Check out this week's alternative guide to what's on in London. | Welcome to my weekly email of lectures, talks, heritage events, organised walks and other random miscellany which Ian hopes would be of interest. | = Event is free of charge | | = Pre-Booking required. |
|
| | | Saturday, 29th August | | A block of 10 days where the Transport Museum's main storage depot in Acton is open to visitors. | | | | Visit this green oasis in a urban setting it is a one of the many local green lungs in Forest Hill where you can find some interesting wildlife. | | | | Monthly open day at a wood and nature reserve that's next to the railway at Forest Hill. | | | | Luke Jerram’s ceremonial art installation has been created as a memorial to those we have lost in the COVID-19 pandemic. | | | | | | Sunday, 30th August | | The museum has it's first open day with some engines in steam since the lockdown started. | | | | A block of 10 days where the Transport Museum's main storage depot in Acton is open to visitors. | | | | Luke Jerram’s ceremonial art installation has been created as a memorial to those we have lost in the COVID-19 pandemic. | | | | | | Monday, 31st August | | Luke Jerram’s ceremonial art installation has been created as a memorial to those we have lost in the COVID-19 pandemic. | | | | | | Tuesday, 1st September | | This lecture will trace the development of country houses on the South Downs (many of which still survive and are accessible to the public) during their golden age. | | | | | | Wednesday, 2nd September | | In this one-hour Zoom talk, Joe Studman marks the 400th anniversary of the sailing of the Mayflower, who began her epic voyage from Rotherhithe. | | | | The most expensive square on the British Monopoly board for good reason. Hear the scandalous stories hidden behind these grand addresses | | | | Sue Mckenzie looks at how and why Brixton was home to so many people from music hall, early cinema and variety in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. | | | | | | Thursday, 3rd September | | A local history Zoom tour and talk Diane Burstein, a London Blue Badge Tour Guide, helps us explore one of London’s most picturesque and historic spots. | | | | Illustrated talk: The Tideway Tunnel by Roger Bailey, Tideway’s Chief Technical Officer. | | | | | | Friday, 4th September | | This talk examines these incredibly audacious missions that wrecked Nazi plans for an atom bomb. | | | | Juliette Desplat examines the four operations carried out by SOE and the Norwegian Resistance in Norway in 1942-1943, that wrecked Nazi plans for an atom bomb. | | | | This talk follows their early development, and meets the colourful characters, real and mechanical, who played the royal game locally. | | | | | | Saturday, 5th September | | Walks start with a short introduction from Dr. Fiona Haughey followed by a 1hr walk | | | | Chelsea Kayak Club is the only London club specialising in Sea Kayaking - join in at their club taster session to experience it for yourself. | | |
| Exhibitions closing shortly | | An exhibition by the UK’s leading established Glass Artists and some of the most exciting emerging talents. (Ends on Sat, 29th Aug) | | A display of kimono by contemporary textile artist, and founder of the HIROCOLEDGE brand, Takahashi Hiroko can be seen in the windows and on the Ground Floor at Japan House London throughout August. (Ends on Mon, 31st Aug) | | Chorus is an installation of giant kinetic sculptures, a celestial choir of spinning sound machines, created by award-winning artist and British Composer of the Year, Ray Lee. (Ends on Mon, 31st Aug) | | An exhibition of large scale paintings by Alex Urie. (Ends on Sat, 5th Sep) | | It’s 40 years since The Clash’s third album ‘London Calling’ was released, and an exhibition has pulled together a host of memorabilia for that iconic album. (Ends on Sun, 6th Sep) | | Tate Modern presents the first major exhibition of Steve McQueen’s artwork in the UK for 20 years (Ends on Sun, 6th Sep) | | Gaia is a touring artwork by UK artist Luke Jerram - a giant floating balloon of the earth. (Ends on Sun, 6th Sep) | | The New Stone Age exhibition celebrates the sustainability, practicality and inherent beauty of stone. (Ends on Sat, 12th Sep) | | The first UK exhibition of works by Indian master painters commissioned by East India Company officials in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. (Ends on Sun, 13th Sep) |
| | | Latest blog posts by ianVisits | London’s Pocket Parks: Fortune Street Park, EC1
This is a busy pocket park that sits just to the north of the Barbican, with wide-open space, a children's space, and a coffee shop. | | The fake 10 Downing Street door you can pose in front of
Unless you are invited, it's very difficult to have a photo on the steps of 10 Downing Street, but just up the road is a doorway that bears an uncanny resemblance to it. | | New Crossrail photos released
Crossrail has released a handful of new photos showing the status of some of their stations and how people are working to complete construction of the railway. | | A dollop of ice cream is art in Trafalgar Square
Unveiled recently, Trafalgar Square has gained a giant dollop of ice cream with a cherry on top as the latest modern art installation for the 4th plinth. | | Steam trains return to the Epping Ongar Railway for the Bank Holiday
This coming Bank Holiday weekend, steam trains will once again ply the route along the Epping Ongar Railway. | | London’s Alleys: Laurence Pountney Hill, EC4
This is a side alley that includes an old church, a Roman palace, and enough stucco carving to fill a small mansion house. | | Tickets Alert: Free entry to Greenwich’s Painted Hall
Greenwich's restored Painted Hall normally charges for entry, but for a couple of weeks, entry will be free in the evenings. | | Crossrail delayed to 2022 and faces higher costs
Crossrail has announced another delay, and now does not expect the central core of the tunnels to be open until the first half of 2022 - compared to the already delayed opening that had been expected in the summer of 2021. | | London’s weekly railway news
A weekly round-up of London’s rail transport news… | | Big screen classics back on the big screen at the BFI
A comforting antidote to the dreadful past few months, the BFI Southbank is screening a series of Bank Holiday style comfort movies when it reopens next month. | | Impulsoria – the Victorian horse powered railway
Imagine if you will in the era of steam locomotives, trains being pulled along by horses, walking on conveyor belts. | | Tate Modern’s slavery judging fountain
A gigantic, and I mean, monumentally gigantic, fountain currently fills the main hall of the Tate Modern, and is accidentally far more topical than it had expected to be | | Tickets Alert: Backstage tours of the O2 / Millennium Dome
For the next few weeks, the O2 Arena in North Greenwich is hosting behind the scenes tours of the main stage. | | Unbuilt London: London and Westminster Improved
In 1766, a plan was published for the improvements of London and Westminster that could have resulted in Trafalgar Square as we know it today looking rather more like Leicester Square. | |
|
|
|
