"Undertakers are getting away with murder" say campaigners, metaphorically

The only certain things in life are death, taxes, and spiralling funeral costs. Campaigners in Teddington are outraged.

25 Oct 2011

Dead fish in London's river Lea caused by pollution after a storm

Artists impression of a fatberg on the 4th plinth

London home owners, private renters and social renters 1961-2011

Lilo Evans and Tristan Stocks in the Mikado

Chart showing how Londoners get to work across inner and outer London

Chart showing how Londoners get to work by mode, 2011 data

Chart showing how the way Londoners get to work is changing over time

Map of empty homes or second homes in London

London borough population changes 2011-2012

Map of red kite sightings in London, May 2014

Artists impression of the "Teardrop", as seen from Ridley Rd, Dalston

Poster against Chatsworth Rd market in London

Tim Cresswell's poetry collection Soil, published by Penned in the Margins

London Zoo imitates exact plot of Harry Potter - risks all our lives

First, Ohio gets overrun by escaped lions. Now London Zoo decides it’s a good idea to get a big snake. Not just any snake, a maneating Burmese python. And there’s more.

The snake arrives at the Reptile House almost exactly ten years after the famous scene from the first Harry Potter movie was filmed at the same location where Harry Potter accidentally releases a Burmese python from its enclosure.

So let’s get this straight: You’re unveiling a real maneating snake in the exact place where the exact same species of fictional maneating snake escaped almost exactly 10 years ago to the day, and doing so on the exact day 50 wild animals escaped to wreak havoc in America…I’m not one for superstitions, but take my advice people – stay away from Regent’s Park. Forever.

20 Oct 2011

Archaeological finds get chucked on a skip, and other secrets of the Museum of London

They are being discarded because, and this is a brutal thing to hear, they have very little archaeological merit. History ouch.

12 Oct 2011

The secret shame of London's fried chicken shops

A blog devoted entirely to South London fried chicken shops is here. What does this valuable social document tell us about the customs of the age?

29 Sep 2011

London agenda for Monday 15 August

1. Listen to a wireless production of the Hound of the Baskervilles but in a theatre [Flavorpill]

2. Watch Milos Forman launch the Czech new wave at Rich Mix [Don’t Panic]

3. Watch out for Harold Lloyd and other silent classics [Ian Visits]

4. Contribute a piece of your blackened, broken heart to the Museum of Broken Relationships [Time Out]

5. Relax in Archbishop’s Park [Tired of London]

15 Aug 2011

What would Chewbacca do?

Peter Mayhew says that Chewbacca would align with the Empire in riots. I think he’d grab a couple of Stormtroopers and sort it out, he tells the Mirror.

(H/T @norock )

12 Aug 2011

London agenda for Friday 12 August

1. Bask in the very best music, food, learning, literature and rejuvenation while in the lakes, forests and parkland of Cornbury. at Wilderness Festival [Run Riot]

2. Tear it up in XOYO at Drop The Lime with Bart B More + AC Slater [Flavorpill]

3. Watch an investigative look into the effects of Donald Trump’s proposed luxury golf resort being built on what conservationists call the “crown jewels” of Scotland’s natural wildlife at You’ve Been Trumped [Don’t Panic]

4. Wow, a rare screening of The London Nobody Knows [Ian Visits]

5. See Corin Sworn’s Endless Renovation [Tired of London]

12 Aug 2011