Are you a Cockney?

Simon Meyer, the St Mary-le-Bow Tower Master.

Photo: PA / The Telegraph

There are many people who claim to be a Cockney but, are they speaking the truth? According to London tradition, Cockneys are born within earshot of the bells of St Mary-le-Bow, a church situated in Cheapside and built after the Great Fire of 1666.

There has been many debates and studies about how to delimit the bell-hearing range. The areas reached were Bethnal Green, Whitechapel, Spitalfields, Stepney, Hackney, Hoxton, Shoreditch, Bow, Mile End, Poplar, Wapping, Limehouse and Millwall. Other investigations, less exaggerated, limited the area only to Bethnal Green, Whitechapel, Stepney, Hackney and Hoxton.

But nowadays the Cockneys are endangered. Due to the noise pollution, the development of the city and the construction of high buildings, every day is more difficult to heard the chimes of St Mary-le-Bow.

Also, maybe a true Cockney may never be born again, because the only hospital inside the audible area has not a maternity ward.

Art by Squiddy Johnson

London is the capital of multiples races, colours, faiths, languages and cultures. It's the city of the musicals, the theatres, the pubs and the street art. Only a few cities in the world can compete with London in terms of the amount of graffiti they have. 

Everyone who has ever walked around London, even if it has been just a little bit, knows about the master of the street art, Banksy. But, obviously, he is not the only artist in the capital.

Today I want to dedicate this space to Squiddy Johnson's drawings. Because the graffiti is not only a male thing and she is the prove.

They're gonna live forever. Oasis exhibition

Twenty years to the day since Oasis shot to stardom with Supersonic (released the 11th of April, 1994), a free exhibition dedicated to the English rock band opened in Shoreditch. Chasing The Sun: Oasis 1993 - 1997 is taking place at the Londonewcastle Project Space from the 11st until the 22nd of April. 

The showing takes us to their meteoric career through three albums: Definitely Maybe, (What's the Story) Morning Glory, and Be Here Now.

This exhibition includes original pictures taken by Jill Furminovsky, Paul Slattery, Tom Sheehan, Kevin Cummins, and Jamie Fry. The exposition also displays the instruments they played on their first few albums, awards, stage costumes, a Manchester City flag, vintage merchandise or Noel Gallagher’s handwritten lyric sheets.