Starting a new job and organizing things after relocation to living in Londonis quite tiring, which means you should take a break once in a while. And what better way to take a break, than to indulge in some books and poetry in London? London heads many events including comedy, music, classical and opera. Aside from these, there are many weekly events to consider when living in London, which could help you socialize and meet new like-minded individuals.
Living In London – Books & Poetry In London
Bang Said The Gun
Bang Said The Gun is a great place to visit when you are living in London if you prefer a funnier side to poetry. Various gigs are organized on a regular basis, so you should visit the official website if you want to plan your next night out. Being voted as the best poetry gig in London, Bang Said The Gun has something different to offer on every visit. Generally, these events are held in varying destinations, with the next one on Thursday 22nd March being held at Roebuck, on Dover Street. ‘Stand up poetry’ is the term given to this event and you could see some familiar faces taking to the stage to entertain the audience when living in London.
Westminster Writers’ Group
If you want to share your views and hear the views of others when living in London, become a member of the Westminster Writers’ Group. These meetings are held on the second Tuesday, and the last Tuesday of every month. Constructive criticism and comments are delivered from members here, so whether you are reading a book or hoping to write your own, there is no better place to get the support you deserve. This relaxed group of people could help you to make friends and build your confidence. The Marylebone Library is the main destination, situated in the ‘Children’s Section’. You will be surprised at the quality level of writing at the Westminster Writer’s Group and occasionally, you can get help with publishing your work when living in London.
Elephant In The Hub
At the well-known Roundhouse, which you will probably come to visit on many occasions when living in London, you can participate in a book and poetry event called ‘Elephant in the Hub’. This group is aimed at people between the ages of 11 and 25 years old who want to express their thoughts and learn more about TV, poetry, radio, drama and music production. The mixture of talents means that the group is varied and you can participate in projects, get relevant support and become a member when living in London.
There are too many extraordinary British authors to name and almost every American moving to London is familiar with several. There are the classic greats like Charles Dickens and William Shakespeare, Jane Austin and Emily and Charlotte Bronte. The British have excelled in literary works for hundreds of years and are proud to showcase their achievements. Unlike many Americans who read classic novels trying to imagine the streets of London as David Copperfield saw them or the moors on which Catherine and Heathcliff frolicked, an American moving to London gets the opportunity to explore the countryside and city streets made infamous in novels over the course of centuries.
A wonderful New Year’s Resolution for any American moving to London or already moved is to read one classic British novel per month and explore where the story took place. Depending on time and transportation needed to get to locations featured within books there are several options that will meet every limitation or expectation.
Elizabethan Literature: For an American Moving to London with a flair for the dramatic a Shakespeare play is in order. Macbeth is set in Scotland and England and would be an exciting story to read and then visit the landmarks. One could even spend a holiday following in Macbeth’s footsteps.
Romantic Literature: Any American moving to London who truly appreciates a love story will enjoy reading one of Jane Austen’s novels. Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park and Sense and Sensibility are classic novels showcasing England’s beauty and nobility. Following Austen’s characters through England’s countryside is a splendid way to spend a spring afternoon.
Industrial England: During the Victorian era England was not a good place to be poor. No one captured the hopelessness quite like Charles Dickens. For any American moving to London wishing to explore the hardships of the lower class during the industrial revolution in London a reading of Oliver Twist, David Copperfield or A Christmas Carol will fit the bill.
Modern Literature: The Harry Potter series is by far the most popular books recently to hail from the United Kingdom. Many an American moving to London tries to find the infamous locations featured within the pages of the magical books. Retracing Harry’s step while visiting London would be a dream come true for many American children.
Make no mistake: an international relocation entails a lot of CHANGE. If you followed my posts earlier this month, hopefully you saw my one about author Cherie Colyer’s virtual launch of her novel, Embrace. Just as the book’s main character, Madison, is compelled to adapt to the changes in her life, Ms. Colyer has asked virtual launch participants to share our stories about doing just that: embracing change. If you’re planning your relocation to London and blogging about it, I hope you’ll share your tale as well.
For what it’s worth, here’s mine:
Since I got married only three months before moving to London from the US (and my husband was still living in a different state at the time!) and had to quit my job, my international relocation transition was threefold—getting adjusted to a different country, finding a new job, and having a new roommie for life.
That was WAY too much change in too short a time! And, unfortunately, since it was my husband’s job that brought us over here (a move that I strongly resisted from the outset because I loved my job and my peeps back home), it became too easy to use that as a reason for channeling my resentment toward him, and I spent those first few months working in opposition of him as opposed to teaming up to get through it together. That was a tremendous burden and had the effect of making me feel even lonelier here. It really just took some time and finding a new job and friends to fill the voids the move had caused; once I felt whole again, I could finally attain a better perspective and replace my resentment with more appreciation of my husband, the changes he’d had to embrace as well, the support he offered me, and the fact that we now enjoy London and each other so much.
