Épisodes

  • Ep 201 Hammersmith & Fulham: Imre Kiralfy Rescues the Olympics

    Ep 201 Hammersmith & Fulham: Imre Kiralfy Rescues the Olympics
    Feb 19 2025
    In which Alex tells us why a Hungarian dancer was instrumental in fixing the distance for the marathon. It's a journey that takes us all the way from Pest to Chicago and from Hammersmith, through the Court of Honour, via some more dodgy colonial model villages and out to Windsor. Theatrical and event impresario Imre Kiralfy created the area we now know as White City*, to host events and exhibitions. Including the Franco-British Exhibition of 1908. What else happened in 1908? Well Rome was due to host the Olympics. Plus Fiona met a Zoomer, Indoor swimming, bad signposting and a family success. *What colour do you think the buildings were painted? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    49 min
  • Ep 200: Celebrating 200 with a crazy quiz and a special guest

    Ep 200: Celebrating 200 with a crazy quiz and a special guest
    Feb 12 2025
    Get your pencils and paper ready to join in with us. Alex has prepared a quiz, Fiona has fun facts to share and special guest and friend of the pod Lee Ingleby is putting on a brave face for all of it. Which tube station is the opposite of Squander? What weighs the same as 200 ping pong balls? We're not just testing your London knowledge this week, we're testing your mathematics and spelling too. What links a rocking horse, a 14 ft boat and some breast implants? Settle in for a rollercoaster of things you never knew you needed to know*. Plus a plea for love from another friend of the pod and the world premiere of the Christopher Wren Alert. *You probably don't, and in some cases certainly shouldn't. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    55 min
  • Ep 199 Hackney: More Light, More Power, More Aerial Silks

    Ep 199 Hackney: More Light, More Power, More Aerial Silks
    Feb 5 2025
    This week it's the rose red empire of Hackney famous residents from the 1500s. We discover why Alex didn't watch Wolf Hall. She's a sensitive gal you know. And we go way back to 600bc, before returning, via the world's first coal powered electricity generating station, where? Really!? How Extraordinary! To the bright lights and power hungry pubs of Shoreditch in the late 1800s. Time for some civic minded Victorian engineering, to produce: More Light, More Power. The unassuming brick building on Coronet St hides a powerful past life, disguised now with the glitz, glamour and muscles of steel needed for aerial circus skills. Plus Crossness dates - 5th Apr, get in touch if you want to join us at the pumping station. Important Hat news, Rev and Amazing Grace, and at some point everyone lives near Krapy Rubsnif. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    57 min
  • Ep 198: Walking and talking - Refugee Tales with Anna Sayburn Lane

    Ep 198: Walking and talking - Refugee Tales with Anna Sayburn Lane
    Jan 29 2025
    Today we are ringing London, joined by special guest, author and walker, Anna Sayburn Lane. Refugee Tales is a modern recreation of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. A five day walk with stories along the way. Each evening there's entertainments (and snoring, especially from the men's dorm!) The walkers are a mix of interested supporters and people who have been through the process of arriving in this country as a refugee. Sharing a path, breaking bread, and chatting along the way. This year, for their 10th anniversary the main walk in July with be around part of the Capital Ring. Plus the profound effect a walk to Canterbury can have on your life, Christopher Marlowe, a fresh red room and and a hint of Something Rotten Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    51 min
  • Ep 197 Glorious Greenwich: a tale of two shipies

    Ep 197 Glorious Greenwich: a tale of two shipies
    Jan 22 2025
    Climb aboard and come away with us on the high seas. Take a trip to France on Henry Grace a Deau. The pride of Henry VIII's fleet. Or overtake her whilst laden with tea, wool or pianos, on board The Cutty Sark. How many woolly jumpers can you fit on the only extreme tea clipper left in the world? Henry's ship was built nearby, and maybe ended it's life nearby as well. A war ship that broke the rules, bedecked with guns in all directions. The Cutty Sark you can still visit in Greenwich. Climb her masts, peer inside her chests and squint at her figurehead. Nannie, what's that you're wearing? Alex tells us of a hard life well lived, and gracious lady who's enjoying her retirement*. Plus teaspoons and cheeseboards, news of Crossness and get your skates on if you want to see the Winter lights. *the ship, not Alex. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 h et 3 min
  • Ep 196 Hip hip hooray for National Hat Day!

    Ep 196 Hip hip hooray for National Hat Day!
    Jan 15 2025
    This week we are talking hats. What's Fiona's favourite London hat? Celebrating National Hat day, and giving you time to prepare for London Hat Week. We've got a bit of a beaver update to start us off, and sadly their ancestors make an appearance in one of London's notable hats - The Beaverskin or Muscovy Hat of the Swordbearer of the City of London. The hat pocket plays an important part in one of the solemn and important (or, bonkers, depending on your point of view) City ceremonies. We can't talk hats without visiting the hatters, and where better than Lock and Co. It would be quicker to list the stylish celebrities who haven't had a hat made there, than those that have. What do you get if you cross a homburg and a Bowler? and bonus points if you know who might be wearing one. And where oh where was London's most unlikely hat wearer. Plus mercury madness, Nelson's Olympic flame, and what do Chaplin and Churchill have in common? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    47 min
  • Ep 195 Enfield - Dedication. Norris McWhirter, small arms, llamas and a tank called Julian

    Ep 195 Enfield - Dedication. Norris McWhirter, small arms, llamas and a tank called Julian
    Jan 8 2025
    Ooh it's a mixed bag this week. A little bit of this, a little bit of that. Farming. Industry. Royal Enfield - which might not be from Enfield. What is an Enfield anyway? A heraldic beast with a bit of Fox, a touch of Eagle, maybe some wolf, that's what. And this week's main topic might be a wolf in sheep's clothing. He was a figure of fun in our house when I was growing up. Norris McWhirter - the man who checked the Guiness world records. Turns out there's a whole other story of his life I knew nothing about. If you wanna be the best, and stand out from the rest, oooh dedication's what you need. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    50 min
  • Ep 194 Merry Christmas live at the Tap

    Ep 194 Merry Christmas live at the Tap
    Dec 25 2024
    Well here it is, the second half of our live record evening. We set out to discover the most important/ best/ typically London/ Londitudinal building. Can the champions of Regent St sway the room, to win against The Barbican? Will rock, paper, scissors, finally settle the age old question, is Roman stuff more important than Greenwich? And, critically, is St Pancras railway station better than the Wanstead Tap? Joined once again by Leo Hollis, plus lovely listeners, Dan from the Tap and friend of the pod, Katie Wignall, Alex and I ask you to put on a silly hat, maybe have a glass of something to hand, or even one in both hands, just in case, and brace yourselves for the silliness ahead. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    59 min