Best Of The London Blogs: 20-26 February

M@
By M@ Last edited 157 months ago
Best Of The London Blogs: 20-26 February

Our pick of the very best in London blogging.

Best Political Post Of The Week
H&F Council Cuts Voted Through by Shepherd's Bush Blog
With local newspapers on the wane, or little more than propaganda sheets for local authorities, bloggers are emerging as key players in reporting council meetings. Shepherd's Bush blog sat in as 'vast quantities of testosterone sloshed around the Town Hall Council chamber', at Hammersmith and Fulham's budget meeting. The report was picked up by the BBC.

Honourable mention: Brixton Blog attended a similar meeting at Lambeth Town Hall.

Best Historical Post Of The Week
The Prostitutes' Padre Harold Davidson And The Lyons Corner House In Coventry Street, by Another Nickel In The Machine
If the photos weren't there to prove it, you'd suspect this tale was made up. In short, a charismatic priest cruises the streets of 1930's Soho, takes thousands of prostitutes to Lyons Coffee Houses for a cuppa, gets photographed beside a 15-year-old naked actress and is thrown out of the church, lives in a barrel for a bit, then gets mauled to death by a lion. Another scintillating post from one of London's most fascinating web sites.

Honourable mention: But for the saucy priest, Ian Visits' trip to the Vauxhall foreshore to inspect ancient timbers would have been our pick of the week.

Best Future-London Post Of The Week
Olympic Update: And Then What? by Diamond Geezer
You'll find that we whimsically make up categories each week to suit the content. You'll also find that DG's blog gets listed most weeks because it's so consistently strong. This week's recommendation concerns the legacy phase of the Olympics. Rather than rehashing well-trodden ground about the stadia, DG's post picks out some of the less-reported but more interesting stuff. For example, do you know what postcode the entire site will receive? Or that the park won't be complete until 2031?

Best New Discovery Of The Week
London Muse by Ingrid Newton
This new site is ostensibly a photoblog of the capital, but Ingrid's descriptions and eye for historical connections make this a smashing all-rounder. Drawing inspiration from literature and painting, she even manages to make the over-familiar St Paul's a subject of wonder once again. Maryon Park in Charlton is also well-trodden ground for London writers, thanks to its connections with Michelangelo Antonioni's 1966 film Blow Up. Ingrid's photo's explore key moments from that cult classic, with impressive sense of place and a certain air of menace. Top stuff.

Best Interview Of The Week
Jonathan Green, Lexicographer by Spitalfields Life
Talking to a Clerkenwell dictionary compiler who 'knows more dirty words than anyone else in the English speaking world, including twelve hundred for penis and a thousand for vagina'.

Best Transport Post Of The Week
The Problem With Simples: Why Oyster Is A Victim Of Its Own Success by London Reconnections
Many sites covered this week's story about problems with Oyster charging. None are as well-informed and detailed as this excellent contribution from London Reconnections. The objective and level-headed post also attracted a decent spread of comments.

These listings are, of course, purely subjective and only scratch the surface. Please do share your own favourite posts from the past week in the comments below.

Last Updated 27 February 2011