Saturday 8 March 1941, the Café de Paris, on Coventry Street, a London nightclub & restaurant was bombed during the Blitz. A picture of a man retrieving an intact guitar, I can't help thinking if it was ever played again and who has it now!

Mecablitz Proffesional Flashgun 1950's. Taking shots with a flash gun once had a heavy bit of kit to carry around. The rechargeable battery was in a bakelite case, with high pitch sound as the battery built up power before the indicator light turned green.

Who remembers these & what they were used for? Once part of a photographer's kit long before automatic digital cameras were thought of. The exposure meter would give readings for both aperture & shutter speeds giving accurate readings for fast or slow shots.

Then & Now: Grange Walk, Bermondsey, 1920. A young girl stands on the doorstep of what was the gatehouse of the old Abbey, where you can see in both pictures the two hinges embedded in the wall which hung the old gate. These houses are grade II listed.

I stumbled upon this graffiti or street art several years ago, from Clerkenwell Close. It was my first experience in what I think might have been an early Banksy, of a rat taking pictures from behind railings. Anyone know if my suspicions are correct?

Saturday 8 March 1941, the Café de Paris, on Coventry Street, a London nightclub & restaurant was bombed during the Blitz. A picture of a man retrieving an intact guitar, I can't help thinking if it was ever played again and who has it now!

Who remembers these & what they were used for? Once part of a photographer's kit long before automatic digital cameras were thought of. The exposure meter would give readings for both aperture & shutter speeds giving accurate readings for fast or slow shots.

This beautiful remastered footage was captured by an off duty policeman on 8th May 1945 after Churchill officially declared Victory in Europe. Flags are strung between terraces during the street celebrations in Gateshead. 🇬🇧 #VEDay

#OTD 8 May 1945 was VE Day – a day of celebration to mark the Allied victory in Europe. It was also made a Bank Holiday in Great Britain.

#OTD Trolleybuses last ran in London on May 8, 1962, when the final passenger journey on trolley route 604 was so busy, people were hanging from the windows, crowding the trolleybus on all sides and at times caused it to lean nervously to one side!

This day in 1965, Bob Dylan filmed his famous Subterranean Homesick Blues clip. Shot in an alley behind the Savoy Hotel in London. It served as the opening segment for Don’t Look Back, D.A. Pennebaker’s seminal documentary of Dylan’s tour of England in 1965 #BobDylan #History

Then & Now: Holborn 1890s. Dustmen working as horse drawn bus & cab pass by. Prince Albert with his hat still raised even though the statue has moved a few times around Holborn Circus. The church tower of Holy Sepulchre could be seen then but
now obstructed.

Then & Now: Corner of Shaftesbury Avenue and Greek Street in the 1930s. Then a row of shabby shops with the top half used as a billboard. Replaced in 1958 with a modern block which was typical of the time. A renovation to the shops would have given character.

Then & Now: Kensington Church Street 1950. The narrow bend of the road where 2 buses meet and putting the width to the test. Billboard ads for Kia-Ora on left with Persil and HP sauce on the right. The van parked on the bend would put those buses to the test

Mount Street Gardens, once Mount Fields, a fortification during the English Civil War, containing a Canary Island date palm tree. Outside grade II listed K2 telephone kiosks and the Portland stone gates with lamps by the entrance of South Audley Street.

Make mine a double decker.
A giant crane lowers a double-decker Routemaster into place at The Old Bank of England pub in Fleet Street, where it's parked in the courtyard. That's the thing with London, new curiosities appear all the time, which is what I ❤

Then & Now: Corner of Shaftesbury Avenue and Greek Street in the 1930s. Then a row of shabby shops with the top half used as a billboard. Replaced in 1958 with a modern block which was typical of the time. A renovation to the shops would have given character.

#OTD George V celebrated his Silver Jubilee (25 years) on 6 May 1935. It was the first ever celebration of a British monarch's Silver Jubilee. The day was declared a public holiday and pageants, fetes, and parties were held in glorious May sunshine.