Old and New (Week 4)

My four weeks in London have flown by. Looking over my spreadsheet, it seems that I worked in a lot of exhibitions, small galleries and (despite the rubbish weather) guided walks. But because of said rubbish weather, I didn't go for any long rambles on my own to explore new-to-me areas and I didn't do a day trip to a seaside town. But I did get out of London on three days and used my new senior railcard on two of those. 

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. 

I then popped into a fabulous stationery store in nearby Bury Street before heading down Theobald's Road to the Holborn Library. Inside the library is the Camden Local Studies and Archives Centre, which had a nice display about the rookery of St Giles. I hadn't been in the library for donkey's years, so I was reminded of what a great resource this is. Lovely to hear a woman playing the piano in the foyer on my way out. 

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 had a butcher's at the bar and event space before heading into the east wing to see the sculptural furniture (metal, wood, antlers!) and jewelry in the Carpenters' Workshop Gallery. The current exhibition in the gallery was Rust Never Sleeps by Rick Owens Furniture. The hard metal surfaces, embellished with antlers, didn't look very comfortable (and there were "Do Not Sit" signs everywhere so we couldn't even try) but I reckon they are more statement pieces than functional furnishings, with the possible exception of a massive bed. 

In a smaller upstairs gallery, as well as outside in the courtyard, were pieces comprising the exhibition Bad Ideas for Good Living by Atelier Van Lieshout. These sculptural pieces were a bit more accessible and I could imagine some them in the home or garden of a person with the means to purchase one. (No price list was visible and we didn't ask.)

When we emerged from the gallery, the skies had clouded over and it was getting chilly, but as there was no rain we pushed on to Kensal Green Cemetery, stopping first at Sainsbury's to get sandwiches to eat amongst the dead. Opening in 1833, this was the first commercial (i.e. not owned by a church) cemetery in London and is counted as one of the Magnificent Seven. There are some spectacular Victorian tombs along the Central Avenue. 

I hadn't been here in many years and was surprised to see how it had changed from what I remembered. Malcolm said that several years ago the cemetery underwent a massive tidy-up, with a lot of the overgrown vines and trees that made it so atmospheric and spooky being cut back and trimmed up. It is still receiving burials and we noticed that some of the new tombs, made of shiny black granite and looking like posh garden sheds, were rather over-the-top. An ostentatious display of wealth, perhaps? Or, in the case of the many tombs of families with names from around the Mediterranean, maybe a cultural expression? I'm not posting any photos of these tombs as I assume there are living relatives and so it would be disrespectful. 

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.)

Realizing that I was right next to the Photography Centre, and remembering reading something about a display of American Photographs, I turned into the gallery to have a look. It turned out to be two rooms full of fascinating photos, most of which I'd never seen before. The V&A holds one of the largest collections of American photographs outside North America! I didn't have enough time to do it justice, but fortunately it's on until May 2027 so I'll have plenty of time to revisit it on a future trip. 

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. 

Last day! On Friday, I met my friend Judy at Autograph, a gallery in Rivington Street, a small street that is full of street art and street art tours. 

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. 

We then scurried through torrential downpours to a nearby caff (a proper one, not overly yuppie) for lunch. I had been planning to spend an hour or so mooching around Shoreditch afterwards, but the rain kept pouring down. So I headed back to pack my stuff and tidy the flat. 

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)

That's a wrap. I'll be back in spring 2026 for more adventures. Don't forget to subscribe (you have to click "View web version" below in order to see the "Subscribe" box) so that you get email notifications whenever I post new content!

... The Shipping Forecast is oddly comforting.

... I still haven't done the Parkland Walk.