I think a big part of what I needed to get past was feeling like a victim of my circumstances and resisting any changes to how I’d lived prior to relocating to London. The solution, therefore, was to take responsibility for my choices that had led me here as well (i.e., in choosing to marry my husband and stick with him through thick and thin). I needed to give support, too, rather than just demand it all the time, and that helped us reach mutual understanding and respect for each other’s individual life goals and how those can intertwine to help us achieve our shared ones. When it came down to it, I needed to embrace change, not kick-and-scream against it. To fight it was not only exhausting for a time, but, had I continued on that path, I wouldn’t have had the new professional and personal opportunities I’ve enjoyed since—great friends for life, work that indulges my passions, and gobs of international travel and exploring every nook and cranny of the phenomenal city of London itself. Change isn’t always for the better, but we need to stay open-minded to the aspects of it that are and how change that threatens to be bad can push us to grow…which, in the end, can only be for the better.
It’s not too late to participate in the Virtual Launch Party for EMBRACE! See the oodles of related info below.
Madison is familiar enough with change, and she hates everything about it. Change took her long-term boyfriend away from her. It caused one of her friends to suddenly hate her. It’s responsible for the death of a local along with a host of other mysterious happenings. But when Madison meets a hot new guy, she thinks her luck is about to improve.
Madison is instantly drawn to the handsome and intriguing Isaac Addington. She quickly realizes he’s a guy harboring a secret, but she’s willing to risk the unknown to be with him.
Her world really spins out of control, however, when her best friend becomes delusional, seeing things that aren’t there and desperately trying to escape their evil. When the doctors can’t find the answers, Madison seeks her own.
Nothing can prepare her for what she is about to discover.
Prizes: To celebrate the release of her debut novel, Cherie is giving away an eCopy of EMBRACE and 5-Embrace Hemp Bracelets today. There are three ways to win:
1) Leave a comment here or at any of the Party Posts.
2) Tweet about the Virtual Party or any of the Party Posts with tag #EMBRACEnovels
Example:
Nothing could have prepared her for what she’s about to discover. #EMBRACEnovels @CherieColyer #YA avail NOW www.cheriecolyer.blogspot.com
Example:
Celebrate the launch of EMBRACE by @CherieColyer #EMBRACEnovels #paranormal #YA avail NOW www.cheriecolyer.blogspot.com
Embracing change for an international relocation to London - London Relocation Services
First of all, if you’re making an international relocation to London and excited for the useful goodies in store at the London Relocation agency’s new website, sorry that I got your hopes up for Monday. The new site obviously hasn’t launched yet, and all I can say is *fingers crossed* it will by the end of the week.
In the meantime, if you’re like many expats I know, you might be blogging about your international relocation experience. Check out our London expat blogroll at our London Living social network for a sampling of several expats who made the London move, blogged about it, and continue to blog about their experiences living abroad. It’s a great means of sorting through all the factors involved in an international move, cheering for your steps forward in the process and perhaps cursing at unexpected steps back. And once you’ve moved to London, you’ll want to chronicle your adventures here!
At any rate, a big part of the expat blog is not only about embracing adventure but embracing change. Change is inevitable; change is what helps us grow. Change also is intimidating and might not seem for the best at first. We all approach it differently; some of us are more adaptable than others, and some of us have different expectations of what change will mean. And change can have a funny way of surprising us with what it really has in store.
In celebration of embracing change, then, I’ve joined the virtual book launch for author Cherie Colyer‘s debut novel, Embrace. Here are the details from her author blog:
To celebrate the release of Embrace
I’m throwing a Virtual Launch Party and I’m inviting everyone to come!
Will you join me?
When: December 20, 2011
Where: On Your Blog
What: A celebration of the release of EMBRACE
And did I mention there will be prizes?
Here’s How to Join the Party (pick one!):
1) Write your own post about embracing change.
Share a story like the ones above about embracing change. It can be something small, like a new hair style that helped you feel like a whole new person to something big like a new job or moving away from home for the first time. I’m hoping these posts will brighten everyone’s day as they get ready for the holidays.
2) Hop around the virtual party and just hang out.
Sounds fun, doesn’t it? And it sounds terribly appropriate to me as a topic for us folks who have or are going to make the relocation to London. If you’re in the process of it, your life is definitely about to change—so join me here on December 20th as I share my personal story of how my London relocation prompted me to embrace change. And, even better, take Cherie Colyer up on Option #1 up there: WRITE YOUR OWN POST ABOUT EMBRACING CHANGE on your blog. You can sign up here: www.embracenovels.com
If you don’t have a blog but would like to share your relocation experience with everyone here, you can also submit it to me as a guest post for the London Relocation blog at colleen[AT]londonrelocation[DOT]co[DOT]uk.
