Due to its strategic location on the River Thames London has been at the centre of British life since Roman times. Given its existence for over 2,000 years, there are bound to be numerous stories of intrigue and many secrets.
We look at some of these secrets, including:
- A statue older than Cleopatra's Needle
- A little bit of Texas in the centre of London
- Mrs Coade's secret
- The 'body railway‘
- The world's largest library devoted to women
- The site where the cause of cholera was discovered,
With each 'secret' we explore and learn a little bit more about the hidden world of our greatest city
Thursday 11th Oct 2018 at 19:45 (doors open 19:30) @ Bourne End Community Centre.
Tickets £5 (£4 for Community Ass'n members) on the door. £4 (£3 for members) in advance from the Community Centre Office or bar or book online here
centreTalks are a fund raising activity of Bourne End (Bucks) Community Association.
Here is a list from Mike of the venues discovered during the talk:
Secret London Venues
Sekhmet - Sothebys 34, 35 New Bond St.
Britain's smallest police station - Trafalgar Sq.
Pump with handle removed - Broadwick St. Soho
Last duel to the death in London - Pickering Place - off St. Jame's St. Westminster
Texan embassy - 3, St. James St. Westminster
First General Assembly meeting of the United Nations - Methodist Central Hall, Westminster
Mrs Coade's Lion - At the approach to Westminster Bridge
19th Century brick kiln - Walmer Rd. North Kensington
World's first public utility company - Great Peter St. Westminster
Sir Hiram Maxim's workshop - corner of Hatton Garden
Largest clock in London - Shell Mex House - The Strand
Underground Station with a river - Sloane Square
First bomb to be dropped on London - 31, Nevill Rd. Stoke Newington N16
Thames River Police HQ - Wapping High St.
The London Stone - 109/111 Cannon St. EC4
Remains of Old London Bridge - St. Magnus the Martyr church Lower Thames St.
Oldest house in City of London - 41, Cloth Fair
Jacobean timber framed house - Inner Temple Lane
Chelsea Physic Garden - 66, Royal Hospital Rd. SW3
Wellington's mounting stone - Waterloo Place
London's lighthouse - Trinity Buoy Wharf
Last remaining sewage lamp - at the back of the Savoy Hotel
Old St. Pancras churchyard - at the back of Kings Cross station
The ghost houses of London - Leinster Gardens Paddington
Statue to Britain's first female surgeon Louise Aldrich-Blake - Tavistock Square
Women's library - London School of Economics
Michelin House - 81, Fulham Rd. Chelsea
Entrance to the Necropolis Railway station - 121, Westminster Bridge Rd.
Bluecoats of London - Hatton Garden
Body snatcher watch house - Giltspur St. Holborn
Stretcher fences - Brixton Hill, Kennington Park Oval etc
London's newest park - Northala Fields Northolt.