This Week In London’s History Monday – 3rd March 1982: The Barbican Centre is opened by the Queen. After 15 years of construction, at a cost of £161 million, the centre would become the largest performing arts centre in Europe (as well as being voted the ugliest building in London). Tuesday – 4th March 1882: Britain’s first electric trams go into operation in Leytonstone, East London. Wednesday – 5th March 1856: The second Covent......

This Week In London’s History Monday – 5th November 1605: Following a tip-off, a party of armed men led by a Justice of the Peace discover Guy Fawkes guarding a large amount of gunpowder and incendiary materials in the vaults under the House of Lords. Tuesday – 6th November 1869: Queen Victoria opens Blackfriars Bridge, and then Holborn Viaduct. Wednesday – 7th November 1783: John Austin, having been convicted for ‘cruel highway robbery’, becomes......

Londonist asks that most pressing of daily concerns: where to go on your lunch break. Spicy Food Plus 83 Wilton Rd SW1V 1DL Nearest Tube: Victoria and Pimlico 0207 834 8068 12pm-3pm, 4.30pm-11pm (Monday-Saturday) Map Expect to Pay: around £5 Rating: 8.5 out of 10 Spicy Food Plus, a rather nondescript hole-in-the-wall about halfway between Victoria Station and Pimlico Station, is (in the words of at least one well travelled London foodie) home of......

Hot on the heels of basketball and ice hockey, the third of America's big four sports has begun its landing on our shores. The advance guard for Sunday's NFL encounter between the Miami Dolphins and the New York Giants consists of just one man. Albeit a very big one. Pictured above is the specially commissioned twenty-six foot high animatronic statue of Dolphins defensive end Jason Taylor which is touring London and the South East......

Due to the crazy rain today, there have been mass closures around throughout London Underground. As of 14:15, the following stations have been closed due to flooding: Shepherd's Bush (Central Line) Turnpike Lane Victoria (Circle & District Lines only) Paddington (Circle Line only) Gants Hill South Kensington Kilburn Tooting Broadway Vauxhall Turnham Green Tooting Bec Clapham Common Colliers Wood North Ealing (Westbound services only) Hammersmith - Dist & Pic lines (Eastbound services only) The following......

In 2003, at the height of a summer of insufferably hot tube travel, Ken and TfL launched a competition “Cooling the tube” to try and draw out a brilliant, original, workable and economic solution to the annual Big Sweat. £100k was up for grabs. Nobody won. News today, though, that TfL are getting ready to trial the whizzy idea of putting blocks of ice under passenger seats to cool things down makes us wonder......

This Day In London’s History 1825: The Grosvenor Canal is opened. In 1723 the Chelsea Waterworks were constructed to supply water for parts of West London. Part of these works included a small tidal inlet on the Thames, just east of Chelsea Bridge, which became the entrance to a canal that ran about a mile to Grosvenor Basin (where Victoria Station currently resides). The Grosvenor Canal was opened on 5th March 1825 and was......

We don't normally think of poppies as June flowers, they're more an autumn bloom in our consciousness. We wear poppies one day a year to remember those are serving or have served in the Armed Forces but apart from that one sober day in November, the poppy is forgotten the rest of the year. However, today there is one poppy that has made itself known to thousands of commuters passing through Victoria station and......

Hey, hey, hey; more positive (sounding) transport news, hot on the wheels of the Victoria Tube revamp we recently highlighted. According to the Beeb, Network Rail are to invest ‘£4bn into improving the UK's stations over the next 10 years’, including several London termini. As well as much needed refurbs, Euston, Waterloo and Victoria would also see associated commercial and residential developments. Euston Station already has a very large residential population, most of whom......

Not literally, you understand, and actually not really that figuratively either, it's just that the excitable folks at the British Airports Authority (who actually have a really good online photo library thing going on) are upset at plans by the Strategic Rail Authority to change the Gatwick Express. So a quick recap, that’s the BAA vs the SRA. Currently the Gatwick Express runs from Victoria Station every 15 minutes to Gatwick Airport in about......