Placecloud: Stories of Place

Scotland Yard has been in horror films since Sherlock Holmes and the "Quatermass" trilogy, but were any actually filmed at the Yard? And what is the Yard's famous Black Museum? Listen to hear about the three locations of Scotland Yard in London's film history, the horror films inspired by the Yard's Black Museum, and about the strange shift away from Scotland Yard in recent horror history. Includes a highlight of Edgar Wright's 2006 "Hot Fuzz"

In the 1950s Battersea Park opened it's own Funfair, and once it did the horror filmmakers came running. Horror films - including "The Mutations" starring Donald Pleasance and "Gorgo" London's 1969 answer to Godzilla - used the bright lights of the funfair to contrast with dark stories, that is until the Battersea funfair had a real-life horror of its own.

London Zoo is a place of fun and wonder with animals from all over the world gathered for us to enjoy, but you may not know that one particular animal has been the star of three horror movies. Listen to hear about the role they played in "Werewolf of London" (1935), "American Werewolf in London" (1981), and "Braham Stoker's Dracula" (1992)

The Eros Fountain in Piccadilly Circus has appeared in more than a dozen horror films, mostly to set the scene in London. But it plays a more important symbolic role in three horror films - Edgar Wright's 2021 "Last Night in Soho", Lindsay Shonteff's "Night After Night After Night", and Danny Boyle's "28 Days Later". Listen to find out what this fountain meant for these three, very different, horror films

St Michael's Church, Framlingham was enlarged in the mid-16th century specifically to accomodate the tombs of the 3rd duke of Norfolk and Henry Fitzory. Learn why the tombs were built here, why they took 15-20 years to construct, and how their design changed.

This viewpoint discusses the controversial marriage of James Hamilton, 1st Marquess of Abercorn and his third wife, Lady Anne Hatton, which took place in 1800.

The 1870s witnessed a fashion for Winter Gardens at the British seaside and Great Yarmouth's example is a unique survivor of that Victorian trend. As an iron and glass structure it took its cue from the 1851 Crystal Palace but failed to make a profit when it was first erected in the Devon resort of Torquay. This viewpoint uncovers the background to its creation and tells the story of its remarkable move to Norfolk in 1903.

Margate's 1926 train station was one of architect Edwin Maxwell Fry's first jobs. Fry went on to become a leading figure in International Modernism so this viewpoint explores the background to the station's design, its importance for Margate and its place in the wider context of 1920s seaside architecture.

Learn more about two German Americans, George Ehret and William Steinway, who built a coastal amusement park in northern Queens in the late 19th century. Originally called Bowery Bay Beach, North Beach was one of a number of resort destinations in the outer boroughs of New York City at the turn of the 20th century.

Orchard Beach is one of the great 1930s public works projects in New York City. It's early history as a campsite is a window into leisure patterns in New York City's coastal hinterlands in the 19th century, while the beach's redevelopment in the 1930s speaks to the career of the city's infamous power broker and master builder, Robert Moses.

Learn about how and why the famous manufacturer built a factory here, in northwestern Queens, in the late 19th century. Steinway's investments in this corner of what was once the independent municipality of Long Island City proved a key contribution to the growth of greater New York City.

Learn more about Hart Island's history as New York City's largest potter's field--as well as the surprising, often-overlooked history of Solomon Riley's attempt to build an amusement park on the island's southern tip.

Learn about New York City's "King of Beer Corners" George Ehret, his German American community in Yorkville, on the Upper East Side, and his role in New York City's flourishing brewery industry in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

zbjczdmfjbkea

Recounts the story of Amelia Kennedy who, in 1871, died in a fire at her home in Edwards Lane, Stoke Newington, while trying to save other members of her family.

In 909 the bones of Oswald of Northumbria were brought to Gloucester from Bardney in Lincolnshire by Æthelred and Æthelflæd, rulers of Mercia. In time the minster they had founded in Gloucester came to be named after this northern king. Find out why a northern king was an attractive patron to Merican rulers and how the northern connection was later reactivated by the Archbishops of York.

