© 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

Today it's the Elizabeth Tower, but do you know it's original name? Clue: it's rubbish. Image: Matt Brown Change is inevitable (except from parking meters). Here's a look at the many famous London places that once went by other names. Areas, streets and buildings may be known for generations by one name, only to change overnight on the whim of an authority or owner. Streets have changed name in the wake of notorious murders, or to celebrate new heroes. Skyscrapers rebadge to suit the needs of new owners. Whole neighbourhoods — Hatcham, Agar Town, Garrat — can disappear from the map. Even Lo ..read more

If you like maps and history, then you'll love Londonist: Time Machine, our weekly newsletter about the city's past. Image courtesy of Historic England The green cab shelter in St John's Wood just got listed status, meaning all 13 surviving shelters are now protected. These shelters were built as a place of respite for Victorian cabbies in horse-drawn vehicles. 150 years later, the cabbies still turn up to London's green cab shelters, only now they're in electric and hybrid vehicles, juggling mobile hailing apps. The cab trade might have changed beyond recognition, but the green cab shelter ..read more

Just because they're iconic landmarks, doesn't mean they didn't have their detractors when they debuted. We've dug out some withering reviews on everything from Nelson's Column to the Walkie-Talkie. Nelson's Column aka a "wretched spindle". Image: public domain "A frightful staring effigy": The original King's Cross "A frightful staring effigy... executed in a style of grotesque vulgarity beyond anything I have caught a glimpse of in a waxwork or hairdresser's window." - Morning Post, 1835. More on this one here. "Wretched spindle": Nelson's Column "Nelson's Column is a sadly minikin affair ..read more