As the days passed, I became much more comfortable in my digs and with my host family in Tufnell Park, but the area never grew on me or warmed my heart the way Belsize Park/Primrose Hill does. The sense of community in Tufnell Park, to the extent that it exists, seems to revolve around kids (hundreds of them, judging by the number of doorbell rings on Halloween evening), families and yuppies who hang out at the Tufnell Tavern. There's not much in the way of inviting green spaces (Islington has the smallest amount of green space of all the London boroughs; I would have gone up to Waterlow Park or spent more time on the Heath had the weather been better), no library (it's up at the Archway), and I didn't find any community events pertaining to local history, arts or culture. Maybe I was looking in the wrong places. So, I returned to Belsize Park for some of those touch points that I needed and I ate a lot of my favourite comfort foods.
The final week was full of catching up with friends, old and new, who I hadn't seen in earlier weeks. And I visited some new venues as well as revisited old favourites.
Monday started with coffee with Nigel, one of my newest mates. Several of my London friends have visited Massachusetts, but Nigel is the only one who has actually been to Northampton! He's a Clerkenwell & Islington guide who leads walks on local history and on his specialty subject, which is cinema history. I'm afraid I rather bent his ear with updates on my various London activities and projects at my volunteer gig with Historic Northampton. I really appreciate his willingness to listen to me bang on about all of this and to give me helpful advice on my ongoing project (it's been taking forever) to develop a virtual walking tour of the commercial and business district of Florence, a village of Northampton. I'm sorry that I wasn't able to work one of Nigel's walks or tours into my itinerary during this trip, but I will do when I return in the spring. I'm totally jealous that Nigel saw Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings on their recent UK tour.
This day I was faced with a double dilemma: the usual Monday closings plus the start of half-term week (semester break) for the school kiddies. Careful planning would be needed to avoide crowds. I opted for the newly-opened exhibition Secret Maps at the the British Library. The number 17 bus took me from outside the caff down to King's Cross, where I mooched around for a little while before heading to the BL.
As with other exhibitions at the British Library, this one was extensive ... almost overly so. My friend Simon had advised me not to spend too much time in the initial parts of the exhibition, tempting though it may be, as there would be much, much more to see. I tried to heed this advice, but didn't do a very good job of it. A shedload of maps showed places that were hidden or obfuscated in the interest of power, military secrecy, or marginalizing different populations. Fascinating, but rather more than my wee brain could take in.
During my visit, I was not aware that the staff of the British Library were planning an imminent strike action over wages. No picket line was in evidence when I was there on Monday, but when I subsequently read about the strike I cancelled plans to attend a talk at the library later in the week. No way would I cross a picket line.
Continuing my ramble around Bloomsbury, I stopped at Waitrose in the Brunswick Centre to purchase what turned out to be my last Forgotten Ends of this visit, which I ate while sat on a bench in Brunswick Square.
From Brunswick Square, I walked over to the British Museum (third visit!), using the back entrance in Montague Place and making a beeline to Room 2 in order to see the Tutor Heart Pendant, discovered in 2019 by a metal dectorist and currently on display while the BM tries to raise the funds to purchase it for the nation. Despite the BM being heaving with people, only two others were looking at this remarkable pendant. I later made an online donation to the Tudor Heart appeal.
For my last stop of the day, I took the number 1 bus from Russell Square to Belsize Park in order to return my library book to the Belsize Community Library. It's such a friendly place and I will definitely be back during future visits to check out books, attend talks, and maybe even to do Qi Gong.
Tuesday started out with blue skies and sunshine. Hooray! This was the day for my customary ramble with my friend Malcolm. We often meet up somewhere in the Holland Park/Notting Hill area, where Malcolm, and his parents before him, has lived his entire live. We began at Holland Park station and walked the short distance to the Piano Nobile Gallery to see an exhibition of prints, drawings and paintings by Walter Sickert. It was fascinating to see how Sickert made multiple iterations of a scene, starting with sketches before culminating in the finished product of a print or painting (or a series with variations). The vast majority of works on display were from the private collection of Herbert and Ann Lucas, and Piano Nobile was authorized to sell them all. It's a shame that the various pieces will go to different homes or museums, never to be seen together like this again. We were really lucky to have had that opportunity. Here's a short video about the exhibition and its significance.
