Category: Police
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BOW STREET SOCIETY LOCATIONS YOU CAN ACTUALLY VISIT, June 2024
As readers of the Bow Street Society books will know, I enjoy featuring real-life locations within the fictional stories. Also, that as far as possible, I source floor plans of these locations to ensure the descriptions are as accurate as possible. Although the series is far from over, lots of real-life locations have already been…
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POLICE STRIKE AT BOW STREET, July 2022
With the cost-of-living crisis and rising inflation affecting us all, it’s fair to say that the standard of living isn’t great at the moment. The recent strikes by employees of the national railways and London Underground have highlighted some of the struggles of modern times. With talk of more strikes by the railway unions, and…
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COFFEE WITH A CURATOR: Corinne Brazier, West Midlands Police, April 2022
This month Coffee with a Curator has become Coffee with a Heritage Manager as I welcome Corrine Brazier to the blog to discuss her role at West Midlands Police and the upcoming opening of the West Midlands Police Museum in its new home, The Lock-Up, Birmingham, UK. I already have plans to visit in July…
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COFFEE WITH AN ARCHIVIST: Neil R.A. Bell, Leicestershire Police, November 2021
I’m delighted to welcome widely respected student of the Jack the Ripper case Neil R. A. Bell to this month’s blog. His book Capturing Jack the Ripper: In the Boots of a Bobby in Victorian London is a must-read for anyone fascinated with the case and policing in the Victorian Era. With Adam Wood, he also wrote…
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COPPERING IN THE WEST COUNTRY, December 2021
Exploring policing heritage beyond London Over the course of my blog, I’ve interviewed many fascinating people connected to the Metropolitan Police. Whether that be by preserving its heritage through museum collections and archives, or recounting personal experiences from their time working within the service. Clearly, the British police and its history extends beyond the limits…
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COPPERING BY THE CODE, September 2021
Top 5 Quotes from Sir Howard Vincent’s Police Code (1889) If you’ve been following this blog for a while, you’ll know I wanted to be a police officer when I was younger but couldn’t for health reasons. In spite of this, I’m still fascinated by the culture and psyche of policing. I believe it’s an…
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COFFEE WITH A CURATOR: Dr Claire Smith, Metropolitan Police Historic Collection, May 2020
May’s blog sees the start of a new series of interviews intended to give you an insight into the captivating work of curators around the world. For the first instalment, I was privileged to share a (virtual) coffee with Dr Clare Smith, Historic Collection Curator at the Heritage Centre dedicated to the Metropolitan Police Service…
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INTERVIEW WITH RETIRED BOW STREET POLICE STATION OFFICER, March 2020
Bow Street is one of London’s most famous thoroughfares — in addition to being the location of the Society’s fictional headquarters, of course. Its police station was as famous as its magistrates’ courts. The vast majority of police presence at the Bow Street station was removed in the second half of the twentieth century with…
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YEAR OF THE RABBIT vs RIPPER STREET, February 2020
First aired in the UK on the 30th December 2012 on the BBC, Ripper Street was created and written by Richard Warlow (Waking the Dead). Initially set in 1889 and then progressing through the subsequent decade until 1900 where the drama ended in 2016, Ripper Street focuses on Whitechapel in the wake of the infamous Jack the Ripper murders…