Rob Baker
@robnitm.bsky.social
Author of two London history books - 'Beautiful Idiots and Brilliant Lunatics' and 'High Buildings, Low Morals' - I'm currently doing up a 18th Century cottage in the Brecon Beacons which seems to be taking an inordinate amount of time.
Menu at Veeraswamy’s, 99 Regent Street from November 1945. It included a Theatre Service and a weather forecast.
February 16, 2026 at 5:11 PM
Menu at Veeraswamy’s, 99 Regent Street from November 1945. It included a Theatre Service and a weather forecast.
Reposted by Rob Baker
‘Rye Lane’ is an underseen rom-com gem baltimorebeat.com/rye-lane-is-...
‘Rye Lane’ is an underseen rom-com gem
Modern romantic comedies, rare as they have become, have a tendency to feel fixated on the main couple and not the world that they live in. Think back to the famous “I’ll have what she’s having”…
baltimorebeat.com
February 14, 2026 at 2:01 PM
‘Rye Lane’ is an underseen rom-com gem baltimorebeat.com/rye-lane-is-...
Veeraswamy's menu from March 1944
February 13, 2026 at 8:44 PM
Veeraswamy's menu from March 1944
Backstage at Lindsay Kemp. 1974.
Patrick Cargill, Larry Parnes, Lindsay, Danny La Rue, Peter Wyngarde.
Photo by Mick Rock
Patrick Cargill, Larry Parnes, Lindsay, Danny La Rue, Peter Wyngarde.
Photo by Mick Rock
February 12, 2026 at 6:15 AM
Backstage at Lindsay Kemp. 1974.
Patrick Cargill, Larry Parnes, Lindsay, Danny La Rue, Peter Wyngarde.
Photo by Mick Rock
Patrick Cargill, Larry Parnes, Lindsay, Danny La Rue, Peter Wyngarde.
Photo by Mick Rock
"More Champagne"! - Francis Bacon in the Toucan Club, 1980. Can anyone tell me anything about the club on Gerrard Street?
February 7, 2026 at 9:14 AM
"More Champagne"! - Francis Bacon in the Toucan Club, 1980. Can anyone tell me anything about the club on Gerrard Street?
The Amalgamated Union of Engineering & Foundry Workers take on mini-skirts in 1968. The foundry section alone had approximately 72,000 members.
January 26, 2026 at 5:56 PM
The Amalgamated Union of Engineering & Foundry Workers take on mini-skirts in 1968. The foundry section alone had approximately 72,000 members.
Reposted by Rob Baker
Legalise Freedom? St Agnes Place, Vauxhall, 1984 - photo by Peter Marshall.
June 9, 2025 at 11:22 AM
Legalise Freedom? St Agnes Place, Vauxhall, 1984 - photo by Peter Marshall.
The Gerrard Street Telephone Exchange building was built in 1906-1907 to the designs of Leonard Stokes, who happened to be married to the daughter of the General Manager of the National Telephone Company. The building at 32-35 Gerrard Street was replaced in the mid-1930s
January 24, 2026 at 11:31 AM
The Gerrard Street Telephone Exchange building was built in 1906-1907 to the designs of Leonard Stokes, who happened to be married to the daughter of the General Manager of the National Telephone Company. The building at 32-35 Gerrard Street was replaced in the mid-1930s
Reposted by Rob Baker
Peter Ustinov, Christopher Fry and Kenneth Tynan drinking in the Nag’s Head pub in Covent Garden, 1955
December 20, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Peter Ustinov, Christopher Fry and Kenneth Tynan drinking in the Nag’s Head pub in Covent Garden, 1955
Reposted by Rob Baker
Terence Rattigan in his apartment at Albany, Piccadilly in 1948. His ‘Playbill' opened at the Phoenix Theatre, London, on 8 September that year.
December 22, 2025 at 11:21 AM
Terence Rattigan in his apartment at Albany, Piccadilly in 1948. His ‘Playbill' opened at the Phoenix Theatre, London, on 8 September that year.
Reposted by Rob Baker
Liberal England... Nora Brown and Stephanie Coleman: The Very Day I'm Gone
Nora Brown and Stephanie Coleman: The Very Day I'm Gone
BBC Radio 3's Late Junction is a treasure, so of course the station's controllers can't stop cutting it. It once ran for two hours, three ti...
liberalengland.blogspot.com
January 18, 2026 at 11:12 AM
Liberal England... Nora Brown and Stephanie Coleman: The Very Day I'm Gone
Golly’s Garage on the corner of the Earl’s Court Road and Cromwell Road c. 1935
January 17, 2026 at 10:03 PM
Golly’s Garage on the corner of the Earl’s Court Road and Cromwell Road c. 1935
Horse Guards Parade, 1971
January 7, 2026 at 3:55 AM
Horse Guards Parade, 1971
Frank Auerbach at the LCC Open Air Exhibition, July 1948, Embankment Gardens, London. Photo - Dan Farson.
January 6, 2026 at 2:19 PM
Frank Auerbach at the LCC Open Air Exhibition, July 1948, Embankment Gardens, London. Photo - Dan Farson.
Snow in Oxford Street, 1941
January 5, 2026 at 8:14 PM
Snow in Oxford Street, 1941
Paul Robeson, Anna May Wong and Peking opera artist Mei Lanfang, outside Claridges in 1935.
January 3, 2026 at 9:36 PM
Paul Robeson, Anna May Wong and Peking opera artist Mei Lanfang, outside Claridges in 1935.
Anna May Wong, who was born on this day in 1905, in her London flat in 1928
January 3, 2026 at 9:20 PM
Anna May Wong, who was born on this day in 1905, in her London flat in 1928
Views of Pen y Fan and Corn Du on a walk from my house yesterday
January 3, 2026 at 5:16 AM
Views of Pen y Fan and Corn Du on a walk from my house yesterday
Bankside and its surroundings, January 1947- the old Bankside power station on the left - St Paul's cathedral just visible through the mist.
January 2, 2026 at 7:43 PM
Bankside and its surroundings, January 1947- the old Bankside power station on the left - St Paul's cathedral just visible through the mist.
Reposted by Rob Baker
2025 was a horrible year. I'm so very glad to see the end of it.
Happy New Year from Samuel Beckett and me. Go be kind x
Happy New Year from Samuel Beckett and me. Go be kind x
January 1, 2026 at 4:47 AM
2025 was a horrible year. I'm so very glad to see the end of it.
Happy New Year from Samuel Beckett and me. Go be kind x
Happy New Year from Samuel Beckett and me. Go be kind x
90 years ago, this was the menu at the Trocadero's Arctic Night New Year's Eve party, 1935-36
January 1, 2026 at 5:07 AM
90 years ago, this was the menu at the Trocadero's Arctic Night New Year's Eve party, 1935-36
Peter Cook at the Establishment Club, 18 Greek Street in 1962
December 31, 2025 at 3:38 AM
Peter Cook at the Establishment Club, 18 Greek Street in 1962
Dancing at the Sunset Club, a jazz and calypso club, situated at 50 Carnaby Street - December 1951
December 29, 2025 at 11:55 AM
Dancing at the Sunset Club, a jazz and calypso club, situated at 50 Carnaby Street - December 1951