London history

Oct 19, 2022
Share
London in Bits
Soho's radical coffee shop
If you go along to the Photographer’s Gallery over the next few weeks and go up to the third floor, you’ll find a single room with a chessboard in its centre and a selection of black and white images of young men and women on the walls. The subjects of these photographs are young, most of them are in their early 20s. But even though these photos were taken at the dawn of the 60s, this is not ‘swinging London’. There are no mini skirts or mod suits, just sensible knitwear, jackets and ties…
Read more
2 years ago · 2 likes · 2 comments · The LiB team
London in Bits
There will be mud
Welcome to another special contributor issue of London in Bits. All contributors to LiB are paid a base rate of £200, and that’s only possible because of the support we get from your subscriptions. So, thank you very much for helping us continue to publish independent writing on London…
Read more
2 years ago · 3 likes · The LiB team
London in Bits
From gods to dolphins (via sex, drugs and spies)
It’s a slightly personal and esoteric edition of LiB today, but hopefully you’ll appreciate the change of pace (although we should warn you that there are a few references to suicide in this issue). One other note to remind you that we are taking a quick break over Easter, so there will be no issue on Saturday or Monday…
Read more
3 years ago · 2 likes · The LiB team
London in Bits
Exploring the secret geographies of London
In March 2020, the artist, writer and podcaster Huw Lemmey opened a new issue of his utopian drivel newsletter with these words: “For the past few weeks I’ve been starting work on a new long-term research project, something that will hopefully end up as a film. It doesn’t have a name yet – it’s all just going into a google drive folder named ‘gay spies…
Read more
2 years ago · The LiB team
London in Bits
Remembering London's Queen of Punk
Cathi Unsworth is a novelist, writer and editor who started her career as a freelance journalist for the legendary Sounds magazine and has gone on to write for titles including The Guardian, Financial Times, Fortean Times, Bizarre, Melody Maker, Mojo…
Read more
2 years ago · 1 like · The LiB team
London in Bits
The fabric of a life
One of the first things you notice when you walk through the doors of Clapham Library is the voice coming up from the lower floor. It’s unusual to hear someone speaking at this volume in a library, but this isn’t the kind of voice that you might want to ‘shush’. It’s a warm voice, one that you can tell is being spoken through a smile…
Read more
3 years ago · 2 likes · The LiB team
London in Bits
An interview with historian and author, John Davis
As well as being emeritus fellow in history at Queen’s College Oxford, John Davis has spent the last twenty years researching and writing Waterloo Sunrise: London from the Sixties to Thatcher, which the blurb describes “a kaleidoscopic history of how the 1960s and 1970s changed London forever…
Read more
3 years ago · The LiB team
London in Bits
How I survived the queer metropolis
Welcome to your free Monday edition of London in Bits. This is a special, ‘guest contributor’ edition of LiB. All our contributors are paid (the base rate is £200) and we can only do that because of our paid subscribers As a paid-subscriber you’ll have access to the back catalogue of paywalled articles (including…
Read more
3 years ago · 3 likes · 5 comments · The LiB team
London in Bits
A handy guide to London's dead, racist white men
Welcome to your free Monday edition of London in Bits. LiB is an independent publication that is only made possible through paid subscriptions. As a paid subscriber you will have access to the back catalogue of paywalled articles, including last week’s interview with…
Read more
3 years ago · The LiB team
London in Bits
The story behind the YouTube channel that's posting videos of London bus routes from the 90s
Welcome to your free Monday edition of London in Bits. LiB is an independent publication that is made possible through your support. As a paid subscriber you get access to three issues a week including the bumper Weekend Roundup that includes all the arts and food & drink news…
Read more
3 years ago · 6 likes · The LiB team