Back in Time West London
@OldLondonW14
Followers
23K
Following
77K
Media
11K
Statuses
39K
“Memory is the diary we all carry about with us.”
Kensington Olympia, London
Joined April 2018
A suffragette in London on a motorised scooter, 1916. Lady Florence Norman used her Autoped to scoot to her offices where she worked as an administrator in central London.
162
2K
7K
42
235
4K
If ever a London Underground poster longed to be relaunched, this is the one we need. 1931
45
665
4K
The London Transport posters for Wimbledon are fabulous in the 1930s
27
379
3K
The Swedish beauty, The Götheborg has arrived in London - a perfect replica of the original which in its day was the largest sailing wooden ship in the world. Go and see - it’s moored at Canary Wharf by Thames Quay until 12th August.
33
411
3K
In 1902 a French artist imagined the Women of the Future. Enjoy them. First off, reporter and lawyer.
39
623
3K
The Queen as a baby being carried up the steps of Balmoral Castle in 1927 at just 17 months old. At the time her grandfather King George V was on the throne. There is something incredibly poignant about this image.
15
341
2K
@TheBrometheus This squirrel 🐿 tap dances like Astaire & plays jazz piano, due to our rigorous training routine. He also scratches messages to us in Sanskrit and helps the cat with his algebra homework. I’m not pushy but I know he would have underachieved in the state school system.
30
125
2K
In the 1930s you could take the elevator to the rooftop of Selfridges on Oxford Street and enjoy their water gardens.
50
243
2K
Storm drains blowing by Hammersmith bridge #LondonFlooding.
This is crazy! #HammersmithBridge right now. Reminds me of #Geysir in #Iceland 😶🌫️. @LBHF #westlondonlife #hammersmith #hammersmithandfulham
50
749
2K
There are Wagner opera plots with less action than this.
Swan drama in #Berlin! The elderly lady of Admiralbrucke saves the day. She was braver than all of us
39
120
1K
The West Kensington tree eating an Edwardian postbox for supper…
18
107
1K
Archaeologists discover a vast terracotta army hidden under Westminster Hall.
33
206
1K
Today I saw a tree consuming a post box. No wonder it’s a priority box.
41
113
963
The underground train entering Piccadilly Station in the 1960s.
30
68
937
Here are some of London’s original city gates, drawn in the 1770s.
12
117
746
The British Ladies' Football Club held the inaugural match in Crouch End, 1895. Here's 'North Team' with the brilliantly named Miss Honeyball, second from the left backrow, who set up the club. Despite being ridiculed in the media, they persisted. #Lionesses #womensfootball
20
186
724
Meet Brian. Everyday he appears at my kitchen window, as I wash up the dishes, to ask for nuts. I love the way he casually leans against the window box as he waits.
24
114
699
Hieronymus Bosch is alive and well in England.
19
119
674
London Bridge, drawn in 1616. That would be my time travelling fantasy, to walk along it.
35
67
662
Happy Easter! Over a 100 years ago this is how you might have celebrated - sending a card featuring giant eggs and women. Across Europe this was a thing. With slight differences between countries. First off the much loved hatching woman (A thread)
27
217
631
@danwootton This is bullying. You don’t know them. You don’t know their circumstances. They’re not doing anything to harm you or anyone else. Find some actual news and report on it.
23
17
644
BBC Women on the roof of Bush House in 1931, skipping. I will be very disappointed to find out that this isn’t still a regular thing.
35
117
628
“London was beginning to illuminate herself against the night. Electric lights sizzled and jagged in the main thoroughfares, gas-lamps in the side streets glimmered a canary gold or green.” (EM Forster, Howards End).Embankment, 1902.
7
81
594
@BootstrapCook I use this as my reference point for sandwiches. The best of 1970s sarnies. Ham sandwiches piled up for 13p a portion.
38
20
584
Pink pavements. Show me yours. Let’s have a sea of pink.
38
86
577
A woman serving in the Royal Flying Corps during WW1. What a look.
17
47
534
Taking the Piccadilly Line to work today? Here’s what it was like in 1932.
33
44
563
In 1917, Mr C W Cropper of Ilford grew a giant turnip weighing 6 pounds, 14 ounces and presented it to the vicar's wife. This attracted the attention of the press and was publicised nationally. This is when the UK treated turnips with the respect they deserve.
