We challenge our contributors to reply to ten devilishly probing questions about their London and we don’t take “Sorry Gov” for an answer. Everyone sitting in the hot seat they will face the same questions ranging from their favourite way to spend a day out in the capital to their most hated building on London’s skyline to find out what Londoners think about their city. The questions are the same but the answers vary wildly.

I am Jack Hines, an aspiring artist from Kent who has embarked on a highly ambitious project to draw every single building in Greater London – www.drawingalloflondon.co.uk. London has such a rich and diverse architectural history, I hope to take a snapshot of London by drawing the city in the span of my own lifetime. I am not only doing this for the creative challenge but to also create an archive of London in the 21st Century for future generations to look back on.

What’s your secret London tip?

When you’re in the centre of London, never get the Tube. You’ll discover many new places and buildings that you would normally miss if you weren’t travelling on foot.

What’s your secret London place?

St Swithin’s Church Garden. When I used to commute to and from London, if I had to wait for my return train from Cannon Street station, I’d regularly visit this tiny garden opposite the station. It’s right outside the station, tucked away down a small alleyway, so not many people know about it. Which makes it a great place to wait out the usually delayed train.

What’s your biggest gripe about London?

The trains. I live in Kent so whenever I need to visit the city for photography purposes, it can be quite pricey to visit all the locations I need to. It builds up over time and is very expensive. On top of the expensive tickets, you’re not guaranteed a seat, which can be fairly tiresome on longer all-day journeys.

What’s your favourite building?

A classic, it has to be Big Ben. It’s an icon of the city and also the nation. Drawing Big Ben brings back great memories from the start of my project where I would stream the drawing process, it was great to interact with people who also had a shared interest in architecture and artwork.

What’s your most hated building?

I wouldn’t say I outright hate any building in London, as they all have some kind of redeeming quality or a story to tell. But if I had to choose, it would be 22 Bishopsgate. Most skyscrapers in London have a quirky twist that makes them unique, however, 22 Bishopsgate is just a bland glass tower that could be copied and pasted from any financial district from around the world.

What’s the best view in London?

The view from The Monument (but only if you’re in the mood to climb the 311 stairs). This location brings back cherished memories of my artwork in the sixth form where I would create sweeping panoramic drawings of the London skyline

What’s your personal London landmark?

It was the iconic brutalist Welbeck Street car park until it was demolished a few years ago. Its spectacular facade has been my desktop wallpaper for about 5 years now, I never get tired of seeing it.

What’s London’s best film, book or documentary?

Perhaps slightly biased as I’ve recently watched it, but I’d say The Favourite. Filmed at Hampton Court Palace, it brings to life the extravagance of the 18th Century and showcases the beautiful architecture of the time. Also, Olivia Coleman’s performance is fantastic, a well-deserved Oscar winner for this film. The Favourite has become one of my personal favourite films.

What’s your favourite restaurant?

Lowlander Grand Cafe, it has the best selection of Belgian beers in London, great staff and excellent food, and all-round brilliance.

How would you spend your ideal day off in London?

I’m lucky in what I do as I get to experience my ideal day fairly often. That is to explore the city, mostly on foot, discovering parts of the city I haven’t visited before. As I travel around I like to photograph buildings for future drawings in my project to draw all of London.

We challenge our contributors to reply to ten devilishly probing questions about their London and we don’t take “Sorry Gov” for an answer. Everyone sitting in the hot seat they will face the same questions ranging from their favourite way to spend a day out in the capital to their most hated building on London’s skyline to find out what Londoners think about their city. The questions are the same but the answers vary wildly.

Rob Hinchcliffe is a writer and editor who can’t stop writing about London. In the early 2000s he started a blog called The Big Smoker in his spare time and that eventually became the award-winning site, Londonist. These days Rob edits London in Bits a newsletter about the city’s news, politics, arts, food and people.

What’s your secret London tip?

If you can walk there, then walk there. You miss so much by getting on the Tube and chances are you’ll come across something even more interesting than the place you were heading. If you have to get a cab, get a black cab. I’m not just saying that. Uber is a terrible company and a dreadful service. Cabbies know stuff. The only reason I know one of the great train robbers used to live on my road is because I got a black cab home one day.

What’s your secret London place?

Bit of a weird one because it’s hiding in plain sight, but a lot of people walk past Le Beaujolais because of its location right in the middle of all the tourist traps, or they peer in and see a dark cave with a load of ties hanging from the ceiling and get scared off. But it’s one of the best bars in the whole of London and you will always get to talk to someone interesting there, plus the people-watching is first class.

What’s your biggest gripe about London?

Right now it would be the amount of small, independent businesses that are being forced to close. Every other day another one seems to bite the dust and we don’t seem to be able to do anything to stop it.

What’s your favourite building?