The London Relocation agency assists anyone moving to London, even if it’s just a move within the UK or the city itself. However, London Relocation agents find that most often their clientele consists of expats like themselves, those making an international relocation from numerous countries around the globe. Expatriotism is a common trend as technology increasingly shrinks our world and makes it easier for people to work from anywhere in the world; it has resulted in a more global mindset that has larger numbers considering what life would be like in an another country and culture, not only desiring to visit a new destination but actually live there.
When I first made the relocation to London myself, I very much missed home, and my global curiosity had already been sufficiently satisfied through annual world travels. To put it bluntly, I didn’t particularly feel the need to actually live somewhere else so long as I made the time and money to allow me to visit to my heart’s content. So when it came to actually moving to London, I had mixed feelings.
But, being a literature-lover, I tried to fancy the romance of it when I considered how some of my favorite authors like F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway were American expatriates. By that time, WWI had introduced many young Americans to nations overseas as they volunteered their efforts, and the experience left them with a restlessness back home; they’d experienced the cruel realities of war but also an indulgent freedom that contrasted with more seemingly stifling expectations among family and peers in American society. So, many returned and left constraints like Prohibition and practical careers behind to frolic in Europe’s playground and cultivate their artistic sensibilities. Even Europe must have seemed so exotic back then, before people were able to hop a commercial flight overseas almost as easily as hail a taxi on the street.
I happen to be reading about the 1920s right now, which is what brings this all fresh to mind right now. The world has changed so drastically since then that international relocation or travel is really not so “foreign,” per se, and expats communities have expanded far beyond merely the artistic and/or rich “elite.” Nonetheless, I’m constantly blogging here about the changes such a move does entail, and it’s surely no less a mind-opening experience today as it was back then. Furthermore, I came upon this passage in my book, Lucy Moore’s Anything Goes, about the sentiments of many 1920s American expats that are not all too different from my own:
“The more insightful among them recognized that, paradoxically, living abroad made it possible to look more clearly at the United States, to better judge and comment on what they had left behind. Their time away actually intensified their Americanness, rather than diluting it, and this became a powerful inspiration for many. Then, too, returning Americans found that they like being back home—that the familiar had charms more potent than they remembered.”
Just some food for thought as you make your own international relocation to London. You’ll see that it’s almost as much about reflecting on where you’re moving from as it is learning about where you’re moving to.
A cautionary tale for Americans relocating to London, mwah-ha-ha-haaa... - London Relocation Services - Cover via Amazon
If you’re moving to London and following this blog, you might recall that the other week I mentioned compiling a list of recommended Halloween movies set in London or elsewhere in England (see “Relocation to London UK – Top 5 Halloween in London Posts“). I myself had almost forgotten, so am getting this in under the wire… Anyway, if you’re planning your London move and trying to imagine what life will be like walking its streets, don’t worry, they’re not as horrific as what’s depicted below (not that the London property market isn’t terrifying at times…). This is just for a bit of fun as you prepare to live in the historic and atmospheric UK that lends itself so well as the haunting backdrop to all sorts of spooky lore.
Happy Halloween – enjoy!
An American Werewolf in London – 1980s film classic set in UK locations like London’s Earls Court, Hampstead Heath, London Zoo in Regent’s Park, and Piccadilly Circus.
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street – While this Victorian Gothic tale was not literally filmed there, the infamous barber shop and Mrs. Lovett’s pie shop are supposed to be on London’s Fleet Street, just down a ways from St. Paul’s Cathedral near the Royal Courts of Justice and darling little Twinings tea shop (the original founded at the beginning of the 18th century).
Bram Stoker’s Dracula – Again, this one was filmed in a studio, but the tale takes place in Yorkshire and London, England.
28 Days Later – Okay, now we’re back on the actual streets of the UK. This intense zombie flick was filmed at various locations such as London’s Canary Wharf, Haymarket, Bank, Piccadilly Circus, Westminster, Trafalgar Square, Bloomsbury, Notting Hill, and Isle of Dogs as well as England’s Manchester, Salisbury, the Lake District, and Cornwall.
Shaun of the Dead – Like some comedy with your horror? This zombie-fest starring Simon Pegg will have you laughing and “Ew!”-ing like mad as the characters run for their lives through London locations like Crouch End, East and North Finchley, Hampstead, Park Royal, New Barnet, and New Cross.
The Others – One of my absolute favorites that leaves most of the fright to your imagination, this WWII-period ghost story is set in the dark rooms and corridors of an English stately home in Jersey, Channel Islands.
Village of the Damned – The 1960 original of this classically creepy story of an English village impregnated with fast-growing, blond-haired and glowing-eyed children was filmed in Letchmore Heath, Hertfordshire, England.
