Drink at the Morden Arms

A decent little pub in the backstreets of Greenwich, your author stumbled into the Morden Arms rather late one evening recently, but found the staff and locals very friendly, and made friends with the rather elderly dog.


The pub has been the subject of various planning applications to turn it into flats, the earliest of which dates all the way back to 1994, and though some sources suggest it is doomed, for the moment it seems to be still going strong, as evidenced by its busy facebook page.

For more, see http://www.themordenarms.com/

_{^Picture © Stephen Craven used under a Creative Commons license^}

Find the London Welsh Centre

Opened on 5th November 1937 on Grays Inn Road, to provide a home for the Young Wales Association, an organisation that had been organising social events for Welsh people in London since 1920, the London Welsh Centre is run by a charitable trust that aims to promote and celebrate all things Welsh.



The Centre still maintains a rich programme of Welsh (and even some non-Welsh) focussed events, and alongside promoting the use of the Welsh language, it also tries to foster interest in Welsh literature, music and art and culture. Many interesting Welsh people have passed through, and the website seems particularly proud of visits by hairy-chested Welsh singer and talent show judge Sir Tom Woodward.

For more, see http://www.londonwelsh.org/

_{^Picture from Wikimedia Commons, used under a Creative Commons license^}

Attend the Anatolian Cultural Fete

As the world's media focuses on Turkey, a more celebratory story of all things Anatolian has been running all week and comes to a close today in Clissold Park, Stoke Newington, organised by the Anatolian Community Association.



Today, visitors are told to expect marching band concerts, a Turkish cookery, theatrical plays and a closing ceremony from 6pm featuring Whirling Dervishes.

For more, see http://www.anatolianfest.com/

_{^Picture © ejbaurdo used under a Creative Commons license^}

Have a Walthamstow Weekender

Thanks to the good folks over at Londonist for alerting us to the Walthamstow Big Weekender, a two day event taking place today and tomorrow in Chestnut's Field, behind Walthamstow Town Hall.


Today, visitors are told to expect the specially-commissioned Soul London orchestra, featuring performances from Marc Almond and various award-winners and talent show veterans, and tomorrow a South-Asian Mela hosted by radio DJs Nihal and Neev. Don't worry if you're not sure you'll like it, as it's free, so you can always leave and explore the rich pickings in the rest of the area.

For more, see http://www.walthamforest.gov.uk/pages/campaigns/walthamstow-weekender.aspx


_{^Picture © jelm6 used under a Creative Commons license^}

Visit artists at home in Chiswick, Hammersmith and Shepherds Bush

Another artists open house event begins today, and continues all weekend in Chiswick, Hammersmith and Shepherds Bush. We are told that 53 artists’ studios will be open, with painters, ceramicists, sculptors, photographers and others all displaying their wares in a relaxed setting.


The studios extend from Holland Lane to South of Hogarth Lane and West of Chiswick Station, so whilst visitors will need strong legs to cover them all, they will also get to see some beautiful parts of town.
For more, see http://www.artistsathome.net/

_{^Picture © Alan Murray-Rust used under a Creative Commons license^}

Drink at the Betjeman Arms

The world of station pubs has few highlights, and whilst London Victoria has a decent upstairs Wetherspoons there are few contenders that rival the likes of the one at, say, Huddersfield. However, your author had a perfectly pleasant trip to the Betjeman Arms at St Pancras International on Saturday, and felt it was worth sharing.


Run by Geronimo Inns, the pub would be nothing particularly special were it not for its setting within Sir George Gilbert Scott's original Grade I listed red brick Gothic building, with an 'outside area' beneath the grand arches of the Barlow train shed. It makes a fine spot to sit out and admire the architecture. London station pubs have come a long way.

For more, see http://www.geronimo-inns.co.uk/thebetjemanarms/


_{^Picture © Adam Bruderer used under a Creative Commons license^}

See 'A Storm is Blowing' at the Petrie Museum

Your author enjoys the work of Cathy Haynes, a curator, artist and educator, who is Curator of Public Programmes at the School of Life. As such, it was good to hear at the beginning of the year that Cathy was taking up a Timekeeper in Residence at the Petrie Museum of Archaeology, and last night saw the opening of her temporary commission called 'A Storm is Blowing' at the Petrie, exploring different ways of presenting time through objects from a snakes and ladders board to an ancient water clock.


The exhibit features various pieces of red string which attempt to tie together more than thirty different historical representations, taking over the usually dark gallery of the Petrie in an interesting but not overly intrusive way, with wooden cabinets showing more modern artefacts from a planetarium of the Inner Solar System to a miniature Beast of the Apocalypse and a copy of The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy.

The exhibition runs until 2nd August and is free. For more, see http://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums/petrie/research/petrie_timekeeper

_{^Flyer © Cathy Haynes and the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology^}

Re-live Artichoke's Peace Camp

One of your author's highlights of London 2012 was not a man running faster than another man - though there were many excellent examples of that - but a number of tents by the sea in the middle of the night. Peace Camp was part of the London 2012 festival and took place at various locations around the UK, with glowing tents, nautically-themed poetry and the distant roar of the sea coming together to create a beautifully peaceful experience.