Stats:

Monday:
£9 British Library (50% off with Art Pass)
£1 pastel de nata

£2.95 Forgotten Ends
£2.49 groceries
17,867 steps
7.35 miles

Tuesday:
£3.95 meal deal lunch (sandwich, drink, snack)
£3.67 groceries
£6.55 pint
22,398 steps
9.2 miles

Wednesday:
V&A free
White Cube Bermondsey free
12,849 steps
5.34 miles

Thursday:
£2.25 sandwich
£10 Magic lantern show
£4 wine at show
23,270 steps
9.55 miles

Friday:
£10 top up Oyster card
£10 top up mobile phone
12,858 steps
5.32 miles

All Culture, No Whinging (Week 2)

With my creature-comfort needs and wants now satisfied, I'm no longer flitting about from charity shop to car boot sale to Poundland and have settled into life in the loft in Tufnell Park. I'm getting better at using the minute kitchen and at buying groceries every other day given the size of the tiny fridge. But turn me loose in a Waitrose and I'm sure to come out with more than I can shove into that fridge or cook in the next few days. It's an ongoing learning curve. 

The sun didn't make much of an appearance in the past week, but the temps have been fine for the most part -- a bit chilly in the morning and evening, but I've been comfortable. The grey and gloomy days have driven me indoors for most of my activities, however, resulting in lots of cultural pursuits. So, make yourself a cuppa or pour a pint and read on.

On Monday (that difficult-to-plan day of the week, I went to the following places and had a bit of a late-afternoon crisis.

I started at the Courtauld Gallery to see Wayne Thiebaud: American Still Life. I loved the paintings -- cakes, pies, deli counters -- but, as the Courtauld no longer gives Art Pass discounts (or even senior citizen discounts), I didn't think 22 paintings for £18 was good value for money. I found it amusing that the wall text provided explanations of American terms, for example the text for the painting Cold Cereal described it as being "in distinction from warm breakfast grains."

Next, over to Kensington to the Japan House for their current (free) exhibition Pictograms, about how all these universal icons were conceived, designed and accepted world-wide, particularly with the mass-appeal of emojis. 

I used their fabulous loos again. On my way out, I was speaking with the cleaner about how much I love these loos but am afraid to push any of the buttons. She took me back into one of the cubicles and showed me how they work, encouraging me to try them next time. 

I then walked to Leighton House, which is free with my Art Pass. The small exhibitions -- Contemporary Art from the Middle East and North Africa and Ghost Objects -- were so-so. I enjoyed Leighton House: A Journey through 100 Years, showing photos of the house as it was originally, through various uses and bomb damage, to its restoration as what it is today. Here's one of the ghosts objects (something that used to be in the house but is no longer there):

When I exited the house around 4 pm and pulled out my phone to ask the Citymapper app to get me home, I found I had no cell service. I couldn't get a signal no matter where I stood or pointed the phone. I tried restarting it a couple times to no avail. Fortunately, I've got the Google map of London downloaded to my phone -- with that and a paper tube map, I figured out that I could get the Mildmay line from nearby Kensington Olympia station and it was a quick there (I've never used this station before). As I sat on the train, I fiddled around with my phone, checked umpteen settings, etc., and was beginning to think I'd have to walk to the Vodafone store in the Holloway Road for help. So engrossed was I in the bloody phone that before I knew it I'd gone one stop past Gospel Oak, so got out at Kentish Town West, changed platforms and went back. Somewhere along the walk from Gospel Oak back to my gaff, phone service returned. Hooray! I later found out that it wasn't my phone that was the problem -- Vodafone had a huge outage that lasted many hours and impacted thousands of customers. I doubt I can apply for a credit or rebate due to lack of phone service.

On Tuesday, I took the train from Victoria station to Chichester. This was my first time using my new senior railcard to get 1/3 off on my tickets. When I got to Victoria, I soon found out that my train was delayed -- 45 minutes delayed due to some sort of train malfunction around Horsham. I later learned all about how to apply for "delay repay" online, which was easy peasy. 

In Chichester, I went to the Pallant House Gallery. I had been there in April and really enjoyed the space and the exhibition I saw. This visit was for the exhibition Seeing Each Other: Portraits of Artists. Once again, Pallant House delivered. Starting around 1900 and going up to the present, there were paintings, drawings, sculpture and photographs of artists by artists, many of whom were their friends and/or lovers. Again, the Bloomsbury Bunch were out in full force, painting and having sex with each other. I spent nearly two hours looking at everything. Not that we should judge art exhibitions on this basis, but I'd say this exhibition was very good value for money. 

