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PODCAST

Ladies Who London

Ladies Who London Podcast

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.

history places & travel

All Episodes

50:05

Ep 188 The British Empire Exhibition - Baffling...

Ladies Who London ·

2024/11/13

In a new guessing game Alex tries to pick the material chosen to sculpt the Prince of Wales. 100 years ago the crowds were gathering in Wembley for the extraordinary spectacle that was the British Empire Exhibition. A showcase for trade, manufacturing and, it turns out, people. Problematic? Just a tad. But there was a miniature railway, a palace of engineering, a palace of art including the teeny tiny wine bottles in Queen Mary's Dolls House. And a regular display of destruction of the House of

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53:03

Ep 187 Brilliant Bexley - Crossness pumping the poop

Ladies Who London ·

2024/11/06

Calling all penny farthing enthusiasts, we need answers! New records have been set, and we want to know more. Alex takes a dive into the Thames this week. Not the modern Thames, oh no, she's bravely gone back to 1858, the year of the Great Stink. What's that got to do with Bexley? The Crossness pumping station, that's what. An important part of Bazalgette's solution, his new improved sewage system, to transport the poop of London out the East. A very functional building then, presumably. Wait,

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54:27

Ep 186 with a VERY special guest and some spooky...

Ladies Who London ·

2024/10/30

We're very excited about our guest this week. With a suitably seasonally episode. What do we think about Spiritualism? Are mediums in contact with those who have passed. Doris Stokes held audiences enthralled, was it all smoke and mirrors? But how did she know about the money? There's relocated bodies, fancy tombs, and a Bermuda Triangle in Blackheath. So that's how the highwayman disappeared. This'll set you up nicely for Halloween. Sleep tight. Did I mention the special guest? Learn more

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60:23

Ep 185 Brent, Tommy Flowers and the colossal impact...

Ladies Who London ·

2024/10/22

Get your buzzers ready. We get competitive this week. Can you beat Alex in spotting the links to past episodes? Who'd have thought that Gladdie Park could be so well connected? And just around the corner was a unassuming building with a big story to hide. Partly the underground bunker, and partly their contribution to code breaking in WW2. Bletchley Park was the main centre for British codebreaking. Telecoms engineer Tommy Flowers and his team at Dollis Hill provided the equipment to break the

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32:12

Ep 184: Fanny Eaton, Overlooked Pre-Raphaelite Muse

Ladies Who London ·

2024/10/15

You might not know her name but there's a decent chance you know her face. Fanny Eaton worked as a model for the Royal Academy and painters of the Pre-Raphaelite movement. Was she chosen for her beauty or seen as an exotic other? Alex goes in search of the beautiful Mrs Eaton. Possibly the most seen woman of colour in Victorian Britain. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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51:57

Ep 183 Bromley - Margaret Finch, Queen of the Gypsies

Ladies Who London ·

2024/10/08

Project 32, this week we're south of the river in Bromley. Home to Margaret Finch, Queen of the Gypsies. (We're using the term as that's how she would have been known at the time). A mysterious figure who loitered by a lychgate. Margaret was elected Queen by the Roma community. Part figurehead, part ambassador, part advisor, she drew visitors to Norwood to consult her cards. Royals, celebrities, that one who went everywhere, they all came to see and seek their fortunes. Editor's note: since

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63:18

Ep 182 Barebones Barbon - The Fetter Lane dynasty

Ladies Who London ·

2024/10/01

The radical preacher who served in Parliament and the son who followed in his footsteps, but maybe for very different reasons. Between them they span the 1600s,a time of great change in London, and the century that might just be Fiona's favourite. Praise God for the Barebones family. And the bricks and mortar legacy of one of London's most ambitious, unscrupulous businessmen. As Alex says "it's another historical rotter!". If Jesus had not died for thee, thou wouldst be damned. Learn more about

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53:00

Ep 181 Project 32 The Battle of Barnet

Ladies Who London ·

2024/09/25

The 2nd week of project 32, and London's 2nd most populous borough. This week we are stumbling around in the fog of the Battle of Barnet. Who is fighting who? who trusts who? We're in the midst of the Wars of the Roses, and the kingdom is at stake. The biggest failure of the battle - it's Heraldry itself. Hang your head in shame heraldry, you cost lives that day. Plus the tale of Dirty Gertie's arrival from France, and the gift that Barnet keeps on giving to the rest of London. Ooh, a lovely

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42:02

Ep 180 Degas's Miss Lala

Ladies Who London ·

2024/09/17

We're in between boroughs this week as Alex goes gaga for Miss Lala (as painted be Degas). She wowed the crowds in Paris and London with her phenomenal strongwoman act, on the trapeze, holding herself, and others, with her teeth. Her portrait is still wowing the crowds at the National Gallery. Pop in to pay her a visit and decide for yourselves, what do you see at first glance? Is she jumping? We know more about her performances than her life, but there are moments when we can glimpse her, moving to

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43:52

Ep 179 Launching Project 32 - Barking and Dagenham

Ladies Who London ·

2024/09/10

It's the long awaited, hotly anticipated, much hyped launch of Project 32. Our deep dive into all the boroughs of London. And Alex is kicking off this week with Barking and Dagenham and a group of women who changed the world of work for the better. It's 1968 and the female sewing machinists of Ford are not happy. Not surprising when they are classified as less skilled than the men sweeping the factory floor. When striking doesn't work they head to Whitehall to meet the minister. With cars backing

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69:00

Ep 178 - London's Gas Lamp lighters - putting the...

