Important: This blog is not a user’s guide.
It is unclear why London is such a nexus for portals. From doors between worlds to spacetime-crunching wormholes, the city’s fabric, dimensionally speaking, seems to be uniquely porous.
But if there’s one thing more striking than the number and diversity of portals in the UK’s capital, it’s the strength of the almost wilful effort by the city’s inhabitants to forget these gateways exist at all.
There are signs that this is changing. A growing number explore, discuss, research and sometimes use London’s portals. If it wasn’t for the shared knowledge of this network of portologists, this project may not have begun. PoL rides the crest of a resurgent wave of interest in the city’s gateways.
This blog is an attempt to collect stories of these phenomena – be they historical or contemporary, well-documented or shrouded in myth – in the hope that one day a comprehensive catalogue or encyclopaedia can be put together. Posts will range from relatively well known history – such as the electrically powered 19th Century craze for ‘world doors’ or the 1980s academic renaissance – to reexamining local folk tales, historical sources and obscure news stories, in the light of current portal knowledge.
It is important to note that posts won’t always recount dyed-in-the-wool cases of interdimensional openings. By including speculative examples and highlighting curious anomalies in the accepted reality of our city, we hope to pique the interest of those who have the time and skills to dig around and see what’s there.
There are a lot of stories to tell, but we at PoL also have responsibilities here in ‘base’ London. We hope to post at least once a month. Sometimes this will be just a few photos, or a few words, other times we will have the chance to delve a little deeper into a story.
It’s an incredible history – best of all, it’s ongoing. We hope you enjoy reading the posts, please remember this blog does not claim to be a user’s guide, and if there’s anything you know that we don’t, please do get in touch.
The source for the PoL logo image is here, adapted under this licence.
Read an interview with the blog’s creator here.
Portals of London 