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The book Doors of London sits open on a wooden table. The left page is a photograph of a black door with a soldier marching past. The right page is entitled Chapter 2: Westminster, with a map of Westminster on a mint green background. On the table beside the book is a cup of coffee in a blue-and-white china cup and saucer, and a black leather diary with a silver pen on top of it.

Door Diaries Launched

Written by Sheldrake Editor on . Posted in News.

Today, Sheldrake Press launch a new blog series entitled Door Diaries. We’ve been going out and about visiting places in our book Doors of London, and we’ve turned up all sorts of little-known details. We invite you to join us on a journal of urban discovery.

Having got the book, it’s fun to use it.

An elegant graphic features dark green text reading Door Diaries with ‘Doors of London’ and the Sheldrake Press logo on a cream-coloured background with a green rectangular frame.
As we explore London door by door, we’re writing Door Diaries.

It’s an irony of publishing that, when producing a book, one simply does not have the time to visit any of the places featured in it. We knew that certain doors, beyond looking pretty, had fascinating stories associated with them, or were located on the site of somewhere exciting. Once we had Doors of London in our hands, we were inspired to go out and find them. It’s always satisfying to see what you’ve been writing about for months (and sometimes years) on end.

We selected our doors, planned our routes and took in the sights. As we explored, we came up with the idea of documenting our visits. Door Diaries were born. Now you can read the first entry in our blog, Door Diary: Drinking with Mr. D’Arcy.

Pictured is a wide grey blue door with multiple small square windows and a brass letterbox. The sign above the door reads: Children may not come inside although an awful lot have tried. Come inside yourself we plead, but keep your dog upon a lead.
The Dove in Hammersmith boasts a venerable door and an almost rhyming sign.

Explore London Door by Door

Flip through Doors of London and you’ll find you can browse by borough or theme. Find doors of celebrities and famous historical figures, doors of pubs, restaurants, churches, theatres and even prisons. There’s a story behind every one.

Visit the Best Pubs

Doors of London describes 20 historic pubs across London, two at the end of each chapter, so that anyone doing a door tour can take a well-earned break and down a pint while admiring one of London’s lesser-known architectural landmarks.

We have taken it upon ourselves to visit some of the pubs and see some of the doors in person. This has been an ideal team-bonding exercise, and a great excuse for a few beverages.

Pictured is the entrance of The Dove pub. Above the door are two signs. The main sign features the name of the pub in capitalized white font. The sign below reads: Children may not come inside although an awful lot have tried. Come inside yourself we plead, but keep your dog upon a lead. This is written in gold capitalized lettering against a black background. To the left of the door is a chalkboard with chalk writing on it, reading: Did you know that James Thompson penned Rule Britannia under this very roof in 1740?
The sign above the door reads: Children may not come inside although an awful lot have tried. Come inside yourself we plead, but keep your dog upon a lead.

Get a Door Diary Discount

An ad for the book Doors of London, entitled All Doors Great and Small. The title is in a rectangular box in the centre, in capitalized grey serif font. The font size of the word great is bigger and the word small is smaller. Photographs of doors line the top, bottom and sides of the box. A spiky red circle, with text reading 15% off until 31/10, is overlaid on the top left corner of the box. A red price tag dangles from the red circle, reading *free delivery. A 3D graphic of the Doors of London book is in the bottom right corner of the ad.

To mark the launch of Door Diaries, this month we are offering the book that inspired us, Doors of London, at a discounted price in the UK. Order before 31st October to get 15% off and free delivery. To purchase at the discounted price, click on All Doors Great and Small.

The first two customers to avail themselves of the Door Diary discount in the UK will receive a copy signed by the authors Cath Harries and Melanie Backe-Hansen.

If you’re ordering a copy as a present, we offer the option of gift wrapping for just £3.00, available exclusively to UK customers ordering from sheldrakepress.co.uk. Simply add the option of gift wrapping to your basket when you place your order. 

A book lies open on a wooden table. The page to the left features a black door surrounded by walls with a bright blue-and-yellow pattern. The page to the right is the title page. It reads ‘Doors of London, Styles, Stories, Art and Architecture, Cath Harries and Melanie Backe-Hansen’. Using a black pen, a hand signs ‘Cath Harries’ on the title page. Three books entitled ‘Doors of London’ are stacked to the right of the main book.
Cath Harries signs her book ‘Doors of London’.