Bedknobs and Broomsticks – This one’s for the kiddies: A Walt Disney tale of magic set during WWII Britain and starring Angela Landsbury, this movie was partially filmed on location in Dorset, England; though the rest was filmed in a studio, the film does depict the streets of London as the characters are evacuated from the city to the country during the London Blitz and make a return excursion to it.
Harry Potter – Here’s another child-friendly pick containing magical witchcraft. This series has been filmed all over the UK, including Oxfordshire, Northumberland, Durham, Yorkshire, Middlesex, and London’s King’s Cross, St. Pancras, Regent’s Park, Holburn, Southwark, Westminster, and on and on and on…
V for Vendetta – Lest we forget that this week begins with Halloween but ends with Guy Fawkes Day, here’s a dystopian film that will surely make you remember, remember, the 5th of November (see “Relocation to London – London Firework Displays for November’s Bonfire Night” for firework celebrations in London this weekend and “Move to London and Live its History” as well as “Weekend Warrior Sunday: London Leaders” for historical background). This movie was filmed at London’s Trafalgar Square, Strand, Holburn, City, and Clerkenwell as well as Hertfordshire, England. The culminating scene of Parliament is luckily just “movie magic” and not the real deal…
And there you have it. By no means the end-all, be-all list, but a good start. If you really want to get into British horror, there’s a comprehensive list of such films by year at www.britishhorrorfilms.co.uk. In the meantime, what should NOT be frightening you right now is your move to London; trust in your London Relocation agent, who will get you moved into your new London apartment quickly and smoothly. No surprises lurking in the shadows, no menace hovering over your head, only screams of sheer delight.
No expat is an island...but the UK is - London Relocation Services - Image via Wikipedia
Author: Colleen
I’ve blogged before about how my relocation to London has sparked this greater awareness of and interest in references I hear about London or other parts of England in what I read (see our “Moving to London – London Literacy” category for some good UK-related reads). No matter what, all literary roads seem to lead back to London for me, and my friends’ and my new book club pick (The Island, by Victoria Hislop) was to prove no exception: right in the first chapter we learn the main character has a “slightly tatty rented flat in Crouch End,” whereas her boyfriend lives in “a smart apartment in Kensington.” A couple pages later, we then learn that her parents dwell in “a Victorian terraced house in a quiet Battersea street.”
But beyond that, I certainly didn’t expect a book about a leper colony living in WWII Greece to provide any further connection to my international relocation—well, I should hope not!! But crazy as it sounds, I was wrong. So far there haven’t been further specific mentions of London or the UK, but this particular paragraph did resonate with my London move:
“That afternoon they unpacked their boxes. Surrounding themselves with a few familiar objects should have lifted their mood, but each time a new possession emerged it came with all the associations of their past lives and did not help them forget. Every new trinket, book or toy reminded them more intensely than the last of what they had left behind.”
In any case, it was interesting for me to come across that passage on the same day that I had run our signed lease renewal over to our representing London lettings agency. I hadn’t set foot inside that place since we first relocated to London from the States three years ago, and it brought back instantly the feelings of insecurity and not knowing what lay ahead that had plagued me at the time, the feelings of first living in our London apartment before our belongings were delivered and it seeming like a blank shell of a house and not a home without all my personal possessions inside it. Just when I’m about to go all Maria Von Trapp on you and belt out a list of “My Favorite Things,” I admittedly also see the point made in that passage above…how those familiar things can sometimes make it harder to move on. An international relocation is difficult when you’re closely connected to who and what you leave behind at home, so there’s no question that one big step toward getting over my homesick grief was feeling that it really wasn’t so far away from me after all, that my loved ones were there in spirit thanks to the memories my familiar objects from home evoked. Yet just as necessary for getting over it was embracing the new, that I couldn’t just keep clinging on to what made me ache for home. London had become my new home, and I needed to navigate my way through the unfamiliar, see different sights, know different people, and start to make all that part of who I am, too, and, if not where I was from, then where I am now.
Just the random reflections of a fellow expat living in London…perhaps these thoughts will resonate with your current international relocation experience like the aforementioned did for me.
You know what also happens in just ONE DAY? London Relocation Services will find your perfect London apartment.
Author: Colleen
If you’re making an international relocation to London, you’re likely (hopefully) researching as much about your new home as you can. London Relocation agents, for one, will play a big part in making the unfamiliar familiar to you so your relocation to London is fast and seamless. And they can speak to not just the London property market, but the local lifestyle and culture that will become as much a part of your everyday as your new London apartment. So that takes a lot of pressure off you, giving you more time to just kick and read something for pleasure.
