London has so many exciting secrets to reveal; some are easy to find and some seem more exciting as they take a little bit more effort. To arrive in this metropolis is like opening the door to one of the world’s most fascinating museums, a veritable cabinet of curiosities. Alleyways can lead to the most amazing discoveries and squares are the keepers of secrets. Even when you think you are in a relatively bland part of town, something jumps out at you. For example, most Londoners avoid walking through Leicester Square, a I forum filled with crowds and slow walkers. However, if you walk a few steps north of the square and into Leicester Place, you will come across a surprising but small post war church. Behind the rather plain doors of the Notre Dame de France, there is a hushed and darkened church with an amazing piece of public art.

Deep in the depths of an old wood stands an enormous tree. Its girth is such that it takes six people with arms at full stretch to hug it. It is Amazonian in size and yet this is not the Amazon; this is the lovely, leafy locale of Barnes, London
and this is Barney. I was first introduced to Barney at the launch of The Woodland Trust’s ‘Ancient Tree Hunt’, an initiative for people to go out into their local parks, woods and forests to measure trees. The idea was to get people to enjoy these ‘testaments to time’ and also to see if they could find any undiscovered ancient or notable trees. You would need several tape measures and some help to gauge Barney’s girth. So, what is Barney and why is he here?Barney is the largest and oldest London Plane tree and possibly also the most hidden tree in London which is quite an achievement considering his size.

​As you walk along New Bond Street you will reach a pedestrianized section. Continue past Pete’s flower stall and you will encounter a park bench on which two amiable characters are sat, holding a conversation and on the verge of a laugh. Look closer and they have been caught in animation – bronze characters captured mid conversation. These are no ordinary people, they are the two main protagonists of the allied forces in WWII. Named “Allies”, this is a sculpture of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Winston Churchill. 

​Mention Brutalism to your average Brit and most will think of ugly, concrete buildings that seem to sap England of joy! Concrete, which partners drizzle in such a bleak union in the way that cheery red brick has never achieved. It doesn’t help that this branch of the modernist movement is called “Brutalism.” Brutalism gave us The Barbican, The Hayward Gallery, Queen Elizabeth Hall and Trellick Tower alongside other iconic buildings of the 1950’s to 1970’s. We didn’t like it; we considered it brutal and aggressive as well as new and totalitarian. Hang on a minute, Brutalism doesn’t actually mean brutal. The word comes from the French ‘brut’ which means ‘raw’ or ‘unprocessed’ or in my case ‘dry’ as in Champagne! “What!” I hear you cry. “So these towering monoliths weren’t the product of dystopian monsters bent on revenge for human destruction of the earth?” *

Welcome to East London’s French Quarter; an area of genteel 18th Century houses sitting rather primly amongst the pubs, the markets and the hipsters. 
Spitalfields was the favoured spot in East London where thousands of French Huguenot silk weavers settled from 1685. They were attracted here by its weaving heritage and liberal attitude to religious immigrants. These Huguenots, also known as French Calvinists, emigrated in their thousands to London and to other parts of the world after the 1685 Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The Edict was a piece of legislation that dated back to 1598 to protect the Protestants and inspire tolerance. However, Louis XIV had other ideas. He didn’t think this liberal stance sat with his desire for autocracy and so in 1685 dispensed with it.

Forget Old Street or the IMAX at Waterloo, London’s most magical roundabout is surely Arnold Circus. Hidden just a stone’s throw away from the hipsters, between Columbia Road, Shoreditch High Street and Bethnal Green Road, it’s surrounded by impressive Victorian redbrick buildings, complete with a peaceful garden and bandstand. This is not your average roundabout – it’s worth a visit for its beauty and also for its history. It just so happens to be the home of the very first council estate in the world.

​Constructed in the 1890s from the rubble of the notorious Old Nichol slum that had stood here for decades previously, today Arnold Circus is a people-watching paradise. From families dropping their kids off at The Virginia Primary School to fashion designers heading to their studio at The Rochelle creative hub, the local community is a diverse bunch indeed. The imposing architecture that surrounds them holds a times-gone-by atmosphere, meaning you may even spot a film crew recreating Victorian or Edwardian London.

St Paul’s has one curious and charming phenomenon that should never be missed- the Whispering Gallery. Climb 259 steps up the dome and you will find it. It’s a circular walkway which hugs the dome structure, offering a vertigo inducing view of the cathedral floor far below. 
 
Whisper along the curving wall, and someone on the other side of the circular walkway, more than 33m away, will be able to hear you- clear as if you were standing right next to them. Whilst you’re doing it, imagine the  secrets and sweet nothings, that the dome has heard over the past three centuries!

Pubs are one of London’s most unique and historic institutions that have provided a meeting place for people to gather, drink and shoot the breeze throughout the centuries. The capital has plenty of pubs to choose from - almost 4,000 in fact. Hidden within this crowd of watering holes are pubs that have quite a story to tell, some playing pivotal roles in history. Our selection below celebrates some of these historic pubs and the stories they have to tell.  

Surely one of the world’s most well-known brands is Guinness. With its iconic posters and unique tick-follows-tock TV advertising, it’s really taken the world by storm. Famed all over the globe for its clean, bitter taste and smooth black appearance with a creamy white head, it’s a beer that is as Irish as a leprechaun doing a jig to a Boyzone classic, right? Well… not quite. Many people don’t know that Guinness has an older brother, which goes by the name of Porter. This London stout never got the same snazzy marketing campaigns or international acclaim. No, Porter is like the older sibling that stayed at home with mum (and, you know, with all the true stout connoisseurs) whilst baby brother went gallivanting off on a gap year and never came back.