Tag: London
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WRITING NOTES: A Challenge in Miniature, August 2026
For the past month I’ve been working on a short story for this year’s Mysterious Murders Short Story Competition. With a limit of 3,000 words, it’s a challenge I’m enjoying. It’s definitely a smaller word count than the usual 6,000-7,000 words of my Bow Street Society Casebook stories! Every writer will tell you a short…
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BOW STREET SOCIETY’S LONDON: RAILWAYS, May 2026
London in the nineteenth century, as now, had a variety of travel options. In this final part of my mini blog series focusing on travel in the metropolis, we’re going to be taking a look at the railway network. In 1896 / 1897 (the setting for my books), both the underground and overground railways were…
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BOW STREET SOCIETY’S LONDON: TRAMS, April 2026
We’re stepping back in time and returning to the nineteenth century once again to explore how Londoners travelled from A to B when private carriages and good old-fashioned walking weren’t an option. This month, we’re putting the magnifying glass on trams. Originally powered by steam, these vehicles later made the transition to literal horsepower in…
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BOW STREET SOCIETY’S LONDON: CABS, March 2026
Welcome back to the blog! This month, we continue our exploration into late-nineteenth century transport by examining Cabs, specifically the fares and regulations around their hire. This is a topic close to the heart of the Bow Street Society’s driver Mr Samuel Snyder, who has been a veteran of the two-wheeler cab for decades. The…
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BOW STREET SOCIETY’S LONDON: OMNIBUSES, February 2026
Bow Street Society fans know that if you want to find your way around its London, the person you need to speak to is the Society’s driver and veteran cabman Mr Samuel Snyder. What did real-life travellers in late-1890s London rely upon to get around, though? In this month’s blog, I take a look at…
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VICTORIAN URBAN LEGENDS: Spring-Heeled Jack, September 2025
For as long as I can remember I’ve been fascinated by urban legends and folklore. In fact, many years ago, I created a series of collages depicting the Bloody Mary legend for my A-Level art exhibition. Urban legends can tell us as much about ourselves and human nature as the fantastical creatures and yarns they’re…
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THE CASE OF THE COMIC CON, June 2025
Between Friday 23rd – Sunday 25th May 2025, the Bow Street Society’s table was at its first ever comic con. Run by MCM, this massive event was held in London ExCel by the London Docklands. We were in the dedicated Writers Block zone (table WB20) and I’m thrilled to say it was my best event…
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THE FASHION OF THE BOW STREET SOCIETY, May 2025
They say the things we wear say much about us as individuals. This can be equally true for the characters in our favourite book, film, or television series. It’s certainly true for the characters of my Bow Street Society novels and short stories. Yet, despite their clothes saying much about them, I’ve never discussed the…
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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…