City pack · London, UK
20 narrated stories about London — streets, landmarks and the people behind their names — about 59 minutes of listening. Play them here, or download the pack and listen offline on the plane, the train, the walk.
One payment through PayPal (card or PayPal balance). Your link arrives by email and opens here on any device. No account needed.
The Alexander Fleming Laboratory at St Mary’s Hospital · 3 min · page
Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin in 1928 in a second-floor laboratory at St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington. He noticed a stray mold called Penicillium notatum dissolving bacteria on a forgotten petri dish after returning from a two-week holiday.
Hans Place in Knightsbridge · 3 min · page
Jane Austen stayed at her brother Henry’s home at Number 23 Hans Place in Knightsbridge. During her stay, she corrected the proofs for Emma and received a suggestion from the Prince Regent’s librarian to dedicate the novel to the Prince.
180 Ebury Street in Belgravia · 3 min · page
Eight-year-old Mozart lived at 180 Ebury Street in Belgravia in 1764. While his father was ill and required silence, Mozart composed his first symphony, Symphony Number 1 in E-flat major, at a desk in this house.
What your guests ask about Place d'Armes · 3 min · page
Place d'Armes features architectural styles from four centuries, including the 1684 Saint-Sulpice Seminary, Montreal's oldest standing structure. The square also houses the Notre-Dame Basilica, the city's first skyscraper, and a monument to Montreal's founder, Paul de Chomedey.
Unlocks with the pack
The Wallace Collection on Manchester Square, Marylebone · 3 min · page
Lady Wallace’s 1897 bequest established a strict condition that no artwork can ever leave the building, even for temporary exhibitions, and no new works can be added. Consequently, these artworks do not travel or tour and remain in Hertford House.
Unlocks with the pack
John Wood the Younger built Brock Street on · 3 min · page
John Wood the Younger designed Brock Street as a deliberate "hinge" to connect his father’s Circus with the Royal Crescent. It serves as a transition that controls the viewer's vision, allowing the expansive horizon of the Royal Crescent to gradually unfold.
Unlocks with the pack
Jeremy Bentham’s Auto-Icon at UCL on Gower Street · 3 min · page
Jeremy Bentham's preserved skeleton, called the Auto-Icon, is housed in a glass case at UCL's Student Centre. Dressed in original clothes, he is occasionally recorded in university meeting minutes as being present but not voting.
Unlocks with the pack
The BT Tower on Cleveland Street, Fitzrovia · 3 min · page
Due to its national security role during the Cold War, the tower was designated an official secret. Consequently, it was omitted from Ordnance Survey maps until 1993, appearing as a blank space despite being the United Kingdom's tallest building.
Unlocks with the pack
The story under Place d'Armes · 3 min · page
Beneath Place d’Armes lie remnants of a seventeenth-century cemetery, hidden tunnels, and vaulted cellars. Additionally, the original Notre-Dame church foundations are buried beneath the nearby asphalt, and a private passage connects the Bank of Montreal to its neighbor.
Unlocks with the pack
Dennis Severs' House at 18 Folgate Street, Spitalfields · 3 min · page
It is a restored Georgian townhouse in Spitalfields designed as a candlelit still-life drama. Visitors explore in total silence, viewing rooms staged to look as if a fictional family of Huguenot silk weavers has just stepped out.
Unlocks with the pack
The Ten Bells on Commercial Street, Spitalfields · 3 min · page
The Ten Bells was renamed 'The Jack the Ripper' in 1976. It reverted to its original name in 1988 following pressure from local residents and feminist groups who protested the celebration of the murderer.
Unlocks with the pack
Arnold Circus and the Boundary Estate in Shoreditch · 3 min · page
The Boundary Estate in Shoreditch, completed in 1900, is officially the world’s first council estate. Its central mound at Arnold Circus was constructed using the rubble from the demolished Old Nichol slum that once occupied the site.
Unlocks with the pack
The Silent Frontier of Wentworth Street · 3 min · page
Wentworth Street serves as a transition point between Charleston’s lower peninsula neighborhoods and northern commercial energy. It features brick homes built after the Great Fire of 1838 and the Wentworth Mansion, a Gilded Age residence built in the 1880s.
Unlocks with the pack
1600 Christian Street · 3 min · page
The Deacon was originally the First African Baptist Church, which broke ground here in 1906. The building served as a spiritual anchor and sanctuary for community organizing and civil rights before its transformation into a boutique hotel began in 2018.
Unlocks with the pack
Virginia Court off Virginia Street · 3 min · page
Virginia Court was an eighteenth-century auction yard where merchants known as Tobacco Lords traded tobacco, sugar, and rum. This trade was fueled by the labor of enslaved people on plantations in the Chesapeake and the Caribbean.
Unlocks with the pack
The Golden Boy of Pye Corner in Smithfield · 3 min · page
The Great Fire of 1666 stopped at Pye Corner in Smithfield. The Golden Boy statue marks this location and serves as a reminder of the 17th-century belief that the fire was divine punishment for the sin of gluttony.
Unlocks with the pack
The 1897 Queen Anne mansion of soap magnate · 3 min · page
Soap magnate William Joseph Pendray built the 1897 Queen Anne Revival style mansion. Known as Victoria’s Soap King, he commissioned the house for his family, featuring luxury hand-painted frescoes and ornate stained glass funded by his soap-making profits.
Unlocks with the pack
Charterhouse Square in Clerkenwell · 3 min · page
In 2013, Crossrail engineers discovered twenty-five skeletons from a 1348 Black Death burial site. Forensic scientists extracted DNA from their teeth, confirming the presence of Yersinia pestis, the bacteria responsible for the bubonic plague.
Unlocks with the pack
The Frozen Boundary of West Hall Street · 3 min · page
It marks the transition between Savannah's colonial city plan and the Victorian District. It is considered a frozen boundary because it preserves late nineteenth-century architecture and character that residents protected from mid-twentieth-century urban renewal.
Unlocks with the pack
Old Theatre Street is named for the 1731 · 3 min · page
The street is named after the nearby Teatru Manoel. Completed in 1731, it is one of Europe's oldest working theatres and was commissioned by Grand Master António Manoel de Vilhena for the "honest recreation of the people."
Unlocks with the pack