London stories
Explore the stories of the world's greatest city and uncover the hidden treasures of our collections.
All stories
Penny for the Guy?: A lost Bonfire Night tradition
Before 5 November, children would wheel a handmade ‘Guy’ around town and ask adults for money
Photographing London at rush hour, 1978
Barry Lewis captured the crowds commuting in the capital
When London was swept up in balloon mania
Balloon ascents were all the rage in the late 1700s and 1800s
Sunil Gupta’s photo-collages protested Section 28
This 1988 series challenged homophobic government legislation through photography and poetry
Jellied eels might be the ultimate London delicacy
Caught in the Thames or shipped from abroad, eels have a long history of sustaining Londoners
Kitty Lord: ‘Eccentric’ dancer who travelled the world
The forgotten stage star who forged an international career from her moves, charm and risqué songs
Spitalfields Market: 400 years of feeding London
A former fruit and veg trading hub in the heart of the East End
St James’s Park: Royal playground & wildlife haven
The park surrounded by palaces – and home to a colony of pelicans
Finding beauty in 1930s working-class London
Humphrey Spender’s photos were born from an appreciation of ordinary life
Office life in the 1980s
Anna Fox’s photographs pick out the mundane and the sinister in the aspirational 1980s workplace
Colourful prints of lost East End shops
Look again at the greengrocers, delis and butchers that have disappeared from our streets
Greenwich Park: Where time begins
The birthplace of Tudor monarchs and Greenwich Mean Time
Bushy Park: London's second-largest royal park
One of London's most remarkable historical landscapes can be found in the south-west suburbs
Portraits of Londoners at home in the 1970s
An intimate look at life behind closed doors
Roman Road Market: Shopping for East London history
Where else could you find pie and mash, biriani, Suffragette history and a grime music landmark?
