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The London Museum is the only museum to tell the story of the world's greatest city and its people. Users are prohibited from posting any content which is defamatory, infringes third party intellectual property rights, is offensive or otherwise unlawful. 2. We reserve the right to remove posts or comments we deem unlawful, or for which we receive complaint. Please note, for enquiries, please email info(at)londonmuseum(dot)org(dot)uk.

“All the night through you could hear thud, thud, thud, thud and the whistles as the bombs were falling” - Stan HarrisBl...
04/09/2026

“All the night through you could hear thud, thud, thud, thud and the whistles as the bombs were falling” - Stan Harris

Black Saturday: The first day of the Blitz 💥

London had been expecting an attack since 1939, when the Second World War began. After false alarms and busy preparation, it finally arrived on 7 September 1940.

German planes released their bombs over London’s docks in east and south London. The German plan was to prevent the import and supply of essential food and goods, weakening the UK’s ability to fight and puncturing the nation’s morale.

But the bombs hit homes in the process. The attack killed 430 people and injured 1,600. It was labelled ‘Black Saturday’ by the press.

Unfortunately, things would get darker still. The raids continued for 57 consecutive nights, testing Londoners as they’ve never been tested before or since.

This was only the start of the Blitz – a bombing campaign which spread across Britain, lasting until May 1941. Then, from 1944, V1 and V2 rockets arrived to terrorise Londoners yet again.

📷 A German bomber in a raid over Rotherhithe, 7 September 1940. Courtesy of Alamy

Today marks 360 years since the Great Fire of London broke out - but did you know you can still walk many of the same st...
02/09/2026

Today marks 360 years since the Great Fire of London broke out - but did you know you can still walk many of the same streets in the City that existed back then? 🔥

When the fire finally died down on 6 September 1666, having destroyed over 13,000 houses and 87 churches, London had a rare chance to reinvent itself.

Christopher Wren and John Evelyn both submitted ambitious plans for wide, grid-patterned streets and grand piazzas, modelled on Paris and Rome.

None of it happened.

Coordinating with so many property owners proved too complex, and people simply couldn't afford to wait. So London rose again on its old medieval foundations - just in brick and stone instead of timber.

🎨 The Great Fire of London, unsigned, in the style of the Dutch School
🗺️ A plan of the City and Liberties of London after the dreadful conflagration in the year 1666. Wenceslaus Hollar, 1756.

A two-year battle for rights, dignity and respect 🪧 In the days before digital cameras, you’d snap your holiday photos o...
27/08/2026

A two-year battle for rights, dignity and respect 🪧

In the days before digital cameras, you’d snap your holiday photos on rolls of film and send them off to be processed into prints. The Grunwick Film Processing Laboratories, in the suburbs of Dollis Hill, Brent, was one such place you’d post your memories to.

In August 1976, 137 workers at the factory walked out over racism, low pay, lack of trade union recognition and degrading working conditions.

The dispute was mobilised by the factory’s many recently settled migrant employees, most of them women with South Asian heritage. And it was spearheaded by Indian-born Jayaben Desai, an employee who became a leading figure in the fight for workers’ rights.

The strike was one of the longest in British history and changed trade unionism forever.

📷 Jayaben Desai and Engineering Union leader Hugh Scanlon are among those on the picket line outside Grunwick. Courtesy of Alamy

Did you know that in the late 19th century, a Manchester terrier known as Tiny the Wonder Dog was the star of a grisly L...
25/08/2026

Did you know that in the late 19th century, a Manchester terrier known as Tiny the Wonder Dog was the star of a grisly London show?

Of all London’s animals, rats have been among the city’s most troublesome – spoiling food, gnawing through houses and, we now know, spreading disease.

As well as professional rat-catchers, humans have turned to dogs and cats to control them. But Tiny the Wonder’s rat-killing talents were used for entertainment, not pest control.

In the middle of the 19th century, in one of several London pubs hosting rat-killing matches, bets were placed on how many rodents Tiny could kill in one hour. This painting from our collection records the scene.

Attitudes have come a long way since. Most of us agree on the cruelty of watching animals die for our amusement. Manchester terriers are now prized as pets, not killers.

🎨 Rat-Catching at the Blue Anchor Tavern, Bunhill Row, Finsbury, 1850-1852. British School

As London Zoo's inhabitants prepare to step, crawl, slither and fly onto the scales for their annual weigh-in, we're tak...
24/08/2026

As London Zoo's inhabitants prepare to step, crawl, slither and fly onto the scales for their annual weigh-in, we're taking a look back at Henry Grant's photo series from the 1950s.

Animal welfare standards have changed considerably since then, and you will no longer see bears or elephants at London Zoo.

Do you remember visiting with your family?

London has always been made by the people who live and work in it ❤️ We're looking for London Locals volunteers to help ...
21/08/2026

London has always been made by the people who live and work in it ❤️

We're looking for London Locals volunteers to help bring our new museum to life, sharing memories and experiences from people who know the city best.

Whether you spent years working on London's streets (couriers, lollipop people, emergency services, and more... we need you!) or found your people in the places where this city has always gathered - from the local boozer or club to the chicken shop or caff on the corner, this is a chance to make sure those stories don't get lost.

You don't need to have spoken in public before, and you don't need museum experience. Just a passion for London's past, present and future.

