Gentle Author News Today

Shows, a comedy night, and other things to do between Christmas and New Year.

A combination of reopened, relocated -- and entirely new -- boozers slated by 2027.

Plans to plonk a massive office block on top of the station’s glass roof are as dreadful as they sound, says the Gentle Author

Farewell old friend.

Sooo many maps of London to explore.

Letter: <strong>Josephine Eglin</strong> on the blog that has become her daily treat

Out of, erm, historical interest only.

BBC News Published For the first time since it opened for tours forty years ago, Dennis Severs 18th Century house in Spitalfields, east London, has been closed to the public but, behind the scenes, a small army has been working to renew the house for reopening to visitors this summer. From 1979 to 1999 it was lived in by Dennis Severs, who gradually recreated the rooms as a time capsule. The house reflects the life of an imaginary Huguenot family, who had lived there since it was built in 1724....

Drain-spotting: The people who keep their minds in the gutter By Bethan Bell image copyrightAmir Dotan Tour guides usually urge people to "look up!" when exploring a city, but a downwards glance can also offer portals into the unknown. Like bellybutton piercings of the streets, the gleam of these cast-iron discs are little glimpses of jewellery not usually seen. Manhole covers, coalhole covers and drain covers all offer access to an underground world that, if not exactly thrilling, is at leas...

The oldest tree in the East End is a black mulberry in Bethnal Green. Since 2017, it has also been the subject of furious dispute. The developers Crest Nicholson want to move it out of the way of a planned block of luxury flats, just 35 per cent of them ‘affordable’. After three years of campaigning, and an online petition garnering more than 16,000 signatures, local residents have secured it a temporary stay of execution (the campaigners argue that relocating the tree, as Crest Nicholson a...