Category Archives: London Books

Kenwood House Eden I rode the line of misery, against an inner voice, ’Twixt Balaam and the Angel, with little other choice. Just a little further on – knee-deep in freebie news And smoking-cough late risers – emerged from blackened hues. You cannot flash yer Hampsteads without a bluish plaque Of pioneering vagueness, an armyContinue reading “Point 12”

St Pancras Gardens Here Lies … Here lies Adam’s glory which ‘shall never pass away’! Here, though, come the martyr’s icy fingers every May. Here lies King Death’s last hurrah with his subcommittees. Here the dispossessed inherit the new rail of two cities. Here lies an architect, in one of only two. Here’s the thing:Continue reading “Point 11”

Wood Street Plane Tree Last of the Mohicans (Mio Platano Amato) “Because it is a non-native hybrid, there is no mythology and folklore associated with the London plane.” The Woodland Trust A tree. A visible, living tree. Intertwining the occident and orient by accident. Rootless cosmopolitan shackled by its locks. Soaring eighty feet, yet it’sContinue reading “Point 10”

St Foster’s Church Foster Father ‘Bloody ’ell! It’s so quiet. It’s bloody quiet in ’ere.’ ‘Yes, son, it’s very quiet. You really shouldn’t swear. ‘After all, this is a place Where people come to pray: A c-h-blank-blank-c-h. What’s missing, by the way? ‘What are you doing? Put that back! That’s Our Lord’s thorny crown. What’sContinue reading “Point 09”

Postman’s Park The Truth Is Somewhat More Prosaic Sarah Smith, in pantomime, at the Prince’s Theatre, Died of the terrible injuries received Attempting to extinguish the flames on her companion, Twenty-fourth of January, 1863. This tribute, dedicated to heroic selfless sacrifice, Lends itself to poignant poetry. However, as the actual truth is somewhat more prosaic,Continue reading “Point 08”

St Bartholomew’s Hospital The Italian Boy On a moonless winter island, we lurk among the tombstones, Honeycombing graveyards and hawking to the sawbones. Plunging down to dig my earth, beneath the watching tower. Use a noose to yank it loose within the quarter-hour. Jack will log the evening’s haul: four large, one small, a foetus.Continue reading “Point 07”

City Thameslink Station, Newgate Street It Tolls for Thee “’Tis Saint Sepulchre’s bell. It tolls alas for human guilt.” Sunday: tavern, solo drunken, More’s the reason, more’s the pity. Evening: cavern, so low sunken, Pondering slices of the City: What a strange place for a station, West, the hidden Styx of Wen; Between, the fallContinue reading “Point 05”

Redcross Way Big Daves Gusset ‘Where are we now? What place is this? Are we just passing through?’ ‘I’m not quite sure; all I know is we’re well past Waterloo.’ Near the ancient market where the train stopped overhead Sat a strip of wasteland and stood a burnt-out shed. Through the window darkly, beneath aContinue reading “Point 04”

Hungerford Bridge What I Did (Obsessive Killing Disorder) London, spend the night with me. Craving over water, Lure with bondage and escape The gaze of luminary artists. London, spend the night with me. Craving over water, Dredge up the worst types: Psychotic, degraded, people on the edge. London, spend the night with me. Craving overContinue reading “Point 03”

Westminster Abbey A Vast Unfinished Universe “All human things are subject to decay, and, when Fate summons, monarchs must obey.” What can ye boast of this illustrious sepulchre? A vast unfinished poem of marble, stone and glass? The ultimate majestic scene with all its crowning grandeur? Or an improper indulgence of Elgar and Bach? RecoverContinue reading “Point 02”

Piccadilly Circus Children of the Revolution (The Urchins’ Parade) “Love sending forth indiscriminately, yet with purpose, his missile of kindness.” In eighteen hundred and thirty-three, A great procession we shall see, of poverty. And there’s the Earl of Shaftesbury. The champion of philanthropy and charity. He did so much to help the poor. He triedContinue reading “Point 01”

AMAZON TRAVEL BOOKS TOP-TEN BESTSELLER – 5-STAR RATED “A great book… a great guide. Poems… music… history… and fantastic ways to… go for walks” Robert Elms, BBC Radio London Frank Molloy‘s Soul City Wandering was released in 2020. The aim of the book is to inspire travellers to engage as individuals with their journeys. ItContinue reading “Soul City Wandering – A London Pilgrimage”