Tour 13 Princelet Street

Your author is rather keen on 19 Princelet Street, London's Museum of Immigration and Settlement, and thoroughly enjoys volunteering there on open days, but there is another house in the same street which occasionally opens to the public. 13 Princelet Street is owned by the Landmark Trust charity, which restores old buildings and rents them out to the public for holidays.


This weekend, however, is a bit different, as the Trust is opening the house to all comers, and in a street of houses which historically were homes to Huguenot silk weavers, it is fitting that the London Guild of Weavers will also be demonstrating silk weaving over the weekend.

For more on the opening, see http://www.landmarktrust.org.uk/visiting/opendays.htm#Princelet

Learn about Kingsley Hall

Your author learned rather too late about the Summer Festival at Kingsley Hall in Bow, attending an excellent showing of the play "When Gandhi Met Chaplin" there at the end of last week. Though the festival and play have now finished, the building's fascinating story - and its hosting of Gandhi on a trip to London - is always worth sharing.


Following directly from Doris and Muriel Lester's nursery, which began nearby in 1912, construction of the current building began in July 1927, replacing a former chapel in the area that had been used as a community building. By 1931, the building had already become national news as the place where Indian spiritual and political leader Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi stayed on a trip to London to attend the Round Table Conference. Gandhi's room is still preserved on the rooftop, surrounded by offices where the Gandhi Foundation now base themselves.

By the 1960s, pioneering psychiatrist and author of The Divided Self R. D. Laing took up residence with others in the building, which became the venue for experimental projects until it was wound up closed and boarded up in the 1970s. Briefly a film set for the filming of Gandhi in the early 1980s, it reopened as a community hall in 1985 and has been operating for the benefit of the local community continuously since then.

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

Visit the Mile End Floating Market

In an example of the sort of thing your author hoped would characterise the Olympic summer, some people out in East London have put together a floating market, with barges in Mile End offering their wares to passers by on the canal, or the towpath.


There's the usual East London art, clothes, cakes, sanwiches and books, but visitors also have the opportunity to access herbal medicine, a floating hairdressers and even a floating factory (of sorts) making fused glass jewellery onboard.

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

Eat at the Wapping Project

Your author doesn't eat out that much, but occasionally a more successful friend persuades him out, and such were the circumstances he found himself at the Wapping Project a few weeks ago. The restaurant, housed in Wapping Hydraulic Power Station, takes advantage of its atmospheric surroundings well, and it was surprising to find it only half full on a Thursday evening.


That said, the food wasn't particularly remarkable, with the main course on the wrong side of luke-warm, but the drink, company and setting were pretty special, and the rather bizarre 'art' installation at the back all added to the mix. It was enjoyable, but then with a bill that ended up at £58 per head (including beers which didn't appear on the menu and for which the wrong price was quoted by waiting staff) all in it definitely should be.

For less information, see the frankly incomprehensible website at http://www.thewappingproject.com/

Listen to music in Wilton's Mahogany Bar

Music tonight in the beautiful Mahogany Bar at Wilton's Music Hall courtesy of Family Atlantica Duo, playing at the bar as part of Music Monday, their free weekly showcase for 'vintage' bands and cabaret artists.


We are told that the Mahogany Bar was built around 1725, probably as a pub, and has traded under many names over the years including The Albion Saloon and The Prince of Denmark. It took until 1828 for it to be refurbished in mahogany and subsequently became popular with the sailing fraternity. Today, famous fixtures and fittings are sadly no longer with us, but it remains a popular spot.

_{^Picture © photography.ambjorn.com via Flickr used under a Creative Commons license^}

Have a picnic at Arnold Circus

For a small roundabout in the East End of London, Arnold Circus always seem to do very well at organising events, and today the Friends of Arnold Circus have organised an Olympicnic to celebrate the summer season and the upcoming fortnight-of-sports.


It's a bring-your-own sharing picnic, and we are promised fun, games, food & music, including Ping Pong, the Wheelers Cycle Challenge, Infinity Hopscotch, African Drummers, a primary school choir, Asian RnB and a barbecue and bouncy castle at nearby Rochelle School.

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

_{^Picture © the Friends of Arnold Circus^}

Eat at the Red Art Cafe Bar

Your author doesn't often pass through Dalston nowadays, conscious of lacking the haircut or trousers to fit in, but the other week he spent a perfectly pleasant evening in a couple of bars and restaurants in the area, and had a good feed at the Red Art Cafe Bar.


Found at 113 Kingsland Road, kit is a place that seems to specialise in Turkish food and drink, with a decent menu and plenty to keep the vegetarians who also dined happy. It all seemed jolly pleasant, and your author would go back even since discovering a rather low food hygiene rating from the local council.

