Category: research
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COFFEE WITH AN ARCHIVIST: David Luck, Bethlem: Museum of the Mind, January 2025
I’m thrilled to bring you a new Coffee with a Curator feature for 2025. Previous instalments have featured chats with curators, archivists, historians, and heritage managers from a variety of organisations including police museums, housing associations, and virtual museums. This time, I’m delighted to welcome David Luck, archivist at Bethlem: Museum of the Mind to chat about the…
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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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LONDON’S BURNING, November 2024
A Brief History of Fire Fighting in the Metropolis For many in England, November 5th is a night of bonfires and fireworks to mark Guy Fawkes Night and the historical gunpowder plot to destroy parliament. As the rhyme goes: remember, remember, the fifth of November, gunpowder, treason and plot. I see no reason why gunpowder treason…
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GETTING SHIPWRECKED, February 2024
C19th Phrases for Drinking & Drunkenness February may be the month of pancakes and love for some, but for others it marks the end of Dry January and a return to celebrating (almost) anything with a tipple or two (it’s Friday!) Most of us know drunkenness was a major social problem in the nineteenth century.…
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COFFEE WITH AN OPERATIONS MANAGER: Alexander Geddes, Peterhead Prison Museum, March 2023
The Coffee with a Curator interviews has proven popular amongst my readers since the first back in 2020 when I chatted to Dr Clare Smith of the Metropolitan Police Heritage Collection. Therefore, it’s only fitting for me to bring you another fascinating conversation from the world of museums and archives. This month, I had the absolute delight…
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DIAMOND JUBILEE for the Bow Street Society, June 2022
June 2022 marks the 70th year of the reign of Her Majesty the Queen Elizabeth II, officially making her the longest reigning British monarch in history. Prior to this, the accolade belonged to Her Majesty’s great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria who reigned for almost 64 years from 1837 – 1901. Therefore, the members of the Bow Street…
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GUEST AT BOW STREET: Richard Jones of London Walking Tours, December 2020
Join me at the Bow Street Society’s house to chat with the very charming Mr Richard Jones of London Walking Tours. Mr Richard Jones is a holder of the Institute of Tourist Guiding’s highest accolade—the Blue Badge Tourist Guide qualification. The aforementioned institute being the official governing body for tour guides in England. In order…
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PHOTOGRAPHING THE DEAD IN THE VICTORIAN ERA, October 2020
It’s October; the spookiest month of the year! With this in mind I wanted to explore the darker side of the Victorian Era by looking at the practise of photographing the dead. Needless to say, then, this blog includes several mentions of death which some readers may find disturbing. If death and the documenting thereof…
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COFFEE WITH A CURATOR: Paul Robert, Virtual Typewriter Museum, June 2020
Welcome to June’s blog and the second instalment of ‘Coffee with a Curator’, a series of interviews intended to give you an insight into the captivating work of curators from around the world. You may read the first interview with Dr Clare Smith, Historic Collection Curator at the Heritage Centre dedicated to the Metropolitan Police…