Ladies Who London

Ladies Who London

Join us, Alex and Fiona, as we take a light look at London's history in a relaxed and entertaining way. As qualified Blue Badge Tourist Guides, we share our passion for the city with you in a chatty and fun podcast, looking at the weird, wonderful and unknown in this huge, ancient place we call home.

Episodes

Ep 208 Havering;* the end?

April 8, 2025 • 48 mins
Well gang, here we are. It might not be the end of the road. It might just be a great big semicolon blocking our way for the moment. If you want to find out what happens next, and if we get past it, subscribe now. Then, when, if we do anything in the future, you'll definitely get to know. In the meantime, we had fun at Crossness. Fiona found connections and call backs in Hounslow. But mostly it's William Derham of Havering. The a...
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Ep 207 Hillingdon - a hotbed of international intrique

April 1, 2025 • 46 mins
Quite leafy Ruislip, a typical London suburb, was home to Helen and Peter. He was a 2nd hand book dealer and....... well, what else? And why did Helen end up commemorated on a stamp? I'm not going to tell you now, you'll have to listen to find out. Can you work it out before Alex does? Hillingdon has jumped the queue, Havering will be next week. Plus random cat news, and dappled shade in the street. Learn more about your ad cho...
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Ep 206 - Clowning around

March 25, 2025 • 44 mins
We're often called clowns. I'm sure it is meant nicely. In any case, this week we take a look at one of London's most unusual events, the Clown Service every year in East London. We also trace back the history of clowning, and find where the traditions that we know and love (or are scared of!) originate Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Ep 205 Harrow: Gilbert and Paul at Grim's Dyke

March 18, 2025 • 39 mins
Alex takes us to the North London borough of Harrow. Eschewing the school and it's many celebrity alumni, we are retiring to the country instead. When Sir William Gilbert bought a house in Harrow, it came with a resident animal, who quickly became a family favourite. So much so, when he died, they acquired a new pair. What were they? There were also cats and dogs and donkeys. But it's Nancy's pet that provokes the most questions...
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Ep 204 Ceremonial City life, in all it's bonkers glory.

March 11, 2025 • 58 mins
Never has paying rent been quite so elaborate. Even when it's rent you're not paying, for a piece of land you don't use anymore. It's confusing. The City of London goes to town with the pomp and processions, and we are here to explain all. In fact this year (unlike all the others) we are determined to make it to some of these events. Get your diaries at the ready if you'd like to join us. There's the Boar's Head procession, by t...
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Ep 203: Haringey - A magic movie moment, all done with kindness

March 4, 2025 • 37 mins
Hello Haringey. From Highgate to Tottenham, and the cemetery to Bruce Castle, we flit West to East and back again. Fiona's long been fascinated by a film clip, and turns out both the filmmaker and the subject have Haringey connections. So this week we are talking about the magician David Devant and the cinema pioneer Robert Paul. Roll up, roll up, roll up, for the Kinetescope, the Animatograph and the Filoscope. And cheer loudly...
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Ep 202 The bells, the bells - Big Town Tinnitus

February 25, 2025 • 43 mins
Fiona hits the streets in search of the sound of London. Or at least the sound of the bells of London. From the Westminster the the City and beyond, listening as the hours pass by and the years drop away. Listening to the echoes of sounds that Londoners heard 300 years ago. What's a carillon? How long does it take to ring a peal? How heavy? And can we start making them here again please. Of course there's Big Ben, and Great Tom...
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Ep 201 Hammersmith & Fulham: Imre Kiralfy Rescues the Olympics

February 18, 2025 • 48 mins
In which Alex tells us why a Hungarian dancer was instrumental in fixing the distance for the marathon. It's a journey that takes us all the way from Pest to Chicago and from Hammersmith, through the Court of Honour, via some more dodgy colonial model villages and out to Windsor. Theatrical and event impresario Imre Kiralfy created the area we now know as White City*, to host events and exhibitions. Including the Franco-British ...
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Ep 200: Celebrating 200 with a crazy quiz and a special guest

February 11, 2025 • 55 mins
Get your pencils and paper ready to join in with us. Alex has prepared a quiz, Fiona has fun facts to share and special guest and friend of the pod Lee Ingleby is putting on a brave face for all of it. Which tube station is the opposite of Squander? What weighs the same as 200 ping pong balls? We're not just testing your London knowledge this week, we're testing your mathematics and spelling too. What links a rocking horse, a 14 ...
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Ep 199 Hackney: More Light, More Power, More Aerial Silks

February 4, 2025 • 57 mins
This week it's the rose red empire of Hackney famous residents from the 1500s. We discover why Alex didn't watch Wolf Hall. She's a sensitive gal you know. And we go way back to 600bc, before returning, via the world's first coal powered electricity generating station, where? Really!? How Extraordinary! To the bright lights and power hungry pubs of Shoreditch in the late 1800s. Time for some civic minded Victorian engineering, to ...
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Ep 198: Walking and talking - Refugee Tales with Anna Sayburn Lane