And that’s where I come in. If you’ve read any of my previous “London Literacy” posts, you’ll know that my English teacher/reader/writer self loves any poetry or prose set in this fine literary city, and I often encounter it whether I want to or not! The UK’s just a hub like that, as you’ll find for yourself when you move to London…it’s an interesting intersection of the world. So then, while your London Relocation agent will show you 18-25 properties in just one day, I’m going to tell you about my most recent read, One Day. This has been a Kindle bestseller and is now also known for its new film version starring Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess. It seems to be the usual case where the book is better than the movie where reviews go. I haven’t yet seen the film, but I loooved the book.
As the title would imply, One Day by David Nicholls is about one day…but not just one year. It follows its two main characters, Dexter and Emma, over the course of two decades on the anniversary of the same day they first become friends and initiate some major sexual tension. This tension ensues as life takes them on separate paths that converge and diverge while the two friends tread the fine line of platonic and romantic love. The characterization is so well developed; Em and Dex feel very real with all their flaws and virtues and the way their different personalities and intellects bounce off each other. To hate a character like Dexter most of the way through and still have him endear himself in the end is really saying something. And dialogue and narration both are tremendously witty; I don’t think I’ve ever laughed out loud so much reading a novel, so I wasn’t prepared for how much it would then move me as well. Just when it seemed like a light read, it became something very human and touching, and it’s one of those stories that lingered with me long after I’d finished.
And it’s largely set in London. (There it is! This post does have some relevance to this blog!) In addition to being a very fun read, I as a London expat of course got a kick out of recognizing the locations of its settings. Though it starts out in Edinburgh, Scotland, the book eventually features London neighborhoods like Soho, Hampstead, Highgate, Earls Court, Hackney, Richmond and…shoot, I can’t remember them all, but you’ll find out when you read it! It gives more a sense of the real London where people really live versus the big sites where the tourists frolic. And also makes you question: does the NHS still provide hideous, standard-issue eyeglasses like that? You see London from the middle-to-lower class day-to-day, just-gotta-pay-the-bills perspective to the affluent, city-is-your-playground one—and even then, all that glitters is not gold. All around, I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it, particularly if you’re making the London move yourself one day!
Well, hello my little relocating-to-London poopsies. I’ve missed you! I’m hoping to be back blogging more regularly this month—there’s just been so much going on! Lots of fun stuff in store with our impending new website, but I’ll keep my lips sealed on that a bit longer. For now, I’d just like to share with you how a London move is so much more than just living in a new city; it’s living in a new country, with special emphasis on country…
The Cornish countryside - London Relocation Services
You see, this little City Mouse tapped into her inner Country Mouse last week with a few days spent in Cornwall. My husband and I had long put off venturing out to this much-desired region of the UK simply because we assumed it was such a far trek by train or car. Well, I’m pleased to relate that, after stealing away on my own out there for a writing retreat, the travel could not have been easier. For around £75 roundtrip, I caught the First Great Western Railway out of Paddington, and under 5 hours later, I arrived at the station in Par. I stayed at a charming B&B (Polbrean House) in Tywardreath that was seriously just a 5-minute walk from the rail station. I could walk to Par Sands Beach within 15 minutes and from there off-road it onto portions of the Saints’ Way and the South West Coast Path, which took me past the crescent-shaped little inlet of Polkerris, round to Gribben Head and onward to the port town of Fowey within a few hours…tough to estimate how long it takes, as I couldn’t help stopping all along the way to stretch my arms out to the skies like Maria Von Trapp, just bursting with the euphoria of fresh, sweet-smelling air, rolling fields, and dramatic cliffs that give way to that vast blue horizon of sea.
This, folks, is Daphne Du Maurier country, in case you’re familiar with her work. Originally from London, the author lived in Cornwall much of her life, and several of her novels such as Rebecca, The House on the Strand, The King’s General, and her short story “The Birds” (which, yes, was adapted into Alfred Hitchcock‘s film of same name) were inspired and set along this coastline. So let’s just say I was in my literary glory taking a self-guided Du Maurier hike to really bring these settings to life and learn much actual history along the way.
I chose to restrict my excursion to writing and hiking through this area alone, which was all easily accessible on foot other than when I’d take the bus back to Tywardreath from Fowey (less than 10 minutes for only about 2 quid)—so don’t feel like you have to have a car to make such a trip possible for yourself. Even if I had decided to venture out to see nearby popular sites like the Eden Project, the Lost Gardens of Heligan, Penzance, and St. Ives (all of which I intend to visit in future), I could have easily done it via public transport. And, even though I got to spend a lovely 5 nights there, I do think it’s totally doable as a Friday-Sunday weekend getaway—especially when done by train, as that in itself is such nice, relaxing down-time.
