http://digilondon.com/ The London visitor resource. en-uk Copyright DigiLondon http://digilondon.com/ http://digilondon.com/ http://digilondon.com/location/the-cinema-museum

The Cinema Museum is a charitable organisation founded in 1986.

The content of The Cinema Museum ranges from items relating to film production to film exhibition and the experience of cinema going. It represents cinema's rich history from the earliest days to the present.

It represents cinema's rich history from the earliest days to the present. Regardless of the considerable constraints (space and limited financial resources), there has been a continuous stream of activities.

Until now, due to a lack of suitable space and sufficient funding, our huge collection has been open to the public by appointment only. The financial support to house and maintain this collection is provided solely by the Ronald Grant Archive, a film-related photo library used internationally and widely known for its extensive historical range.

This collection and a number of other items are on long term loan to the Cinema Museum for exhibition and research purposes.

The museum was recently told that they will soon have to vacate their present home as it is to be sold for development. This very upsetting news will create an enormous, expensive upheaval for them which may threaten the future of the museum.

tags: london, museum]]> Museums and libraries http://digilondon.com/location/the-cinema-museum#c Mon, 26 May 2008 07:39:00 -0500 http://digilondon.com/location/the-flea-pit

The FleaPit is a cafe-bar on Columbia Rd right next to the park. A place where art and socialising go hand in hand.

Its home is the ground floor of a small Victorian warehouse split over two spaces, The Lounge and The Pit.

Relax in the Lounge on the comfortable sofas and chairs from yesteryear whilst enjoying a drink and some food, before catching a creative event in The Pit.

The Flea Pit is at 49 Columbia Road, London E2 7RG

tags: london, art, cafe]]> Cafes and Restaurants http://digilondon.com/location/the-flea-pit#c Sat, 24 May 2008 06:12:00 -0500 http://digilondon.com/location/the-landseer---islington

The Landseer, in Landseer Road, Islington, organises the annual Landseer Music Festival.
They are a non profit group that organises a free music festival in the Landseer Gardens in Holloway every summer.

The festival consists of Live Music, DJ's and childrens entertainers.
In conjunction with the Landseer pub, there is always a great barbecue, and great drinks.

They are located at:
37 Landseer Road
N19 4JU

Nearest tubes : Archway or Holloway Road.

tags: london, pub, music]]> Pubs http://digilondon.com/location/the-landseer---islington#c Tue, 20 May 2008 15:47:00 -0500 http://digilondon.com/location/queen-s-club

The Queen's Club is a private sporting club in West Kensington, London. Founded in 1886, the Queen's Club was the world's first multipurpose sports complex. The club hosts the prestigious annual Queen's Club Championships grass court men's lawn tennis tournament.

With two courts it is also the national headquarters of real tennis, hosting the British Open every year.

The Queen's Club also has racquets courts and squash courts.

tags: london, sport, tennis, wimbledon]]> Sports http://digilondon.com/location/queen-s-club#c Fri, 16 May 2008 00:01:00 -0500 http://digilondon.com/location/camden-market

Camden Market is a major youth focused market or shopping district in Camden Town, and the largest shopping area of its type in London, England. It is a leading tourist attraction which attracts tens of thousands of people a day in the summer, a high proportion of them overseas visitors to the UK. It began in its present form in 1974 when the Camden Lock crafts market was formed, although the traditional local street market in Inverness Street, which has now been absorbed by Camden Market, existed before that.

It consists of six separate neighbouring markets:
Camden Lock Market - the original crafts focused market, established in 1974 - Mostly indoors.
Stables Market - the largest of the markets. Mainly clothes and furniture, plus many other bits and pieces.
Camden Canal Market - an outdoor market focusing on clothes.
Buck Street Market - another outdoor market focusing on clothes.
Electric Ballroom - an indoor market open on Saturdays and Sundays.
Inverness Street - a small traditional street market.

On 9 February 2008 a huge fire engulfed the market area centuring on the Camden Canal Market, to the east of Chalk Farm Road.







tags: london, market, photo]]> Shopping http://digilondon.com/location/camden-market#c Sat, 9 Feb 2008 03:15:00 -0600 http://digilondon.com/location/mill-hill-regional-war-room

This bunker was one of the four London group controls (regional war rooms). It covered the North Group (Barnet, Camden, City of London, Enfield, Haringey, Islington, Westminster).

It became disused in 1958 and remained so. It was to be used by Barnet as their emergency control but they never used it. Only one room contained comms equipment.

It is now an overgrown and derelict site. It is a good example of one of the one-level RWR's but is very difficult to access and the military police from the adjacent Army site are not hospitable!


tags: london, military]]> Military http://digilondon.com/location/mill-hill-regional-war-room#c Tue, 29 Jan 2008 12:13:05 -0600 http://digilondon.com/location/st-paul-s-studios

St Paul's Studios were designed by Frederick Wheeler in 1890 and have much in common with the hundreds of other domestic studios constructed towards the end of the 19th century.

