London
An elephant in our midst
On 15 September 1885, the world’s most famous elephant, Jumbo, was killed by a train. Jumbo, the star attraction at…
London for aliens
Lanes of London serves street food to people who hate streets; that is, it exists to soothe the still-curious mouths…
Why I’m on board for the homophobic bus
London has long since lost its allure for me — altogether too many cars, foreigners, cyclists, middle-class liberals and people…
Stop that cab!
It’s time to end the archaic privileges of London taxi drivers
Dear Mary
Q. I have a problem with what might be called location blindness. I live in Balham, but when I arrange…
If you love gold, shouldn’t you love the euro too?
Bitcoins have been in the news, after a story about an unfortunate fellow who jettisoned his computer’s hard drive that…
Artist’s Notebook
We live by simple stories. X has a stroke. X recovers; or doesn’t. But we live inside more complicated stories.…
Criminal damage
Anyone with a passing interest in old British buildings must get angry at the horrors inflicted on our town centres…
An old wound takes its toll at last
This is probably the most self-indulgent column I’ve written. I hope not to make a habit of it. It’s an…
French revival
Boulestin is a pretty restaurant on St James’s Street, between the posh fag shop (Davidoff) and the old palace, which…
The human condition in a scuffed yellow line
My preferred route from the Times’s offices in Wapping on to the main road takes me across a precinct then…
High life
New York Hot money from China, India, Russia and Singapore is pouring into London; hotter money from the same countries…
A POINT OF VIEW
Until I plotted a book on England’s best views I had not realised how much people cared. Ask them to…
Once upon a time there were…
If you are going to read a novel that plays with literary conventions you want it written with aplomb. In…
Not so much a property bubble, more an opportunity to improve London’s transport
Everyone —including me, if I’m honest — has been talking about a new property bubble. But is it for real?…
Diary
It’s been a strange summer. After a stroke, holidays are not what they used to be. We went to Juan-les-Pins…
How our rich new neighbours can help solve the affordable housing shortage
The mega-rich are best housed behind high fences, on wooded estates patrolled by dogs; that way, they don’t have to…
Real life
At last. I’ve waited a long time for this moment. I’ve been through years of torture at the hands of…
Letters
Absent friends Sir: Alec Marsh (‘Welcome to Big Venice’, 10 August) accurately observes that Londoners are priced out of central…
Welcome to Big Venice
London is at risk of becoming a tourist trap full of second homes
World shaking
Shake Shack is a hamburger restaurant in Covent Garden market. It came from New York and it is as needy…
Eating the Shard
What to say about the Shard that isn’t said by the fact it is 1,020 feet high and looks like…
A question of trust
Now that most taxi drivers use satnavs, should ‘the Knowledge’ be abolished? Shouldn’t we ditch the requirement that all London…
