Explore the unexplained with London Fortean Society

Back in February, your author attended an interesting evening with the London Fortean Society, exploring various prophecies of the end of the world with an open minded audience. Tonight, the society is meeting again for its monthly gathering, this time examining the many theorists who suggest that William Shakespeare may not have been the author of the plays attributed to him.


The society meets in the company of writer and poet Dr Ros Barber and writer, actor and board member of the Francis Bacon Research Trust Susan Sheridan to explore the many theories around the subject in the room above the Bell, 50 Middlesex Street, London, E1 7EX. There will also, as usual, be a recap of the past month's Fortean goings on.

For more, see http://forteanlondon.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/was-shakespeare-shakespeare.html

Attend the Docklands Cinema Club

Screening films on the second Friday or every month, the Docklands Cinema Club allows film-lovers to watch films in the Grade I listed surroundings of the Museum of London Docklands, a former Georgian warehouse in the heart of Docklands.


Tonight's choice is the Ipcress File, a 1965 film which sees Michael Caine cast as as a spy who caught up in a brainwashing plot in London during the Cold War. Tickets are £7 and it all kicks off at 7pm. Your author apologises in advance as at the time of going to pixel tickets were looking limited. If it sells out, please make a note for next month.

For more, see http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/Docklands/Whats-on/Adult-events/DocklandsCinemaClub.htm

Visit the Kirkaldy Testing Museum

Today is the first Sunday of the month, and the first Sunday of every month sees the opening of one of London's more unusual museums, the Kirkaldy Testing Museum.


This provides a rare opportunity for curious souls to visit the site of David Kirkaldy's Victorian testing works at 99 Southwark Street, in Southwark, and see the Museum's central - and most important - feature. David Kirkaldy's huge testing machine, was constructed in Leeds especially for the space in the 1860s, and built to test the strength and breaking points of various materials, and measuring 47 feet 7 inches long, and 116 tons in weight.

It's a fascinating place to visit, and a tour consists of a DVD charting the history of the Kirkaldy project, followed by a tour from one of the enthusiastic volunteers who come once a month to run and maintain the machine, and talk to the odd visitor along the way.

For more information on this great little museum, which is free to visit, visit the Wikipedia page here.

Explore the Sir John Soane Museum by candlelight

When the clocks go back, the dark nights can be depressing, but they are also a positive thing. For tonight is the first time in months you have been able to fully enjoy the special candlelit openings at the Sir John Soane Museum in proper darkness.


As any London geek will know, from the proceeds of his work as a celebrated architect, Soane bought 12 Lincoln's Inn Fields, and the neighbouring house, and used them to amass his interesting collection of possessions. He did so well that by his death in 1837 he was able to arrange for an act of Parliament to leave his collection to the nation

The openings take place on the first Tuesday evening of each month, from 6pm until 9pm, and are free, but you have to get there in plenty of time in order to get in, as the queues sometimes snake down the street.

The museum is perfect to be enjoyed by candlelight, however, with the flames flickering over the nooks and crannies and collections. For full details, see http://www.soane.org/

_{^Picture reproduced under Wikimedia Commons^}