Some of the best ideas are born in the pub—or at least they seem that way after a pint or two. So when a tech whizz and I sketched out a hazy plan over drinks at Mayfair’s Barley Mow in 2007, neither of us imagined we’d still be at it more than a decade later.
As a devoted Londoner, I wanted to create a platform where fellow urbanites could celebrate everything the city had to offer—a lively home for news, reviews, interviews, opinion pieces, hidden gems and the occasional dose of gossip.
That idea became The London Word, a niche culture webzine that grew into a thriving community of more than 30 contributors, publishing on everything from West End theatre to weird folklore, health to hedonism.
Writing under the gloriously dubious pseudonym Abberline Vaseline, I’ve reviewed restaurants, cafés, pubs, clubs, gigs, theatre, art, style and wellbeing, regularly covered London Fashion Week, and interviewed creative Londoners including Seal, Emma B and Beardyman for my long-running interview series, My London.
Sadly, The London Word is now defunct, but what a glorious decade it was. Spending ten years immersed in the culture of one of the world’s most exciting cities—and helping document it along the way—was a privilege I’ll always be grateful for.
In 2017, I made the difficult decision to retire the website and turn my attention to new creative projects. Running The London Word taught me more than I could have imagined, and gave me some of the richest, most rewarding experiences of my early journalism career.
Today, I write a monthly blog, Wild Inspired, where I share reflections on life as a self-taught artist exploring the untamed side of creativity, nature and meaning. You’ll find it over at abbeymae.com, alongside my paintings and illustrated homewares inspired by the natural world.
