Image: Matt Brown A walk along a disused railway in north London. It was never on the tube map, but between 1890 and 1952 you could catch a train from Harrow & Wealdstone to Stanmore. The track was taken up in the 1960s, and now makes a semi-pleasant walk between the two centres. Let's get our bearings with a map: Our route is shown in red. The Jubilee line to Stanmore is shown in purple, as it was formerly part of the Metropolitan line. Image: Public domain, created by Cnbrb Potted history The Stanmore Branch line was opened in 1890 by entrepreneur Frederick Gordon. He'd recently bou ..read more

Image: Historic England This distinctive building in Chiswick is back to its full glory. It's a remarkable story. The Sanderson Wallpaper firm moved into this unique Chiswick factory in 1902, employing over 1,000 local staff. They moved on after a fire in 1928 but now, almost 100 years later, they're back. Voysey House, a landmark beside Chiswick High Street, was concocted by arts-and-crafts designer CFA Voysey, more noted for his domestic architecture. The Chiswick factory is his only building of this type, and quite unlike anything else in London. Well, it would be wrong NOT to admire it ..read more

The Evolution Garden tells the story of more than 2.7 billion years of Earth's history through an immersive timeline of plants, geology and representations of reptiles, birds and mammals. © The Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London If, like us, you were saddened by the permanent closure of the Natural History Museum's beloved ice rink — and indeed the retirement of Dippy — then here's the gargantuan silver lining: a five-acre 'dinosaur garden' is opening this July. The Natural History Museum has increased the pond area by 60%. © The Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London ..read more

© Ned Dyke-Coomes That's the way to do it! Covent Garden's May Fayre & Puppet Festival is back for 2024. The free, family-friendly event celebrates the anniversary of the first recorded sighting of Mr Punch, an early version of today's Punch & Judy shows. It was diarist Samuel Pepys who recalls seeing "an Italian puppet play — a great resort for gallants within the rayles of Covent Garden" in May 1662. Pepys' puppet sighting is recorded by a plaque on the wall of St Paul's Church, unveiled in 1962. This led to the first Covent Garden May Fayre and Puppet Festival being held in 1976 ..read more

Transport author Andrew Martin writes about his experiences as a teen northerner in the 1970s riding the London Underground. You can read much more of this sort of thing on Andrew's Substack, Reading on Trains, all about trains and travel from a cultural and social-history point of view. "The guards were heavy booted, anti-social-looking men, usually pale — from spending too long underground, I supposed." Image: Mike Goldwater from this article I was a privileged youth, in the literal and limited sense that, as the son of a man quite high up in British Rail, I possessed a 'privilege pass' f ..read more

For more of all things London history, sign up for our new (free) newsletter and community: Londonist: Time Machine. Some of the first members of the public to use Tower Bridge are shown in the exhibition Previously unseen photos of Tower Bridge from its opening week in 1894 will go on show this summer. The new open-air exhibition — marking the landmark's 130th birthday — features photos kept by one of its original engineers, Edward Cruttell. They were discovered recently by Cruttell's descendants, and show the final few weeks of the bridge's construction, including the workers responsible ..read more

For more of all things London history, sign up for our new (free) newsletter and community: Londonist: Time Machine. Every Londoner does this at least once... Do you remember the first time? Your first ride on the Docklands Light Railway (DLR)? For many, it's a magical experience, whizzing along on elevated lines through the East End and former docklands, marvelling at the lack of driver — perhaps even pretending to be the driver.   But where did it all come from? How has it developed over the years? What were the names of the first two dogs to ride the DLR? And how on earth was t ..read more

If you like maps and history, then you'll love Londonist: Time Machine, our weekly newsletter about the city's past. The tourist attraction was bombed in July 1974. Image: Neil Howard via creative commons 50 years ago, the Tower of London was rocked by a deadly bomb. At 2.30pm on 17 July 1974, the Tower's Mortar Room — a basement in the White Tower crammed with displays of historical weaponry — was ripped through by a modern explosive. With chilling irony, the bomb had been hidden under a cannon. The room was full of tourists from England, America and across Europe, and 41 were injured — 10 ..read more

Blenheim Palace hosts a three-day jousting tournament. Image: Blenheim Palace Forsooth! Gadzooks! And while we're at it... NI! Each summer, Blenheim Palace winds the clock way back to a time of brave knights, noble steeds, and all sorts of other shenanigans that bring to mind King Arthur, round tables, and quite possibly Monty Python — courtesy of its annual Jousting Tournament. Taking place on the first May bank holiday — Saturday 4 May-Monday 6 May 2024 — the Jousting Tournament is a feast of sugarcoated ye olde English hijinks (think archery, falconry, jester workshops and actors in smoc ..read more

Abbey Mills pumping station. Image: Malcolm Batten Think you know Newham? A new book finds something fresh on every page. Where can you see a clock that doubles as a drinking fountain and trebles as a horse trough? Why does Beckton sport a bridge to nowhere? Why has east London got a plaque to Jimi Hendrix? All these questions and 1,000 other details are examined in new book Secret Newham, by Malcolm Batten. For an entity that didn't exist before 1965, Newham holds a lot of history. Batten's breezy guide captures some of the quirkier corners, from street furniture to abandoned factories to ..read more