London Uncovered

Exploring some of London's most fascinating people, stories and lesser known locations.

Radio London,77 episodes

Episodes

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Documenting the people of Hackney and Newham
A beautiful audio project is chronicling the stories of the two boroughs.
31 Oct 2025,13 mins
Reclaiming London's overlooked coal hole covers
These cast iron covers have intricate Victorian patterns that reveal London's past.
24 Oct 2025,9 mins
Bloomsbury's library of lost maps
At the heart of UCL lies a long-forgotten library packed with thousands of maps.
21 Oct 2025,9 mins
Retracing London's Punk explosion
New book 'Punk: The Last Word' details the history of the movement that shook the world.
17 Oct 2025,15 mins
The intriguing sewing museum only open once a month
The London Sewing Machine Museum in Balham is a tiny, perplexing, intriguing place.
03 Oct 2025,4 mins
Inside Camden's London Irish Centre as it turns 70
London has the largest Irish-born population of any place outside of Ireland.
30 Sep 2025,5 mins
Stories from the ‘Journalist’s Church’ on Fleet Street
St Bride's on Fleet Street also known as 'The Journalists Church' has a fascinating past.
24 Sep 2025,18 mins
Rediscovering the eccentric world of the 1980s 'Blitz Kids'
The Blitz club in Covent Garden shaped the fashion, music and pop culture of the decade.
19 Sep 2025,5 mins
Behind the doors of Tottenham Hale's lost factories
From shoes to rubber to duplicating machines. Tottenham Hale was known for manufacturing.
15 Sep 2025,19 mins
Terence Stamp's London
He was an east London boy with dashing good looks and a smouldering glare.
18 Aug 2025,23 mins
What do London's changing borders tell us about the city?
Is Romford in London or Essex? Why is Chessington in London, but Epsom isn't?
11 Aug 2025,17 mins
Activism to eroticism: London's statues of women
In recent years there have been more statues of women erected in London than men.
04 Aug 2025,15 mins
The tale of the lost jewels of Cheapside
Uncovering a thrilling history of mudlarkers, charlatans, experts and chancers.
28 Jul 2025,16 mins
How maps are vital to understanding 20th century London
A new study of cartography is an enthralling exploration of the history of the city.
18 Jul 2025,10 mins
'I bought it for £1': Brixton Academy's miraculous revival
The story of 23-year-old Simon Parkes, who purchased the derelict venue for £1 in 1983.
14 Jul 2025,10 mins
Millennium Bridge at 25: How 'the wobbly bridge' came to be
The bridge was crossed by about 90,000 people when it opened on 10 June 2000.
10 Jun 2025,7 mins
Where are London's most 'charismatic' trees?
Nearly a quarter of London is covered by trees, making it a forest by some definitions.
02 Jun 2025,11 mins
The history of Chelsea in 50 buildings
A neighbourhood better known by its people, SW10 also has a rich architectural history.
30 May 2025,11 mins
The story of Walthamstow FC's 'world-first' William Morris kit
The collaboration is believed to be the first between a football club and a museum.
06 May 2025,6 mins
Inside The City - where Medieval custom determines who votes
The City of London is an oddity within the English system of local government.
30 Apr 2025,5 mins
Alternative Kew: The 'ethereal' London Museum of Water and Steam
Inside the former Kew Bridge Waterworks, and it's amazing pumping engines.
29 Apr 2025,9 mins
How London's boroughs were named 60 years ago
As the 32 boroughs mark this big milestone, we look back at how modern London was born.
01 Apr 2025,13 mins
London Eye at 25: The wheel that nearly wasn't
How two plucky architects masterminded the project in the early 1990s.
06 Mar 2025,10 mins
The 12 days when an escaped eagle entranced London
In 1965 the general public were gripped by the exploits of a fugitive bird called Goldie.
04 Mar 2025,8 mins
Charting London's lost pubs
Looking back at some of the most memorable boozers of London's past.
27 Feb 2025,12 mins
Moorgate tube crash: Dramatising the disaster 50 years on
Laurence Marks's father died in the crash, now he's co-written a play for Drama on 4.
26 Feb 2025,9 mins
"The centre of the world": Exploring the deep history of The Strand
The Strand has witnessed to London’s growth and change from early on.
24 Feb 2025,13 mins
Unearthing early Roman London under an office basement
The BBC's Science Editor visits the site of a major archaeological discovery in the city.
13 Feb 2025,4 mins
What are Parliament's bars really like?
You are certainly never far from a bar in the Palace of Westminster.
31 Jan 2025,7 mins
Who were Georgian London's 'Blackbirds of St Giles'?
New novel explores the black Londoners fighting for freedom in the 19th century.
27 Jan 2025,10 mins