Monday Miscellanea

Dave Haste
By Dave Haste Last edited 203 months ago
Monday Miscellanea
St George slaying a rather small dragon

This Week In London’s History

  • Monday23rd April 1979: 33-year-old teacher Blair Peach dies from head injuries following outbreaks of fighting with police at an Anti-Nazi League demonstration against a National Front meeting in Southall, West London.
  • Tuesday24th April 1993: A massive IRA bomb explodes on Bishopsgate in the City of London, killing one person, injuring 44 more, and causing more than £350m damage to the area. Wednesday25th April 2002: Two teenage brothers are acquitted of the murder of 10-year-old schoolboy Damilola Taylor, in the first of three trials for the crime over four years at the Old Bailey. Thursday26th April 1999: Television presenter Jill Dando is fatally shot in the head on the doorstep of her home in Fulham, West London. Friday27th April 1840: Following its almost complete destruction by fire in 1834, work on rebuilding the Palace of Westminster starts with the laying of a foundation stone by the wife of the architect Sir Charles Barry.

    Random London Fact Of The Week

    A bit of tube geekery this week. Despite the fact that Hampstead is the deepest tube station below ground level (reaching 192 feet below the street), it is built on a hill and so not actually the absolute deepest station in London – an accolade that currently goes to Westminster underground station, whose Jubilee Line platforms reside 105 feet below sea level.

    (If you’re curious, Amersham is the highest London Underground station above sea level, at 482 feet.)

    London’s Weather This Week

    Well last week was a cracker, although we did predict that traditional April showers would hit before the end of the month. And it seems that the ‘proper’ forecasters agree with us – despite unseasonably strong sunshine in-between the clouds this week, it is likely to rain a bit as well. Fortunately it’s still going to be quite warm, regardless of the likelihood of some wetness.

    One Thing You Must Do In London This Week

    In case you hadn’t realised, today is St George’s Day. And to help Londoners celebrate England’s national day (on the date of the death of its patron saint), Ken has organised a couple of interesting events for us.

    First-up there’s a whole load of English stuff being shown on a big screen in Trafalgar Square. The programme runs from 12:30pm to 9pm and includes various BFI-selected ‘classic comedy clips’ and films, followed at 6:45pm by the Spamalot-cast-led ‘Coconut Orchestra world record attempt’, about which we’ve already been quite snooty thankyouverymuch. Fortunately this particular nonsense should only last about half an hour, and is due to be followed by some much more entertaining nonsense in the form of a screening of Monty Python’s Holy Grail.

    If all of that silliness is not quite your cup of Earl Grey, you might be more interested in some slightly more cultured entertainment at the Globe Theatre at Bankside at 8pm and 9pm this evening:

    The Globe will be projecting onto the theatre a series of silent film adaptations of Shakespeare’s works dating back to 1899. Films will be accompanied by live music from composer Laura Rossi and the Fourth Dimension string quartet. Each film showing lasts approximately 45 minutes.

    Full details of both these events can be found on the Mayor of London website.

    The picture is ‘St George and the Dragon’ by Paolo Uccello, from around 1470.

    Last Updated 23 April 2007