I could happily sitting front of the British Museum all day and I’ve always been a fan of St Pancras.

What’s your most hated building?

Probably the MI6 building. Eugh.

What’s the best view in London?

Well, I live in Crystal Palace, so I have to say the view from ’the triangle’ looking back out over The City don’t I?

What’s your personal London landmark?

I proposed to my wife on Chelsea Bridge so there can be no other answer (but if there was it would probably be the Crystal Palace dinosaurs).

What’s London’s best film, book or documentary?

Film: Oh wow…Okay. Alan Moore’s From Hell is up there for the book title (but not the film!). But I just wrote a whole article about how much I love Geoff Ryman’s 253 so I have to mention that too. More recently there’s Little Scratch by Rebecca Watson, Loom by Matthew Turner and Plume by Will Wiles. Also, I loved The Parakeeting of London by Nick Hunt because we have so many in SE19.
Films: An American Werewolf in London is one of my all-time favourites, and the other film featuring monsters on the Tube: Death Line…. But what about The Elephant Man? The Long Good Friday? 10 Rillington Place? This question is evil!
Documentaries: There aren’t enough good London documentaries actually. The London Nobody Knows, obviously. The Cardinal and the Corpse is great. And Keiller’s ‘London’ has to be on the list.

What’s your favourite restaurant?

Other than cheese and bread at Le Beaujolais? 🙂 If it’s a special occasion then probably Pollen Street Social, but less fancy than that I would usually go to one of the Noble Rots or Quality Wines.

How would you spend your ideal day off in London?

I would probably walk the dog through Crystal Palace to pick up a coffee and breakfast, then I’d head off on my own and go see an exhibition somewhere like Whitechapel Gallery or the Photographer’s Gallery. Seeing a film in the afternoon on my own is one of my favourite things to do and I’m a lifetime member of the Prince Charles cinema, so I’d go there next (maybe stop off at the Coach on Greek Street for a drink or Bar Bruno for lunch). Then in the evening, dinner somewhere (see previous answer) and end up somewhere like Bradley’s or Trisha’s (depending on how much energy I have left).

We challenge our contributors to reply to ten devilishly probing questions about their London and we don’t take “Sorry Gov” for an answer. Everyone sitting in the hot seat they will face the same questions ranging from their favourite way to spend a day out in the capital to their most hated building on London’s skyline to find out what Londoners think about their city. The questions are the same but the answers vary wildly.

John Grindrod is the author of Concretopia (2013), exploring the postwar rebuilding of Britain, Outskirts (shortlisted for the 2017 Wainwright Prize), which tells the strange story of the green belt, and Iconicon (2022), touring the landmark buildings of contemporary Britain. The books are a combination of social history, travel writing and architecture, and have grown from a personal geeky interest in the subject. John was born in Croydon and after 52 years in London has recently moved to Milton Keynes. He regularly gives talks and appears on radio and podcasts, and you can find out more at johngrindrod.co.uk or here.

What’s your secret London tip?

It’s not a secret, but Embankment Station is your friend. Takes no time to get down to the platforms, is a well-connected super-easy gateway into central London, and has a handy park next door if you need a quick nap on a bench.

What’s your secret London place?

I grew up in New Addington, on the edge of Croydon, and stayed there till I was 30. As a result, my secret London is concentrated around the edges there: the viewing spot in Shirley Hills; the record shops of the town centre; the strange concrete landscape beneath the 60s towers of East Croydon. They are still very much my London. I know how to have fun.

What’s your biggest gripe about London?

The constant building work. In the midst of a climate crisis shouldn’t we be knocking down fewer old buildings, council estates etc, and putting up fewer brand-new ones? It’s not even as if they are the things Londoners really need, like housing. For the most part, it’s speculative nonsense like more shops and offices, or more buy-to-leave apartments, based on a version of life we seem to be shifting away from.

What’s your favourite building?

Even if I just narrow this down to the Southbank, this is still a tricky one! I will say the National Theatre because I find it strikingly beautiful (both the form itself and all of that wood-shuttering grain on the concrete) and because it’s the perfect place to while away a day. As a teenager coming into London from the suburbs the area around Waterloo was a favourite spot. The National – back in the days when taxis used to rumble right past the front entrance – reminds me of hanging out with mates and seeing some incredible plays in that cosy modernist cave.

What’s your most hated building?

St. George’s Wharf on the banks of the Thames at Vauxhall is an absolute horror. Visually it’s the noisiest structure going, all those glass balconies and facets and tricks to maximise the value of every flat at the expense of the architecture itself. It’s incredibly confusing inside too because of the sheer number of entrances and routes. How I ever managed to find my way to those numerous what-I’m-going-to-call-‘dates’ in there back in the day I’ll never know. Beside it stands Terry Farrell’s MI6 building, which I love. It’s a big theatrical flourish – rather ironic for a secret service building.

