Our Top Five

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Between 1891 and 1900 Twain went on an extended lecture tour of Europe, and was in London for a good part of that period. Distressed at the death of his daughter Susy in August 1896, Twain maintained ‘complete seclusion’ at 23 Tedworth Square, where he lived with his wife Olivia from autumn 1896 until June 1897. They only received ‘two or three intimate friends’ and it has been said that ‘Perhaps not a dozen people in London knew their address and the outside world was ignorant of it altogether’.

Nonetheless his time at number 23 was productive. His daughter Clara Clemens described how he ‘used to rise sometimes as early as four or five o’clock in the morning. Never did he write more continuously’. When the plaque was erected in 1960 Clara recalled how her family had ‘loved that little house and all the surrounding region.’

Stoker was a Novelist and theatre manager. Born in Dublin. Came to London in 1878 with his new wife Florence Balcombe, previously Oscar Wilde's squeeze. Wrote Dracula whilst he was Irving’s acting manager at the Lyceum Theatre, possibly basing the Count's character on Irving. 

At this time, Mozart and his sister were performing as child prodigies in many London theatres and at court. However, to accelerate Leopold’s recovery, the children were forbidden to play instruments in the house. And so it was there that, ‘in order to occupy himself’ – as his sister recalled – ‘Mozart composed his first symphony for all the instruments of the orchestra, especially for trumpets and kettledrums’.

It seems that the work she remembered is lost, but the symphony now referred to as Mozart's first (K.16 in E flat major) was also written at this time, being one of the precocious works aired at the Haymarket Little Theatre in February 1765. Not long after this, Queen Charlotte gave the boy composer – who had presented her with an engraved edition of six sonatas and made himself quite a favourite at court – a much-needed present of 50 guineas.

Borough Market Borough Market is a wholesale and retail market hall in Southwark, London, England. It is one of the largest and oldest food markets in London,[1][2] with a market on the site dating back to at least the 12th century. The present buildings were built in the 1850s, and today the market mainly sells speciality foods to the general public.

The Camden markets are a number of adjoining large retail markets, often collectively referred to as Camden Market or Camden Lock, located in the historic former Pickfords stables, in Camden Town, London. It is situated north of the Hampstead Road Lock of the Regent's Canal (popularly referred to as Camden Lock). Famed for their cosmopolitan image, products sold on the stalls include crafts, clothing, bric-a-brac, and fast food. It is the fourth-most popular visitor attraction in London, attracting approximately 250,000 people each week.[1]