Literally finding greener pastures as a result of moving to London - London Relocation Services
So, as you plan your international relocation to London, you might be feeling stressed now, but after London Relocation takes the load off your back and finds you your perfect London apartment rental, just think of the additional R&R to be ha outside the city in rural England! Cornwall…*sigh*…where the farms meet the sea and you meet yourself. Revel in the possibilities of foregoing skylines for sky and pavement for stony dirt trails—you can have your Cornish pasty and eat it too after your London move.
London Tapestry – History and Literature Woven Together - Image by Orchid Junkie via Flickr
One of the many fun things about moving to London is the delight that comes of seeing the city you live in mentioned in a book. That applies to any city really, but even more so with London given how often it appears in literature. And so, here is another in a series of blogs about books with London as a backdrop (the first was about Neil Gaiman’s fantasy novel, ‘Neverwhere’). With this blog, we’ll take a look at Kim Newman’s horror novel, ‘Anno Dracula’.
Anno Dracula is probably unlike any novel you’ll have ever read. Set a few years after the ending of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, the novel assumes that instead of Van Helsing and his band of novice vampire hunters defeating the Prince of Darkness, they fail in their mission. Dracula escapes, manages to make his way into the Royal House, marries Queen Victoria and turns her as well. An interesting take on the history of this great Queen with a dark and sinister overtone. Victorian London was like that; full of darkness and foggy nights. A perfect setting for a vampire novel.
After turning Queen Victoria into a sovereign vampire, no longer feeling the need to hide with one of their own in Buckingham Palace, come out of the shadows and soon, the whole of London is dominated by them, in business, politics as well as high society. And then a serial killer, called Jack the Ripper, starts killing vampire prostitutes and a panic descends over the whole city.
It is, by turns, gothic horror, thriller, Victorian romance, and social commentary. It is also gloriously fun at times, being the kind of novel where Oscar Wilde and Sherlock Holmes are given equal mention, amongst other characters from Victorian history and Victorian fiction. It’s also talks about other vampires from around the world, like a bandit cowboy in America called Billy the Kid. Elsewhere, you’ll see Dr Hyde and Dr Moreau as two rival scientists working together.
It’s a fun way of looking at the London you live in, seeing as it is a very alternate history of the city. If you’re in the mood for something that can be both thought provoking and entertaining (as as well as pretty gory at times) give Anno Dracula a shot, as reading about the city you live in can be an especially enjoyable part of moving to London.
After you’ve read this novel, you’ll have to venture out of your new London rental and explore some of the places that are mentioned in the book. Take a tour of Whitechapel and the world of Jack the Ripper, or walk the paths trodden by the famous Sherlock Holmes. One of the greatest things about living in London is the way that history has been woven into the tapestry of modern London, and it’s all there for you to experience.
Living In London – People and Personalities - Image via Flickr
London has a fair number of people and personalities who have made their mark on the city and even the world. London is home to some of the most prolific and outstanding authors and writers; there is something about the city that inspires people to be creative. One of the most interesting people to have been born in London is A.A Milne, the creator and writer of Winnie-the-Pooh.
He was born Alan Alexander Milne in the suburb of Kilburn in London and despite being best known for his collection of children’s books about the slightly rotund teddy bear, he was a diverse author writing on whatever subject happened to take his fancy at the time.
He was educated at a small public school that was run by his father, and one of his teachers was the author HG Wells, most famous for his work in the genre of science fiction. Milne was also educated at Westminster School and Trinity College, in Cambridge before embarking on his literary career.
Milne’s first job was working for the literary magazine ‘Punch’ where he rose to the position of assistant editor. Milne served in WWI and his time during the war was to give rise to his damning piece entitled ‘Peace with Honour’.
After his marriage and the birth of his only son Christopher Robin, Milne bought a country home in Sussex where he created his most lovable character and a series of children’s books that have delighted and enchanted children, and adults to this day. Milne wrote on many other subjects, besides Pooh Corner and the child Christopher Robin who was the six year old owner of Winnie-the-Pooh. He wrote for the stage and the fledgling British film Industry as well as a number of novels and essays.
Milne was never truly at ease with the fame and fortune that being the creator of Winnie-the-Pooh brought to him. He considered it a source of irritation that he had been placed into a genre when he really wanted to write about anything and everything. It is though, the legacy of Winnie-the Pooh that continues to have an influence on the world today. The royalties from the Winnie-the-Pooh franchise, now owned by Disney, are paid to the Royal Literary Fund which is used to place professional writers in to some of London, and England’s top universities.
His son Christopher Robin, after whom the character in the books were named, has his own boyhood toys permanently on display in new York, proving that great taste and literary genius have straddled both sides of the pond.
Moving to London is about so much more than just finding a place to live and the right stop on the tube. It’s about discovering the people and personalities who were influenced by and in turn influenced the city of London.
