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Featured Posts

The story of London Tweed

So this is how the story goes. In 1826 a London merchant decides to buy some cloth from a weaver in Hawick, a town in the Scottish borders famous for its cloth production. Very happy with his order, he decides to get some more but – crucially – misreads the weaver’s dashed handwriting. Instead of ‘twill’ this Londoner reads ‘tweed’, and assumes this new cloth must take after the River Tweed which runs fast and clear through the textile areas of lower Scotland. ‘Tweed’ and not ’twill’ has been the term used ever since.

Bomber Jackets

A few weeks ago I found myself surrounded by fascists. I was on my way to the West End when at Tower Hill station a large group of French-speaking men with assorted girlfriends and wives (I presume) entered my tube carriage.

The case of the missing Sherlock Holmes film

Sherlock Holmes, the most famous fictional Londoner of all time, is also one of the most portrayed characters in film and television history. He has appeared onscreen for over a century, with the role assumed by countless actors – from William Gillette to Benedict Cumberbatch. As the Museum of London prepares for the largest temporary exhibition on the super sleuth for over sixty years, there remains a mystery unsolved regarding one such film.

The Final Three

By adam corsini on 9 Jul 2014

Object of VIP13: The Final

Over the past fortnight the Museum of London’s Archaeological Archive has taken to these blog pages to dazzle you with the cream of the crop of our archaeological collections. In each of the three preliminary rounds, five objects have battled for your favour in an effort to determine which has been the best artefact that our volunteers have come across during the 13th Volunteer Inclusion Project (VIP13). Here are the final three: Read the full post

When objects get competitive…

By adam corsini on 1 Jul 2014

From 1971's excavations at Appian Road, Old Ford

Object of VIP13 – Round 1

One of the favourite aspects of our Volunteer Inclusion Programme is that we come across loads of incredible artefacts spanning London’s history. And during our current project we’ve encountered some beauties. What we then like to do is get them battling it out, with you, The Great Blog Reading Public, helping to decide which is the very best. No real reason to do this apart from fun. So let’s get started.

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