Shlepp along past the Wapping Project in E1 and you can't fail to notice that something is afoot. Yellow umbrellas hang from a tree, as if a gaggle of Mary Poppins had become ensnared in the branches. Nearby a column of Dan Flavin-like yellow fluorescents hang in the disused accumulator tower, a pool at the bottom reflecting them into infinity. On the building's roof, a shipping forecast intones as a yellow dinghy and a......

Thanks to a new grant, previously unseen areas of St Paul’s may be opened to the public. The £250,000 pot from the World Monument’s Fund, could see a new ‘exploration centre’ in the crypt, and access to the Trophy Room, containing Wren’s original model. But what else might we find when they open up more of St Paul’s? 1. God. 2. Thousands of tourists 3. A couple of Londoners 4. Lara Croft’s entombed remains......

Londonist got the big scoop of the week with what may be the first images of notorious street artist Banksy in action. They also got on a runaway train without an operator provoking a response from the transport authorities. Elsewhere, London's answer to Central Station is about to open for business, and Londonist got a sneak preview. Meanwhile, spooky goings-on beneath London Bridge, where a cache of skeletons provided an apt story for Hallowe'en.......

There has been talk for a while that The Drowsy Chaperone, the quirky best-book/best-score winner at this year's Tony, would soon make its way to the West End. Then, this week, the Internet was a-buzz with news that auditions for the homage to 1920s musicals were going on in London. But the Broadway hit's producers will still only talk of a "prospective" run and won't reveal the dates, the theatre, or the cast members... Not......

Preparations for 2012 are 'substantially' ahead of schedule reckons Tessa Jowell. London is the 'perfect place' to start the Tour de France says Ken. really? Because we would have thought France would have been top of that list. Bob Marley's heritage plaque was unveiled today, it's at 34 Ridgmount Gardens, Camden if you want to go visit. (We can guaranteee that the number of people cautioned for smoking marijuana in Camden will shoot up......

This day in London’s History 1749: Gurning impresario John Jacob Heidegger dies, aged 90. No, got to admit, we’d never heard of him either. But having read his story, we feel ashamed to have only just made his acquaintance. Heidegger came to London in 1708 from Switzerland as a ‘negotiator’. Through force of character, he worked his way up the social ladder and eventually became a favourite in the court of George II. During......

Cockneys, the stereotypical Londoners, are famed for their slang. Rhyming slang used to be commonplace within the sound of Bow bells, but it seems that young cockneys, are now reverting to more modern colloquialisms. They have gone from using ‘spritten English’ (text language etc.) to a new type of inner city slang. A study by Sue Fox, who has recently been looking at the use of traditional cock-er-nee slang in inner city London, has......

Breaking up is so very hard to do, especially in the romcom land of Notting Hill. This plaintive message was spotted high above street level on Pembridge Road. But who loved whom, what went wrong, and why did they feel the need to daub their rooftop with emotive graffiti? Our leading theory is Burt the chimney sweep, still holding out hopes that Mary Poppins will one day return. Or perhaps the declaration is aimed......

A 52-year-old, successful corporate lawyer killed herself at Jurys Hotel, South Kensington yesterday by leaping from a 100ft high window ledge. Bollywood director Mahesh Bhatt is to make a film "inspired in part by July's London bombings" called, unsurprisingly, Suicide Bomber. Kate Moss has been asked, ever so politely by Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Tarique Ghaffur, if she'd like to return to London and face the music. Meanwhile Pete Doherty has apparently 'stormed' into the......

Lambis Nikolau, the Greek IOC member who is said to have pressed the wrong button and handed London the 2012 Olympics, has said that the allegations are "unfounded". As of this morning the New Year tube strike is still on, but the RMT and London Underground will resume talks today to see if they can avoid it. And talking of strikes: staff at the ENO have overwhelmingly voted in favour of a strike over pay......

Yes, it's another of those 'People in London pay more for stuff than people who don't live in London' stories, that the press never seem to tire of. This time it's nannies who are sucking our wallets dry: the revelation being that families in the capital who employ a daytime nanny are paying an average of £27,000 a year. The survey, conducted on behalf of Nannytax ('Payroll plus for parent and nannies') and Nursery......

Did you see what we did there? You see, normally it's called Friday Film News, but for today we changed the 'Friday' to 'Festive', because it's all about the films to watch over Xmas on the telly, and we managed to keep the alliteration. Anyway... One note: all these films are on terrestial television. We're not going to do that thing the papers do where we make a big fuss out of one of......