Nina Hamnett by Roger Fry:

Gilbert and George Pink by Sue Dunkley:

My time in Chichester was rather short as I had gotten there late and I'd booked a 4 pm train back to London, so I had only a bit of time to wander around the charming town, walk along another part of the city wall (Roman and medieval), and wander down to the canal basin. Before getting on the train, I stopped into a caff and bought a huge piece of homemade carrot cake from a lovely lady. I didn't ask, but I suspect she baked it herself. I told her I was getting it for my train journey, so she carefully wrapped it in foil for me. Aw!

Wednesday was a bit lower key. I faffed around in the morning, did some online Pilates, and then met my friend Jen at the Tufnell Park station to accompany her on a walk around the area. Jen is another of my walking tour guide friends and she was working up a Tufnell Park walk that she would offer to punters on a date I wasn't available. She needed to check out a few things before the walk went live, and wanted some feedback on it, so I was happy to tag along as her guinea pig. I learned a lot about how the area developed from a manor house property into the suburb it is now and saw many details that I hadn't noticed in all my rushing around to grocery stores and charity shops. 

In the afternoon, I took the overground to Finchley Road and Frognal, then went back to the Camden Art Centre for the exhibition I'd tried to see last week before it had opened. If I had bothered to read about the current exhibition -- Karimah Ashadu: Tendered -- I would have known that this was going to be a stretch for me. The exhibition is comprised of three videos, about body builders, an abattoir, and a cowboy, all filmed in Nigeria. I'm generally not into video as art, but since I'd come here twice I thought I should stay for the show. I lasted less than a minute for the body builders and the abattoir, but I actually watched the entire video about the cowboy, a sensitive young man who has spent his entire life around horses. 

Although it's easier to get public transport to Tufnell Park from central London than it is to go between Belsize Park and Tufnell Park, that's what I did. I got the bus down to Swiss Cottage, then walked along Eton Avenue and England's Lane to the Belsize Community Library. My mission was to get a library card and check out a book. Unlike the other libraries in the borough of Camden, which require proof of address in the form of a utility bill or rent receipt, the Belsize library is independent. I'd sent them email asking if I could use an envelope from the National Art Fund as my proof of address, and they'd said yes, I could. But all I had to do was fill out a short form and didn't have to produce any proof. I now have a plastic library card!

The post box topper in England's Lane, made by a group of women from the library, now has a seasonal theme "Nightmare Before Christmas."

Thursday morning, I returned to the Barbican (this business of going twice to the same place will be a recurring theme during my autumn stay), this time to the art gallery for Giacometti and Mona Hatoum. This is the second of the Barbican's series of installations of works by Giacometti in "encounters" with a contemporary sculptor, this time the Lebanese artist Mona Hatoum, who now lives in London. I had seen a large exhibition of her work at the White Cube Bermondsey a few years ago and really liked it. Her sculpture deals with displacement, social repression and conflict. I was intrigued by how she encorporated Giacometti's work into her own and showed her pieces in dialogue with his. 

Upon leaving the Barbican, I remembered to stop in to the Barbican Laundrette to take a few photos. 

I then sat in Charterhouse Square to eat my packed lunch before getting on the train at Farringdon. The Elizabeth Line took me swiftly to Stratford (on the eastern side of the 2012 Olympic site), when I switched to the Mildmay Line to go one stop back westward to Hackney Wick. There I met my friend Lesley and we walked across a bridge over the Lee Navigation to the western side of the Olympic site. The building which had housed all the media during the Olympics has now been redeveloped into various offices, light industry, tech businesses, cafes, and now is home to the V&A East Storehouse, where we were headed. 

But first, we stopped into a complex called Here East in which the artist Conrad Shawcross has installed an enormous ropemaking machine. Umbilical, as the installation is called, incorporates 40 interlocking arms topped with bobbins of yarn. Through movements that have something to do with planetary orbits, the arms pull and enterlace yarn until it comes out as rope that's 2-3" in diameter. I don't really understand how it works, but it was really cool to watch. 