As we strolled northward, Malcolm pointed out to me numerous places of interest -- some sites of family history, such as where his parents had been married and lived, and others of local history. "That used to be a pub", he sadly said half a dozen times or more. When we reached Barlby Road (near which his parents had lived when his dad returned from WW2), in front of us was the massive former Clément-Talbot Limited automobile factory, built in 1903. Grade II listed and now known as Labroke Hall, the building is a stunning example of Beaux Arts-inspired industrial architecture, full of wonderful iron, stone and woodwork. Malcolm had done his first apprenticeship in auto mechanics here in the 1970s but hadn't been inside for yonks.
We parted ways on the Harrow Road -- Malcolm heading back to Sainsbury's to do his shopping and me to get the Lioness Line (another first) to Euston and then the Northern Line (running a good service finally) back to my gaff. After an early dinner, I met my friend Jen at the Lord Palmerston in Dartmouth Park Road (roughly half way between hers and mine) for a pint. It's a cosy neighbourhood boozer with comfy chairs. We both had pints of Proper Job.
The torrential rain on Wednesday brought an additional dilemma. When the weather is truly dreadful, as it was on this day, my long-standing plan is to go to the V&A, where I can wander for as little or as much time as I want through various galleries, often discovering new treasures. But, this being half-term, museumland along the Cromwell Road was sure to be heaving, so perhaps best be avoided. I threw caution to the wind, however, and took the tube to South Kensington. The pedestrian subway that runs between the station and the west side of the Cromwell Road (where the Natural History Museum, Science Museum and V&A are located) resembled a throng heading to football, except that these were mums with prams rather than lads with cans. Fortunately for me, most of the families were destined for museums other than the V&A.
At the V&A, I wove my way around all the people in the gift shop, up the stairs, through the jewelry gallery and past the Leighton Frescoes to a small exhibition called Lasting Impressions: Women Printmakers 1900-Now. Showcasing the work of 25 printmakers with a variety of subjects and techniques, this wee exhibition was well worth seeing. It's free and on until February 2026. (It was hard to get any decent photos because of the reflections on the glass, but this article has a few shots and some more info.)
I scurried out through the rain, back down into the subway to South Kensington station to grab the tube for London Bridge via Westminster. Managing to take the correct exit from London Bridge station for once, I continued my mad dash down Bermondsey Street to the White Cube Bermondsey where I was due to meet my friends Kathy and Allan. They had never been to this gallery and were very impressed by the vast, tall spaces -- it's the largest commercial gallery in Europe. The exhibition we had come to see was Gunpowder and Abstraction by Cai Guo-Qiang, who none of us knew anything about. Fortunately, there was a great video in which he talked about his work and technique. He comes across as such a lovely bloke! (I can't find a link to the exact video we saw, but there's a different one on the bottom of the exhibition webpage linked above.) He uses gunpowder in all his artwork, either big pyrotechnical displays or two-dimensional pieces in which pigment is dispersed on canvas, metal or glass by means of little explosions. When he does large pyrotechnic installations, he often works with members of the local community to develop a display that is meaningful and connected to people and place. In this gallery show, he exhibits large paintings that fill the rooms with explosions of colour. Many of these works are abstract landscapaes or flowers and one -- my favourite -- is of pink bats hanging upside down.
On Thursday I began attending to things I needed to do in preparation for my departure in two days. My day started with a bus ride over to Belsize Park, toting my yoga mat and bundle of freshly-laundered charity shop clothing, which I was returning for storage to my AirBnB hosts there. I'm planning to be back with them in the spring and they have been lovely about letting me stash these things on top of the wardrobe in "my" bedroom there.
I decided to spend the day gallery hopping until I ran out of steam, so my next bus ride took me to the Ben Uri Gallery just off the northernmost end of Abbey Road, roughly where Kilburn meets St John's Wood. The gallery had been on my spreadsheet for years, but this was my first visit. This gallery specializes in works of immigrants to the UK, primarily from the late 19th century to the present, with an emphasis on Jewish and Eastern European artists. Although they hold a collection of over 1000 works, the current space is too small to put much of it on display, so they are in the process of seeking a new, larger, more centrally-located space. The tiny exhibition that I saw was Born in the USA: American Immigrant Artists' Contribution to British Visual Culture since 1900.
