20th century London (1900 – 1999)
Explore objects, stories and blogs shining a light on London during 100 years of enormous and rapid change.
Blogs-And-Stories

Norman Hartnell: Couturier to queens & stars
The south Londoner who brought a theatrical flair to high-end fashion design

The toilet photos that saved gay men on trial
Fighting the prosecution of gay encounters in the 1980s and 1990s

The animals of London Zoo in the 1950s
Photographer Henry Grant takes us on a tour of these Regent’s Park residents


Inside Homerton Hospital, 1988
A new hospital for Hackney – its patients and staff, needles and blood

London’s fashion designers
Vivienne Westwood, Mary Quant and the many other talents that make London a fashion capital

How wartime bombsites became adventure playgrounds
Reclaiming the wreckage for play and imagination

Ken Livingstone: GLC leader & London’s first mayor
Dubbed “Red Ken” in the 1980s, Livingstone became London’s first directly elected mayor in 2000

Forgotten faces from post-war London
Fred Wilfred’s photos of London from 1957 to 1962 have remained largely unseen

Photographing an east London rent strike, 1939
Cyril Arapoff captures life in a dangerously dilapidated apartment block

Post-war photographs of the working River Thames
Sandra Flett’s snapshot of trade and industry on London’s liquid highway

London’s street markets by László Moholy-Nagy
The influential Hungarian artist turns his attention to 1930s street life

Blitz: A revolutionary 1980s club night
How one small group of revellers shaped the style and sound of a decade

Bikers unite: Rockers & rebels at the Ace Cafe, 1963
A gathering of leather-jacket-wearing adrenaline junkies

The history of London’s mosques
Fascinating buildings that tell the stories of the capital’s Muslim communities

How did London celebrate VE Day on 8 May 1945?
Joy, relief and grief as the city marked ‘Victory in Europe’ near the end of the Second World War

Ian Wright: Arsenal hero, London legend
This ex-footballer and pundit from Brockley has won hearts on and off the pitch

Hop-picking: Londoners’ working holiday
Going ‘hopping’ in Kent was once a rare summertime escape from city life