Visit Eel Pie Island

The twice-yearly opportunity to get visit the usually-closed buildings of Eel Pie island in Twickenham takes place this weekend and next, with the Eel Pie Island Open Studios event


The private island is home to 26 artists' studios, in and around the boatyard, and this weekend and next you're invited to come inside as they open their doors to interested visitors, to flog their wares and have nice chats with visitors.

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

Attend the Hampton Beer Festival

A brand new beer festival begins in Hampton in Middlesex this evening, with beers, ciders, and fundraising for a number of worthy charities.


The festival is based at the scout hut on Station Road, a short walk from the river and Hampton railway station, and not too far from Hampton Court itself. Beers are available from nearby Twickenham Fine Ales, Kew Brewery and the Windsor & Eton Brewery.

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


_{^Picture from Wikimedia Commons^}

Attend the Coffee, Cake and Book Group at Hackney Library

There's nothing like a book to help you relax and put things in perspective and at Hackney Central Library today you're invited to a regular book group aiming to offer you a lively discussion based around the classics and international texts.

We are told that lovers of Austen to Tolstoy via Dostoevsky and cake are especially welcome and this particular meeting will offer the chance to discuss Stoner by John Williams, copies of which are available at the library.

For more, see http://www.hackney.gov.uk/libraries-whats-on.htm#.VYsacvlViko


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

See Turner's view of Calais Pier

The small packet boat pictured arriving at Calais in J.M.W.Turner's Calais Pier is based on sketches made on the artist's first ever trip abroad, as he observed a small boat in similar difficulty approaching the port of Calais in 1802.


The painting was originally painted in oil on Canvas for the Royal Academy in 1803, and now hangs in Room 34 at the National Gallery, having been received as part of a bequest in 1856.

For more, see http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/joseph-mallord-william-turner-calais-pier

_{^Picture from Wikimedia Commons^}

Take breakfast at the Wolseley

In your author's experience there are very few restaurants in London where breakfast is completely unaffordable, and getting a reservation somewhere before 9am is almost always possible. As a result before work is a great time to explore some of the places where you otherwise might not dare, and though the Wolseley pushes price decency with a £5.75 bacon roll and a £16.50 Full English, it isn't a bad place to take breakfast, relaxing in the splendid setting of a Grade II* listed building that was once the Wolseley Motors Limited showroom,the 1920s creation of architect William Curtis Green.


As with most restaurants at this end of the market, things are never quite as good as everyone says they are, especially when you're on a budget (your author prefers Terry's), but when the company is right and the service is up to scratch, Chris Corbin and Jeremy King's modern take on a grand European cafe is as good a place as any to gear up for the day ahead

For more, see https://www.thewolseley.com

Learn about the Ffestiniog Railway at Paddington

For many years, your author has been taking irregular holidays in Porthmadog in north Wales, a small town with an interesting history as a port fed by the slate mines of Snowdonia. The town is known for its transport and as well as the famous Porthmadog Ships it is served by the narrow gauge Ffestiniog Railway. The railway marks 150 years of passenger services this year, and this week one of its Pullman carriages is on show at Paddington to celebrate.


Built by craftsmen in the railway's Boston Lodge workshops, Pullman carriage 150 cost a cool quarter of a million pounds to build, and offers passengers the most comfortable journey possible along the little railway. It will be on platform eight of the railway until Saturday, 27th June and is free to visit, although the persuasive volunteers will probably convince you to take a trip to Snowdonia, so it is not entirely free...

For more, see http://www.festrail.co.uk/content/publish/news/458.shtml

Enjoy the West End Live

The annual West End Live showcase kicked off yesterday, and continues today, offering the chance to see some of the most popular shows from West End theatres, with showcases from thirty-two different productions and plenty of other performers and exhibitors as well.


A short distance away in Leicester Square, the spiritual home of West End Live, a 1920s style Spiegeltent will also offer the chance to see some costumes up close, alongside a set box, kids’ activities, props and - we are told - dinosaur petting.

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

Attend the Amnesty Blackheath book sale

The Amnesty International book sale returns to the Church of the Ascension in Dartmouth Row, on the western slopes of Blackheath today. The sale is one of Amnesty International’s most successful fundraising event in the UK, offering thousands of books and raising more than a quarter of a million pounds for the organisation over the last 40 years. Today, their annual book sale continues until 5pm, with carefully-sorted and generously donated books at very reasonable prices.


The church itself was first established as a chapel in 1697 by a relation of George Washington, the first president of the United States, and then rebuilt in 1750 and extended in 1838, before finally being declared a parish church on Ascension Day in 1883.