Ladies Who London ·

2024/09/03

We're BAAAACK! Oh gang, we've missed you! After an eventful summer, Alex and Fiona are back in your ears, and we have been out and about. Following on from our episode with the Gasketeers a while ago, we have been to meet the very lamp lighters whose job it is to keep the London gas lamps lit - we have visited HQ and nerded out about finials, housings, mantles and how to tell your Grosvenors from your Rochesters. We've missed you!! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit

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42:20

Ep 177 - Goddess Isis and Mama Thames - a duo of damp...

Ladies Who London ·

2024/06/21

We're off travelling this week, from London to Oxford, via Greece and Egypt, to find out about the female manifestations of the rivers Thames and Isis. How did the Thames get its name? Is it as simple as it sounds?Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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50:43

Ep 176 - How to lose the World Cup

Ladies Who London ·

2024/06/11

1966. A year that lives on in the memory of the English as the year that England won the World Cup. But it's also the year that England LOST the World Cup too. Huh? Alex delves into the last topic she thought she would ever discuss, which is FOOTBALL. Not her natural home, but there's a good reason why, on this one. Because, like everything, there is a fantastic story behind the story of how the world cup trophy, the Jules Rimet, was stolen while on show in a stamp exhibition in London in March of

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59:40

Ep 175 - fish, chips, gooseberries & mulberries - a...

Ladies Who London ·

2024/06/05

What does the 6th June have in common this year? It is both D-Day and national fish and chip day. So we are spreading two themes in one here, which have a bit of an odd link. We are not just talking f&c, but we are looking at how it links in to WW2, as well as seeing how the very unlikely gooseberries and mulberries fit into the picture. Confused? Yeah, we thought you might be. We're not, however, talking fruit, but talking mulberry harbours, which helped hugely in the aftermath of D-Day to

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63:02

Ep 173 - Mary Wortley Montague, mother's marvellous...

Ladies Who London ·

2024/05/30

Fiona is back, and cracking out a fantastic story, picking up a loose thread from a few weeks ago, Mary Wortley Montague. An intriguing woman, Mary disappeared to Italy after her marriage went a bit wonky, and also took up the mantle of innoculating children well ahead of the UK more generally, and showed people how it could be done, and how it could help by publicly innoculating her own daughter. This is the fascinating story of one woman who broke boundaries.Learn more about your ad choices

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38:02

Ep 173 - Dido Belle - society and slavery

Ladies Who London ·

2024/05/22

Alex is flying solo this week, as we take on the story of Dido Belle, the young mixed race woman, born to am enslaved woman, and brought up in British high society. Born to a British ship's captain, and an enslaved woman being transported to Jamaica, Dido was brought back to the UK and entrusted to one of the highest Judges in the land. Her story was hidden until the 1990s, and we are taking a look at her story, her glorious portrait, and also her uncle, Lord Mansfield, in this week's episode. Join

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66:21

Ep 172 - Operation Umbrella - Over, under, through

Ladies Who London ·

2024/05/14

We don't half love an Operation here at the Ladies Who London podcast! This, however, is no military operation, although it is no less audacious or finnickity. How do you build huge infrastructure when the place you need to build is one of the busiest spots in London? Well, that is the question. Operation Umbrella was the answer to this exact question. While needing to use the space but also redevelop the space, an ingenious plan took over Oxford Circus, which would require planning engineering

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66:18

Ep 171 - Emma Hamilton - rags to riches & maid to...

Ladies Who London ·

2024/05/07

Heave ho me'hearties, this week we are setting sail aboard the good ship Hamilton, as we take a look at one of history's most famous mistresses, Emma Hamilton. But does she deserve such a reductive title? Surely there is more to her than we think we know? Boy are you in for a treat! We careen from the Temple of Health and the Celestial Bed (remember that?!) to the glamorous streets of Naples, the top deck of a warship and a Queen's court, as we tell the bits of Emma Hamilton's story that you may not

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43:32

Ep 170 - A mad medley of Montagus

Ladies Who London ·

2024/05/02

Well this is an episode, kids. Fiona has seen a squirrel and gone on a mad goose chase through the annals of history, chasing down the elusive Montagus. Where will we end up?! Heaven only knows...Alex certainly doesn't!Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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48:07

Ep 169 - the mysterious disappearance of Elizabeth...

Ladies Who London ·

2024/04/24

This sounds like one of Sherlock's great cases - the mysterious disappearance of Elizabeth Canning, but it is a true story. What you may not know is that she comes back - after about a month, and in a pretty dire situation. So far, so horrible but straightforward. But then, once her kidnappers are tried, convicted, and thrown in prison, something really odd happens. The whole case turns on its head, and Elizabeth is the one thrown into the spotlight. What on earth has happened? What is she accused

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212 results

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