Done! Last day teaching this term was in lovely Bloomsbury. It's been wonderful teaching @klcschool @wimbledonual and @chelseaual and my first term being mainly freelance.

Great session this week at West Dean in Sussex with KLC Interior Design Diploma students students. Hugh and Simon (Collections Manager and Archivist) gave an amazing tour of the house and archival material allowing students to investigate colonial collecting legacies.

New video on my latest book treasures...all from the big @waterstones.bsky.social in Bloomsbury.

I had the wonderful opportunity to see round the Royal Academy, Woolwich. Fascinating to see the historic buildings up close as well as the newer additions. Huge thanks to @TOWIWoolwich ❤️

Gave a Christmas talk for KLC School of Design on the Great Smog of 5th-9th December 1952. I was invited by the Student Association to do my talk during a bauble making workshop, so just like listening to a podcast. Such a great way to incorporate having a talk!

Love my job. Used a clip of Cissie and Ada today in a session on interiors and the Industrial Revolution.

Great session taking KLC BA Interior Design students round the Museum of the Home today. Nothing beats a museum visit and seeing objects in the flesh. As ever, the museum's front of house staff were great: so welcoming and informative.

This week taking @chelseaual.bsky.social Interior Design students to @vamuseum.bsky.social with @vbruggemeyer.bsky.social

Delightful evening at Rory Hutton's private view 'The House Beautiful' at Shapero Modern for the 125th anniversary of Oscar Wilde's death. Wonderful pieces in response to Wilde and interiors. Also saw the 'Gertrude's Garden' scarf I had on as a print.

Great new treasure, 'Picture Post, 1938-50' edited by Tom Hopkinson. Elizabeth Taylor, Polio, Blitzkrieg, unemployment and Stanley Spencer...an interesting array of articles for a turbulent period.

The latest episode of Monstrosities Mon Amour is out! Join the magnificent @rosamundlilywest.bsky.social and I to explore the wonders of the Blackwall Tunnel and the historical quirks of Wetherspoons johngrindrod.substack.com/p/monstrosit...

The joys of spending some of my week as a freelancer....green space and spectacular views.

kind of obsessed that the Centenary of the general strike has a logo

Join me on a walk, looking at interesting buildings. This is the Royal Military Academy on Woolwich Common, built between 1803 and 1806 with extensions from the 1850s. I love it, I hope you do too. Shout out to my old employer the Survey of London in the video.

My next @opencity-uk.bsky.social walking tour of Canary Wharf and East India is Saturday 20th December. Booking and details here: open-city.org.uk/events/c-wha...

Updated my British Art Network profile, here: britishartnetwork.org.uk/membership/m...

Did a walking lecture round Kings Cross centred around seating with @vbruggemeyer.bsky.social for @chelseaual.bsky.social Interior Design students.

Great @opencity-uk.bsky.social walk around Elephant and Castle led by Joseph Granata. So much local knowledge and it is great to go on other people's tours.

Bought a ringlight so you'll be seeing much more of this...my original LCC crest.

Going to start doing videos of book treasures I've found. Enjoy 🙂

Latest treasure, a history of TB. Perfect.

At the beautiful Walthamstow Library for some business training...such a stunner! Built between 1907 and 1909 by J W Dunford. As the first images states, the building is 'dedicated to knowledge'.

Great day with the Collections Manager and Archivist @westdean.ac.uk preparing for an object-based session on interiors and colonial collecting using the collections.

Nice to see the new digital rail clock marking 200 years of railways in Britain. Designed by Design Bridge and Partners, the two railway arrow heads rotate as a second hand.

Planning teaching reading the latest Museums Journal.

Love an interwar pub...good place for project catch ups.

My freelancing taking me to Oxfordshire (by way of Pevsners) on a recent trip to the Bartlett library. I'm expanding my freelance research, writing and lecturing so contact me for any research you need doing, curating, walking tours/walking lectures or lecturing on art and architectural history.

Thank you to @globalmarhist.bsky.social and @canadianerrant.bsky.social for inviting me to reflect on walking as a methodology. globalmaritimehistory.com/canary-wharf...

wp.me/p9nqgh-3hE Thank you to @rosamundlilywest.bsky.social for Canary Wharf: walking as a way of doing history, the second post in our Academic Processes and Digital Humanities series. This bring really interesting insights about the area

Whole day yesterday taking Technical University of Munich MA and PhD students round Canary Wharf. Great students and interesting discussions comparing German and UK examples of development. Using tours as a walking lecture is a great way to learn and foster discussion.

Teaching with @chelseaual.bsky.social @hunterianmuseum.bsky.social today.

Getting ready for a day of online tutorials, fuelled by the contents of my @artukdotorg.bsky.social mug. Looking forward to hearing more about students' research projects.

Passing through my local Elizabeth line station. Designed by Weston Williamson + Partners, the building references the area's military ties. Here, the columns have tiled strips representing the colours of the Royal Artillery and the Royal Engineers, both once based at Woolwich

Going off on tangents today whilst teaching @westdeansoc about the Aesthetic Movement, we spoke about Oscar Wilde's plaque at Clapham Junction station. This plaque remembers him waiting here on his way to Reading Gaol, handcuffed and in prison uniform, being jeered at and spat at by the crowds.

Great to be invited to the multidisciplinary Healthy Homes Research Workshop as part of Essex's Health Determinants Research Collaboration at the beautiful Hylands House. So much to think about in terms of a historical perspective. Organised by Jack Head.

Train reading

Visited the Emily Kam Kngwarray exhibition at Tate Modern. Scroll for Tate's statement on acknowledging Australian First Nation Peoples.

Interested in a walking tour or walking lecture for your company, university or organisation? I will be expanding my walking tour offer soon so watch this space. More details coming soon...in the meantime, get in touch for more information.

Very much enjoying @rosamundlilywest.bsky.social discussing Plumstead Common on the @opencity-uk.bsky.social podcast. Go go John de Morgan! shows.acast.com/601c017e2709...

Beautiful swan in the north dock, west india dock today.

A quick hello as I'm at Canary Wharf ahead of my @opencity_uk walking tour of Canary Wharf and East India this morning *Crossrail Palce is actually 300 metres long, not 380 metres.

The 'Do Ho Suh: Walk the House' exhibition gave me so much food for thought when researching, and teaching, about home and housing. Using the Korean phrase 'walk the house' to investigate ideas of how we carry places within us. The artist's film 'Robin Hood Gardens' also features in the exhibition.

One of the advantages of working @wimbledonual.bsky.social is getting to know the lovely Wimbledon Chase area. Really interesting Victorian and Edwardian homes. The house in the last image has a dragon on top of the roof.

Seasides and fairgrounds are the best places for folk art.

Herne Bay ❤️

Don't see these old charity collection boxes often nowadays...blast from the past in Herne Bay.

Now live! I was interviewed by @matthewlloydr.bsky.social for @opencity-uk.bsky.social Deconstructed podcast discussing the Keeper's Lodge at Plumstead Common, built by the LCC in 1894.

Art school table tops @wimbledonual.bsky.social

First day teaching @wimbledonual.bsky.social This year, I'm also teaching @chelseaual.bsky.social as usual as well as at West Dean. I am now also expanding my freelance work so watch this space.

Pretty good venue for my COVID/flu jab. Equitable House, Lionel U. Grace and W. G. Farmer (1935). Built as the headquarters of the Woolwich Equitable Building Society, it now houses a health centre. If interested in Woolwich's rich history, I do a tour of Woolwich for @opencity-uk.bsky.social