The St Giles ruins are Maldon's only ancient scheduled monument. While in popular imagination medieval leper hospitals are thought of as places of exclusion, the truth is more complex and the community at St Giles was embedded in networks that stretched from the town centre out into the surrounding countryside.

One of the most precious possessions of the monks of Peterborough was the incorrupt right arm of King Oswald. What was this relic? And how did it come to be installed in a chapel in Peterborough Abbey?

Recounts the story of Dr Alexander Stewart Brown from Brockley who lost his life following a series of unfortunate events.

Recounts the story of Constable Percy Edwin Cook, who died in 1927 trying to save some workmen from a High Tension Chamber in Kensington.

Recounts the controversy around the death of Fireman Joseph Ford who died in 1871 while helping to rescue people from a burning house on the Grays Inn Road.

Norfolk is undoubtedly Boleyn heartland, where the family first established themselves as important members of the county, and Salle village and Church in Norfolk remain a vital part of the Boleyn story.

Brooke House has one of the saddest stories of any of Henry VIII's lost palaces, since it was only demolished in the 1950s. Now nothing remains of the palace in which Henry VIII was reconciled to his eldest daughter, Princess Mary.

Henry VIII's main London residence from 1523 to 1530 served as a backdrop for some of the drama of the King's Great Matter: Henry's attempt to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, so that he could marry Anne Boleyn.

This place fulfilled the promise of its name in 634 when Oswald of Northumbria won his famous victory over Cadwallon.

The Yorkshire seaside resort of Withernsea came into being as a result of Victorian railway expansion, with a pier being built as one of the first visitor attractions. The sorry tale of that North Sea pier is a short and disastrous one. But its story is not over yet.

The seafront Hippodrome at Great Yarmouth has been in continuous use as a circus since 1903. Its first owner made his name as a performer and knew how to please the crowds of Edwardian holidaymakers with daring shows and a venue that embraced the latest Art Nouveau style of design.

Only the gatehouse of the once lavish Esher Place remains, but step back in time to imagine the palace in its prime. It was a house of exile for Cardinal Wolsey and a place of mourning for Henry VIII, before serving as a private residence for the remainder of the sixteenth century. It even witnessed an early seventeenth century exorcism.

Take a trip to Suffolk Place, the shortest occupied palace of the Tudor era. This lavish mansion was grand enough to host the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, when he visited England in 1522, while it also played host to a princely Christening.

As the fountainhead of maritime insurance Lloyd's is the most famous coffeehouse. Its story is emblematic of the rise and fall of London's coffeehouses: part of their meteoric rise was the appeal of auctions; their fall came when these public spaces turned private. Exploring Lloyd's also reveals the coffeehouse's deep links to the slave trade, from auctions and escaped enslaved Africans to the insuring of slave ships and their human cargo.

In 1911, when Vaslav Nijinsky returned from Paris to dance at the Mariinsky, his revealing costume raised eyebrows in the Tsar's box...

Pause on the Anichkov bridge to take in the distinctive architecture of Petersburg, and consider how the city itself could thematise looking.

How did the square behind the Paris Opera Garnier come to be named for a Russian aristocrat?

Jonathan's Coffee House was at the heart of what has been dubbed ‘the financial revolution' in late seventeenth-century London. It was home to the stock-jobbers, the scene of the 1720 South Sea Bubble, and the beginning of London's Stock Exchange.

Paris is well-known as a centre of fashion and luxury. The elegant stores on the Rue de la Paix offer a glimpse into the sensations of the early twentieth century, and the class distinctions which structured women's spaces.

