Monday 13 January 2020

Review : The Stories Behind London's Streets.



One of the goals I had set myself this year was to read more. I initially didn’t want to put down a target but eventually decided to try for at least one book per month. Two weeks after starting my first book, I have completed The Stories Behind London’s Streets by Peter Thurgood.  

I purchased this book a few years ago and have referenced it in previous blog posts about Secret London but had not previously read it from cover to cover.

As the title suggests, the book tells the stories behind some of London’s most famous streets, the buildings on the streets and the people who lived and worked there, including Charles Dickens and Samuel Johnson.

Having grown up in London and visited many of the streets mentioned, I found this book fascinating. Many of the names and the stories featured were familiar, but the details added, enriched what I already knew and made me want to visit these places again to see them with new eyes and understanding.

The first newspaper to set up business in Fleet Street was The Daily Courant which started in March 1702. It consisted of news articles copied and pasted from European publications with a few items of local news. In 1785 it decided to spice things up a bit by reporting the murder of a young man who had become involved in another argument with a man on Fleet Street. The young man died after the other man slit his throat from ear to ear, almost taking off his head in the process.

Murder was not uncommon at that time, but serial killings were unheard of. However, what was to start became the stuff that books, films and musicals were based on. Not long after that murder, a young apprentice of 14yrs old was found dead at the back of St. Dunstan’s Church, his throat had also been slashed. Three days later, a second victim was found, murdered in the same way and in the following two weeks, three more bodies were found, all had been murdered and their throats slashed.

Around the same time that these murders were occurring, a young man opened a shop at 186 Fleet Street next door to St. Dunstan’s Church. No sooner had the man moved into the street, than the murders stopped – or at least no further bodies were found.

On the other side of St. Dunstan’s church there was another shop, the owner was a woman in her thirties who was forever looking out of the windows in the hope of catching some passing trade. Business was not doing well and she feared she would have to close if things didn’t improve.

The young man was having similar problems as he wasn’t getting the customers he had expected. Six weeks later however, both businesses were thriving. It seems the two had met by chance and entered into a partnership of crime together.

Their crimes were discovered when people at St. Dunstan’s church started complaining about awful smells which seemed to be coming from under the floors. The churchwarden contacted a friend who was a Bow Street Runner and together they entered the catacombs to investigate the smell. They eventually discovered a passageway with a number of rooms coming from it. 

The rooms were piled high with bodies - some of which were just skeletons, others were in various states of decomposition, but many with slices of flesh removed. Leaving the rooms they went back up the passageway and discovered that another passageway lead to both the young man’s shop and the woman’s shop.

The gruesome pair was none other than Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street and Margery Lovett whose shop was doing a roaring trade in meat pies made from the flesh of Todd’s victims, both were arrested and Sweeney Todd was taken from Newgate Prison and hung from a portable scaffold in front of thousands of people. Mrs Lovett escaped the gallows by killed herself by poisoning.

This was perhaps one of the more chilling stories in the book but it was also filled with a lot of historical information around various buildings that were destroyed during the Great Fire of London or the Blitz. It mentions what remains of various buildings and streets and so, when you are next in London, be sure to look out for them.


Next book: Alchemy, The Surprising Power of Ideas That Don’t Make Sense by Rory Sutherland.

Wednesday 1 January 2020

The Power of One


Recently on BBC TV, they have been looking back over the last year at notable events in sport, politics, entertainment, the environment and common interest stories.

2019 featured Eilud Kipchoge becoming the first man to run a marathon in under 2hrs, General elections, Brexit and Climate activist Greta Thunberg. Then there were three men who appeared on BBC Breakfast and brought us to tears winning the hearts of many viewers: Harry Billinge, Tony Foulds and Terrence.

These people and events got me thinking about the thing they all had in common – the Power of One.

Harry Billinge, from St. Austell Cornwall was 18 when he landed on Gold Beach in June of 1944. In June 2019, aged 94, he returned to Normandy to mark the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings. Harry has now raised over £25,000 to put towards the cost of a national memorial to honour his fallen comrades. He moved many to tears, including the BBC presenter who interviewed him, by saying “Don’t thank me and don’t say I’m a hero, all the heroes are dead and I will never forget them as long as I live”. Harry has been awarded the Legion d’Honneur and an MBE in the New Years honours for his charitable work. 22,442 service personnel were killed on D-Day and during the battle of Normandy but this one man worked hard to ensure that they were not forgotten.


In February 1944, 8yr old Tony Foulds was playing in the park when a B-17 Flying Fortress, Mi Amigo, crashed and exploded in Endcliffe Park in Sheffield. Tony recalls how the aircraft had circled the field possibly trying to find a safe place to land. At one point the crew tried to wave the children out of the way, but the children merely waved back not understanding the severity of the situation. In an attempt to avoid the children, the pilot tried to land the other side of some trees but crashed and all of the crew died in the crash.
In 1969 a permanent memorial was set up in the park for the crew of the Mi Amigo and Tony immediately began looking after the area, tidying around it and planting flowers. He continues to do this even to this day, By chance, BBC breakfast presenter Dan Walker met Tony whilst he was out walking his dog and was so touched by Tony’s story that he shared it on Twitter. The post went viral and the presented headed up a campaign to help Tony get the flypast he wanted to commemorate the 75th anniversary.


One man spent his lifetime ensuring that the sacrifice of the ten US servicemen was not forgotten. Another man used his connections and media presence to head up the campaign. On 22nd February 2019, Tony got his flypast and Endcliffe Park was filled with thousands of people who came to pay tribute to the ten men.


Just before Christmas, Dan Walker used his presenting role and Social Media presence to raise awareness again – this time for a man named Terrence.  Terrence appeared on BBC Breakfast to discuss the plight of many elderly people who suffer from loneliness. Terrence himself had spent the last 20yrs alone on Christmas day and made himself a sandwich as his Christmas dinner. He told the presenter he didn’t even have a Christmas tree. Dan put out an appeal to help get Terrence a tree. The response was phenomenal as he not only got a tree but had Carol Singers come to his house and hundreds of people donated to AgeUK or signed up to volunteer with them, Terrence himself volunteers with AgeUK and from his experience ensures that he can help others but will also will never be alone at Christmas again.


Of course, people may say that someone in the media can achieve these things because of their position but Dan used his position for good and encouraged others to do the same. He showed how effective the power of one can be.

I am only one person, I do not have the social media following of Dan Walker, I am not a celebrity but I can still do something to help others and raise awareness. I can do something good each day and although it may not be life changing, it can make a difference. Harry Billinge at 94 proves that age doesn’t stop you from doing charity work. Whether it is cleaning a memorial or volunteering and befriending an elderly person, there is something all of us can do.

Have I done any good in the world today, have I helped anyone in need?
Have I cheered up the sad and made someone feel glad?
If not, I have failed indeed.
Has anyone’s burden been lighter today, because I was willing to share?
Have the sick and the weary been helped on their way?
When they needed my help was I there?

(Will. L. Thompson)


Let’s start today.