What’s the best view in London?

I love the view from the Horniman Museum gardens in Forest Hill. It’s quite an idiosyncratic one, as much of central London is hidden behind Dawson’s Heights, the glorious 70s ziggurat in neighbouring East Dulwich designed by Kate Macintosh, but it means you focus on some of the less obvious landmarks instead. On a clear day seeing Wembley glinting in the sun in the far distance feels magical

What’s your personal London landmark?

In the 90s I worked for a while in Covent Garden at Waterstone’s (it still had the apostrophe then). I used to spend my lunch breaks sat on Seven Dials roundabout munching my sandwiches and watching the world go by. It remains my favourite people-watching spot, though it’s much harder finding a perch these days.

What’s London’s best film, book or documentary?

A fascinating and original insight into London can be found in Penelope Lively’s 1991 novel City of the Mind, about an architect working on a new tower in Docklands. In it, she manages to weave in the Empire history of Docklands and the ambitions of the modern rebuilding into a personal narrative that’s haunting and magical. The Covent Garden of Hitchcock’s Frenzy is full of ghosts too, of a rather less salubrious sort, captured in the early 1970s just as the market itself was moving down to Nine Elms. And I am in love with St Etienne and Paul Kelly’s documentary made up from archive footage, How We Used to Live, which captures post-war London in all of its muddle of change, dereliction and modernity.

What’s your favourite restaurant?

If I frequent a cafe in London it inevitably closes within two years. I’m like the grim reaper of hospitality. New Piccadilly? City Snacks? Gone and probably my fault. So I love Giovanni’s caff on Museum Street, but please don’t let the curse strike again. Mine’s a sausage sandwich with mustard on crusty bread and a black earl grey, bag taken out, thanks.

How would you spend your ideal day off in London?

Breakfast at Giovanni’s. Barbican exhibition and lunch in the cafe. Pointing at colourful geese in St James’s Park. Buy film and music in almost-defunct formats and heaps of paperbacks I can barely carry. Film at the NFT (old habits and all that). Drinks in the Retro Bar. Sandwich on the train home. Fin.

We challenge our contributors to reply to ten devilishly probing questions about their London and we don’t take “Sorry Gov” for an answer. Everyone sitting in the hot seat they will face the same questions ranging from their favourite way to spend a day out in the capital to their most hated building on London’s skyline to find out what Londoners think about their city. The questions are the same but the answers vary wildly.

Dan Simpson is a writer, facilitator, and creativity coach. An accomplished poet, he has been Poet-in-Residence at Glastonbury Festival, Waterloo Station, National Trust Stowe, Imperial College London, and St Albans Cathedral. His work has been featured at Southbank Centre, the Royal Academy of Arts, and on the BBC. In 2022 he created On the Cotton, a project pairing poets with London’s black cab drivers and writing poems about the historic trade. His other work can be found here.

What’s your secret London tip?

Don’t stare at your phone whilst travelling around. London is a city of architectural oddities, interesting pieces of history, and semi-hidden goings on all just there for the keen observer. I’d go so far as to say this even applies on the Underground – you never know who you might spot, or what stories you might overhear.

What’s your secret London place?

Postman’s Park. Though made a little more famous by the play and film Closer, every time I’ve visited it’s very quiet. It’s a little shrine dedicated to those who lost their lives saving others, tucked away near St Paul’s. A sombre place to reflect on the best of the human spirit – something that sometimes feels lacking in our city.

What’s your biggest gripe about London?

The seemingly never-ending knocking down of council estates and iconic places for expensive flats that force communities and local people out. That, and the cost of a pint.

What’s your favourite building?

The Natural History Museum – a Victorian cathedral to science and the natural world. Going inside and my eyes are drawn upwards, noticing the details of stone monkeys climbing the pillars, painted plant adorning the ceilings, the sheer volume of stuff from around the globe. As a building, it’s incredibly of its time, but the atmosphere is contemporary: understandable, given it’s also a research institution, and full of excited children discovering the wonders of nature!

What’s your most hated building?

The Old War Office (or The OWO, as it’s styled now). Every time I cycle past I cringe a bit at the tagline ‘The home of legends’. I can’t imagine how much it would cost to buy a place there, and who will be doing so – given the location in the heart of Westminster and political power.

What’s the best view in London?

Sky Garden. That it’s free – in this expensive city! – to go up 43 floors to look at the view is surely a mistake. Fantastic cocktails too – though those will set you back a few pounds.

What’s your personal London landmark?

Tower Bridge. During lockdowns, my partner and I (on our one legal outdoor activity per day) often jogged from her place in Stepney Green, over London Bridge, and back via Tower Bridge. We’d barely see a soul – a strange thing for the middle of a usually busy city, and a lockdown experience I’ll never forget. I also have a wonderful memory and photo of me crossing Tower Bridge – almost the halfway point – during the London Marathon.

