The Crystal Palace Dinosaurs, located within historic Crystal Palace Park, is a London landmark. Designed and constructed by Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins with renowned paleontologist Sir Richard Owen's consultation, these life-size replicas were a huge hit. The fascinating display has been engaging the attention and imagination of visitors for over a century, restored to its full potential in 2007, when they were listed as a Grade I heritage site. A first attempt at capturing these magnificent pre-historic creatures, the Crystal Palace Park Dinosaurs still entertain and educate all ages to this day!
Established in 1991, and located in a historic building, this is the only museum in the world devoted entirely to fans and to the art of fan-creation. Visitors can see more than 3000 predominantly antique fans from around the globe, all presented in their historical, cultural and economic settings. There is a new exhibition around every four months. In addition to the museum displays, there is a tranquil orangery facing a serene Japanese-style garden. The Fan Museum has received awards for outstanding contributions to both tourism and to the arts, and if you fancy an individually-designed fan of your own, it can be commissioned from the museum's highly-skilled craftspeople.
Village Underground may be an establishment undertaken for a charitable cause, but nevertheless this fine venue holds its own in the entertainment scene of London. Every event at this venue is mainly based on various cultures, whether it's music, art or performing art. Underground has a gallery and spacious area for photography and film-making too. It's one of the finest entertaining spots in Shoreditch.
London's Smallest House has seen a lot since its inception in 1805. Crammed between two buildings, this tiny house was nearly destroyed by bombs in 1941 and is now a part of the Tyburn Convent which is located nearby. It is more of an alley from the front door to the first floor and doesn't have much room for anything else except a small bathroom. Mr Lewis Grant Wallace was its only tenant.
Hop on board a classic 1960s Routemaster bus and go for a tour of London unlike any other as you pass by places where hair-raising supernatural and gory events have taken place. Riding the bus with you will be theatrical actors who are sure to make your skin crawl if the spooky stories and sites of murder, torture, execution and supernatural activity haven’t done it so far. They also complement the stories with some rib-tickling jokes, giving the tours a quirky touch. If you have a thirst for horror stories, you’ll love The Ghost Bus Tours.
Above Saint Thomas Church in Southwark is London's oldest surviving operating theater. Built in 1821, it was the scene of many amputations carried out with a saw and no anaesthetic. Blood would drip - or probably pour - off the wooden table and get soaked up by three inches of sawdust. One wonders what the congregation below would have thought of the screams emanating from upstairs, with the odd drip of blood seeping through the ceiling. With anesthetics unavailable, patients would often awake from their drunken state (they had a choice of passing out from either alcohol or pain) in the midst of an operation. Fortunately, the National Health Service's operating theaters have taken a leap forward, and medical students don't have such a frighteningly free reign.