For more, see https://amnestybg.wordpress.com/next-booksale/

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

Admire the ceiling at Euston Station

You can read as much as you like on the internet, but there is nothing quite so convincing as a conversation in a pub, and so it was that a conversation began on Monday night with IanVisits on the virtues of the ceiling at Euston Station. Unconvinced, your author dropped in yesterday to see what all the fuss is about, and found a Brutalist masterpiece, hidden in plain sight above the wires, shops, shelves and  heads of people staring at screens.


The new Euston Station opened in 1968, built to designs by British Rail architects in consultation with Richard Seifert & Partners. It was a replacement for the original station known for its lost arch and grand Great Hall, which had been demolished in the early 1960s, and is not as grand or impressive as the original, but others agree that perhaps rather than mourning the loss of the original Victorian masterpiece, we should learn to love the station that replaced it and give its smooth functional lines a bit more space to breathe.

For more, see http://www.ianvisits.co.uk/blog/2013/04/21/in-praise-of-euston-railway-station/

Take a wildflower walk in Wanstead Park

This evening from 7.30pm as part of the Wanstead Park Festival the Wren Wildlife and Conservation Group invite you for an evening walk among the wildflowers of Wanstead Park, in the company of botanist Tricia Moxey.


Run as part of the Epping Forest by the City of London Corporation, Wanstead Park covers 140 acres of east London and much of it was part of the grounds of Wanstead Manor until it was acquired by the corporation in 1880.

For more, see http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do/green-spaces/epping-forest/sports-events-and-activities/Pages/wansteadparkfestival.aspx


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

Watch free music at the Scoop

Much as your author objects to the sinister proliferation of privately owned public spaces, it's easy to distract anyone with free stuff, and each summer, the confusing named More London near City Hall holds its Free Festival at the Scoop an half-amphitheatre originally designed by Townshend Landscape Architects.


This lunchtime "old style RnB to 21st Century jazz" pianist, keyboardist and singer songwriter Arthur Lee plays a free gig at the Scoop from 12.30pm until 2pm.

For more, see http://www.morelondon.com/events/calendar/free-music-arthur-lea/?eID=5925

Climb the Tulip Staircase

In just over a month the Queen’s House in Greenwich closes for refurbishment for nearly a year, with reopening set for the beginning of July 2016, to coincide with the 400th anniversary of the building. That means you have only a few weeks before the closure to climb the Tulip Stairs - the first geometric self-supporting spiral stair in Britain - which is named after the flowers on its iron balustrade, even though they are really fleurs-de-lis.


Things being what they are, the staircase also has its own ghost story, based around a picture taken by Canadian couple the Reverend and Mrs Hardy in June 1966, although this seems unlikely to be true.

For more, see http://www.rmg.co.uk/queens-house/great-hall


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

Take the 'Magna Carta and the City' walk

Today marks 800 years since the sealing of Magna Carta at Runnymede, and whilst that field near Windsor is almost certainly the most important location associated with it, the City of London played its own role in the events that led to this great moment in our history and was specifically named in the document, with London's Mayor appointed to ensure its provisions were adhered to.


The City of London is organising free daily walks exploring the City's connection with Magna Carta on a daily basis from now until 20th September. Those wishing to take one should meet at 11am at the underground entrance to Blackfriars Station on the northern side of Blackfriars Bridge.

For more, see https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do/visiting-the-city/whats-on/Pages/Magna-Carta-800.aspx

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

Visit 19 Princelet Street

Refugee Week begins tomorrow, and continues until next Sunday, and in anticipation today your author will be spending the day at 19 Princelet Street in Spitalalfields, a fragile building in East London which opens only occasionally and is London's Museum of Immigration.


The house was built in 1719 by Samuel Worrall and quickly became home to a family of Huguenot weavers called the Ogiers, who had escaped from persecution in France. Since then, the story of the house has mirrored the history of the East End, in a fascinating story retold at 19 Princelet Street, the Museum of Immigration.

The building is open today Sunday 14th June from noon until 5pm and again next Sunday 21st June, from noon until 5pm. For more, see http://www.19princeletstreet.org.uk/

Visit London's secret gardens

It's London Open Garden Squares weekend today and tomorrow, with 200 gardens - many of which are usually closed to us proles - open to explore across 27 boroughs.

The event offers a real mix of private gardens, those which aren't usually open to visit at weekends and some which are always open, but you might not have got round to visiting.

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

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