Living in London – ‘Neverwhere’, a book set in London- Image via Wikipedia
There was an earlier blog here about London and how cool it was to see parts of the city you knew from the movies. On a similar note, it’s just as cool to read about London in novels, fiction or non-fiction. It’s a given that you’ve come across references to the city in books, but if you’d like to add to that list of London-centric novels, you could do a great deal worse than Neil Gaiman’s fantasy novel, ‘Neverwhere’. Even if you aren’t a fan of fantasy novels, it’s still a great novel to pick up if you’re living in London.
It’s about a man, Richard, who moves to London for work, and makes a life for himself in the city. Somehow or the other, he gets involved with a girl on the run from a scary pair of gentleman, and falls into the London that exists below the London everyone knows (called London Below, appropriately enough). Trying to get back to his normal life, Richard falls in with a group of London Below-ers on a mission to stop all hell from breaking loose in their world and the one above. On their journey, they encounter warriors, killers, an angel, monsters, knights and all other sorts. And when you combine your notions of London with bizarre characters like those mentioned above, then it all makes for an absolutely cracking piece of storytelling.
But what really makes ‘Neverwhere’ worth the three days it’ll take you to finish it is the way in which it takes everything you know about the city and then turns it on its head. The notion of “mind the gaps” on the Underground for example is given a dark twist as is crossing Knightsbridge. The next time you go to Harrods, after reading the chapter set in that hallowed emporium, you’ll walk its interiors with a knowing smirk on your face.
Whether you’re moving to London or already living in London, ‘Neverwhere’ is the kind of book that will almost certainly whet your appetite for exploring the city even further.
Living in London – Smile for the Camera!- Image via Wikipedia
One of my favorite things about living in London is catching the city I live in on the telly. And I don’t just mean EastEnders (though that’s fun too). I mean watching a movie and suddenly seeing a part of the city you visit quite regularly. Like watching ‘Mission Impossible’ and spotting Bankside located nearby to London’s Southwark Bridge. Or an unnervingly empty and desolate Piccadilly Circus in ‘28 Days Later’. It can be loads of fun playing ‘spot-the-location’ while sitting on your couch watching movies or amongst an audience at the cinema. Here are some of my favorite examples of London in the movies.
28 Days Later – Like I said, hugely unnerving. The part where Cillian Murphy runs around the city looking for someone, anyone, and not finding a soul gave me shivers given how I much I take it for granted the huge crowds I see in the city.
Notting Hill – Obvious choice this but, given the millions of people that have been inspired by this film to visit and move to London, it has to come into this list. It really does help to show off the city. For any true Londoner, the last bit with them tearing through city, fighting traffic is both funny and thrilling.
The Bourne Ultimatum – it’s doubtful that anyone has gone sprinting around Waterloo station quite as frantically as Matt Damon does in this film, but for anyone who’s experienced the mad crush of people in one of the busiest train stations in the world, this is fantastically exciting.
Shaun of the Dead – A favourite for film buffs in general and not just Londoners. North Londoners will probably spot Crouch End, Muswell Hill and Finsbury Park in the background.
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince – two words: Millennium Bridge.
I guess you could say that it’s not exactly a list of top class cinema (more crowd-pleasers, actually), but I think all these films help to show off the swinging city. There must be hundreds of films that could be added to this list, so maybe this blog needs a sequel. And who knows, spend enough time exploring London, and you might spot yourself on the telly if you’re lucky.
King George VI and his Queen consort, Elizabeth - Image via Wikipedia
Author: Colleen
All righty, time to wrap up my brief series on The King’s Speech for those of you moving to London and interested in learning more of the city’s history, especially with all the media attention it receives lately. Yesterday, I spoke of London locations and elsewhere in the UK of note in the film, and today I’ll focus a bit more on the people.
As I’ve mentioned before, viewing the film for the first time last week prompted assorted random questions in my mind, which I’m in turn answering and sharing in this series of posts. One of these moments of curiosity surrounded how King George VI came to meet his wife. We know her best these days as the Queen Mum, which is the title conferred on a Queen consort who is the widowed mother of the reigning monarch. Thus, Queen consort was her title when her husband was alive and well and reigning as King George VI. Prior to his coronation when he was Prince Albert, Duke of York, she was consequently the Duchess of York. But before even that, she was The Honourable Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon – of Scottish nobility but not royalty; indeed, she had been the first commoner to marry into royalty for centuries. She was born to the Scottish Lord Glamis, who eventually became the 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, a status that conferred upon young Elizabeth the title of “Lady” and put her within high-ranking social circles. After WWI, she was a sought-after debutante and won Prince Albert’s heart. She was wary of joining the royal way of life, however, apprehensive of giving up a private life to become such a public figure, so she’d actually turned Albert down twice before finally saying “yes” and marrying him in 1923.
