Footprints of London

The statue that inspired us to think about sculptures that have changed location has itself now returned. Rob Smith takes another look. After nearly a two year absence Prince Albert returns to Holborn Circus, in a slightly less central location than before. Poor Albert was blamed for causing road traffic accidents and conservators blamed motorists…

Another of our series about sculpture that has moved places, inspired by the return of Prince Albert’s statue to Holborn Circus With William IV only being on the throne for seven years there seem to be fewer statues of him than other monarchs. There is a small statue of him in the entrance to the…

With the equestrian statue of Prince Albert returning to Holborn Circus – in a slightly different location to where it was before – the Footprints of London team have been thinking about other sculptures that have moved. In 2011 the Russian Space Agency (Roscosmos) presented the British Council with the statue of Gagarin to mark…

The Easter holidays are traditionally a time to get out in the garden, and this set the Footprints of London team thinking about our favourite London secret gardens. 1. Royal Observatory Gardens Neil Sinclair nominated The Royal Observatory Garden “It’s unseen and unknown to most of the millions of visitors to the famous Observatory and the…

  Stephen Benton looks at the soon to be demolished Leicester Square Theatre Sometime soon, we shall see the demolition of the block at the south west corner of Leicester Square to be replaced by a 360 room hotel with a two screen cinema tucked away in the basement. This will mean the destruction of…

Continuing our series inspired by Tate Britain’s Ruin Lust Exhibition. Chris Firmin and Jen Pedler  pick their favourite river crossing ruins. One of the most obvious ruins in London are the bridge piers of the dismantled Blackfriars Railway bridge built by Joseph Cubit in 1864. The seven ornate piers each with an “LCDR” shield (London, Chatham…

Footprints of London guides are helping out the charity The Long Well Walk when founder Liam Garcia reaches London on his epic walk from Sheffield to Cape Town. The walk will raise money that will be used on water projects in Sub Saharan Africa. Footprints of London Guides Jen Pedler, Jenni Bowley and Rob Smith…

Jill Finch reports on another City tradition – the John Stow Memorial Service   Footprints guides will be fully conversant with the 16th Century Survey of London compiled by John Stow, and well thumbed copies are probably on many bookshelves.   His descriptions and anecdotes are fascinating, as are the detailed account of the buildings,…

The Footprints of London team have been scratching their heads all week after receiving an interesting query from Team GB rower Alex Gregory MBE. Alex found this object on the Thames foreshore while out rowing and asked us if we had any idea what it was. After his gold medal winning performance at London 2012, the…

Continuing our series inspired by Tate Britain’s Ruin Lust exhibition. One of the Footprints guide’s favourites is the former church and now City garden St Dunstan in the East St Dunstan in the East is a real symbol of how something beautiful can triumph out of the damage caused by war. The church was largely…