by Andrew Gill | Aug 26, 2021 | Gallery, Places, The Man on the Clapham Omnibus
These ladies are meticulously hand-decorating vases at what we believe to be the Royal Doulton Faience factory in Lambeth, London, probably in the 1880s. The work of the more famous porcelain artists is, of course, very collectable today but for every one of those,... 
by Andrew Gill | Aug 3, 2021 | Gallery, I didn’t expect that!, Places, Transport
Today, London’s river police are highly-trained and well-equipped to respond to emergencies and undertake routine enforcement roles associated with a busy river. This photograph, probably taken in the 1880s, shows their Victorian counterparts. Their role was... 
by Andrew Gill | Aug 3, 2021 | Gallery, Places, The Man on the Clapham Omnibus
This striking portrait of a London fireman was taken in the late 1800s. The steam engine behind him was used to power the water pump that provided the jet of water. In the early days, firemen would only attempt to extinguish fires at houses that displayed a plaque on... 
by Andrew Gill | Aug 1, 2021 | Gallery, Places, The Man on the Clapham Omnibus
This Victorian photograph shows a young girl looking longingly at sweets in a shop window. It is deliberately-posed, rather than taken at random by the photographer. We know it’s Winter as there is snow on the ground and there might be a clue to the location, as... 
by Andrew Gill | Jul 27, 2021 | Gallery, Transport
A fascinating photograph, probably taken in the 1890s, of a major London railway terminus. At the height of the Victorian railway boom, companies competed for passengers and many built grand London stations which were as much status symbols as places to board a train.... 
by Andrew Gill | Jul 25, 2021 | Gallery, Places, The Man on the Clapham Omnibus
For Victorians, oysters were cheap street food, the equivalent of burgers today. At some point in time, they moved up a class or two and became a rare (and expensive) delicacy. Whitstable, on the north Kent coast, has long been famous for its oysters and, indeed, has... 
by Andrew Gill | Jul 24, 2021 | Gallery, Places, The Man on the Clapham Omnibus, Transport
Madame Tussaud was born in 1761 and brought her travelling waxwork exhibition to Britain in 1802. It has been hugely popular ever since and is now a global business. You would never imagine that in a world dominated by moving and 3D imagery, static models of... 
by Andrew Gill | Jul 24, 2021 | Gallery, Places, The Man on the Clapham Omnibus
This is a very unusual view of the Crystal Palace. It was originally built in central London to house the Great Exhibition of 1851 but later moved to Sydenham, south of the the Thames. Virtually every photograph of the Palace shows it in its own grounds, thereby... 
by Andrew Gill | Jul 24, 2021 | Gallery, Places, The Man on the Clapham Omnibus, Transport
Trafalgar Square is so busy, all of the time, that we often don’t see it for what it is, a magnificent, beautifully proportioned, people-space in a noisy, crowded, bustling city. Designed by John Nash and opened in 1844, it reflected Britain’s wealth and... 
by Andrew Gill | Jul 23, 2021 | Gallery, I didn’t expect that!, Places, The Man on the Clapham Omnibus, Transport
Today, tunnels such as those for the London Crossrail and HS2 railway line projects, are dug mechanically by huge machines but much of the London Underground system was excavated by hand, moving forward one inch at a time. This photograph from the Victorian period,... 
by Andrew Gill | Jul 23, 2021 | Gallery, Places, Transport
It’s Euston Station but not as we know it. Where are the crowds, the shops, the cafes? We like the composition of this photograph with its clean lines (no litter, sorry about the pun) and roof supports sweeping away into the distance, echoing the journeys made... 