How different and yet how the same royal weddings were back then…
I was understandably quite curious about the speech therapist as well – Lionel Logue, who helped King George VI overcome his stammer. The film mentions that he is Australian (born in Adelaide, South Australia), though I hadn’t detected that in his accent – a little research has since taught me that this was a result of his studies in elocution during his youth. His initial employment included assistant-teaching and working at a gold mine, and, once he was married and settled in Perth, he began teaching elocution, acting, and public speaking, then traveled the world and helped WW1 soldiers recover from shell-shock-induced speech afflictions. Believing stammers to be caused by personal trauma rather than any permanent disability, the key ingredients to Logue’s unique method were “humour, patience, and superhuman sympathy” (from Australian Dictionary of Biography, author: Suzanne Edgar). Logue moved to London, England in 1924 and set up shop at 146 Harley Street in the London neighborhood of Paddington, near Regents Park.
If you’re relocating to London, once you’re all settled into your new London apartment rental, take yourself out on your own King’s Speech field-trip out and about town. Walk the streets its people walked, understand the lives they lived, and feel appreciative of the new history you’ll create here as you find your own voice in London.
King George VI, the real man behind the microphone of The King's Speech. Image via Wikipedia
Author: Colleen
Planning a move to London should make anyone curious about the history of this city and its country, especially since it’s not something simply relegated to memory—when you visit or live in London, you literally see history before your eyes in the sites that have survived time. This being said, it’s time for another installment of the things that made me go hmm…upon recently viewing the Oscar-winning The King’s Speech. With all the acclaim surrounding this film, you’d be surprised how much it can inform you on your future place of residence.
Last week, I discussed the King George VI’s name before/after coronation, King Edward VIII’s abdication of the throne, the Church of England’s stance on marriage and divorce, and Winston Churchill‘s political roles during this particular king’s reign.
Let’s start today with that Wembley broadcast. My ears perked up on this one because, on first relocating to London, I substitute-taught near Wembley Stadium. A northwest suburb of London, Wembley isn’t much of a draw in itself (in my personal opinion), except for its modern-day stadium that does bring in the crowds. Recently, it hosted the Champions League final between Barcelona and Manchester United, and it is also holds annual NFL games to give England a dose of American football! It will likewise house some of the 2012 Olympic Games. From the London Eye, you can easily spot it in the distance—sorta looks like the St. Louis Arch keeling over a bit. This stadium has been open only since 2007, though, on the site where the original Empire Stadium stood since 1923. Featuring two distinctive twin towers, the Empire Stadium was where King George V was first ever broadcast in 1924 at the British Empire Exhibition. His eldest son Edward, then Prince of Wales, had done a fine job speaking there as well. The film, however, starts us with the broadcast of 1925, when Prince Albert (“Bertie,” indeed named after Queen Victoria‘s husband Albert, his great-grandfather) had his publicly mortifying go at it. According to the BBC archives, a curator at the British Library claims “this speech almost certainly does not exist in recorded form.”
I was likewise curious about where the King lived before and after his coronation. The first regal looking home in which he, the future Queen Mum, and their young daughters Elizabeth and Margaret reside in the film is supposed to be located at 145 Piccadilly. On coronation, as is tradition, King George VI and his family moved into Buckingham Palace, though spent some time outside of the city at Windsor Castle during the war. Two homes privately owned by the royal family are the Balmoral estate in Scotland (featured in the movie and where the current Queen continues to holiday in summer) and Sandringham House in Norfolk, England (where George VI was born and died). Balmoral was first purchased by Queen Victoria and her Prince Consort, Prince Albert, and Sandringham was purchased by their eldest son, who would become King Edward VII. King Edward VIII, Bertie’s brother, inherited both of these properties, but his abdication did not mean Bertie, the new King George VI, could automatically own and maintain them as royal residences of the reigning monarch; indeed, George VI was required to buy them from his brother.
As for another notable London location referenced in the film, Westminster Abbey has been the site of coronations since 1066, when William the Conqueror was crowned. The coronation chair that Geoffrey Rush is seen to boldly sit on during the King’s ceremony practice was first used during coronations at the Abbey in 1308, for the coronation of King Edward II, and was the very same that Queen Elizabeth II sat in and likely Prince Charles one day. Interestingly enough, King George VI’s brother Edward never got to sit in the chair himself since he’d abdicated before he could officially be crowned. The actual chair is on display to the public in the Abbey.
There’s still more I want to cover, so join me tomorrow as I continue with my King’s Speech-inspired research and give you some background history to precede your London move.
Direct: 
You see London from the middle-to-lower class day-to-day, just-gotta-pay-the-bills perspective to the affluent, city-is-your-playground one—and even then, all that glitters is not gold. All around, I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it, particularly if you’re making the 
