Plans for a pedestrianised Parliament Square piazza (a tautology, surely?) have been scotched by City Hall. Mayor Boz has decided to review an £18m plan minted by his predecessor to "do a Traf Square" on the area, paving the southern bit beside Westminster Abbey and putting in extra benches in aid of turning it into a nice spot to gather and graze. The reason for this rethink? Concerns over traffic congestion, an issue that......

What a busy week! What with the Bank holiday, Cans Festival, Pangea Day, May ’68 celebrations and more, free cultural activities abound across London. So get out of bed, you lazy hungover git, and go sample what’s on in our summery city. Monday: In case you missed it over the weekend, catch the last day of the Cans Festival, a graffiti art exhibition headlined by none other than London’s lovable guerilla stencil artist Banksy.......

Um, probably not the best time to tell you, but apparently 1 in 5 tube drivers are a bit dodgy. Never mind – you’ll probably get one of the other 4 in 5 to drive you to work tomorrow. Gazza’s in hospital. It’s hard not to like him: Londonist hopes he’s better soon. BNP berk Barnbrook moves to ban burkas. Things ain’t too peachy for Peaches. The mayor of New York is to pop......

This Week In London’s History Monday – 17th December 1983: An IRA car bomb explodes near Harrods in Knightsbridge, killing six people (including three police officers) and injuring a further 85 Christmas shoppers. Tuesday – 18th December 1890: The world’s first ‘deep-level’ electric tube line opens, connecting Stockwell and King William Street. As we mentioned last year, the City & South London Railway would later become a part of the Northern Line as we......

Due to earlier technical vexations of a non-Stratford-related variety, Monday Miscellanea is a bit later than usual today... This Week In London’s History Monday – 12th November 1974: A 9lb salmon is caught in the Thames – the first time that such a fish has been caught in the dirty old river since 1834 – and sent to the British Museum for identification. Improvements in the water quality are hailed. Tuesday – 13th November......

It’s cold outside this week, so it seems like the best plan is to cozy up on the couch and watch some telly. Why would you want to risk frostbite? On TV, Londonist likes: Monday, 12 November I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here (ITV1, 21:00-22:30) It’s off to the jungle yet again with Ant & Dec as they guide a new group of “celebs” through as many disgusting tasks as you’d......

Revolting peasants and Scottish heroes, a buried river, and a 1000 years of death, slaughter and destruction. Smithfield surely deserves some kind of cultural centre. And there just happens to be the perfect place to put it, if we act fast… As many readers will know, several buildings of the famous meat-market complex are under threat. The General market, Fish market and Red House are in a dilapidated state and the targets for demolition......

This Week In London’s History Monday – 3rd September 1878: Passenger steamer Princess Alice collides with cargo ship Bywell Castle on the Thames near Woolwich Pier. All of the 700 passengers of the Princess Alice are either thrown into the heavily polluted river or trapped below the decks of the sinking vessel. Fewer than 100 passengers survive. Tuesday – 4th September 1899: Moorfields Eye Hospital (known at the time as the Royal London Ophthalmic......

After seven years of speculation and debate, London today finally unveiled its tribute to Nelson Mandela. The 9’ high, 1 tonne statue was unveiled by the man himself in the presence of an impressive cast of London’s ‘great and good’, including Gordon Brown, David Cameron, Ken Livingstone and Lord Richard Attenborough. The proceedings were watched by a vast and cheering crowd, and overseen by Disraeli, Churchill, Lincoln and former South African leader Jan Smuts from......

This Week In London’s History Monday – 6th August 1937: Barbara Windsor is born in Shoreditch in central London. She would achieve fame as an actress, notably as a ‘saucy strumpet’ in the Carry On films of the 60s and 70s and later as a major character in Eastenders. Tuesday – 7th August 2001: The Department of Health pays £27 million for a private Harley Street heart hospital, re-nationalising it and bringing it into......

This Week In London’s History Monday – 23rd July 1986: Prince Andrew marries Sarah Ferguson at Westminster Abbey. As a wedding present (of sorts), the Queen grants them the title of Duke and Duchess of York. Tuesday – 24th July 1987: At the High Court, Jeffrey Archer wins damages of £500,000 in his libel case against the Daily Star. 14 years later he would be convicted of perjury and perverting the course of justice......

As the buzz surrounding the weekend's Tour de France action in London builds steadily, more and more people are asking where will be the best places to watch, especially during the Prologue individual time trial on Saturday afternoon. Unlike the annual Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race, where the best vantage points are well established, there's no obvious form to go on for this one-off cycling spectacular in terms of where to set out your viewing stall......

We've seen plenty of boastful stats about the reinvigorated Dome — apparently, it could swallow 13 Albert Halls or 10 St Paul's Cathedrals. (Scenarios not all that far fetched, considering nearly a billion quid and numerous reputations have already disappeared into its maw.) But here's a way to judge its size for yourself. Using Google Maps, it is possible to compare London's landmarks from an aerial perspective. The shots are all from the same......

This Week In London’s History Monday – 25th June 1953: John Christie is sentenced to death for the murder of his wife, whose body was found with several others hidden beneath the floorboards of his house in Notting Hill, West London. His conviction casts serious doubts on a previous murder trial that resulted in the conviction and execution of his fellow tenant Timothy Evans, who would be posthumously pardoned in 1966. The resulting controversy......

Thanks to everyone who voted for their favourite Touch Up London image from last week, using the 'recommend this' links. Here's the winner. Well done to jmayo for the giant pooch. Here are the final results. 1. Giant corgi by jmayo (35 votes). 2. Pinball Tower Bridge by Boi Hole (28 votes). 3. Westminster Abbey jigsaw by Fenring (22 votes). 4. Scary big queen by esc (8 votes). 5. Westminster boxer by SomeWhatFraudulant (2 votes).......

