The Hidden Statue of Ada Lovelace If you stand on Horseferry Road on the north-east corner of Dean Bradley Street (on the modern Millbank Quarter development, formerly Ergon House) and look up you'll spot an unexpected architectural oddity. A striking, semi-abstract statue of Ada Lovelace.She stands elegantly in a long gown in front of concertinaed, hole-punched cards, a visual nod to her legacy as the world's first computer programmer. Sculpted by Etienne and Mary Millner, based on a portrait of Lovelace by Margaret Sarah Carpenter, it is positioned high up on the building's roofline (seven floors above street level), it is easily missed by passersby unless they know exactly where to look. Unveiled on International Women's Day (8 March 2022), the statue was commissioned by the Berkeley Group.

Christmas Past: Gamages, Holborn, 1922. What a sad loss when this wonderful store closed. It had a toy collection second to none, where you could visit Santa. Every visitor can still remember the miniature railway trains running around the entire store.

The Anonymous Admiral: The front facade at Deptford Town Hall, New Cross Road, features four prominent carved figures standing in niches. While three represent real historical naval giants—Sir Francis Drake, Robert Blake, and Horatio Nelson—the fourth statue is completely anonymous. It simply depicts a generic, contemporary Edwardian admiral holding a sextant and binoculars, carved with the date 1905 to mark the building's completion.

The Halloween at the Tower of London event transforms the historic 900-year-old fortress into an atmospheric, spooky wonderland. Running daily from 24 October to 1 November 2026 between 10:30 and 16:00, this family-friendly experience is carefully designed to delight and thrill rather than terrify.

The Living Wall at The Rubens Hotel in London is a massive 350-square-metre vertical garden located on the hotel's exterior facade. Features roughly 10,000 herbaceous plants across more than 20 seasonal species—including buttercups, crocuses, strawberries, lavender, spring bulbs, and winter geraniums. Designed by Gary Grant of Green Roof Consultancy, the wall acts as a vertical rain garden and uses a smart drip irrigation system fed by stored rainwater. It acts as a natural thermal insulator (cutting winter heat loss and summer cooling needs), and supports urban wildlife like bees, butterflies, and nesting birds.

Oxford Street has officially become permanently traffic-free. I haven't been near there since its closure, so could drivers and pedestrians share their thoughts..? if you're not aware: On Sunday night, 25 October 2026, the final London buses and black cabs made their last journeys down the famous shopping thoroughfare before it was fully closed off to vehicles.

The Mysterious Window Stone Relic Embedded in the facade of the 1980s office building at 38–42 Southwark Bridge Road. Set against the ground floor is a grimy, weather-beaten stone memorial plaque and window pediment salvaged from the previous building on the site—the former headquarters of the United Friendly Insurance Company. The Inscription reads: "This window pediment was taken in 1979 from the former building on this site. It is retained in commemoration of RICHARD COURTNEY BALDING under whose Chairmanship this building was commissioned." Sardinian Pink Granite Pavement and building cladding around 42 Southwark Bridge Road. Geological surveys of London streets note the presence of rare 310-million-year-old Sardinian Pink Granite used in the hard landscaping and exterior finishes right outside the building.

Keeping in touch with nature. When I cut down a small tree in my garden I left part of it remaining and bought a small bird dish - filling with clean water every day. On a nice sunny day after the ivy and other plants have grown around it, the birds love it. This is recycling at its best!

The cast-iron lamppost near Albert Bridge features two climbing boys—one passing a burning torch to the other—wrapped around a shaft decorated with oak leaves, acorns, and overflowing cornucopias. It was sculpted by Timothy Butler in 1874. When the London Metropolitan Board of Works was choosing lighting for the new Thames Embankments, Butler's design was rejected for mass production because it was deemed too complex and expensive to replicate. The city chose the famous "Dolphin" (sturgeon) lamps instead, leaving only two of Butler's rare climbing boy lamps in existence—both on Chelsea Embankment (the other sits further west near Chelsea Old Church). The granite plinth features writing on its east face that marks the official opening of the Chelsea Embankment in May 1874. It credits the foundry, Coalbrookdale, and honors the key players behind London's revolutionary Victorian sewage system: Sir James Macnaghten Hogg (Chairman of the Metropolitan Board of Works) and Sir Joseph Bazalgette (the chief civil engineer).

Today, 36 Blythe Road is home to George's Cafe, a quintessential British greasy spoon. However, in 1900, this exact address served as the secret, international headquarters for the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn—a famous fin-de-siècle occult society whose members included WB Yeats, Bram Stoker, and Aleister Crowley. On April 19, 1900, the infamous "Battle of Blythe Road" took place here. Sent by the society's eccentric founder, Aleister Crowley arrived to seize control of the temple room. Crowley stormed the building wearing a kilt, a black Osiris mask, a tartan plaid wrap, and a large golden crucifix around his neck. He was brandishing a ceremonial dagger and casting curses as he climbed the stairs. Poet W.B. Yeats and other London members physically stood their ground at the top of the stairs, refusing Crowley entry. Instead of a magical duel, the dispute was ultimately settled when the landlords called the real-world London police to escort Crowley off the premises.

The former Dun Cow pub at 279 Old Kent Road, at the corner of Dunton Road in Bermondsey, has been operating as The Dun Cow Surgery since closing as a venue in 2004. The Old Kent Road side still has "The Dun Cow" at the top of the building, while the Dunton Road side is limited to "TH OW". Originally opened in 1856 as a grand Victorian gin palace featuring eleven drinking rooms. The building was reconstructed in the 1930s, which is the surviving structure seen today. Heyday, particularly the 1970s and 1980s. The venue closed permanently as a hospitality spot in 2004 and was later converted into an NHS general practice.

Boris the cat is commemorated with a small memorial plaque on the wall of 24 Anglers Lane in Kentish Town, bearing the simple inscription: "Boris the cat lived here, 1986–1996". Boris was a large, friendly, and fluffy black-and-white cat who became a familiar, well-loved neighborhood character along Anglers Lane during his decade living there. The memorial was put up by the two women who owned him after he passed away in 1996. Boris has since been featured in local London oddity guides and pet memorial roundups as a charming piece of neighborhood history.

The Disappearing Ginger Beer Bottles In the late 19th century, Dockhead and Shad Thames were flooded with the spice trade, which prompted a highly successful local soft drink enterprise called Western & Wolland (W&W) to set up a ginger beer factory on Grange Walk. The company traded successfully for 40 years snd established their main production facility on Grange Walk by 1865, before mysteriously vanishing without a single trace. Today, the only evidence they ever existed is a trail of porous stoneware bottles dug up by local mudlarks and construction crews, instantly identifiable by a unique logo showing horse heads trapped inside a horseshoe.

The historic London showroom of Jimmy James Ltd. (J. James Ltd.), the prominent pre-war and post-war Riley motor distributor, their showroom was located at 55–56 Pall Mall, London, SW1. Picture of the same address in 2024.

Leonard Cohen lived in Hampstead, London, at 19b Hampstead High Street (at the corner of Gayton Road) in late 1959 and early 1960. He stayed in a boarding house run by Stella and Jake Pullman, sleeping in the sitting room in exchange for chores like carrying up coal to light the morning fires. During this time, funded in part by a Canada Council writing grant, he worked on completing his first novel, The Favourite Game. In April 1960, after roughly three months in the boarding house, he left London for the Greek island of Hydra.