Blog
Blog Posts
![View of Canary Wharf from Horizon 22. Photo Credit: © Ursula Petula Barzey.](https://www.guidelondon.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/View-of-Canary-Wharf-from-Horizon-22-370x230.jpeg)
London’s Tallest Buildings: A Journey Through the City’s Iconic Skyline
London was built on clay so it was harder to build high than in New York, which stands on rock. For many years the tallest architects could construct a skyscraper was 5 – 600 feet. Then new technology allowed them to build higher and London’s tallest building is currently The Shard next to London Bridge, which is over 1000 feet tall. One Undershaft in The City was built to match The Shard in height and it too will have a viewing tower with an education centre operated by the recently renamed London Museum (formerly Museum of London).
Read more![Portrait of Madame Theresa Cornelys. Photo Credit: © Public Domain via Wikimedia Common.](https://www.guidelondon.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Portrait-of-Madame-Theresa-Cornelys-e1723485306230-370x230.jpg)
Theresa Cornelys and London’s First Night Club
Also known as Mme de Trenti or Mrs. Smith (1723-1797), Theresa Cornelys was an opera singer, visionary artist, courtesan and mistress of ceremonies who captivated wealthy English society for nearly twenty years. Her scandalous life, both private and public, was a popular topic among European aristocratic circles.
Read more![Jaguar E-Type. Photo Credit: © Edwin Lerner.](https://www.guidelondon.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Jaguar-E-Type-370x230.jpg)
British Luxury Cars: Rolls Royce, Bentley, Jaguar and Aston Martin
Great Britain may not have a booming car industry these days but it still owns many of the great names of world motoring. These include Rolls Royce, Bentley and Jaguar as well as Aston Martin, made famous as the car of the secret agent James Bond, another British icon.
Read more![Self portrait of Artemisia Gentileschi as Saint Catherine, c 1616 by Artemisia Gentileschi, National Gallery, London Public domain](https://www.guidelondon.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Self-portrait-of-Artemisia-Gentileschi-as-Saint-Catherine-e1722007622132-370x230.png)
Happy 200th Birthday to The National Gallery in London
The main impetus for the founding of The National Gallery was the purchase, by the British government, of thirty-eight paintings – including masterpieces by Rembrandt, Rubens and Titian – from the collection of John Julius Angerstein, a successful banker and marine insurance broker born in St Petersburg to German parents. When the gallery first opened to the public, in May 1824, it was housed in Angerstein’s former home at 100, Pall Mall.
Read more![View of the Van Gogh House London. Photo Credit: © Van Gogh House London.](https://www.guidelondon.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Van-Gogh-House-London-1-370x230.jpg)
From Humble Abode to Creative Hub: Van Gogh House London Reinvents Itself
Did you know that Vincent Van Gogh lived in London before he became an artist and that the house in which he lived is open to the public? Van Gogh’s House is a non-profit contemporary arts organisation based in the South London boarding house where the young Vincent lived in 1873-74.
Read more![The Great Court at the British Museum in London. Photo Credit: © Ursula Petula Barzey.](https://www.guidelondon.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Great-Court-at-the-British-Museum-in-London-1-370x230.jpeg)
Building a Future, Facing a Past: The British Museum’s Expansion Plans
The British Museum is one of the world’s great museums but has a very inappropriate name. Many of the treasures on display were acquired – sometimes by fair means, sometimes by foul – over the centuries when Britain was a great imperial power and most people thought little of the morality of taking treasures from countries that had been colonised as part of the British empire and displaying them in central London in a building designed by Sir Robert Smirke and his brother Sidney. Many of these countries now want their treasures back and are growing increasingly strident in demands for their return.
Read more![Entrance to 10 Downing Street, home of UK Prime Ministers. Photo Credit: © Sergeant Tom Robinson RLC via Wikimedia Commons.](https://www.guidelondon.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Entrance-to-10-Downing-Street-home-of-UK-Prime-Ministers-370x230.jpg)
Unveiling the Mysteries of UK General Elections
Unlike in the United States, where the Constitution was written down by the Founding Fathers nearly 250 years ago and is regarded as sacrosanct by many Americans, the British Constitution has never been formally inscribed but instead has evolved over centuries. The Supreme Court in Parliament Square can only decide if the government has acted within the law as it stands and cannot decide what that law should be. The Court does not have the power to overrule the politicians who sit in the Palace of Westminster opposite. Parliament always has the ultimate authority under the British system.
