Charlie Maudsley, Author at Secret London

Culture Things to do

This London warehouse from 1868 hides a blockbuster double life as Christopher Nolan’s Gotham City police station and Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes set

Some London buildings get office workers and a temperamental printer. The Farmiloe Building in Clerkenwell got Batman. Built in 1868 after a fire destroyed the firm’s previous warehouse, this former glass and lead me...

Music Things to do

In 1979, Hans Zimmer appeared in a South London music video that made MTV history; nearly 50 years later, his film scores will take over Central Hall Westminster

Here's the scene: it’s 1979, and a 22-year-old Hans Zimmer has just stepped into Ewart Television Studios in Wandsworth, South London for a fleeting cameo in The Buggles’ "Video Killed the Radio Star". Yo...

Culture Music

In 1959, Leonard Cohen bought a Burberry coat on Regent Street that inspired an iconic hit; decades after it was stolen, his music returns to London at Southwark Cathedral

Cohen described it in the liner notes to The Best of Leonard Cohen: “I had a good raincoat then, a Burberry I got in London in 1959.” It's believed he bought it at Burberry’s on Regent Street, a purchase...

Culture Things to do

Nearly destroyed by Henry VIII, this 500-year-old Gothic abbey just over an hour from London features stone angels climbing ladders from a bishop’s dream

Reached in just over an hour from London Paddington, Bath Abbey is a honey-stone Gothic beauty that's often called the “Lantern of the West” and has presided over the city for around 500 years. Its history...

Food & drink Things to do

Tonight in London: Brixton Road’s iconic pub venue is kicking off the weekend with comedy, wine and a grape night out

From the outside, 261 Brixton Road looks like a classic London pub. That's because, for most of its life, it was one. Long before it became Brixton Jamm, the building was the White Horse, later Ye Olde Wh...

Culture Things to do

Just steps from The Shard, this 800-year-old London cathedral holds a fascinating Shakespeare family secret paid for in 1607

Just moments from London Bridge and the soaring skyline of The Shard, Southwark Cathedral stands in the heart of Bankside, an area closely tied to Shakespeare’s London. With more than 800 years of history, this Gothic l...

Culture Things to do

Long before Buckingham Palace, this 1622 London landmark was the home of English monarchs – and it’s the only surviving piece of the lost Palace of Whitehall

Completed in 1622, Banqueting House is the last surviving building of the Palace of Whitehall. Long before Buckingham Palace balcony waves, this place was the principal London residence of English monarchs...

Culture Music

This now-demolished London rooftop opposite King’s Cross station is where Oasis filmed their first-ever music video

It’s all happening for Oasis fans. Earlier this month, Liam and Noel Gallagher attended the London premiere of their new documentary, Oasis: Don’t Look Back in Anger, at Cineworld Leicester Square, while...

Music Things to do

From ‘Pehla Nasha’ to ‘Jai Ho’: London’s Southwark Cathedral is bringing iconic Bollywood and Tollywood cinema anthems to life on strings this Saturday

From East Ham’s high streets to Southall’s cafés, Bollywood and Tollywood music has long had a place in London’s soundtrack. You know the feeling: "Tum Hi Ho" from Aashiqui 2 brings the heartbreak, "Bole C...

Culture Things to do

Inside London’s 800-year-old Southwark Cathedral is a permanent exhibition of lost Thames River treasures – featuring 2,000-year-old pottery and 17th-century love tokens

Southwark Cathedral is never without a few surprises up its sleeve. Aside from weekly worship and classical music recitals, the Early English Gothic cathedral welcomes everything from Disney concerts to ra...