📷 Unloading meat and poultry at Smithfield Market, c. 1950. Henry Grant
📷 'Chips and Chirpse', 2020. © Alia Hassan
📷 Four men in a cafe in Smithfield Market, c.1965. Henry Grant
📷 Traffic warden at Smithfield market, 1997. © Dorothy Bohm Archive

In honour of two occasions we take very seriously - World Photography Day and National Potato Day - we bring you London'...
19/08/2026

In honour of two occasions we take very seriously - World Photography Day and National Potato Day - we bring you London's pie & mash shops 📷🥧🥔

In the 1990s, Chris Clunn photographed the pie & mash shops still trading at the time, capturing the loyal customers and workers keeping one of London's oldest culinary traditions alive.

Pie & mash shops are rarer than they once were in the capital, but you can still tuck into a plate of jellied eels, beef pie, mashed potato and parsley 'liquor' sauce.

Is there one near you?

📷 F. Cooke's eel and pie shop, Dalston, 1991. © Chris Clunn
📷 A regular customer at M. Manze's eel and pie shop, Peckham, 1994. © Chris Clunn
📷 A. Cooke's eel and pie shop, Shepherds Bush, 1994. © Chris Clunn

Can you identify this mysterious object from our collection? 🤔 It's made of lead alloy and glass, and measures 8cm heigh...
17/08/2026

Can you identify this mysterious object from our collection? 🤔

It's made of lead alloy and glass, and measures 8cm heigh by 5cm wide.

Check back for the answer tomorrow!

Every year until the 1960s, as summer drew to a close, thousands of east and south-east Londoners flocked to Kent to hel...
16/08/2026

Every year until the 1960s, as summer drew to a close, thousands of east and south-east Londoners flocked to Kent to help with the hop harvest 🌿

It was paid work, but the long days spent together in the fields still felt like a holiday from city life.

Generations of the same families returned to farms years after year, decade after decade, until the invention of hop-picking machines brought the tradition to an end.

Do you know anyone that made this annual trip?

📷 Families working in the Hop Fields of Kent, 1931-1940. Cyril Arapoff

"Caribbean food goes beyond the well-known Jerk chicken, and rice and peas..."Two Londoners of Caribbean heritage - Sham...
14/08/2026

"Caribbean food goes beyond the well-known Jerk chicken, and rice and peas..."

Two Londoners of Caribbean heritage - Shamal and Makiya - share the dishes closest to their hearts, recipes passed down through generations 🌶️

Shamal's Chicken Curry & Roti:
A staple in Caribbean households, though what you call it depends on where your family is from - "Chicken Curry" in Guyana, "Curry Chicken" elsewhere in the Caribbean. At its heart is a blend of garam masala, jeera and turmeric, alongside onions, garlic and green seasoning - the fresh herb mix that varies from island to island but appears in kitchens across the region.

Makiya's Johnny Cakes with Montserrat Marmalade:
A breakfast dish rooted in family history. Makiya's grandmother, born on the island of Montserrat, cooked from a 1969 copy of The Montserrat Cookbook, and it's from those pages that this recipe comes. Golden, doughy fried Johnny cakes are served alongside a marmalade made from four fruits - orange, grapefruit, lime and pineapple - and sweetened with cane sugar.

Two dishes, two family histories and a glimpse into the rich diversity of Caribbean food and culture.

Get stuck into the full blog here: https://bit.ly/4bOdLwF

📷 Guyanese Chicken Curry. Courtesy Shamal Kumal
📷 A Guyanese meal with family. Courtesy Shamal Kumal
📷 Johnny Cakes and Montserrat Marmalade. Courtesy Makiya Davis-Bramble

Where will you be watching the solar eclipse? 🌘This 278-year-old engraving from our collection shows diagrams predicting...
11/08/2026

Where will you be watching the solar eclipse? 🌘

This 278-year-old engraving from our collection shows diagrams predicting how a solar eclipse would appear over London on 14 July 1748, printed above a view of the city, with St Paul's dome unmistakable on the skyline.

It was published in the Universal Magazine, and you can almost picture readers poring over it: Georgian London's answer to an eclipse-tracking app!

So as you're viewing the eclipse, know that 18th-century Londoners once did the exact same thing - just with pen, paper and a magazine subscription instead of a phone.

📷 The Eclipse of the Sun as it will appear at London on July 14 1748 - from the London Museum collection

The next time you're sweltering on the Central Line, spare a thought for Londoners in the summer of 1858! 🌡️ That year, ...
10/08/2026

The next time you're sweltering on the Central Line, spare a thought for Londoners in the summer of 1858! 🌡️

That year, weeks of relentless heat sank the Thames lower than normal, leaving raw sewage baking on the riverbanks.

The result was the Great Stink - a smell so bad that people reportedly vomited near the river, MPs in Parliament soaked their curtains in chloride of lime to try to block it out, and anyone who could afford to fled the city.

The stink did what decades of warnings couldn't: Parliament rushed through funding for a new sewer system in just 18 days. Engineer Joseph Bazalgette built the network of brick tunnels that still forms the backbone of London's sewers today.

🔗 Sniff out the full story here - https://bit.ly/4glCRFv

🎨 Death stalks the Thames in this Punch cartoon from the year of the Great Stink, courtesy of alamy.

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