21
111
533
Green Park Underground station in the late 1970s. When big yellow signs offered tickets from 15p to 40p.
22
64
546
It is seldom reported but cats were first developed in Germany, in laboratories outside Nuremberg. Here is one of the earliest models dating from around 1870. <a thread - don’t read it if you dislike silliness)
33
111
523
Driving through London and all the ad boards are turned over to images of Prince Phillip.
26
53
527
If you haven’t watched Ridley Street - it’s on BBC iPlayer and it’s excellent. They use real footage of London in the 1960s and seamlessly weave it into the drama. It’s also a powerful reminder of the roots of fascism in our country. #RidleyRoad
30
78
491
Good night - here’s a little 1920s map of Hammersmith & shepherds Bush.
34
30
518
When Belgravia, Chelsea & Paddington were developed in the early 1800s, it became necessary to direct the Westbourne River underground to build over it, so it was forced into pipes. You can still see it running above the platform of Sloane Square station.
23
58
506
The Clem Atlee Pub, 99 Rylston Road, Fulham in the 1970s
26
75
492
The view from the higher level of Tower Bridge across London in 1896
7
43
476
The Green Girdle plan in 1901 suggested linking all London parks around London as a continuous ‘chain of Verdure’. An uninterrupted cycle path of over 35 miles.
22
124
454
Caught with a paw in the fruit bowl. Brian has nicked a peach. The 🍑 is bigger than his head. Brazen.
18
50
465
11
85
443
Queue-Anon. A thread about historical queues in London. In February 1952, enduring icy winds, hundreds of thousands of people queued to pay homage at the lying-in-state of the Queen's father, King George V1.
10
117
438
British monarchs as easter eggs. Queen Elizabeth II
6
84
443
It’s April 1924 and you’re staying at the Grand Hotel on Trafalgar Square in London. The waiter hands you this breakfast menu. What do you order?
107
53
436
The Talgarth Road - before it was widened in the 1950s into a 6 lane beast of a road cutting through West London.
25
35
434
It’s 1955. You’re meeting a friend at Marble Arch Maison Lyons Corner House. There are 5 levels, each floor featuring a themed restaurant with an orchestra playing. Which do you choose? The Chicken Fayre? The Star Grill? The Bacon & Egg? Restful Tray? or The Grill & Cheese?
42
53
401
You might love the hidden posters of a disused passenger tunnel revealed after 60 years hidden in Notting Hill tube station….
7
32
402
@RevRichardColes This is a house I stand and stare at. I’m grateful it’s untouched by developers. To see all the original regency ironwork, door furniture, shutters is like being able to travel back in time.
6
12
390
A London flower seller in 1900. “This trade is mostly in the hands of girls (. ) ranks with the street sale of water-cresses and congreves (. )among the lowest grades of the street-trade, being pursued only by the very poor, or the very young.” Henry Mayhew, 1864
5
49
374
From Hammersmith to Kensington in the 1950s.
Remastered 1950s footage of #London when parking was more straightforward and cars seemed to have a less generic look and feel to them.
30
82
371
I challenge you to find a more English bench sign.
13
63
367
Labelled ‘London's Kewriosities’ by the newspapers, these young women were photographed in 1898 at Kew Gardens - three of the first female gardeners employed by Kew.
3
33
354
Birmingham Central Telephone Exchange, 1900 was a cathedral to telephony. The supervisors' desks, uniforms, the light streaming in, the bentwood chairs - every beautiful detail. I've been absorbed by this image on BT's Digital Archive for a while. (sorry it's not London)
29
72
368
Hoover Factory, 1933. Nicholas Pevsner, the architecture critic wrote in the 50s that it was 'Perhaps the most offensive of the modernistic atrocities along this road of typical bypass factories'. There’s no pleasing some people.
25
32
369
In the 1920s & 30s, sheep were allowed to graze in London parks to keep the grass down. Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, Clapham Common and Hampstead Heath all had flocks enjoying the grass.
20
104
368
‘If you are cold, tea will warm you;.if you are too heated, it will cool you;.If you are depressed, it will cheer you;.If you are excited, it will calm you.’.(WE Gladstone).Here’s a thread that takes you to London refreshment rooms. First stop - Paddington Station, 1923.
