William Blake - Jerusalem, 1804

The struggle for life is hard here, worse than elsewhere, because all these wretched people are without sensibility, without heart, attracted only by what is eccentric and odiously pretty. To get anywhere one must either wait for ages or prostitute one’s art.

London, says Francis Crossley, is Luan-Dun (Celtic), City of the Moon, and tradition says there was once a Temple of Diana (the moon) where St Pauls now stands. Greenwich he derives from Grian-Wich (City of the Sun) , also Celtic.

There is one beautiful sight in the East End, and only one, and it is the children dancing in the street when the organ-grinder goes his ground. It is fascinating to watch them, the new born, the next generation, swaying and stepping, with pretty little mimicries and graceful inventions all their own, with muscles that move swiftly and easily, and bodies that leap airily, weaving rhythms never taught in dancing school.

At Noon, November 15, an alarming explosion occured somewhere near Fenchurch Street. No damage was done; no trace could be found of anything that had exploded. An hour later, near the Mansion House, which is not far from Fenchurch Street, occurred a still more violent explosion. The streets filled with persons who had run from buildings, and there was an investigation, but not a trace could be found of anything that had exploded.

The first Paleolithic handaxe (c.20,000 B.C) ever recognized in Britain was discovered near what is now Kings Cross Rd in 1680. The axe lay buried alongside the remains of a straight tusked elephant. .