In March 2021, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were interviewed by Oprah Winfrey about their decision to step down as working members of the British Royal Family as a result of racism in the monarchy and the media. This had taken a toll on both of their mental health and following stepping down, they have settled in California with their children. During this interview, Oprah and millions of viewers were treated to a brief look into their backyard. There, as reported in Architectural Digest: They invited Winfrey into a sizable chicken coop, adorably named “Archie's Chick Inn” after their 22-month-old son. “She's always wanted chickens,” Harry told Winfrey of his wife as the trio knelt down in the coop to feed the flock of hens, which they recently rescued from a factory farm. “I just love rescuing,” Meghan added. For most viewers, the significance of these chickens as part of the fabric of The Sussexes' new life was likely largely unnoticed. As a historical geographer with a long-standing interest in chickens, I couldn't help but compare these (post-)royal birds with a much longer lineage of royal chickens, starting in the mid-19th Century. In this PlaceCloud Essay, I'm taking you to the Royal Aviary in Windsor Park to talk about chickens: a very royal bird.

This place was a beloved walking spot of two nineteenth-century lovers, Edwin Atherstone and Hannah West. Learn about their love affair, and of what kept them apart.

Visit the old palace at Hatfield, childhood home to the future Elizabeth I. It was the place where she learned of her accession to the throne, in 1558, while sitting reading under an oak tree in the palace's park.

Journey to the site of Henry VIII's most spectacular building project, a palace that was intended to rival to great Chateau de Chambord in France.

Explore the remains of Henry VIII's childhood home, a palace that also served as a Byzantine Emperor's holiday home and housed a medieval king's personal library. You can even take a walk through Henry VIII's sewer system.

Bethlem Royal Hospital, or Bedlam, is probably the most infamous 'madhouse' in England. Many people think of it as a place where the mentally ill were locked up against their will. But for many patients, this was far from the case. Learn about those who wanted to be in this institution.

In 1849, Clare College (then Clare Hall) was rocked by a great tragedy. One of its student's, Edward Hayman, had taken his own life. Learn of Edward's story, and of his struggles with 'religious melancholy'.

In 1849, the reverend of Cottenham, and the Cambridgeshire coroner, had a fierce argument about whether a man of the parish could be given a proper Christian burial. Why? Because he had taken his own life. Learn about beliefs surrounding the burial of suicides in Victorian England.

In 1793, a young woman in this village, Dinah Harryman, asked for help with her suicidal feelings. Her aunt's response indicates how difficult it could be for friends and family to understand the suicidal. Learn about Dinah's story.

In 1826, there were large-scale riots at Helmshore. Half-starving handloom weavers attacked the machines which threatened their livelihoods. Mary Hindle, a local woman, got caught up in this rioting. Learn about her story, and about what eventually drove her to suicide.

In 1780, this pub, The Green Man, was a hubbub of noise and debate. Learn about how pubs could be sites for investigating issues of suicide and sanity.

In 1839, Charles William Bond died on this street. At the inquest into his death, it was suggested that novel-reading had contributed to his suicidal feelings. Learn about how contemporaries could interpret and rationalise suicidal behaviour.

Take a tour of the remains of Oatlands Palace, a favourite later residence of Henry VIII, which was demolished in 1650. We will explore the history of this once great palace, which witnessed one of the king's six weddings.

In 1798, a letter was left at the bank of Hyde Park Basin. Why had it been left there? And why did its author want it to be published? Find out about the struggles of John Cook, the butler to the Marquis of Titchfield, who died here.

In 1945, the German town of Haren was evacuated to make room for a sizeable population of Polish displaced persons (DPs). Many of them ex-/army members who had fought alongside the British. The entire town was requisitioned and turned into a microcosm of Polish society in the heart of Germany for 3 years before the whole process was reversed.

As the New Atlantic Charter was recently signed to reaffirm Anglo-American commitment to democracy and strengthen trade deals, how was the original Atlantic Charter received and who did it benefit? Held up as a blueprint for the post-war order, the original charter signed in 1941, signalled new international cooperation - but for some, it signalled betrayal as the principles were applied haphazardly. Anglo-Polish relationships soon soured after the Polish government-in-exile asked why Britain was not adhering to the much celebrated principles of the Charter.