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Stories, snapshots and sneak peeks from the streets in and around Bloomsbury.
Browsing All Posts filed under »Plaques«
The Kit Cat Club
January 20, 2012
Walking down Bedford Row in Bloomsbury, you might notice two rather inconspicuous stone markers outside 42 Bedford Row law chambers. One is inscribed “Little Whig” and the other ”Kitt Catt”. What are they and why are they here? The Kit Cat Club (sometimes spelled “Kit Kat” or “Kitt Catt”) was an 18th century gentlemen’s club consisting of aristocrats, […]
Plaque spotting: Henry Cavendish (1731 – 1810)
January 6, 2012
Henry Cavendish (1731 – 1810) died decades before William Whewell (1794 – 1866) coined the term “scientist” to describe those who investigated and classified the physical world, and was known in his time by the term natural philosopher instead. He was also known for being immensely wealthy, well-connected and rather eccentric. Even more importantly, Cavendish was a highly esteemed experimenter in […]
Plaque spotting: Paul Nash (1889 – 1946)
December 16, 2011
Paul Nash (1889 – 1946) was a prominent British artist, particularly well-known as an official war artist during WWI and WWII. His younger brother, John Nash (1893 – 1977), was also a noted artist and engraver. A blue plaque commemorates Paul Nash’s former residence in Bloomsbury, on the north-facing exterior of Queen Alexandra Mansions, Bidborough Street, […]
Plaque spotting: T. S. Eliot (1888 – 1965)
October 11, 2011
Thomas Stearns Eliot (1888 – 1965), better known as T. S. Eliot, was a highly acclaimed American-born poet and playwright who spent much of his life in England, becoming a British citizen in 1927. A brown plaque commemorating T. S. Eliot’s association with the publishing company Faber & Faber can be seen at 24 Russell Square […]
Plaque spotting: Sir Hans Sloane (1660 – 1753)
October 1, 2011
Irish-born Sir Hans Sloane (1660 – 1753) was a prolific collector, physician, botanist and administrator. But his most noteworthy claim to fame in the eyes of many, would be his invention of sweet drinking chocolate and its introduction to Europe. A plaque commemorating Sloane can be found at 4 Bloomsbury Place WC1, just moments from the front […]
Poets, monsters & vampyres – a Romantic walking tour
July 21, 2011
Shoppers on Marchmont Street in Bloomsbury may have noticed a blue plaque that appeared a little while ago at No. 87, to commemorate Percy Bysshe Shelley’s and Mary Shelley’s time in a house that once stood on the site. But what is perhaps less well known is that just a few streets beyond the northern and eastern boundaries […]
The Bloomsbury Group: art, literature, money, sex & suicide
March 28, 2011
The Bloomsbury Group was an informal, early 20th century salon of influential artists and intellectuals who lived in or regularly visited Bloomsbury and its surrounds. At different times, several of them occupied homes on Tavistock Square, and on the eastern side of leafy Gordon Square, below (see map at bottom of page). Leonard Woolf wrote in […]
Bury Place: philosophers, antiquities & good books galore
March 24, 2011
After tumbling out of the British Museum with your head full history, cap off your mind feast with a detour along Bury Place. This quiet corner of south-west Bloomsbury is home to several points of interest to stimulate the intellectual traveller. It’s All Greek, on the corner opposite the Museum, is a delight for window-shoppers or […]
London Bytes
- View of the week: Alien doppelgänger March 28, 2013 Belinda
- Noam Chomsky @ British Library March 27, 2013 Belinda
- View of the week: Lichtenstein @ Tate Modern March 12, 2013 Belinda
February 22, 2012
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