Back in Time West London Profile picture
“Memory is the diary we all carry about with us.”. Work with Words. If you like a tweet, please RT. Haberdashers Liveryman, Freeman
Jan 25, 2023 16 tweets 6 min read
You voted to hear more about Hammersmith’s King Street. So, did you know it isn’t in fact named after a king - but is named after John King, Bishop of London, who gave land to the poor of Fulham in 1620. ImageImage This is what King Street looked like on a map in 1839. It’s roughly 1 and a half miles long, and used to have several posting-houses, as it was the road to Windsor. These were houses or inns where horses were kept and could be rented or changed out. ImageImage
Dec 10, 2022 18 tweets 6 min read
UK Christmas cards used to feature oddly aggressive cats & dogs (a short 🧵) as well as … Sinister santas
Dec 3, 2022 23 tweets 8 min read
In the early 20th century, the Bavarian Enclave experienced a societal shift. Their loyal
Kätze-Mädchen, hired as young girls, were growing old. Many passed away, leading to a shortage of care-workers, lowering living standards as one-to-one care became one-to-three. Image Their old way of life was becoming unsustainable. They experimented with Katzenjungen but after close observation decided that boys were not capable of displaying the same level of feline devotion as their female counterparts. Image
Nov 20, 2022 18 tweets 6 min read
It is March 1898. A young reporter Edward Le Breton-Martin, with Pearson’s Magazine, goes out onto the streets of London with a photographer & writes an article about the way people hold their hands as they walk along. Here for your delectation is a thread on London hands. Image Edward first observes the hands of a labourer, with a rolling gait and a firm dogged fist - as if to say ‘just you keep out of my path’. Edward did and carried on with his hand quest (a thread) Image
Oct 29, 2022 11 tweets 5 min read
On March 10th 1914 at the National Gallery, a pale woman, early thirties, took out a small hatchet and attacked 'Venus' by Valasquez. Suffragette Mary Richardson said "I have tried to destroy the painting...as a protest against the government destroying Mrs Pankhurst.' May 23rd 1914, suffragette Annie Wheeler entered the Egyptian Room at The British Museum, took out a small axe to attack a glass mummy case. The museum announced women would only be admitted to the galleries by ticket with a 'satisfactory recommendation'. She was imprisoned.
Oct 12, 2022 11 tweets 7 min read
MPs at the 1922 committee meeting aren’t pulling their punches. “Funereal, horrendous” (1/4) ImageImageImageImage “It’s clear panic has set in.” ImageImageImageImage
Sep 17, 2022 8 tweets 3 min read
Queue-Anon. A thread about historical queues in London.
In February 1952, enduring icy winds, hundreds of thousands of people queued to pay homage at the lying-in-state of the Queen's father, King George V1. In the fourth week of the second world war, 1939, over 100,000 people had queued at the Passport Office in London to apply for a permit to leave the country.
Jan 14, 2022 38 tweets 11 min read
Portobello Road - share your memories here. I will share photographs in this thread. It’s a wonderful street. Milletts toy shop on the Portobello
Jan 14, 2022 6 tweets 2 min read
Can all of you amplify this story by Charlotte in Hampton. Please RT to reach London media. @DrAmirKhanGP please RT
Apr 4, 2021 17 tweets 12 min read
Happy Easter! Over a 100 years ago this is how you might have celebrated - sending a card featuring giant eggs and women. Across Europe this was a thing. With slight differences between countries. First off the much loved hatching woman (A thread) In Germany the hatching woman was normally less erotic and more upright - more like a serving hatch or kiosk. ‘Frohe Ostern! kann ich Ihnen helfen?’
Oct 18, 2020 6 tweets 3 min read
The perfect parade of shops in Harlesden, circa 1900. And how it is today. I’ve been thinking about what we’ve lost from our high streets, our local communities and why we often choose to shop online. Here’s a thread but I really want to hear what you all think and feel about it. ImageImage To breathe life back into local high streets, councils must place a higher value on how they look, how they invite us to walk, linger and spend money. Art critic Ruskin talked about the ‘bounding line’, the continuation of an edge that the eye follows on the entire structure. Image
Jul 31, 2019 4 tweets 2 min read
The extraordinary ornate structures in the White City exhibitions drew millions of people to visit in the early twentieth century. So how were they built? Read on... Image These White City attractions structures were made from white washed fibrous plaster. Specialist builders draped lengths of plaster-soaked cloth over wire, wood and metal frames. These pictures show that process in Shepherds Bush in 1908. ImageImage