What’s London’s best film, book or documentary?

Kraken, by China Miéville. A page-turning jaunt through the recognisable surface of London – and the weird mystical forces that are happening under the perception of the everyday. It’s a fun mash-up of London and the occult – and to me, speaks to the fact that London really works in ways most of us don’t consider.

What’s your favourite restaurant?

Mildred’s – the first one in Soho. One of the original and best dedicated vegetarian places, it felt like a treat as a veggie in the days before vegan food became available everywhere. I like that they don’t make that their selling point – they simply make excellent food (and cocktails!). They’ve quietly switched to a full vegan menu too, and I’ve never had a bad experience there. Shout out to Naifs in my area of Peckham too – it’s incredible.

How would you spend your ideal day off in London?

On a fresh and sunny Spring day, I’d start with a jog around Peckham Rye Common. Then onto my bike, off to the Tate Modern and a wander round wondering about the art. A quick dip into Borough Market for the free cheese samples before lunch at Mildred’s Soho. Then a pedal over to Cambridge Circus and Orc’s Nest to look at boardgames – probably via the huge Brewdog for a beer. Then on to Brick Lane to look at the graffiti and pick up a bag of bagels (Beigel Bake is the better of the two bakeries here!). Then the Old Hackney Baths for a dance before the Overground back to Peckham – stopping for a swift nightcap at Brick Brewery’s taproom.

On The Cotton, celebrating the 200th anniversary of the first licensed Hackney Cab service in London. This short film documents a project that saw seven Black Cab drivers and seven London-based poets co-create poetry that celebrates the iconic Black Cab, London’s cabbies, passengers, and the Knowledge. The film will be introduced by Dan Simpson, who pioneered the On The Cotton project, working in partnership with London Transport Museum. After the film, enjoy a poetry performance and a Q&A with some of the poets, cabbies, and filmmaker Bilal Bounit. Performers will include Duane Colman and Abstract Benna, Adam Gaunt, and Mick O’Flynn with a voiceover by Arji Manuelpillai. Poet Shirine Shah and former cabbie Les Simpson will join the Q&A. Black Cab drivers are eligible for a concession ticket price for this event: simply show your yellow or green badge on the door. Saturday 11th March 2023, tickets are available at The London Transport Museum.

We challenge our contributors to reply to ten devilishly probing questions about their London and we don’t take “Sorry Gov” for an answer. Everyone sitting in the hot seat they will face the same questions ranging from their favourite way to spend a day out in the capital to their most hated building on London’s skyline to find out what Londoners think about their city. The questions are the same but the answers vary wildly.

Since 2001, A.M. Brune has reported and written hundreds of freelance newspaper, magazine and website articles – from pitch to print – for publications, such as the New Yorker, The Guardian, Air Mail, the Spectator and others on a variety of topics, including world affairs and culture and social justice. She moved to London in 2021 after 20 years in New York. On Substack she regularly writes A Letter from London, she also be found on her website.

What’s your secret London tip?

Buy an electric bicycle. It is so much faster and easier than public transport, Uber and — am sorry, Black cabbies, who are the oracles of the city — Black cabs.

What’s your secret London place?

I love strolling down the London canals in Islington and Hackney. It’s so cool to see all the floating homes.

What’s your biggest gripe about London?

When people from other places say “wow, you live in London — must be overwhelming,” I want to reply, “People, I lived in New York City for 20 years!” London, as busy as it may be, has nothing on New York. London is civility; New York is chaos.

What’s your favourite building?

The original Twinings Tea Shop on Strand, or the Michelin House restaurant on Fulham Road. Can’t beat the Art Deco and Nouveau architecture.

What’s your most hated building?

The Tate Modern. Such an ugly building on the outside and so annoyingly confusing inside.

What’s the best view in London?

Greenwich Park.

What’s your personal London landmark?

The All-England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. I always dreamt of playing tennis there as a kid and I am always in awe visiting every tournament.

What’s London’s best film, book or documentary?

Film: Notes on a Scandal; Book: Julian Barnes, The Sense of an Ending; Documentary: Amy because it showed Camden in its heyday.

What’s your favourite restaurant?

Lusin, Mayfair. It’s an Armenian restaurant in the heart of “fancy” Kensington.

How would you spend your ideal day off in London?

First, brunch at a local Islington restaurant on Upper Street, where I live, then a visit to Broadway, Columbia Road or Portobello Road markets for antiques. Afterwards, I might see something at the Tate Britain if it’s rainy or walk down the Embankment, photographing pub signs around Covent Garden or Knightsbridge. I would wrap the day with an aperitivo at my local, the Angelic, and a play at the Almeida Theatre or a movie at the Castle Cinema in Hackney.