Welcome to Wooden City – a newsletter about London
The real London isn’t hidden, it’s just scattered around. Wooden City puts the pieces together, from fragments of London’s past to the ordinary places we make use of today.
What’s the story behind this newsletter?
I'm a writer called Isaac Rangaswami and I started the Instagram page @caffs_not_cafes in 2019 to celebrate London’s oldest caffs.
Since then, I’ve written for publications like Vittles and the Guardian, while my Instagram has evolved to showcase other places with a similar spirit, from chip shops to Chinese restaurants.
Now I’m expanding this mission once more, by drawing attention to all the other places I think are important, beautiful and underappreciated.
That means everyday things with unusual staying power, like shops, buildings, restaurants and public spaces.
What will it cover?
I’m launching with a three-part guide to my 50 favourite London caffs, which is based on years of research, features spots all over the capital and links to a citywide Google Map.
After that, I have guides and features lined up around loads of other topics close to my heart. To begin with this includes things like pubs, markets, bookshops, museums, arts centres, libraries and historical shops.
I want to talk about the function of these places as living spaces, along with the people who use them and make them what they are.
What do subscribers get?
Wooden City is designed to be a repository of sorts, with grouped recommendations all in one place. Subscribers will receive deeply researched articles that aren’t available anywhere else, often linking to Google Maps.
They’ll arrive in your inbox every other week. Over the next 12 months, this will include a handful of really expansive map-based guides, punctuated by shorter guides, essays, interviews and portraits of a single place.
How much does it cost?
A subscription is only £3.50 a month or £30 a year, which is 29% cheaper than subscribing monthly.
By signing up, you’ll get writing that makes it easier to visit all of these places yourself, and aims to give you a renewed appreciation for them if you know and use them already.
