Peter Stone

Writer and video maker. Mostly about London. Author of 'The History of the Port of London'. Publishing London history videos at

[Peter Stone @LondonStone]

There was a time when London was a leading whaling port. Read about it here https://t.co/4P2eh9omXy

[Peter Stone @LondonStone]

@romeo017 Such a shame.

[Peter Stone @LondonStone]

This building in Artillery Lane at Spitalfields dates from the 1720s. The shopfront was added in about 1756, making it one of the oldest in London.

[Peter Stone @LondonStone]

From 1961 the Crystal Palace Bowl was used for open-air classical concerts. Contemporary music events began a decade later, with a diverse range of artists from Pink Floyd to Vera Lynn. Bob Marley gave his last London performance there. The current stage was completed in 1997.

[Peter Stone @LondonStone]

The Hansa were the most important group of traders in Northern Europe throughout the Middle Ages, with their Thames-side base where Cannon Street station now stands. Read about them here https://t.co/at6bpkHRYg

[Peter Stone @LondonStone]

Wildy & Sons at Lincoln's Inn is a family-owned seller and publisher of legal books. Established in the first decades of the 19thC, it is now perhaps the world's oldest family-owned bookseller. It is still run by the Sinkins family, who became partners over a century ago.

[Peter Stone @LondonStone]

The civil servant and diarist Samuel Pepys died today in 1703. Read here about his eventful life https://t.co/xdVG9DTvKG

[Peter Stone @LondonStone]

Last year I took a tour inside the historic Shoreditch Town Hall. There are tours available this coming Wednesday as part of Hackney History Festival Week. Click here for details https://t.co/afvN3VkE7G

[Peter Stone @LondonStone]

Horselydown Stairs at Bermondsey are ancient watermen's stairs from where passengers could catch a boat across (or along) the river in the times when London Bridge was the only dry crossing. Horselydown took its name from when the area was used for grazing horses.

[Peter Stone @LondonStone]

'Thief-taker General' Jonathan Wild was hanged today in 1725 at Tyburn before a huge crowd. Read here about crime and policing in the early 18th century https://t.co/VAYJACrRkb

[Peter Stone @LondonStone]

Today in 1701 pirate Captain Kidd was hanged at Execution Dock at Wapping. Read here about Execution Dock and the development of Wapping and other riverside hamlets https://t.co/F7S1ierRxk

[Peter Stone @LondonStone]

The Blackwall Tunnel under the Thames, linking East London with Greenwich, was opened today in 1897 by the Prince of Wales. Read about it here https://t.co/jH1NChOivQ

[Peter Stone @LondonStone]

Today in 1619 King James I granted a charter to incorporate the New River Company. The New River was never a river and is no longer new but still brings fresh water into London. Read my article here https://t.co/YCM2dfaRAo or watch my video about it here https://t.co/2gPIZTA2wz

[Peter Stone @LondonStone]

This is the former home of John Logie Baird at Sydenham Hill, where he and his family lived between 1933 and 1944. Baird was an electrical engineer who in the early 1920s created the world's first television system.

[Peter Stone @LondonStone]

Today in 1649, several months after the execution of King Charles I, the country was today declared a republican “Commonwealth and Free State”. Read here about London during the Commonwealth period https://t.co/g2KoTYYUyj

[Peter Stone @LondonStone]

Alexandra Palace and Park in North London was officially reopened today in 1901 under public ownership. Read here the history of Alexandra Palace https://t.co/W7GbGXQWk2

[Peter Stone @LondonStone]

@joebridge83inE1 In Berwick Street but not the pub itself.

[Peter Stone @LondonStone]

There are five pubs called Blue Posts within a small area of Central London, including this one in Berwick Street, Soho. The name is believed to be derived from the 18thC sedan chair (taxi) ranks. The early British film star Jessie Matthews took dancing lessons above the pub.

[Peter Stone @LondonStone]

Samuel Johnson first met James Boswell in a Covent Garden bookshop today in 1763. It is through Boswell's biography that we know so much about Johnson. Read here about the life of Johnson https://t.co/SUGPzG3jcH

[Peter Stone @LondonStone]

Handel gave the final annual performance of his Messiah at the Foundling Hospital today in 1754. Read here about Thomas Coram and the Foundling Hospital, London's first orphanage https://t.co/s4faYdOYaO