Episodes

  • Ep 204 Ceremonial City life, in all it's bonkers glory.

    Ep 204 Ceremonial City life, in all it's bonkers glory.
    Mar 12 2025
    Never has paying rent been quite so elaborate. Even when it's rent you're not paying, for a piece of land you don't use anymore. It's confusing. The City of London goes to town with the pomp and processions, and we are here to explain all. In fact this year (unlike all the others) we are determined to make it to some of these events. Get your diaries at the ready if you'd like to join us. There's the Boar's Head procession, by the Butchers. The Carmen do the cart marking. City Freemen with their sheep crossing the river. And 61 nails getting handed back and forth, for eternity. Every year since.... well, who is going to have the oldest ceremony? It's a lost in the mists of time face off between Fiona and Alex. We don't just cross the river, we go upstream for the Doggett's Coat and Badge, and then even further up to check who owns those swans. I want to hear "Good service" "Good Number" and "Whack it boys, whack it!" A lesson for us all. John Stow's inscription: "Either do things worth writing about, or write things worth reading". Here at Ladies Who London we hope we do things worth talking about, and talk about things worth doing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    59 mins
  • Ep 203: Haringey - A magic movie moment, all done with kindness

    Ep 203: Haringey - A magic movie moment, all done with kindness
    Mar 5 2025
    Hello Haringey. From Highgate to Tottenham, and the cemetery to Bruce Castle, we flit West to East and back again. Fiona's long been fascinated by a film clip, and turns out both the filmmaker and the subject have Haringey connections. So this week we are talking about the magician David Devant and the cinema pioneer Robert Paul. Roll up, roll up, roll up, for the Kinetescope, the Animatograph and the Filoscope. And cheer loudly for the Prince of Wales. (In fact there's two mentions for the Prince of Wales this week, see if you notice them both, different person, same title.) Plus Eleanor Morton's dates for the Soho theatre. Who else had a whistle at the Burlington Arcade? How much for a plot? And which dictator's relations lived in Haringey? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    38 mins
  • Ep 202 The bells, the bells - Big Town Tinnitus

    Ep 202 The bells, the bells - Big Town Tinnitus
    Feb 26 2025
    Fiona hits the streets in search of the sound of London. Or at least the sound of the bells of London. From the Westminster the the City and beyond, listening as the hours pass by and the years drop away. Listening to the echoes of sounds that Londoners heard 300 years ago. What's a carillon? How long does it take to ring a peal? How heavy? And can we start making them here again please. Of course there's Big Ben, and Great Tom, and Dick gets a mention, can anyone find a Harry? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    43 mins
  • Ep 201 Hammersmith & Fulham: Imre Kiralfy Rescues the Olympics

    Ep 201 Hammersmith & Fulham: Imre Kiralfy Rescues the Olympics
    Feb 19 2025
    In which Alex tells us why a Hungarian dancer was instrumental in fixing the distance for the marathon. It's a journey that takes us all the way from Pest to Chicago and from Hammersmith, through the Court of Honour, via some more dodgy colonial model villages and out to Windsor. Theatrical and event impresario Imre Kiralfy created the area we now know as White City*, to host events and exhibitions. Including the Franco-British Exhibition of 1908. What else happened in 1908? Well Rome was due to host the Olympics. Plus Fiona met a Zoomer, Indoor swimming, bad signposting and a family success. *What colour do you think the buildings were painted? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    49 mins
  • Ep 200: Celebrating 200 with a crazy quiz and a special guest

    Ep 200: Celebrating 200 with a crazy quiz and a special guest
    Feb 12 2025
    Get your pencils and paper ready to join in with us. Alex has prepared a quiz, Fiona has fun facts to share and special guest and friend of the pod Lee Ingleby is putting on a brave face for all of it. Which tube station is the opposite of Squander? What weighs the same as 200 ping pong balls? We're not just testing your London knowledge this week, we're testing your mathematics and spelling too. What links a rocking horse, a 14 ft boat and some breast implants? Settle in for a rollercoaster of things you never knew you needed to know*. Plus a plea for love from another friend of the pod and the world premiere of the Christopher Wren Alert. *You probably don't, and in some cases certainly shouldn't. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    55 mins
  • Ep 199 Hackney: More Light, More Power, More Aerial Silks

    Ep 199 Hackney: More Light, More Power, More Aerial Silks
    Feb 5 2025
    This week it's the rose red empire of Hackney famous residents from the 1500s. We discover why Alex didn't watch Wolf Hall. She's a sensitive gal you know. And we go way back to 600bc, before returning, via the world's first coal powered electricity generating station, where? Really!? How Extraordinary! To the bright lights and power hungry pubs of Shoreditch in the late 1800s. Time for some civic minded Victorian engineering, to produce: More Light, More Power. The unassuming brick building on Coronet St hides a powerful past life, disguised now with the glitz, glamour and muscles of steel needed for aerial circus skills. Plus Crossness dates - 5th Apr, get in touch if you want to join us at the pumping station. Important Hat news, Rev and Amazing Grace, and at some point everyone lives near Krapy Rubsnif. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    57 mins
  • Ep 198: Walking and talking - Refugee Tales with Anna Sayburn Lane

    Ep 198: Walking and talking - Refugee Tales with Anna Sayburn Lane
    Jan 29 2025
    Today we are ringing London, joined by special guest, author and walker, Anna Sayburn Lane. Refugee Tales is a modern recreation of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. A five day walk with stories along the way. Each evening there's entertainments (and snoring, especially from the men's dorm!) The walkers are a mix of interested supporters and people who have been through the process of arriving in this country as a refugee. Sharing a path, breaking bread, and chatting along the way. This year, for their 10th anniversary the main walk in July with be around part of the Capital Ring. Plus the profound effect a walk to Canterbury can have on your life, Christopher Marlowe, a fresh red room and and a hint of Something Rotten Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    51 mins
  • Ep 197 Glorious Greenwich: a tale of two shipies

    Ep 197 Glorious Greenwich: a tale of two shipies
    Jan 22 2025
    Climb aboard and come away with us on the high seas. Take a trip to France on Henry Grace a Deau. The pride of Henry VIII's fleet. Or overtake her whilst laden with tea, wool or pianos, on board The Cutty Sark. How many woolly jumpers can you fit on the only extreme tea clipper left in the world? Henry's ship was built nearby, and maybe ended it's life nearby as well. A war ship that broke the rules, bedecked with guns in all directions. The Cutty Sark you can still visit in Greenwich. Climb her masts, peer inside her chests and squint at her figurehead. Nannie, what's that you're wearing? Alex tells us of a hard life well lived, and gracious lady who's enjoying her retirement*. Plus teaspoons and cheeseboards, news of Crossness and get your skates on if you want to see the Winter lights. *the ship, not Alex. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 hr and 3 mins