Sam Barker, Author at Secret London

A Staff Writer for Secret London, Sam hails from Australia, but doesn't sound like it. He splits his time between trying out the latest coffee place or craft beer taproom, or climbing up walls covered in brightly coloured holds.

Culture

These are the most frequently, and horrifically, mispronounced place names in London – here’s how to say them properly and what they mean

It would be a bit of an understatement to suggest that is full of places with mispronounced names. After all, we're the city home to the likes of , , and Southwark. And, sure, many of these pronunciations seem old hat...

Fathers will get paternity leave from day one under a new UK employment law that goes into effect next month – thousands of parents will benefit from the new requirements, with millions of workers receiving new employee rights

Last December saw impressive, sweeping changes to employment rules become law as the Employment Rights Act received Royal Assent. The changes " bring the world of work into the 21st century" as employees...

Secret Guides Top news

These iconic London buildings and attractions often get called by the wrong name – and I bet you don’t even know the real names of some of them

London must be having an identity crisis, because we're starting to forget what some of our city's sights are actually called. Whether it's a case of , calling a building by its nickname, or just plain forgetting a buil...

Culture Food & drink

What happens when fashion, art, and afternoon tea combine? You get this stunning new afternoon tea, inspired by the V&A’s newest exhibition – with haute couture-inspired pastries and unexpected flavour pairings

Over at the V&A, a stunning new exhibition is opening this March, covering the works of visionary designer Elsa Schiaparelli. The show, Fashion Becomes Art, explores Schiaparelli's influence, and the...

Iconic landmarks in London and across the UK will go dark for an hour this weekend – turning off their lights to mark Earth Hour

If you're this weekend, and the buildings seem rather less illuminated than usual, don't panic. There hasn't been some sort of city-wide power cut (we hope), and nothing's gone wrong. Instead, it's part of a symbolic d...

Secret Guides Things to do

22 Wonderful Activities To Make The Most Of A Rainy Day In London

In a city like London, we can never quite know what weather to expect. Even on the sunniest of days, some of us leave our houses with an umbrella - just in case. Fortunately, our city is full of splendid...

Culture Things to do

A bizarre new museum has just opened in London that encourages visitors to eat earth and dirt from around the world – but it’s only open for one month

If you've ever looked at the ground in your and wondered what it would taste like, we've found just the museum for you. None other than the Museum of Edible Earth has just arrived in London, dropping down at Somerset H...

Things to do Top news Wellness & nature

This London museum was the UK’s most-visited tourist attraction in 2025 – with over 7 million people passing through its doors

If you were asked to guess what the UK's most visited tourist attraction would be, what would you pick? Something like Big Ben or the London Eye? The Tower of London, maybe? Edinburgh Castle? Or perhaps t...

Culture Food & drink

This charming London boozer is purportedly the narrowest pub in the city – dating back to the 1500s, it once hosted literary legends and was even mentioned in a Virginia Woolf novel

In a city as old as London, you can bet that quite a few of our buildings and venues have some pretty impressive stories to tell. In particular, London's many magnificent boozers, some of which date back...

Food & drink Top news

Gordon Ramsay is bringing his tv-famous Hell’s Kitchen restaurant to London – with special menu items such as an ‘Idiot Sandwich’ alongside his legendary Beef Wellington

Gordon Ramsay sure is a busy man. He's set to open his 100th restaurant, as part of a string of new openings in London. He's recently been the subject of a 6-part Netflix documentary, Being Gordon Ramsay....