Yesterday, an exhibition of photography from the various locations opened at the Poetry Cafe in Betterton Street, combining specially-commissioned photographs with those taken by members of the public who visited the Peace Camp and poetry inspired by the experience. The exhibition runs until 13th July.

For more, see http://www.artichoke.uk.com/news/peace_camp_photography_exhibition/

See George Catlin's American Indian portraits

An exhibition currently showing at the National Portrait Gallery brings together some works by American artist George Catlin, who toured the western United States in the 1830s, making five trips to document the lives of Native Americans.


Catlin's works were originally put together for a touring exhibition to pique the interest of paying customers, so it seems fitting that this exhibition brings fifty portraits to the gallery until 23rd June, but this time it's free.

For more, see http://www.npg.org.uk/whatson/george-catlin-american-indian-portraits/exhibition.php

_{^Picture from Wikimedia Commons^}

Explore London's private squares and gardens

It's Open Squares Weekend, offering a chance to explore gardens around the city which are usually not open to the likes of us proles.


We are told that 214 Gardens are open over a two day event which concludes today, and though the tickets to tour the garden at Number 10 Downing Street have already been allocated by public ballot, there are plenty of others available.

For more, see http://www.opensquares.org/

_{^Picture © Number 10 used under a Creative Commons license^}

Join the World Naked Bike Ride

It what your author is sure some participants think is a protest about oil and the planet, the World Naked Bike Ride has its London leg today, in various parts of town between around noon and 3.30pm.


The ride seems to set off from various parts of town, bringing everyone to join up at the Wellington Arch, and rather than seeming rude, seems to actually be good clean fun.

For more, see http://www.worldnakedbikeride.org/uk/

_{^Picture © C. G. P. Grey used under a Creative Commons license^}

Find Muhammed Ali Jinnah's London home

Mounted on the wall of a three-storey house on Russell Road in Kensington, West London, a blue plaque marks the spot where Muhammed Ali Jinnah, the founding father of Pakistan stayed in 1895.


 Jinnah spent three and a half years in England, arriving in 1893 to take up an apprenticeship with Graham's Shipping and Trading Company, studying law, joining Lincoln's Inn, being called to the bar and suffering the deaths of his wife and mother, and finally returning to Karachi in 1896. Though Jinnah witnessed the independence of Pakistan in 1947 and was the first head of state of the new country, he died a little over a year later on 11th September 1948 at Karachi at the age of 71.

For more, see http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/3312176/Mohammed-the-profit-and-loss.html

_{^Picture © Christian Lüts used under a Creative Commons license^}

Relax in Jubilee Gardens

Found in the shadow of the London Eye on the South Bank, Jubilee Gardens got a bit of a spruce-up last summer, and it wasn't until your author spent the early evening relaxing in the sunshine here yesterday surrounded by established flowerbeds and lush green grass that he fully appreciated what a difference it has made.


The works were completed on 31st May last year, and have transformed what was until work started a rather plain area of flat grass into a gently rolling green park crossed by granite pathways with - we are told - 69 trees and a contemporary playground, as well as sympathetic and well-tended flower beds. When the sun is out if makes a fine place to lie out on the grass and pass half an hour or so.

For more, see http://jubileegardens.org.uk

_{^Picture © Paul-in-London used under a Creative Commons license^}

Drink at the Cutty Sark

The sunset over the Thames at the Cutty Sark - on Ballast Quay in Greenwich - was so perfect last night that your author could hardly believe he hadn't written about the pub here before. A beautiful place, dating in its current form from around 1795, it once stood among industrial dockyards with ships tied up to the quay outside.


Yesterday, the tables and wall by the quayside in front of the pub were busy with people enjoying the sunshine and at one point a group of folk musicians even showed up unexpectedly to entertain us. Inside, the busy staff delivered good food in a pleasant environment, that has largely stayed true to its pub routes despite the understandable focus on food.

For more, see http://www.cuttysarkse10.co.uk/

Canoe the Thames with Moo Canoes

Your author spent an interesting evening a week or so ago canoeing the Thames from Limehouse to Greenwich with Ian of Ianvisits, Matt from Londonist. The trip was one of many organised by Moo Canoes, a smashing new company offering ordinary Londoners the chance to get out on the river or canal from their base underneath the DLR arches near Limehouse Station.


The trip was organised by Katy Hogarth and Alfie Hatt, who own Moo Canoes and run it together, and saw a small mixed group of experienced and inexperienced canoeists take to the water and paddle down to the Cutty Sark pub in Greenwich for dinner, before waiting for the waters to turn and returning to base with the upcoming tide. It was a great experience, despite a few heavy showers, and the food at the Cutty Sark was welcome after the exercise.

Your author has been out on the water with Katy before, and she is a great guide, so he was grateful to be offered the chance to try out the trip, which usually costs a fairly reasonable £49 including dinner. Readers can also hire canoes to take your own trip around the canals of East London.

For more, see http://www.moocanoes.com/