Royal Exchange

Londony history and trivia for a Monday morning.

It could have been yesterday’s gloomy, drizzly weather or maybe just the cold feet that accompanies the thought of bopping about the City of London in your underwear. Whatever the case, those that donned less than usual for the Pants Amnesty at the Royal Exchange …

Photo by randydandy via the Londonist Flickr pool Tomorrow around 1pm, thousands of people from around the world (including some undisclosed celebs) are expected to descend upon the Royal Exchange for (as far as Londonist can ascertain) the world’s first ever Pants Amnesty. The idea …

This Week In London’s History Monday – 19th January 1917: A fire breaks out at a munitions factory in Silvertown, East London, igniting some 50 tonnes of TNT. The resulting explosion kills 73 people, injures some 400 more, and damages as many as 70,000 buildings …

Worcestershire Sauce chocolate? Why not? Marmite and chocolate? Hey, you might just love it. Such unusual morsels are the wondrous creations of award winning chocolatier, Paul A Young. Of course, for the less adventurous but nevertheless chocolate craving folk, Paul makes a variety of more …

As we mentioned briefly before, Thursday brings the East 2008 Festival. For six days, a cornucopia of performances, exhibitions, workshops, food and other events ensures entertainment with emphasis on promotion of the best of East London. Here’s our pick of the mix: 6th March: F-EAST …

This Week In London’s History Monday – 21st January 1976: Concorde’s first commercial service, from London to Bahrain (and Paris to Rio de Janeiro) commences. Tuesday – 22nd January 1876: The Royal Aquarium opens in Westminster. It would be demolished just 26 years later and …

This Week In London’s History Monday – 22nd October 1809: The Croydon Canal, linking Croydon to Deptford via Forest Hill, is opened. Requiring 28 locks to overcome the gradients of the route, it would never become a commercial success, and would be closed just 37 …

After spending last week photographing dead presidents, we thought it only decent to turn our services to former British prime ministers. The Parliament Square Collection Dead monarchs have Westminster Abbey; prime ministers have Parliament Square. There’s six of the blighters here, with a seventh – …

That’s right. This week we decided to track down the Leader of the Free World. He might sit in the oval office but, when in London, it seems that he prefers to hang out in squares… FDR, Grosvenor Square You can’t sit comfortably in Grosvenor …