And then the V&A Storehouse blew my mind! This is the new facility in which the V&A stores everything that's not on display in one of its museums. Shelving going up three storeys through the vast space, with glass floors separating each level, is full of all kinds of fascinating pieces of material culture. The objects are not organized for display as they would be in the museum, but rather sitting on shelves for people to see or study. Anyone who is interested, for research purposes or just curiosity, can request a particular object to be brought to a study room where they can see it up close. Through the glass floors, you can look down into the conservation rooms where objects are being stabilized or restored. We saw some items of clothing being brought out in archival grey boxes for a student to examine. 

Two of the best things we saw were an entire wood-panelled office designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and a 1930s kitchen. This is the kind of place you could come to time and time again, never seeing the same things twice and always finding something new and fascinating. 

After cake and a catch-up in a nearby caff, I took the overground to Hampstead Heath, where I used the Victorian subterranean loo, bought a salad for later at M&S Simply Food, and then walked to my evening event. 

At the Isokon Gallery, I heard a talk by a German architect about the restoration of the Bauhaus building at Dessau. The talks at the Isokon are always interesting, but it's really tough sitting on those backless stools for an hour and a half. Thank goodness they provide a complimentary glass of wine. 

My friends David and Janie took me on another day trip on Friday, this one to Farleys House, the country home of Lee Miller and Roland Penrose, in East Sussex a bit north of Eastbourne. Not a National Trust or English Heritage home, Farleys is owned and maintained by a private trust that benefits from the copyrights to Lee Miller's work. Lee and Roland's son Antony Penrose is head of the trust and is very hands-on in the running of the house, grounds and gallery. It's a bit more commercial than NT or EH properties, but all the merch is tasteful -- no tat at all. 

The house tour was led by an animated and witty guide who took us through the rooms on the ground floor, telling stories of all the artists who came to visit and whose works hang beside Miller's and Penrose's on the walls. The kitchen, where Lee Miller turned her attention to cooking after giving up her photography career, was so cool -- full of all sorts of mid-century objects and of works by Picasso, a frequent visitor. Likewise the dining room, where a combination of found art and modern art pieces could be seen everywhere we turned. Alas, because of the copyrights, no photography is allowed inside the house so you'll just have to take my word that it's fab. After the tour, we strolled around the garden with various bits of sculpture, ate our packed lunch on an outdoor table, then checked out the gallery and gift shops. 

Farleys House is located in the hamlet of Muddles Green near Chiddingly (you can't make this stuff up), which is basically nowhere. The nearest train station is miles away in Lewes, and bus service from there to Muddles Green is infrequent at best. So, I was very happy that Janie and David were keen to make the journey via hedge-lined, narrow country roads to get there and back. Once we were finally back to civilization in south London, we headed straight to Southey Brewing Co. in Penge, near to where David and Janie live. They brew on site and have a taproom that's very popular with the locals. David's group of mates who get together weekly to maintain the local Cator Park had recently picked bags of hops that grow wild in the park. They turned the hops over to Southey Brewing, who made a special brew of them called Cator Park Fresh Hop 2025. We all had pints and thought it was grand. 

Once home in my attic gaff, I made myself some soup and sat down for a bit of YouTube viewing. One of my favourite content producers is a bloke called John Tweedy, who lives nearby in Kentish Town and posts regular videos about pubs, real ale (especially bitter), wine, walking and wild camping, and occasionally something of local interest. His Friday video, on his Tweedy Misc. channel, was about the Goodison Fountain on Hampstead Heath. The fountain is the head of a chalybeate (iron rich) spring and isn't marked on Google maps. With a few cues from Tweedy, I took up the quest for the fountain as my Saturday challenge. With no rain in the forecast, I scurried over to the Parliament Hill Farmers' Market for my usual bread purchases and then headed up the east side of the Heath, past the men's and women's bathing ponds, and around the ancient Caen Wood. I made one wrong turn, then doubled back downhill and suddenly there it was! I was surprised that the small number of people and dogs who I saw nearby took no notice of this spectacular and rare find. It might be the only existing chalybeate spring on the Heath, for goodness sake! And the fountain looks grand. 

