32. The Spirit Of Christmas Christmas ghost stories told by a crackling fire are a rare occurrence in the modern age, so let me chill your spine with a few yarns relating to festive phantoms of the wintry city. The first haunting is said to occur on Christmas Day at the Cadogan Hotel, Sloane Street, and concerns the ghost of actress Lillie Langtry, once a mistress of Edward VII. The spook is not a......

This Week In London’s History Monday – 3rd December ????: Nothing of any interest has ever happened in London on this date. Sorry. Tuesday – 4th December 1882: The Royal Courts of Justice on The Strand are opened by Queen Victoria. Wednesday – 5th December 1905: Part of the roof of Charing Cross station collapses, killing six people. Thursday – 6th December 1983: Britian’s first heart and lung transplant operation takes place at Harefield......

Every now and then, a bit of London-centric news drifts around the Londonist newsroom (which doesn't exist but imagine a bunch of emails flying around in lieu of an actual office) and is not paid that much attention. However, there comes a time when something requires a closer look for what it is really saying, such as this report on a poll for the top ten London film locations. Commissioned by cinema advertising company......

London has as many hotel projects underway as the whole of Spain and five times as many as the second busiest city in Europe in terms of hotel development, Moscow. Surprising, innit? This is the opening message of the latest temporary exhibition at New London Architecture, that wonderful and free gallery on Store Street. By focusing on just one building type, Away From Home - New Hotels in London reminds us of the huge......

This Week In London’s History Monday – 10th September 1973: IRA bombs explode at King’s Cross and Euston mainline stations, injuring 13 people. Witnesses describe a teenager planting the first bomb by throwing it into the crowded ticket hall at King’s Cross. Tuesday – 11th September 1980: Armed robbers steal almost £1.5m worth of diamonds from a jewellery shop in Knightsbridge, west London. The haul includes a famous stone known as the Marlborough Diamond,......

This Week In London’s History Monday – 21st May 1853: The Aquatic Vivarium, the world’s first public aquarium, is opened in Regent’s Park. Tuesday – 22nd May 1897: The Blackwall Tunnel is officially opened by the Prince of Wales, becoming the longest underwater tunnel in the world (at the time). The original tunnel now forms the western (northbound) carriageway – the adjacent tunnel that houses the eastern (southbound) carriageway was opened in 1967. Wednesday......

Located on Westminster Bridge Road, The Feminist Library has existed in a state of constant emergency for a number of years now. Recent rent hikes have finally delivered a possible death blow, but the volunteers and members of the management committee are not going down without a fight: Despite the efforts of a number of dedicated volunteers, and a change in management, the library has not been able to get itself out of the......

Here's an alert from the Westminster Police Security Desk: This message is to give you and your business, colleagues and friends advanced warning of Intermittent but significant additional Helicopter activity from 0800- 1600hrs (weather permitting) between Tuesday 5/02/07 and Wednesday 6/02/07. This is due to the filming of a major new film. Filming will take place over The London Eye / Victoria Embankment SW1 / River Thames between Westminster Bridge & Hungerford Bridge. Some......

Here is the (belated) video we took from Westminster Bridge of the Airbus A380 dlying over London for the first time last Thursday. Apologies for the poor quality and rubbish camera-work, but this thing was HUGE, and surprisingly quiet for its size!......

Good news for Iain Sinclair. The Temple of Mithras is going home. First the back-story. Lost for centuries, the Roman temple was rediscovered in the 1950s, after the Luftwaffe gave excavations a head start. Subsequent poking around uncovered some of the most important archaeological finds in the city’s history. 1700 years of mithraic splendour, hidden right beneath the banker's noses, was suddenly revealed. So what did they do to this site of significant historical......

The former regeneration adviser to Ken Livingstone is up in court this week accused of siphoning off cash meant to promote sport, leisure and recreational activities in poorer areas. A commuter service from Cambridge to London has been 'named and shamed' as the most overcrowded in Britain. Guerilla gardeners are targetting neglected public areas in central London. Just last week Westminster Bridge had its traffic islands brightened up a bit. One of the runners in......

Today, of course, is the Routemaster’s swansong. Its passing will be mourned by all but the curmudgeonly. So as our big red friend prepared to go on one final mission, we gauged the mood of the public, the drivers and the ‘clippies’. Thanks to Silvia Diaz for most of what follows. As dawn broke over Streatham Bus garage, fans lined up to pay their last respects to Routemaster 159, due to take it’s last......

Several weeks ago, there were a few very brief reports in the media of how a ridiculously cold 'arctic winter' was on the way, and that it was very likely that we would all freeze to death. Of course, at the time we were enjoying a (now typically) mild September, so we just scoffed, ignored this news and adjusted the angle of our sun loungers. In October we were still strolling around town in......

Another pile of 1970's 'brutalism' looks set to tumble. Malbray Ltd. are planning to redevelop the groaning heap of concrete that sits atop the Westminster Bridge roundabout, to create a 913-bedroom, 15-floor hotel. The current six-storey monster was built in the early 1970s as an extension to the Greater London Council offices, but has sat unloved and empty for several years. (Except, of course, for the good guys in Ultraviolet, who used it as......