Charlie Maudsley, Author at Secret London

Music Things to do

Fleetwood Mac’s strangest obsession started at London Zoo and ended with a 70-foot inflatable penguin: This Friday, their hits are getting the string treatment at Central Hall Westminster

Fleetwood Mac bassist John McVie’s love of penguins dates back to the late ’60s, when he lived near London Zoo. Legend has it he would spend hours watching the birds waddle around their enclosure---a fasc...

Culture Things to do

Behind the Grade II-listed marble of London’s Shoreditch Town Hall lies a gritty underworld history, from an 1888 Jack the Ripper inquest to hidden Kray twins card games

Opened in 1866, Shoreditch Town Hall in London's East End wears its Grade II-listed grandeur in Corinthian columns and marble panelling. But behind the finery lies a rather grittier history. In 1888, it...

Things to do

In 1987, Forbes named Pablo Escobar a global billionaire; nearly 40 years later, his story is one of four criminal sagas brought to life over cocktails at this immersive speakeasy near London Bridge

Beyond the Kray twins, there’s a whole other criminal underworld to explore---and here, the drinks are part of the story. Narco Confessions London pairs immersive live storytelling with themed cocktails to...

Music Things to do

The best live classical concerts taking over London’s most iconic and unexpected music spaces this November: From The Barbican Centre to Banking Hall

You don't have to look very far to find classical music concerts in London. In fact, there are so many to choose from that finding a good one can be quite tricky. But no fear, we've rounded up some of the...

Music Things to do

From Hans Zimmer to Fleetwood Mac: These Candlelight concerts in London are giving your favourite music a different kind of glow

Swap the Tube’s fluorescent lights for a few thousand candles --- the best Candlelight concerts in London bring Hans Zimmer tributes, Fleetwood Mac favourites and classical masterpieces to some of the cap...

Music Things to do

In the early 80s, a Savoy bartender inspired Frank Sinatra’s favourite London stage ritual; over 40 years later, his music returns to an award-winning Soho club

The Savoy was Frank Sinatra's London home-from-home. Before heading to perform at the city's top music spots like the Royal Albert Hall, Sinatra would often enjoy a quick tipple inside the hotel's America...

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...