January 28, 2025 • 51 mins
Today we are ringing London, joined by special guest, author and walker, Anna Sayburn Lane. Refugee Tales is a modern recreation of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. A five day walk with stories along the way. Each evening there's entertainments (and snoring, especially from the men's dorm!) The walkers are a mix of interested supporters and people who have been through the process of arriving in this country as a refugee. Sharing a path...
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Ep 197 Glorious Greenwich: a tale of two shipies

January 21, 2025 • 62 mins
Climb aboard and come away with us on the high seas. Take a trip to France on Henry Grace a Deau. The pride of Henry VIII's fleet. Or overtake her whilst laden with tea, wool or pianos, on board The Cutty Sark. How many woolly jumpers can you fit on the only extreme tea clipper left in the world? Henry's ship was built nearby, and maybe ended it's life nearby as well. A war ship that broke the rules, bedecked with guns in all direc...
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Ep 196 Hip hip hooray for National Hat Day!

January 14, 2025 • 46 mins
This week we are talking hats. What's Fiona's favourite London hat? Celebrating National Hat day, and giving you time to prepare for London Hat Week. We've got a bit of a beaver update to start us off, and sadly their ancestors make an appearance in one of London's notable hats - The Beaverskin or Muscovy Hat of the Swordbearer of the City of London. The hat pocket plays an important part in one of the solemn and important (or, bo...
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Ep 195 Enfield - Dedication. Norris McWhirter, small arms, llamas and a tank called Julian

January 7, 2025 • 50 mins
Ooh it's a mixed bag this week. A little bit of this, a little bit of that. Farming. Industry. Royal Enfield - which might not be from Enfield. What is an Enfield anyway? A heraldic beast with a bit of Fox, a touch of Eagle, maybe some wolf, that's what. And this week's main topic might be a wolf in sheep's clothing. He was a figure of fun in our house when I was growing up. Norris McWhirter - the man who checked the Guiness worl...
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Ep 194 Merry Christmas live at the Tap

December 24, 2024 • 59 mins
Well here it is, the second half of our live record evening. We set out to discover the most important/ best/ typically London/ Londitudinal building. Can the champions of Regent St sway the room, to win against The Barbican? Will rock, paper, scissors, finally settle the age old question, is Roman stuff more important than Greenwich? And, critically, is St Pancras railway station better than the Wanstead Tap? Joined once agai...
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Ep 193 Industrious Ealing: Beavers gotta beave

December 17, 2024 • 44 mins
Our story this week is of a hardworking immigrant family, beavering away to improve the quality of life for Ealing. But first there’s hills made of rubble, classic comedy capers (we find out which world leader was their biggest fan) and the first incline lift in a tube station. An experiment is underway at Paradise Fields, to see if Beavers can live in an urban setting. Since moving in last year the family have been coppicing tre...
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Ep 192: Lilian Bader and women of colour in World War Two

December 10, 2024 • 40 mins
We're still on an airfield this week. But it's all about the woman wielding the tools, keeping the planes aloft. It's 1941 and Lilian Bader is one of the first women to qualify as an instrument repairer. Her Barbadian father had served in the Navy, her husband drove tanks, her son flew helicopters. Across the generations her family served across the forces, and gave back more than they received. Lilian not only broke barriers as a ...
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Ep 191: Classic crime in Croydon

December 3, 2024 • 40 mins
Mayday, M'aidez! I'm worried that Alex is turning to a life of crime! Croydon: The international airport of London in the golden age of glamorous travel. Even the cargo was golden, and enticing. And this week we're learning why you should organise your own getaway car. Plus a superstar kidnapping caper. It's all go. Just as well Alex has had a relaxing holiday. No, I'm not jealous at all, I've been living it up in London with Ber...
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Ep 190 Life lessons from Historical Women with very special guest Eleanor Morton

November 26, 2024 • 76 mins
We are slightly overexcited this week, as we're chatting with comedian and writer Eleanor Morton. Her fabulous book of lessons from historical women features many of our favourite women. And a host of, maybe, less familiar ones. From mountaineering and marathons to creating familiar music and much loved characters, we're casting the net wide this week. Who slapped who, and why? Who found adventure in the most dangerous of journeys?...
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Ep 189 Camden cures all featuring Elizabeth Garett Anderson

November 19, 2024 • 53 mins
We're taking a stroll through the medical powerhouse that is south Camden and focussing on Elizabeth Garrett Anderson. She's been on the fringes of many an episode - her sister and her daughter have already featured, now she gets the limelight. And boy does she deserve it. She overcame hurdles and jumped through loopholes, even learning another language in her fight to become the first female Dr to practise (while presenting as a w...
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