James Gunter the developer of West Brompton fame financed this splendid terrace that was `specially designed to suit the requirements of bachelor artists, with accommodation for a housekeeper on the lower floor'. One of these studios was once the home of Dame Margot Fonteyn The property, which now requires a certain amount of updating, features two galleried studio rooms with slightly contrived, double-height Venetian windows.

Situated at 135-149 Talgarth Road, Hammersmith, W14 9DA, the huge cheval-glass studio windows with glazed vaults excite interest despite the unpromising site, sandwiched between the District Line and the Talgarth Road.

tags: london, building]]> Buildings http://digilondon.com/location/st-paul-s-studios#c Wed, 23 Jan 2008 08:23:19 -0600 http://digilondon.com/location/the-royal-marsden-hospital

The Royal Marsden was the first hospital in the world dedicated to the study and treatment of cancer. It was founded as the Free Cancer Hospital in 1851 by Dr William Marsden at 1, Cannon Row, Westminster. Marsden, deeply affected by the death of his wife Elizabeth Ann from cancer, resolved to classify tumours, research the causes and find new treatments.

The hospital at first consisted solely of a dispensary and the drugs prescribed were palliative and aimed at treating symptoms, but it allowed William Marsden the opportunity to study and research the disease.

The hospital quickly outgrew its original premises as it became apparent that some patients required inpatient care. It moved locations several times during the 1850s until its benefactors decided to find a permanent solution. Funds were raised to build a dedicated new building on Fulham Road, Chelsea and the hospital moved to its new site in 1862.

The hospital was granted its Royal Charter of Incorporation by King George V in 1910 and became known as The Cancer Hospital (Free). This was subsequently changed by King Edward VIII to include the word ‘Royal’ and in 1954 the hospital was renamed The Royal Marsden Hospital in recognition of the vision and commitment of its founder.

When the National Health Service was formed in 1948 the Royal Marsden became a post-graduate teaching hospital. In response to the need to expand to treat more patients and train more doctors, a second hospital in Sutton, Surrey was opened in 1962.

On Wednesday, January 2, 2008, a fire broke out in the top floor of the hospital, which caused the evacuation of all patients and staff from the unit. The entire roof of the hospital was burned through. Patients were dispersed to a local church and surrounding facilities. BBC News article Sky News Article

It is thought that the fire broke out on the fourth floor of the building, which is a laboratory area used for research. Suggestions were that the area affected is a relatively new wing, built in the 1980s.

tags: london, hospital]]> Hospital http://digilondon.com/location/the-royal-marsden-hospital#c Wed, 2 Jan 2008 09:56:28 -0600 http://digilondon.com/location/st-peter-s-barge

St Peter's Barge, London's only floating church, located in the heart of Canary Wharf.

A permanent full-time Church of England minister was appointed by the Trust in July 2004 and licensed by the area bishop to head up the staff team of four.

Some 70,000 people currently work in Canary Wharf, and a large part of this centre of business and finance lies in the parish of St Anne's Church. Several years ago St Anne's began to run lunchtime meetings in pubs and winebars to reach out to those working in the Wharf. The work developed with the support of St Helen's Bishopsgate, but further growth was hampered for lack of a permanent venue on site.

The vision to use a barge was realised with the formation of the St Peter's Canary Wharf Trust and the purchase of a Dutch freight barge in 2003. The barge was refitted in the Netherlands and brought across the North Sea under its own power in the summer of that year - a journey which was chronicled in a BBC documentary shown in the autumn. The barge now has a permanent mooring at the heart of Canary Wharf in West India Quay.

tags: london, church]]> Churches http://digilondon.com/location/st-peter-s-barge#c Sun, 16 Dec 2007 16:06:48 -0600 http://digilondon.com/location/the-museum-in-docklands

The Museum in Dockland’s mission is to inspire a passion for London by communicating London's history, archaeology and contemporary cultures to a wider world, reaching all of London’s communities through playing a role in the debate about London and facilitating and contributing to London-wide cultural and educational networks.

The Museum in Docklands is part of the Museum of London Group.

tags: london, museum]]> Museums and libraries http://digilondon.com/location/the-museum-in-docklands#c Sun, 16 Dec 2007 14:46:53 -0600 http://digilondon.com/location/london-transport-museum

The main museum is located in the Covent Garden in central London, in a large building built in 1872 and formerly used as part of the Covent Garden Flower Market. The museum has on display many examples of buses, trams and rail vehicles. It also has explanatory displays on many aspects of London Transport, including hands-on displays intended to appeal to the younger visitor.

The London Transport Museum reopened a few weeks ago after undergoing a £22.4 million refurbishment.