When I walked back down the Heath to my gaff to deposit my bread purchases, I had no plan for the afternoon. An hour or so later, the plan emerged: since I would be ending my day in Richmond, and as Vauxhall is sort of halfway there, it made perfect sense that I'd go to the Newport Street Gallery to see the recently-opened exhibition. The gallery is owned by Damien Hirst, whose art I don't really care for, but the gallery space is spectacular and it's fun to go there to see what's on. The current exhibition is Triple Trouble, a mash-up/collaboration between Hirst, Shepard Fairey and Invader. I love Shepard Fairey and Invader, so I put my dislike of Hirst aside. The exhibition was great, full of Shepard Fairey's iconic graphic images and Invader's mosaics. Hirst's contribution of cigarette butts and scalpel blades didn't add anything and could be overlooked. 

Finally, I was back on the tube, headed to Richmond to see a live performance of the podcast The Wittering Whitehalls. I'm a DODL (Day One Dear Listener) to this humorous podcast, featuring Hillary and Michael Whitehall (parents of Jack Whitehall) who answer requests for advice from listeners. I loved gawping at the ornate interior of the Richmond Theatre (Grade II* listed, architect Frank Matcham) from my seat in the front row of the dress circle (first balcony) and the show was just as amusing as I'd hoped.

Sunday started out with some bits of clear sky but it went pear shaped very quickly, bringing drizzle with intermittent downpours the entire day. But that didn't stop me from doing two guided walks. In the morning, I met Jane to explore Mr. Pooter's Holloway. He is the central character in the book Diary of a Nobody -- a man looking to climb the social ladder in 1880-90s Holloway, straight-laced and prudish, but ever trying to make a good joke or pun. Throughout the book, Mr. Pooter has somewhat fraught interactions with people who would have practiced various trades up and down the Holloway Road, including the ironmonger, tailor, etc. It was good fun to try to work out where he and his family lived and shopped during the glory days of Holloway, when you could get anything you wanted right here. 

I next scooted down to Red Lion Square for another event associated with the Bloomsbury Festival. Starting at Conway Hall, the walk explored the Humanist Bloomsbury: Doers, Dreamers and Place Makers. I learned about the various free-thinking individuals and groups that came under the Humanist umbrella -- non-conformists or non-religious, ethical societies, anti-war activists, feminists, artists, writers, labour organizers. Despite the miserable weather, our lovely guide Maddy Goodall held my attention throughout and I now want to learn more about these people. 

I then trudged on through the rain and caught a bus back to Tufnell Park, putting a soggy end to my very full second week. 

Stats:

Monday:

£18 Courtauld Gallery

£4.50 banana cake

£7.82 groceries

£50 top up Oyster card

Japan Foundation - free with Art Pass

Leighton House - free with Art Pass

16,770 steps

6.88 miles

Tuesday:

£12.34 train to Chichester (-£3.10 delay repay)

£7.50 Pallant House Gallery

£3 pain aux raisins

£3.75 carrot cake

16,095 steps

6.62 miles

Wednesday:

£15.20 groceries

£3.20 tea at caff

Camden Art Centre - free for all

18,687 steps

7.71 miles

Thursday:

£5.50 Barbican Gallery

£4.69 groceries

£12 talk at Isokon Gallery (with wine)

V&A Storehouse East - free for all

18,272 steps

7.49 miles

Friday:

Farleys House - a treat from my friends!

9,437 steps

3.89 miles

Saturday:

£7 farmers' market

£12 wine and groceries

£36.64 Richmond Theatre

Newport Street Gallery - free for all

24,571 steps

10.14 miles

Sunday:

£18 Holloway walk

£10 Bloomsbury walk (included donation to Conway Hall)

£1.20 pastel de nata

15,187 steps

6.23 miles