Another bus got me down Abbey Road, past all the tourists outside Abbey Road Studios, to Lisson Grove. After mooching around in Alfie's Antique Market, a huge multi-vendor indoor market, I walked through the outdoor Church Street Market before getting a sandwich at Tesco and eating in a nearby garden.
I then walked to the Lisson Gallery (actually two galleries, a block apart) to see their current exhibitions, Hugh Hayden: Hughmanity, which I enjoyed:
and Ding Yi: The Road to Heaven, which really didn't move me.
After a very brief shower, the skies improved and so I walked on, zigzagging south and east, then down Marylebone Lane. I'd read about a gallery in a mews just off the lane, and again this was one I hadn't yet visited. The Brown Collection houses paintings by the artist Glenn Brown alongside pieces from his personal collection of works by other artists. This struck me as a vanity project and Brown's own paintings did nothing for me. Some of the drawings from his collection were lovely, however. But the best part is seeing the interior of the building. And they have a nice loo.
Finally, I walked eastward to Mortimer Street to visit the newly-opened Ibrazz, a cultural center aiming to promote an exchange of art and ideas from the global majority. The building used to be a private members' club and has been refurbed beautifully, with a bookstore, caff, library, exhibition and function spaces. The caff was buzzing and every seat in the library was occupied -- I hope this bodes well for Ibrazz. The inaugural exhibition/installation was Parliament of Ghosts by the Ghanaian artist Ibrahim Mahama.
I had a quick dinner back in Tufnell Park before heading out the door to catch yet another bus, this time to take me to Clerkenwell. I had a ticket to see a magic lantern show, put on by Carolyn and Jeremy Booker, at the London Archives. I'd never seen a magic lantern and, in order to maintain the mystery, I opted not to join the people huddled around the triunial (or triple) machine after the show in order to learn how it works. It was really good fun to watch the slides change and move, accompanied by silent film pianist Stephen Horne. Let the mystery be.
This gallery features photography that explores issues of race, representation, human rights and social justice. We saw the exhibition I Still Dream of Lost Vocabularies, collages --90 works by 13 contemporary artists, including some using AI -- that look at erasure and political dissent. The collages were colourful, thought-provoking and lovely.
Saturday saw me up at stupid o'clock (4:15 am), out the door at 6:15, at Heathrow by 7:30 and on my way back across the pond. I walked in my own door in Florence, Massachusetts at 6:30 pm, utterly exhausted and chuffed with all I'd seen and done in Blighty. My London mates are the best!
Here's my round-up of the "Bests" of my October 2025 visit:
- Best guided tour or walk: Highgate Mausolea
- Best new museum or gallery: V&A Storehouse
- Best exhibitions: Lee Miller, Seeing Each Other, Kerry James Marshall
- Best house tour: Farleys House
- Best pint: Cator Park Fresh Hop (Southey Brewing Co.)
- Best live performance: Magic Lantern Show
- Most useful clothing item I packed: Patagonia Capeline base layer bottoms (thin, warm, silky, can wear under trousers or leggings). These from Lands End are good, too, and cheaper.
- Most useful new gear: Modl Infinity Tool (I have the half-and-half pack in glow-in-the-dark glacier blue)
... The Shipping Forecast is oddly comforting.
... I still haven't done the Parkland Walk.
£9 British Library (50% off with Art Pass)
£1 pastel de nata
£2.49 groceries
17,867 steps
7.35 miles
£3.95 meal deal lunch (sandwich, drink, snack)
£3.67 groceries
£6.55 pint
22,398 steps
9.2 miles
V&A free
White Cube Bermondsey free
12,849 steps
5.34 miles
£2.25 sandwich
£10 Magic lantern show
£4 wine at show
23,270 steps
9.55 miles
£10 top up Oyster card
£10 top up mobile phone
12,858 steps
5.32 miles
