Alan Brooke

The Making of London explores the rich history of the Metropolis from the Roman settlement established 2,000 years ago in the area that came to be known as the 'Square Mile' and traces the process whereby it eventually emerged as the world's greatest city. London became the capital and seat of government of Britain, a centre of culture, entertainment and retailing, a major port and industrial centre and world leader in international trade, commerce and finance. The focus is largely on central London but necessarily brings in other nearby districts when events involved interaction with these. While examining a selection of major historical events, consideration is also given to some of the more unusual and quirky aspects that have contributed to making London the diverse and fascinating place it remains today. A largely chronological approach is taken which emphasises how the lives of the ordinary people were shaped by the events they witnessed such as invasions, riots and rebellions, fires, smogs, wars, epidemics and pandemics. The story embraces the apparent glamour of areas such as Mayfair and the West End but does not neglect districts stalked by crime, poverty and despair. London has always been a place of paradoxes where flaunted wealth has existed alongside appalling social deprivation. The juxtaposition of extravagance and poverty, of high culture with the lowest of low life is a recurrent theme in London's history. The Making of London will interest newcomers wishing to know about London's past but even those familiar with its history are likely to find something new in its pages.

In this book, author Alan Brooke highlights the historic gates of the City of London: Cripplegate, Aldgate, Aldersgate, Bishopsgate, Ludgate, Newgate and Moorgate. Originating in Roman times, they remained until they were all demolished between 1760 and 1767. Blue plaques mark six of their sites, and a bishop's mitre on a building shows where Bishopsgate once stood. This book examines the history of the gates, with chapters devoted to each one. A shorter section offers a summary of some of the water gates on the River Thames, including Billingsgate and Bridge Gate, where goods were unloaded from ships. Additionally, there were pedestrian-only gates such as Tower Gate and the postern gate at the Tower of London. There were also the Bars, the most famous of which is Temple Bar, which can still be seen at Paternoster Square. Illustrated throughout with archive material, photographs of present-day locations and a map, Gates of the City of London provides an important addition to the many books on London's rich and diverse history.

Between 1835 and the 1850s, railway mania blossomed around Britain. Crime emerged as the railways developed, at first opportunistic crimes such as fare evasion and robberies, but gradually more inventive forms evolved, notably the minor clerk Redpath in the 1850s, whose shameless cooking of the books to live the high life exposed the lack of any kind of accountancy across the railway industry. The first train murder was not until the 1840s, and sparked great fear of foreigners as a German was charged and hanged for the crime. The outcry resulted in the communication cord being introduced to the railway carriages, so that no longer would they exist as completely separate spaces and passengers could alert the driver to any assault within. This fascinating history covers all varieties of crime on the railways and how it has changed over the years, from assaults and robberies, to theft of goods, murder, vandalism, football and other crowd activity, suicide on the line, fraud and white collar crime, and also looks at the use of railway crime in film and literature.

Explore the secret, quirky and curious history of London’s well-known squares. Authors Alan Brooke and David Brandon have made some strange discoveries in these famous places, from the personal dedications on the benches in Berkeley Square to the Grade II-listed cabman’s shelter at Russell Square. There are details on the hidden history of the squares, weird and wonderful incidents and little-known facts about the notable houses and the people who lived there. Fully illustrated with photographs old and new, and with helpful maps for navigation, this book will delight anyone with an interest in the more bizarre aspects of the capital’s illustrious past.

Curiosities of London contains an informative and entertaining selection of walks around well-known and some less-visited parts of London, revealing oddities, bizarre connections and strange stories from the past which echo through the city streets. Brandon and Brooke reveal the urban myths that abound, the origins of wonderful place names such as Bear Gardens and Gin Lane, and shocking Mafia-linked murders, in addition to other tantalising tales. The guide includes Bloomsbury with its literary connections and garden squares; the historic Borough; Whitechapel and Stepney in the East End; Clerkenwell and its associations with monastic orders, prisons and radicalism; the ancient City of London; the stylish Mayfair; Fleet Street, once synonymous with the printing industry, but also with its religious and legal connections; Smithfield, with its gruesome associations with executions, hauntings, plague and debauchery; Bankside, once the home to theatre, bear-baiting and brothels; and the sedate area of Marylebone with its attractive streets and squares. Curiosities of London is the indispensable guide for Londoners and visitors who want to walk, look, be educated and enthralled, and to learn something new about the Big Smoke.