Read more![The Battle of Britain Memorial on Victoria Embankment in London. Photo Credit: © Ursula Petula Barzey.](https://www.guidelondon.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Battle-of-Britain-2-1-e1722183866665-370x230.jpeg)
Five Top Battle of Britain Sites to Visit in London
This summer marks 80 years since the Battle of Britain was fought in the skies over southern England. This was a fight for Britain’s survival against a Nazi Germany that had conquered much of western Europe in just a few short months. With the fall of France in June, Britain expected a German invasion, and one was indeed being planned under the codename Operation Sealion. However, for the invasion to be successful the Germans first needed to control the skies over Britain – they needed to destroy the Royal Air Force.
Read more![The National Gallery: Jan van Eyck - The Arnolfini Portrait. Photo Credit: © The National Gallery, London.](https://www.guidelondon.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/The-National-Gallery_Jan-van-Eyck_The-Arnolfini-Portrait-e1722004310152-370x230.jpg)
10 Things That May Surprise You About Works of Art at The National Gallery, London
In 1824 the House of Commons agreed to pay £57,000 for the art collection of the wealthy banker John Julius Angerstein. His 38 pictures became the core of a new national collection. Great encouragement came from another collector, Sir George Beaumont, who donated 16 paintings to the new gallery and in 1838 the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square finally opened its doors.
Read more![Classic Routemaster being used for Afternoon Tea Tour. Photo Credit: © Ursula Petula Barzey.](https://www.guidelondon.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Classic-Routemaster-being-used-for-Afternoon-Tea-Tour-370x230.jpeg)
The Classic Routemaster Double-Decker Bus: History & Fun Facts
For many visitors to London, one of the iconic sights of a trip to the capital is a traditional London red double-decker bus. Known as a Routemaster, these buses was designed in the late 1940s and manufactured until 1968 when production stopped, mainly because their open back doors – which were one of the attractions for many Londoners – made them unusable by those in a wheelchair. They were still used on many routes until the early twenty-first century and some can be seen occasionally on routes such as the Routemaster Heritage Route 15 which runs from Blackwell to Trafalgar Square.
Read more![Pen and ink drawing of Sir Winston Churchill by Paul Trevillion.](https://www.guidelondon.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Pen-and-ink-drawing-of-Sir-Winston-Churchill-by-Paul-Trevillion-e1715811453742-370x230.png)
Sir Winston Churchill: A Soldier, Statesman, and Symbol of Strength
Winston Churchill is undoubtedly Britain’s most revered politician. He was born in 1874 at Blenheim Palace as a member of a major aristocratic family and is buried in a modest grave nearby. His statue stands opposite the clock, which everybody refers to as Big Ben (actually the name of the bell behind the clock). Chartwell, his house in Kent, is is an important money earner for the National Trust, who welcome around a quarter of a million visitors there every year.
Read more![Two mothers with their young children, pushing prams along the Long Walk towards Windsor Castle in the distance. The Long Walk was commenced by Charles II from 1680-1685 by planting a double avenue of elm trees. The central carriage road was added by Queen Anne in 1710. It is a little less than three miles long. To the south of Windsor is The Great Park extending over some 14,000 acres of which 8,000 acres are forest. The public areas are predominantly woodland or open grassland.](https://www.guidelondon.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Windsor-Castle_Two-mothers-with-their-young-children-pushing-prams-along-the-Long-Walk-towards-Windsor-Castle-in-the-distance-370x230.jpg)
Day Trip To Windsor From London – Things To Do In Windsor
Which is the best place to visit outside London on a trip to the United Kingdom? Windsor is one of the most exciting towns to visit with its large royal park, attractive shops, cosy pubs, and tea rooms. It also has Windsor Castle, the oldest castle in the world still occupied by the family for whom it was built – the British royal family.
Read more