For more, see http://www.yelp.co.uk/biz/red-art-cafe-bar-london

Ride the Dangleway

Some people have been saying for years that London should build a cable car down the middle of Oxford Street, but the powers that be have inexplicably decided instead to link two patches of East London wasteland together in a rather expensive project which opened this week. Having said that, your author took his first trip on the Dangleway yesterday, and thoroughly enjoyed it.


There is something magical about the experience, and getting a new perspective on the city, and from that high up the views across East and South East London are amazing, and it becomes clear why cycling up Shooters Hill always felt such a drag. Though queues were reasonably long, those with topped-up Oyster cards were able to join a shorter queue and on opening weekend wait for no longer than 10 minutes to participate, though it did strike your author that on a rainy tuesday in November 2013 the levels of footfall are going to make it all seem rather ridiculous.

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

Attend Paradise Gardens at the London Pleasure Gardens

There are benefits to the various corporate follies being built around town for next month's Sports Fortnight, and over at the Royal Docks today a free opening party for the London Pleasure Gardens invites us all to attend this year's Paradise Gardens Festival, a London stalwart which has survived the inevitable bonfire-of-the-free-festivals.


Your author first attended Paradise Gardens one terribly wet May in 2007, where waterproof boots and a good umbrella were necessary kit for the only-about-a-hundred people who stood about in a sodden Victoria Park all weekend watching DJs from the BBC Asian Network try to sound enthusiastic.

However, this year there seems to be an attempt to reward for previous years attendance, with a special good-bands-that-Tom-likes-but-cause-everyone-else-to-shrug lineup which includes Dreadzone, the People's String Foundation, Sam and the Womp and Hypnotic Brass Ensemble.

For more, see http://www.londonpleasuregardens.com/event/paradise-gardens/

Visit the "Tech City Central" tent

Over on Shoreditch High Street a few weeks ago, an expensive-looking tent popped up, with little pomp and ceremony, apparently as part of the Government's "Tech City" project, an often controversial attempt to boost the technology companies in Shoreditch and East London.


The tent is open to all on most days, with free wifi and a variety of spaces for local business-people to hold meetings, including a reasonable-looking boardroom at the back, which can be booked from one of the very helpful people on hand. There is also an interesting showcase of products from local businesses, including bikes, furniture and lighting.

When your author popped in for a look last week, the tent was largely empty, but a slow but steady stream of people were peeking inside, most of whom were looking puzzled and asking "What is this place?", suggesting that perhaps more needs to be done to publicise the existence of this facility, which appears to be open to all-comers. For instance, it seems inexplicable that the Government body in question have not even mentioned it on their website.

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

See the Queen Mary Clocktower

The impressive Grade II listed stone clocktower at the Mile End Campus of Queen Mary, University of London, was erected in 1890, presented for the benefit of the people of East London by Herbert Stern Esq, in memory of his father Baron de Stern.


The tower's design incorporates marble basins for drinking fountains on north and south sides, though these are not used today, and we are told that the clock tower is surmounted by a double cupola and has wide cornices above and below clock, whatever that means.

For more, see http://www.londonremembers.com/memorials/baron-de-stern-clock-tower

Mark Good Friday at the Widows Son

A creature of habit, your author is once again away for Easter, and will be therefore conducting his annual tradition of missing the Hot Cross Bun Ceremony at the Widow's Son, E3, an East London tradition which takes place each year on Good Friday.


As previously covered here, we are told that the pub takes its name from a cottage which once stood on the site, inhabited by a widow and her only son, a sailor due to return home on Good Friday 1824, who had asked for hot cross buns to mark his return.

When the son failed to materialise, his mother continued to bake Hot Cross Buns every Good Friday, and left them waiting for him. The ceremony sees a new bun hung from a beam in the pub, as the mother had hung them from the beam in her cottage, and has been kept alive since 1848, when the cottage was replaced by a pub

For more, see here

_{^Picture by LoopZilla^}

Book a ticket for the Theatre Royal Stratford East

In an area which has undergone many changes over the years, the Theatre Royal Stratford East is a constant, tracing its history back to 1884, when actor-manager Charles Dillon engaged architect James George Buckle to convert a wheelwright's workshop into a permanent playhouse.


Today, the Theatre Royal Stratford East offers world-class productions in a Grade II listed theatre which maintains much of the Victorian charm which has helped it to woo audiences for more than a hundred years.

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

_{^Picture © Jim Linwood used under Creative Commons^}

Attend the spring bazaar at Limehouse Town Hall

The spring bazaar takes place at Limehouse Town Hall today, offering a showcase for community groups in the Tower Hamlets area in the grand hall of the beautiful building. Designed by A & C Harston, and opened in 1881, Limehouse Town Hall has just undergone extensive roof repairs, and the bazaar is being heralded as a celebration of their completion, with free entry for all.


