Yesterday's London Times

In this episode, we journey through the fascinating and often surprising history of Scotland Yard, the iconic home of the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS). Inspired by last week’s episode about the haunting tales of the Tower of London, we shift focus to uncover the evolution of law enforcement in London. From the chaotic days of watchmen during the 18th century gin craze to the formation of the Bow Street Runners and ultimately S...

The Tower of London has watched over the city for nearly a millennium.  If you are a priceless Jewel,  the Tower is your protector. To countless of the city’s accused, a captor.

Royals, regals, religious, and rogues. The Tower has seen them all.

Many have been famous, and many more have been lost to history.

Holding in all of these secrets is a challenge for the Tower, and, late at night, after the tourists have gone, perhaps the fort...

“And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how we deal with vampires in old London Town,’.    - Ben Aaronovitch in Rivers of London

We start this episode in the London neighborhood of Highgate. It’s famous cemetery, exuding Victorian design and extravagance, is the setting for our first story, about a potential paranormal experience and the long term metaphysical feud that resulted.

We’ll delve into mainstream horror cinema of the 1950s and...

Until very recently, only London held the distinction of hosting the Summer Olympics three times, more than any other city in the world. The Games in London have been pivotal, memorable, and marked by very significant historical context, beginning with the early 20th-century growth of the modern Olympics in 1908, to the intense symbolism of post-war recovery in 1948, and finally the modern legacy of the 2012 Games.

In this episode, ...

In this episode, Jen and Mares take a moment to reflect on their journey as podcasters, and take a look back at episodes in their catalogue that both examine and celebrate London over time during the hottest months of the year. For both new listeners and veterans of the community alike, there’s something for everyone this summer in the city. We will highlight:

• virtual walking tours of past episodes, featuring the East end as sun...

Mares and Jen have enjoyed playing  a game of luck called “Underground Roulette.”  The game is easy to play. Just select a tube stop at random, keep a curious mind, and hit the streets!  It’s an engaging way to get a sense of place and all that the city offers. 
But, what if we could add the dimension of time, seeing not only the neighborhood as it is, but as it was?

In this episode, we explore the underground stops with stories...

Wildlife on the Tube: it’s not just on the Northern Line at night. It’s everywhere. Throughout the Underground, flora and fauna show up  intentionally - and unintentionally - in the most surprising places. In this episode, we will:

• explore the gardens maintained voluntarily by TfL employees 
• discuss the history of the London Underground In Bloom competition
• learn about a subspecies of mosquito that dwells in the Underground t...

“Is it worth anything to you, guv’nor?”

It’s boots on the street in city centre as we pinball through time … from the 1600s, to 1912, to current day.  We’ll think and wonder about how unknown treasures might exist even in the heart of an urban area.

Along the way we’ll …

• park ourselves in Cheapside, and learn of its history,
• shine a light on the work of a group of navvies, who excavated below the streets as railroads, underground t...

Providing up to 5 million passenger journeys a day, the London Underground is integral to the city's infrastructure.  It's impossible to imagine how the city would function without it.
But why would something built for purpose become a source of admiration and entertainment?  A Transport for London style guide provides powerful evidence: "Every Underground station should include at least one moment of delight and...

At Yesterday’s London Times, we are all about inquiry, questions and stories, particularly stories that are new to us or that we just want to know on a deeper level. We seek out people, places, and facets of history that are lesser known, quirkier, or even downright strange. We also like to shine a spotlight on those who really do - or have done - amazing things, but perhaps have been forgotten over time, or lost in the shuffle of ...

A little romance?

What began as a fluff piece about an eccentric romance novelist turned into a snapshot of a century through the eyes of someone who lived it to the fullest.

Meet Barbara Cartland: extravagant, exaggerated, and … pink. As author of 723 books, she remains the most prolific romance novelist of all time. If you’ve ever seen her, you won’t likely forget her, dripping in jewels, layered in make up, clad in fuchsia, and ri...

Bears. Cute. Cuddly. 

But when we looked at them through the long lens of London history, it got complicated pretty quickly.

Join us as we take the ursine plunge, and think about….

• the bears that roamed Britain 7000 years ago 
• the Tower menagerie,
• blood sports such a bearbaiting, especially popular during the Elizabethan period,
• the invention of the stuffed bear and its significance in the Great War, 
• Pooh and Paddington, two special ...

It's a Yesterday's London Times tradition - the Boxing Day episode!
Relax along with us as we look back at some of the people and places we met on the podcast this year. Half of our episodes sent us time traveling throughout the Sixties in different centuries of British history, and the other episodes were our regular mix of quirky yet thoughtful takes on the city we love.
We  present our annual YLT awards to some...

WELCOME TO OUR 50th EPISODE!

In the final stop of our ‘60s YLT Time Machine, we touch down in the 1560’s just in time for a Tudor Christmas. In a deeply divided nation in which religion is politicized, we’ll see how the young Queen Elizabeth finds her own path.

The Tudor Christmas was a respite from work and from unrelenting poverty. It was a time of revelry and a loosening of societal roles.

Our visit to the Tudor Christmas will igni...

In our 2021 episode, “Here is Vogue, In Spite of it All!”, we explored how the British edition of the iconic fashion  magazine evolved into an outlet for groundbreakingVogue wartime journalism. As we studied the reasons behind that seemingly unlikely transformation, we met some strong, creative, and intellectually brilliant women, among them the complex and multitalented Lee Miller. In this episode, we examine her fascinating life ...

It’s getting all wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey at YLT as we celebrate a huge milestone in British culture: the 60th anniversary of the iconic Doctor Who!

In this episode, we : 

• look at the unlikely-for-the-time trio who launched Doctor Who back in 1963
• discuss the basic premise of the show
• examine its importance as a British cultural phenomenon
• reflect on the symbolism and deeper messages within the series
• consider the discour...

Let's do the Time Warp... it's the Rocky Horror episode!
Though many people have seen the cult classic film, few people know about its origins in a 63 seat London theatre.  
In this episode, we : 

• delve into the creative team and cast responsible for its deviant mayhem, sharing their back stories and how they all converged in time and place in early '70s London,
• take a trip back in time to its first perform...

Hop in the YLT time machine, we are on the move once again, but brace yourself: 1666 awaits.

How do everyday people survive constant war, devastating plague, and raging destruction all within the span of a very short window of time? In this episode, we examine the perseverance of Medieval Londoners, and explore many themes of life in the 17th century that surprisingly overlap with some of the lived experiences of many in ...

In this 60’s time travel event, we explore deep! We’re in the 1060s, further, in history than we’ve ever gone on YLT.
How can a simple craft help us to think about a complex, political and military event? We examine the Norman conquest, the battle of Hastings, through the Bayeux tapestry.
You’ll meet the major players and dig deeper to discover some of the incongruous and enigmatic characters on the art piece.
We’ll thi...