9
77
360
@RevRichardColes Hi! It’s the original plant room that buts out. The majority of the plant and hot water storage tank is in there. The design was v clever - reducing the need for pumps and pipework. Much of the equipment is now defunct (1973 oil crisis contributed to that) Image from DRBond
5
1
365
The nighttime coffee stall in London c 1920.
13
39
355
@oneunderscore__ I honestly don’t understand half of the quasi mythic short tweets coming out of the mouths of influential or celebrity Americans. It’s like they’re speaking in a runic code.
14
8
290
120 years ago the corner of Ovington Street and Milner Street was the home of Mrs Watson’s newsagents. Here it is then & now.
5
32
349
A slice of Barnes and Fulham for your delectation
37
16
349
The floating swimming baths designed by Henry J Crane were essentially built like a ship by the Thames Ironworks & Shipbuilding Company in 1874. It floated on the Thames by Charing Cross. And I desperately wish it still stood. By 1885 it was sold for scrap. (Image Wellcome Inst)
29
130
333
Battersea Park Avenue and Cricket pitch, c 1900
5
36
340
The Empire Theatre, Shepherds Bush in 1905. It is 2 years old in this photograph. Charlie Chaplin was an early performer to appear there.
9
38
347
Let’s remind ourselves of the vision of the American man who established the Peabody buildings in London. George Peabody (1795-1869) a dried goods merchant & financier, came to London and made a fortune. He set up the Peabody Trust to provide housing for the poor. 🧵
20
52
338
Never seen a Blue Plaque going up before - on Caithness Road, W14, off Brook Green - once the home of playwright John Osborne.
18
36
346
Take a ride in the early 1950's along Hammersmith Road, towards Kensington High Street. What buildings do you recognise?
19
71
333
The Peabody Estate in Fulham opened in 1912, providing 239 flats, with separate bathhouse and laundry building. The highest rent payable was seven shillings (35p) per week for a four room flat. Two rooms in the basement of one block were occupied by a social club.
9
24
326
The Seven City Gates and where they stood. From Ludgate to Aldgate.
10
46
343
Woman mayor 1902 - a vision of a future where women worked.
4
16
315
Portobello Road - share your memories here. I will share photographs in this thread. It’s a wonderful street.
44
37
326
Fencing master and Fire fighter - as imagined in 1902
2
26
309
The entrance to Euston Station in 1904, versus the entrance to Euston Station in 2020. 🤔?
52
68
325
Flower shop cat is nearly 20 and has lived in this florists shop forever. The shop closed at least 5 years ago but he still lives here on Richmond Way.
10
17
294
Selfridges On Oxford Street employed women as lift operators. This was the route up to the glamorous rooftop hanging gardens.
12
57
312
Daddy, what did you do in the Great Pandemic?
2
58
307
Abingdon Gardens a century apart - in Kensington.
5
13
320
The alleyway with its little entrance to The Dove Pub, Hammersmith.
19
17
316
Once upon a time passengers entered Euston Station through a grand arch. Inside grand waiting rooms & halls gave them a taste of luxury and adventure. In the 1920s, a new dining room opened off Platform 9 with wood panelled walls illustrating early railway. #Euston
21
57
314
The light tonight at Hammersmith Bridge …
11
17
301
Woolworth’s Quick Luncheon Counters on Oxford Street.
18
49
303
The perfect parade of shops in Harlesden, circa 1900. And how it is today. I’ve been thinking about what we’ve lost from our high streets, our local communities and why we often choose to shop online. Here’s a thread but I really want to hear what you all think and feel about it.
43
58
303
Women of the Future 1902. General and Sergeant!
5
19
286
In 1930 a Miss Gifford of Notting Hill went to Harrods and bought a dress, a quantity of crepe and velvet material,a black hat, knickers, scarf, hosiery, an umbrella, hairbrush and 200 Turkish cigarettes.
32
24
293
Downing Street to apply for planning permission to extend the staircase to accommodate this year’s prime ministerial portraits.
18
48
294
Inside my daughter’s long abandoned dolls house it looks like the Jonestown massacre.
12
23
291
Finding an ordinary building that is well preserved is thrilling. Its a glimpse of the past. The modern world recedes. This corner house on Faroe Road, W14 is one such place. I took the time to discover a little of its history. (Thread)
16
38
294