So on to the third entry from the Something Awful forums. Still in Westminster, photoshopper Fenring assembles Westminster Abbey the easy way. A god-like hand attempts to fit the final piece to Hawksmoor's western facade. If you like this image, click 'recommend this' below. A prize will be given to the most-recommended picture from the week. More tomorrow.......

Well, the elements gave us a bit of a battering last week, with plenty of damage and several people killed. But lest we get all worked up about global warming and freaky weather, it's worth remembering that the capital is no stranger to the Force 10 fart of Mother Nature. Here's a roundup of, erm, past wind. 1091: Strong winds make their debut on the recorded history of London. On October 23rd that year,......

A few distinctive London eyefulls have been awarded icon status. Westminster Abbey, the tube map, red telephone boxes, Wimbledon and the Thames itself have now joined previous London icons Big Ben, Routemasters, Brick Lane, Notting Hill Carnival, The Globe Theatre and The Tower of London. The full list can be seen here. The idea is for the icons to develop into a vibrant portrait of England. The 21 additions, which also include English weather,......

We'd like to say a belated goodbye to Nigel Kneale who died last week. Londonist are huge fans of his work and we were genuinely saddened to hear of his passing. When we scoff at crap like Doctor New-who and Torchwooden its partly because we've seen how British sci-fi should be done. We namecheck Quatermass as often as we possibly can on the site (and the good professor also gets a mention in our......

This Day in London's History 1485: Henry VII opens batting for the Tudor dynasty, taking the crown at Westminster Abbey. Attending the new king that day were the Yeomen of the Guard - the monarch's bodyguard - on their first official duty. The Yeomen of the Guard are not to be confused with the Yeoman Warders, or Beefeaters, who patrol the Tower of London... 1841: The Tower nearly falls. Beefeaters and policemen scrambled to......

This day in London’s History 1897: The Blackwall Tunnel is officially opened. In its day, this was the longest underwater tunnel in the world. And the most expensive at nearly £1.5 million. Many buildings were demolished to make way for the tunnel including, sadly, a former residence of Sir Walter Raleigh. Originally, just one tunnel was built, which catered for traffic going in either direction. Because of increasing road use, however, a second tunnel......

OK, OK, we know most of you will be sick of reading about Hawksmoor. But Londonist are completer-finisher types, and after stalking so many lesser London luminaries we feel obliged to tackle the great church-building, conspiracy-generating architect. There must be some readers out there who haven’t read Iain Sinclair’s trademark lucidity-shy ramblings on how Hawksmoor’s six churches align with other sites of dubious significance to form a pretty pattern. Or Peter Ackroyd’s erudite reinterpretation......

Remember when Hollywood considered the IRA a soft touch so had Sean Bean hassling Harrison Ford as a member of an even more lethal splinter group in Patriot Games? Well it seems fact is finally catching up to fiction as that constant thorn in London's side, Fathers4Juctice, has broken up into a crown of thorns atop Westminster Abbey: Two members of the group, called Real Fathers for Justice, climbed about 40ft up the abbey......

It looks like the IPCC have been told to go back to the drawing board after failing to identify the officer who made the "blatant and clumsy attempt" to tamper with evidence. Five people are due in court today charged with the kidnap of a ten-year-old Walthamstow boy last week. They're also charged with false imprisonment, blackmail, aggravated burglary and a firearms offence. A flu virus is sweeping through London's primary schools. 800 pupils and......

Darwin, of course, is one of the giants of science and, indeed, human history, revolutionising the way we think about life on Earth and our place in the Universe. His theories of evolution by natural selection led to the founding of modern genetics, and modern genetics has led to pigs which glow in the dark. Soon they may finally fly. A clever man, then. And a Londoner too, of sorts. While working on the......

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 – David Lloyd George – in the works if funding can be raised. Canning by Richard Westmacott (1832); Peel by Matthew Noble (1851); Lord Derby also by Noble (1874); Palmerston......

All the places featured in this Stalk are now mapped on Platial. You may remember we recently tracked down all the London-based work of Eduardo Paolozzi. This time, we took the logical step of pursuing his contemporary Enzo Plazotta. Eduardo Paolozzi… Enzo Plazzotta. You could be forgiven for confusing the two, particularly given that they were both British artists of Italian origin. Their works are very different, however. Whereas Paolozzi meshed and mashed man with......

And, by God, did he get around. Stalking Paolozzi was a piece of cake in comparison. The map above is our stab at showing all Dickens’ London addresses. But sources conflict, and there’s bound to be a few missing. During his childhood, Dickens hopped from home to home as his father tried to dodge the debt collectors. Following in his footsteps, we similarly hopped from one location to the next, though largely on account......

Another week, another big tower. This time, Coin Street Builders (the guys behind the Oxo Tower rejuvenation) have announced plans for a monster of a residential block on the South Bank. Looking something like a cross between Tower42 (NatWest Tower) and the Tate Modern’s brooding chimney further downstream, the 168 m stack would nestle behind the National Theatre, on Doon Street. Along with the proposed Beetham Tower at Blackfriars, these plans signal a potential......

Tourists take note: as of this week you'll have to travel to sunny Lincoln to see Westminster Abbey. And it's all thanks to Dan Brown. Yes the Da Vinci Code debacle continues thanks to the Hollywood version currently being filmed with Tom Hanks as the dashing hero. Hanks and director Ron Howard are currently over here shooting the adaptation but ran into a bit of trouble when Westminster Abbey turned down an approach from......