On the south bank of the Thames and demarcated by Blackfriars and Tower Bridges lies the district known as Bankside, the Borough and Southwark. Its origin was in a Roman settlement nestling around the southern end of London Bridge, until the eighteenth century the only bridge across the Thames in London. Being separated only by the Thames from the City of London and outside the City's jurisdiction, it developed as a place for bawdy and disreputable entertainment and leisure - including the Globe Theatre made famous by performing William Shakespeare's plays. It was an area also sought out for its 'stews' which were some of London's most notorious brothels where every taste could be catered for. Borough High Street contained proportionately more inns and taverns than anywhere else in Britain - and some were immortalised by Chaucer and Dickens. The George alone survives to give some idea of what these ancient hostelries were like. From a time when London was a collection of discrete districts and villages, here is the long history of Bankside, the metropolis's disreputable and licentious yet vibrant, cosmopolitan underbelly.

The story of historic district on the south bank of the Thames and beyond - the original playground of Londoners, complete with inns, bear pits, brothels and theatres. On the south bank of the Thames and demarcated by Blackfriars and Tower Bridges lies the district known as Bankside, the Borough and Southwark. Its origin was in a Roman settlement nestling around the southern end of London Bridge, until the eighteenth century the only bridge across the Thames in London. Being separated only by the Thames from the City of London and outside the City's jurisdiction, it developed as a place for bawdy and disreputable entertainment and leisure - including the Globe theatre made famous by performing William Shakespeare's plays. It was an area also sought out for its 'stews' which were some of London's most notorious brothels where every taste could be catered for. Borough High Street contained proportionately more inns and taverns in its length than anywhere else in Britain - and some of these were immortalised by Chaucer and Dickens. The George alone survives to give some idea of what these ancient hostelries were like. From a time when London was a collection of discrete districts and villages, here is the long history of Bankside, the metropolis's disreputable and licentious yet vibrant, cosmopolitan underbelly.

Ghosts traditionally make their presence felt in many ways, from unexplained footfalls and chills to odours and apparitions. This fascinating volume takes a look at some of the strange and unexplained hauntings across the length and breadth of Britain’s railway network: signals and messages sent from empty boxes; trains that went into tunnels and never left; ghostly passengers and spectral crew; the wires whizzing to signal the arrival of trains on lines that have been closed for years… Based on hundreds of first-person and historical accounts, Shadows in the Steam is a unique collection of mysterious happenings, inexplicable events and spine-chilling tales, all related to the railways. Compiled by David Brandon and Alan Brooke, acknowledged experts on railways and the supernatural, and including sections on the London Underground and railway ghosts in literature and film, this book will delight lovers of railways and spooky stories alike.

Curious Walks Around London provides an informative and entertaining selection of walks around well-known and some less-visited parts of London. The guide includes Bloomsbury with its literary connections and garden squares; the historic Borough; Whitechapel and Stepney in the East End; Clerkenwell and its associations with monastic orders, prisons and radicalism; parts of the historic and ancient City of London; the stylish area of St James's and Mayfair; Fleet Street, once synonymous with the printing industry, but also with its religious and legal connections; for those who like their horrible histories the Smithfield walk includes tales of executions, hauntings, plague and debauchery; the execution route from Newgate to Tyburn better known now as the Old Bailey to Marble Arch; Bankside, once the home to theatre, bear baiting and brothels, has seen some of the most dynamic changes in London; and the sedate area of Marylebone with its famous streets and squares. The visitor will see en route many famous landmarks and there will be passing allusions to the supernatural or illegal activities and to interesting buildings. However the book concentrates on oddities, curiosities, strange stories, bizarre connections or those things to be seen in the streets which are so familiar that they are frequently overlooked. The seemingly mundane or the understated can on investigation often turn out to be as fascinating as the best-known of London's historic monuments. The book is hopefully designed for the reader to walk, look, be informed and entertained and frequently say 'I never knew that.'

