespeare's mother called the shots where the family history was concerned...
The Nature of Poetry274 weeks agoRJ has been asked to give a talk on TS Eliot and Philip Larkin and their relationship with London at the end of June....
How Big Ben Got His Name 274 weeks agoThe stories behind the naming of the world's most famous bell
Nell Gwyn in Drury Lane275 weeks agoDrury Lane is an ancient highway that once connected directly with Fleet Street
Dowland and the Lute276 weeks agoan excerpt from A Short History of English Music
The Villages of East Anglia 276 weeks agoShakespeare's clown Will Kemp continues his progress across Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk towards Norwich.
Arrest on the A134276 weeks agoIn a modern re-enacment of the Nine Daies VVonder, Will Kemp, Shakespeare's clown, is apprehended on a trunk road in East Anglia
Marlowe The Atheism Lecture277 weeks agoAn extract from Shakespeare and the Marlowe Conspiracy delivered on Monday 26 April 2021
The Birth of Piazzolla277 weeks agoThe Argentinian new tango composer Astor Piazzolla was born a hundred years ago.
Our Guest Speaker Tonight278 weeks agoThe April St George's Talk on the Lord Mayoralty of London was given by Mr Julian Romain a City guide of longstanding.
Elizabeth Newcomen278 weeks agodescription of teh plaque in Southwark Cathedral
The Beginning of Anatomy279 weeks agoHippocrates 400BC and Galen 200AD and how they approached cutting up flesh
The Yeomen Warders 281 weeks agoThe Yeomen Warders are the Beefeaters at the Tower of London
Young Vic 281 weeks agoTheatre for youth and theatre in the round were new ideas to London in the 1970s and they combined in the Young Vic to create a potent entertainment
Young's & Co The Brewer281 weeks agoYoung's Beer remains the tipple of most South Londoners despite the removal of the brewery...
The Y.M.C.A.281 weeks agoThe Y.M.C.A. was founded by Sir George Williams who was born 200 years ago...
York House Watergate282 weeks agoThe York Watergate by Embankment tube was built in 1626 when the sound of the lute built of yew wood was in the air...
The Totteridge Yew282 weeks agoGuide London (it's a website) asked me to commentate on six things beginning with Y in the capital. Here's the first - the 2000-year-old Yew Tree ...
Statues of Welsh Women283 weeks agoAfter years of neglect, recognition is finally being paid to five Welsh women
Lousy Acoustic - Great Music!283 weeks agoA description of the Kensington O as part of my London Concert Halls broadcast for the Association of Professional Tourist Guides (APTG)
A Fellow Guide's Cotswold Tour284 weeks agoSean Callery gave a talk on 'Offbeat Cotswold' talk which is here summarised
First Artificial Insemination285 weeks agoThe Scottish anatomist John Hunter achieved the first artificial insemination in 1790. His success was recorded in the parliamentary record, Hansa ...
The Secret of Life285 weeks agoan extract from the virtual medical tour All Around the University - Firsts and Inventions in the History of Medicine
In Willesden Churchyard285 weeks agoThis is an extract from a virtual tour conducted on St David's Day 2021.
Mrs Thatcher's Pantry286 weeks agoMargaret Thatcher shows the contents of her larder to the press.
The Birth of Joonas Kokkonen286 weeks agoThe arctic beauty of a Finnish centenarian's music reveals itself
Frank Pattison Speaks287 weeks agoMy old German teacher gives a lecture in the series of St George's Talks of which I am host.
The Death of Stravinsky288 weeks agoThe Russian composer Igor Stravinsky died fifty years ago...
Carbon Copy288 weeks agoThe London School of Economics (LSE) hosts a symposium on the green economy
Did Maggie Thatcher Serve?290 weeks agoIt's said that the former PM worked as a waitress. Not true.
The Death of James Paisible290 weeks agoThe French flautist Jacques Paisible (1656-1721) died in London 300 years ago. He is one of several musicians whose centenaries are celebrated thi ...
Monopoly and the Single Tax Movement290 weeks agoMonopoly's inventor, Lizzie Magie, was an advocate for the Single Tax Movement despite her tendency to hit you with both Income Tax AND Super Tax ...
Burns Night290 weeks agoThe 25th January is the anniversary of the birth of Scottish poet Robert Burns in 1759.
A walk to Blythe Hill292 weeks agoThere's always something new to discover in London
Virtual Quack Tour Debut293 weeks agoNew tour begins following the Quack Doctor Lionel Lockyer (1600-1672) as he makes his rounds delivering his celebrated Sunlight Pill to addresses ...
The Churchill Conference307 weeks ago"Who's in charge of the clattering train" is a poem which Churchill knew well enough to quote from. He grabbed the wheel and took charge when the ...
Centenary of the Imperial War Museum in London336 weeks agoThe year 2020 marks the centenary of London’s Imperial War Museum, a site exploring the history of conflict from the First World War through the ...