We are told to expect local community groups such as Stitches in Time and Hackney & Tower Hamlets Friends of the Earth, as well as arts and crafts and plants from the East London Garden Society. There will even be live music from jazz singer Chantal Santos and folk singer/ songwriter Caroline Grannell, as well as photography by local photographer Marian Spiers.

It all sounds excellent, and to find out more, see http://www.towerhamletsarts.org.uk/?guide=events&cat=10&cid=46285

_{^Picture © HerryLawford used under Creative Commons^}

Attend a Vintage Furniture Flea at York Hall

Whilst your author is aware that the 'Vintage Furniture Flea' being held today at York Hall in Bethnal Green is, in fact, a jumble sale for second hand furniture, there is nothing wrong with that, and the sale offers an extra bonus of entrance to the atmospheric hall, opened in 1929, and venue for countless boxing bouts and East End weddings.


We are told to expect atomic-prints, ornaments, cushions, crockery and glass, as well as other furniture and homewares from up to forty vintage traders celebrating the kitsch & the collectible. It all sounds like a pleasant way to while away an hour and entrance is only £2.

For more, see http://www.judysvintagefair.co.uk/events/event/bethnal-green-furniture-flea/

_{^Picture © bobaliciouslondon used under Creative Commons^}

Attend an evening opening of Zarina Bhimji at the Whitechapel Gallery

Your author dropped in to the Whitechapel Gallery for one of their weekly late openings (Thursdays til 9pm) last week, and apart from being delighted to find one particular book in the bookshop, he was also quite taken by the Zarina Bhimji exhibition which is showing until 9th March.


Ugandan-born Bhimji seems to thrive on creating a real sense of place in her stunning photographs. We are told that this is her first major survey exhibition, tracing 25 years of work and opening with the premiere of her long-awaited film, Yellow Patch, which is inspired by trade and migration across the Indian Ocean.

For more, see http://www.whitechapelgallery.org/exhibitions/zarina-bhimji

_{^Picture © Reading Tom used under Creative Commons^}

Eat at Leila's

Found on Cavert Avenue, a relative backstreet near Arnold Circus in Shoreditch, Leila’s Shop and Cafe offers rustic food to eat in and out.


Whilst we are told that Alexa Chung and Pixie Geldof sometimes visit, that is no reason to be put off, and we shouldn't let it stop us sampling the honest offerings and simple surroundings which can be found in this cafe & shop.

For more, see http://www.londontown.com/LondonInformation/Business/Leilas/df5b/

Eat at Pizza East

Your author is often sceptical of restaurants in trendy areas of town, so for a long while he avoided relative newcomer Pizza East, on the ground floor of the Tea Building in Shoreditch. However, the time came to finally relent last week, and it was actually very good.


Located on the corner of Shoreditch High Street and Bethnal Green Road, the restaurant has all the exposed brickwork and wood trappings of this area of town, but thankfully backed up with fresh ingredients, attention to detail and about-the-norm-now-for-a-London-pizza prices, meaning if you're in the area and not in the mood for a curry on Brick Lane or Vietnamese on Kingsland Road it is a good bet.

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

_{^Picture © Copyright Dr Neil Clifton and licensed for reuse under a Creative Commons licence^}

Shop in the Boxpark

Your author is never a fan of shopping malls, but some are better than others, but he decided to pop into the new Boxpark in Shoreditch, as it is at least reassuring that its creators were trying to do something different.


The "world’s first pop-up mall" was actually not even that awful, being as it is relatively quick and painless to explore, with a welcoming deck of eateries upstairs.

The concept is simple, placing a number of low cost, ‘box shops’ in a disused space and using the fact that it is a temporary installation to overcome problems usually faced when dealing with even the most lenient borough councils. Given the previous problems gaining planning permissions in this area, your author imagines this one may be temporary in a similar way to the O2 and the London Eye...

For more information, see www.boxpark.co.uk

Take a walk around Three Mills Island

London's largest film and television studio is found just to the South of the Olympic workings of Stratford, based around a tidal mill on Three Mill Island, in Bromley-by-Bow, that can trace its history back to before the Domesday Book.


In the area, Riverside Green and Three Mills Green, offer two open spaces worthy of exploring, and though access has been limited at some points due to pre-Olympic works, they are still possible to wander, if a bit more difficult to access.

The stunning Grade I Listed House Mill, built by a Huguenot family in 1776, is a particular highlight, is open to the public at some times of the year, but more on that another time.

For more information, see http://www.leevalleypark.org.uk/en/content/cms/leisure/gardens_and_heritage/three_mills_island/three_mills_island.aspx, or for a great walk leaflet click here.