The central location of the main museum is a great advantage, but the museum possesses many exhibits, ranging in size from postcards to a complete 1938 tube train, that it cannot display there. Most of these exhibits are held at the museum depot in Acton, a large modern purpose-built, road and rail connected facility. Whilst this depot is not normally open, it does stage several open weekends each year, and themed guided tours at other times.

tags: london, museum]]> Museums and libraries http://digilondon.com/location/london-transport-museum#c Sat, 15 Dec 2007 23:45:00 -0600 http://digilondon.com/location/woolwich-stadium

This former cinder track was originally known as the Garrison Athletic Ground as it belonged to Woolwich Royal artillery. The 1924 WAAAs championships were held here.

It was at what is now waste land opposite the site of the former Queen Elizabeth Hospital which is undergoing redevelopment. There is no sign of the track itself but it appears to have been in an amphitheatre part of which is still visible although the side nearest Stadium Road was flattened in 1999 and turned into a car park. There was a large stand with a capacity of approximately 1260 on the straight furthest away from Stadium Road and the seating footings can still be seen today under the dense overgrowth. It is believed the ground stopped being used for anything in about 1990 although it is unclear when the track stopped being used as it is depicted as a rugby ground on the latest Collins map. The track was however in use until at least 1962 as it is in the AW list of tracks of that year.

tags: london, stadium]]> Parks and Open spaces http://digilondon.com/location/woolwich-stadium#c Thu, 29 Nov 2007 08:19:04 -0600 http://digilondon.com/location/16-st-alfege-passage

A warm welcome awaits you from Robert and Nicholas at the St Alfeges bed and breakfast, that welcomes gay and straight guests alike, to this unusually designed house, with comfortable, stylish furnishings.

The rooms are colour themed and offer single and double accommodation, with the blue room featuring en suite facilities. A full or continental breakfast is served each morning and special diets can be catered for.

Guests can relax in the comfortable sitting room and socialise with other visitors or simply unwind and read. There are a great selection of restaurants, pubs and bars nearby, catering to all tastes.

tags: london, hotel, building]]> Hotels http://digilondon.com/location/16-st-alfege-passage#c Sat, 3 Nov 2007 11:32:58 -0500 http://digilondon.com/location/empress-state-building

The Empress State Building is a skyscraper in Hammersmith and Fulham, London. It was built in 1961 and was 100 metres tall with 28 floors. It was renovated in 2003 by Wilkinson Eyre Architects which added 3 floors and 17.3 metres to its height. 'Orbit' is the name given to the private revolving bar on the top floor which offers panoramic views of London.

The building is named for the Empress Hall which formerly stood on the site, and in tribute to the Empire State Building.

The building is mainly occupied by staff from the Metropolitan Police Service. Some of the upper floors are occupied by staff from Transport for London.

tags: london, building]]> Buildings http://digilondon.com/location/empress-state-building#c Wed, 31 Oct 2007 08:17:08 -0500 http://digilondon.com/location/millwall-docks

The reversed-L plan of the Millwall Docks is a truncated version of the inverted-T plan projected in 1863 as a 350ft-wide 'canal'. The dimensions and particulars of the built section of docks had been settled by (Sir) John Fowler and William Wilson by July 1865 when (Sir) John Kelk and John Aird & Son began the excavation work.

There were extensive tramways and two pumping steam engines on the south side of the estate to drain the works. Excavation was relatively easy because the land was low, generally about 10ft below high water, and the spoil could be used on site to raise the level of the quays.

There were 2,000 to 3,000 labourers at work, reportedly well organized, and progress was rapid. Work on the concrete-and-brick dock walls had started by the beginning of 1866. In January 1867 the walls of the Outer Dock were coped, and the Inner Dock was well advanced. The docks were completed, with the quays of the Outer Dock levelled, in July 1867. The eastern end of the Outer Dock near East Ferry Road was an unwalled bank, as an extension eastwards remained a possibility.

tags: london, docks]]> Dock http://digilondon.com/location/millwall-docks#c Sat, 29 Sep 2007 05:47:15 -0500 http://digilondon.com/location/prospect-of-whitby

The Prospect of Whitby is a famous public house on the banks of the Thames at Wapping in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lays claim to being the site of the oldest riverside tavern, dating from around 1520. It was formerly known as the Devil’s Tavern. All that remains from the pub’s earliest period is the 400 year old stone floor.

In former times it was a meeting place for smugglers, cut-throats and footpads. Later, it became the hostelry of choice of Hanging Judge Jeffreys, the scourge of the Monmouth Rebellion. He lived nearby and a noose hangs by a window, commemorating his custom. He was chased by anti-Royalists into the nearby Town of Ramsgate, captured and taken to the Tower for his own safety. According to legend, criminals would be tied up to the posts at low tide and left there to drown when the tide came in. Execution Dock was actually by Wapping Old Stairs and generally used for pirates.