Why don't people take more notice of bollards? How often do they stop to look at a coal-hole cover? Why are pub signs largely ignored and Royal Warrants on shops scarcely noticed? Such a grievous situation is about to change with the publication of this, the first book dealing specifically with London Street Furniture. It examines the unconsidered trifles which can be found in bewildering diversity around the streets particularly of the older parts of central London but also elsewhere in the Metropolis. These items help us to understand the growth of London and provide pointers and fascinating insights into its economic and social development as well as the changes in science and technology it has witnessed. Knowing something about street furniture makes a walk around London far more interesting.

This book contains all manner of grim and ancient punishments from London’s long and bloody history. Over the centuries, many hundreds have expired inside the capital’s dank, rat-infested cells, or whilst ‘dancing the Tyburn jig’ at the end of a swinging rope, and many of the sites in this book have become bywords for infamy. From the Tower and Newgate prison to the Clink and the Fleet, this book explores London’s criminal heritage; also including the stocks and pillories that lie, almost forgotten, in churchyards and squares across the City, and the many shocking punishments exacted inside the region’s churches, workhouses and schools, it is a heart-breaking survey of our nation’s penal history. Richly illustrated, and filled with victims and villains, nobles, executioners and torturers, it will delight historians, residents and visitors alike.

Crypts, catacombs, tunnels, tombs, cellars, bunkers, vaults and underground chambers... Buried roads and buildings hidden beneath the city conjure up a mixture of fascination, eeriness and foreboding for many people. What dark mysteries lurk beneath the busy roads, pavements and shops of the city? London has an underground network of tunnels that stretch for hundreds of miles, but what is this other London? This guide provides a grisly and gripping history of the other side of London, packed with accessible but informative stories and with colour photographs of the city's mysterious underground landmarks. Eerie tales of the London's Norman crypts piled full of bodies, through to the history of the capital's extensive railway systems make for a comprehensive look at the subterranean life and history of the city. This guide lists the many intriguing sites that can be visited and includes three guided walks for bold explorers of the city.

Mention Fleet Street and people will think of newspapers. However this masks an equally rich history. It was one of the most important thoroughfares in London, linking the city with Westminster. For centuries Fleet Street has been famous for its association with newspapers, printers, stationers, booksellers, taverns, coffee houses, banking houses, the legal profession, places of worship, exhibitions and processions. The history of Fleet Street is diverse, fascinating, turbulent and full of colourful characters and events. London's second most important river ran through it and gave the street its name. Carmelite Friars and the Knights Templar once occupied the area until they were replaced by the legal profession. Fleet Street was ravaged by the Great Fire and then again by Second World War bombs. It was a showplace for freaks, fire-eaters, giants, dwarves, elephants and other exotic exhibits. The press had an early presence in the street when Wynkyn de Worde became the first printer to set up shop in Fleet Street in the late fifteenth century and Britain's first newspaper, the Daily Courant, began to publish there in 1702. Fleet Street once boasted the headquarters of virtually every major English daily newspaper. Despite this there have been few books about the history of Fleet Street itself. This book explores not only the press but also the many fascinating events, characters, pubs and buildings in Fleet Street and its many tributaries.

Edinburgh is a city rightly famed world-wide. It is perhaps the only large British city which can be described as beautiful. It always seems to have been at the centre of major events, many of them turbulent. The innumerable murky legends of murder, misdemeanour and mayhem have perhaps taken root because of the topography and architecture of the Old Town with its maze of ill-lit and menacing wynds, closes and courts. Leading off the High Street and the Cowgate there are still places redolent of the atmosphere of past Edinburgh. In this simple introduction to the dark side of Edinburgh's history, the authors have brough together some well-known and other more obscure tales of dark deeds. They can reveal that it did not all take place in the Old Town.

