Inspect Her Majesty's corbels and pelmets with the 360 degree Buckingham Palace virtual tour (see below). Ways to help, and reasons to be cheerful Free bikes: Last week, Uber made its JUMP bikes free for NHS workers to use. Today, electric bike retailer Fully Charged has done something similar. By registering here, NHS staff can borrow an ebike for up to three months, without fee. Chocolate Pollocks: Tate has put together a page of artistic projects to try at home. Ideas include mixing shaving foam and paint to make Gerhard Richter-esque patterns, painting plant pots in the style of Bridget Riley, and all the instructions you need to craft a Jackson Pollock chocolate artwork. Messy fun with Tate's art projects. Virtual palace: Fancy a snoop around Buckingham Palace? You can take a 360 degree tour via the Royal Collections website, while also dipping into the virtual gallery of more than 250,000 works of art. Download fun family activities, watch behind-the scenes films and find out more on the Royal Collection Trust website. Free theatre: From today, Hampstead Theatre and The Guardian will re-release the live stream recordings of Mike Bartlett’s Wild, Beth Steel’s Wonderland and Howard Brenton’s Drawing the Line for free. Sunday Assembly: The Sunday Assembly secular community gathering normally takes place in Conway Hall, but this weekend sees its first ever virtual assembly. The main speaker is Henry C Blanchard, who left a boring corporate job to create an adventure sports business, set up a charity in rural Uganda, and travel the world. He now shows others how to do the same (at least, once the world returns to some kind of normal). Register for a Zoom call, and receive further information by email. Join a Sunday Assembly via Zoom (see above).Latest London coronavirus news London has now recorded some 6,000 cases of coronavirus, the highest in the country. The death toll in London from corona-related causes stands at 353. In a glimmer of hope, the rate of hospital admissions appears to be slowing. Gatwick's North Terminal is about to close, due to underuse. EasyJet has grounded all flights and put staff on a two-month leave of absence. Meanwhile, furloughed airline staff who are trained in first aid may be recruited to non-clinical roles in the Nightingale Hospital at ExCel. UCL engineers have pioneered a potentially game-changing breathing aid, with the help of Mercedes Formula One. The Serpentine Galleries' ubiquitous artistic director, Hans-Ulrich Obrist calls for a multimillion pound public art project in response to Covid-19. Remember the 'Give Peas a Chance' graffiti over the M25, which was recently counter-defaced to say 'HELCH'? Well, now it's changed again to say 'Thank you NHS'. Bizarre scenes in Edgware where a police officer confronts a shopkeeper for chalking two-metre distance lines on the pavement. Senior officers have since confirmed that no further action will be taken. More photos of deserted London (taken by someone with a good reason to be in central London). And in other London writing Introducing the Jewish East End memory map, with over 70 sites. The weather vanes of old London. A fascinating insight into the history of London's street paving, from cobblestones to tarmac. The old market towns of London. Fact of the day Knightsbridge is the only tube station to have six consecutive consonants. Aldwych might arguably have qualified, but it's (a) no longer in operation, and (b) contains a 'y' that's acting suspiciously like a vowel, even though it is not one of the traditional five. |