Views from the pub were sketched by both Turner and Whistler. Writers Charles Dickens and Samuel Pepys are known to have paused to sup here.

Following a fire in the early 19th century, the tavern was rebuilt and renamed The Prospect of Whitby, after a Tyne collier that used to berth next to the pub. The Prospect was listed Grade II in September 1973.

On the opposite side of the road (Wapping Wall) is the Wapping Hydraulic Power Station, now an arts centre and restaurant.

tags: london, pub]]> Pubs http://digilondon.com/location/prospect-of-whitby#c Sat, 29 Sep 2007 05:36:10 -0500 http://digilondon.com/location/royal-courts-of-justice

The Royal Courts of Justice, commonly called the Law Courts, is a building in London that houses the Court of Appeal and the High Court of Justice of England and Wales. Courts within the building are open to the public although there may be some restrictions depending upon the nature of the cases being held.

The building is a large grey stone edifice in the Victorian Gothic style and was designed by George Edmund Street, a solicitor turned architect, and built in the 1870s. The Royal Courts of Justice was opened by Queen Victoria in December 1882. It is on The Strand, in the City of Westminster, near the border with the City of London and the London Borough of Camden. It is surrounded by the four Inns of Court. The nearest tube stations are Chancery Lane and Temple.

Those who do not have legal representation may receive some assistance within the court building. The Citizens Advice Bureau has a small office in the main entrance hall where lawyers provide free advice. There is usually a queue for this service. There is also a Personal Support Unit where litigants in person can get emotional support and practical information about what happens in court. The main criminal court (Crown Court), housed separately, is the Central Criminal Court, popularly known as the Old Bailey.

tags: london, building]]> Buildings http://digilondon.com/location/royal-courts-of-justice#c Mon, 17 Sep 2007 13:47:26 -0500 http://digilondon.com/location/canada-house

Canada House is a building located in Trafalgar Square, London and was built between 1824 and 1827 to designs by Sir Robert Smirke, the architect of the British Museum. It was originally used by the Union Club and the Royal College of Physicians.

The High Commission to Canada in London is housed in Canada House having acquired the building in 1923. The building underwent restoration work in 1993, and was officially reopened by Queen Elizabeth II, as Queen of Canada, in 1996. To commemorate the re-opening, a detachment from the 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry came to London in 1998 mounted the Queen's Guard at Buckingham Palace.

Canada House is the home to the cultural and consular sections of the High Commission of Canada to the United Kingdom. It is very much a public building. It contains the High Commissioner's office, and hosts conferences, receptions, lectures, launches and "vernissages" where Canadians and Britons can meet, and has facilities for film, video and television screenings. The administrative and trade sections are in the High Commission of Canada on Grosvenor Square in London's Mayfair district.

The Canada House Gallery stages temporary exhibitions of historical and contemporary art and artefacts. There is also an information center, where visitors can sample Canada and Canadians via computer terminals, a reference library and reading room, and music-listening posts featuring the works of Canadian singers, songwriters and musicians.

tags: london, building]]> Buildings http://digilondon.com/location/canada-house#c Mon, 17 Sep 2007 13:43:55 -0500 http://digilondon.com/location/trinity-house

The Corporation of Trinity House is the official General Lighthouse Authority for England, Wales and other British territorial waters (with the exception of Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland).

It is responsible for the provision and maintenance of navigational aids such as lighthouses, lightvessels, buoys and maritime radio / satellite communication systems. Trinity House is also the official Deep Sea Pilotage Authority providing expert navigators for ships trading in Northern European waters.

Contrary to popular belief Trinity House is not (and never has been) part of HM Coastguard although it does work closely with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency

For many years, Trinity House depots were maintained in Harwich, Great Yarmouth, Penzance, Swansea, Cowes and on the Thames (closed some time ago). In December 2002 it was announced that the Great Yarmouth, Penzance and Cowes depots would close, leaving only Harwich and Swansea remaining, plus the two large tenders Patricia and Mermaid.

tags: london, building]]> Buildings http://digilondon.com/location/trinity-house#c Mon, 17 Sep 2007 13:38:36 -0500 http://digilondon.com/location/shaun-of-the-dead

Shaun of the Dead is a zombie-themed romantic comedy (or "rom zom com" as it dubs itself), zombie comedy released in 2004. It was written by Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright, directed by Edgar Wright, and stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. It was a critical and commercial success in both the United Kingdom and the United States.

The plot focuses on Shaun, an unmotivated young man who is attempting to get some kind of focus in his life as he reconciles with his ex-girlfriend and settles his various issues with his mother and stepfather. At the same time he has to cope with an apocalyptic uprising of zombies that is causing society to collapse.

tags: london, film]]> Film and TV locations http://digilondon.com/location/shaun-of-the-dead#c Mon, 17 Sep 2007 13:33:08 -0500