A look at the dark side of life, Victorian-style, when nothing was quite as it seemed and a public execution could be an entertaining family day out. Murderers, poachers, thieves, pickpockets and vagabonds all went about their business with impunity. Crime took place on the streets, on public transport, in homes, pubs, prisons, asylums, workhouses and brothels - it was all part of everyday life. Naturally the punishments awarded varied considerably, depending upon the crimes committed. Murderers and thieves - particularly horse thieves - could expect the rope, though others could hope for a reprieve. Such a remission would automatically add them to list of convicts to be deported to the penal colonies in Australia. Alternatively, convicts might expect to spend time in gaol or a House of Correction, with hard labour and floggings often thrown in for good measure. This collection of real life crimes vividly recreates the events surrounding them, offering an insight not only into criminal law but also into the social history attached to crime as society evolved and adapted to meet changing industries and class structures. A must have book for any arm chair detective and anyone interested in the social mores of the day.

London's Underground is associated with a multitude of ghostly stories and sightings, particular stations and abandoned lines, many of which are in close proximity to burial sites from centuries ago. This chilling book reveals well-known and hitherto unpublished tales of spirits, spectres and other spooky occurrences on one of the oldest railway networks in the world. The stories of sightings include the ghost of an actress regularly witnessed on Aldywch Station and the 'Black Nun' at Bank Station. Eerie noises, such as the cries of thirteen-year-old Anne Naylor, who was murdered in 1758 near to the site of what is now Farringdon Station, and the screams of children who were in an accident at Bethnal Green Station during Second World War, are still heard echoing. These and many more ghostly accounts are recorded in fascinating detail in this book, which is a must-read for anyone interested in the mysterious and murky history of London's Underground.

Ghosts traditionally make their presence felt in many ways, from unexplained footfalls and chills to odours and apparitions. This fascinating volume takes a look at some of the strange and unexplained hauntings across Britain's railway network: signals and messages sent from empty boxes; trains that went into tunnels and never left; ghostly passengers and spectral crew; the wires whizzing to signal the arrival of trains on lines that have been closed for years.... Based on hundreds of first-person and historical accounts, Shadows in the Steam is a unique collection of mysterious happenings, inexplicable events and spine-chilling tales, all related to the railways. Compiled by David Brandon and Alan Brooke, acknowledged experts on railways and the supernatural, and including sections on the London Underground and railway ghosts in literature and film, this book will delight lovers of railways and spooky stories alike.

London is a historical city full of mysteries and curiosities, and is home to many of England's oldest and most quirky pubs. It comes as no surprise that these pubs have a great deal more than their fair share of ghosts, phantoms and ghouls or, as the old joke goes, spirits galore! A menacing ghostly soldier lurks in Mayfair's Grenadier pub; the hooves of Dick Turpin's Black Bess can be heard galloping up to the Spaniard's Inn at Hampstead; a scary nun does the rounds at the Horns in Bermondsey; and many people have heard the voices of long-dead drinkers killed when the King's Arms in Peckham Rye was blitzed. Combining some well-known stories with others that are long-forgotten, this fascinating book delves into the rich tapestry of London's pub history, with a perfect mix of the past, folklore, popular culture and the supernatural.

The ruins of Whitby Abbey provide an ideal setting for ghost stories. Many ghostly experiences in the abbey grounds feature here, including an account of treasure hunters who were in search of rich pickings and were disturbed by an unimpressed spectre. Whitby even has its share of ghost animals, including the panther-like Burguest that terrorises the moors, but the town is perhaps best-known as one of the locations for Bram Stoker's Dracula. With stories of haunted lighthouses, creepy tunnels, the strange apparitions of Bagdale Hall and the spirit of Nunnington Hall, Haunted Whitby is a must-read for anyone interested in the town's paranormal past.

London: City of the Dead is a groundbreaking account of London's dealing with death, covering the afterlife, execution, bodysnatching, murder, fatal disease, spiritualism, bizarre deaths and cemeteries. Taking the reader from Roman London to the 'glorious dead' of the First World War, this is the first systematic look at London's culture of death, with analysis of its customs and superstitions, rituals and representations. The authors of the celebrated London: The Executioner's City (Sutton, 2006) weave their way through the streets of London once again, this time combining some of the capital's most curious features, such as London's Necropolis Railway and Brookwood Cemetery, with the culture of death exposed in the works of great writers such as Dickens. The book captures for the first time a side of the city that has always been every bit as fascinating and colourful as other better known aspects of the metropolis. It shows London in all its moods - serious, comic, tragic and heroic-and celebrates its robust acceptance of the only certainty in life.