Category Archive: Blog

Postcards from E8 and beyond

Yesterday I was roaming the Hackney Road area looking for ghost signs but, regardless of my mission, I’m such a tireless photographer I have to snap anything else of interest along the way.… Continue reading →

Reeves & Sons Mosaic Signs, Dalston

Although my next book is on hand-painted signs around London, I often come across some beautiful mosaic and tile signage on my travels. This one, just across the road from Dalston Junction station, is a… Continue reading →

Issue 8 of New Empress Magazine – A Sneak Peek Inside

Issue 8 of New Empress Magazine is now out to readers and subscribers and it’s undoubtedly our best issue to-date. It is the Ghost of Movie’s Past issue and thus contains elements of cinema… Continue reading →

Ghost Signs of Leeds

I had a couple of hours in Leeds the other week and found this ghost sign on the end of a row of houses I used to live on. Little did I know… Continue reading →

Postcards from Fitzrovia

Yesterday I traipsed round Fitzrovia in the rain for a writing project I’m working on. I used to live just north of the area on Hampstead Road but barely explored it as I… Continue reading →

My Next Book: Fading Ads of London

After the success of my first non-fiction book: True Love is Like the Loch Ness Monster, I decided that for my next project I wanted a different challenge. As many of you know… Continue reading →

Much Ado About Nothing?

Last Tuesday I attended a conference about love in literature and, naturally enough, a whole section of the seminar was devoted to the works of Shakespeare. Director, actor and lecturer Nick Hutchison presented… Continue reading →

The Tees Transporter in Poetry

In case you haven’t noticed, I have a somewhat curious obsession with bridges, particularly bridges on the Tees. After writing an article about a trip up one of the best-known bridges of the… Continue reading →

Barnes Bridge

As it was my birthday last Sunday I could legitimately drag Manfriend out to a bridge to take photographs, I pitched the excursion as a ‘special treat’. Not wanting to go too far… Continue reading →

Unleashed: Issue 7 of New Empress Magazine

As I’m the world’s worst at self-promotion, my blog readers may have missed the fact that I edit and produce a quarterly film magazine (going bi-monthly in 2013) called New Empress Magazine. Above… Continue reading →