If you are looking for inspiration for new walks to go on in 2025, the new, thoroughly updated second edition of Bradt’s Freedom Pass London brings to life the UK capital through 25 carefully curated walks that reveal historical landmarks, wildlife hotspots and quiet corners with fascinating pasts. As the title suggests, this travel guidebook is designed for the 1 million people who can enjoy free travel in central and Greater London thanks to the Freedom Pass, but its focus on walking destinations accessible by public transport makes it a must for anyone living in or visiting London.
Continue reading Bradt’s Freedom Pass LondonCategory: In London
What’s going on out and about in London
5 Modernist Buildings Near Stanfords
-by Owen Hatherley
One of the things you learn compiling a guide to the best modern buildings in the country is that there are surprisingly few in Central London. This is ironic, because the capital dominates modern architecture in the UK, much more than it ought to – but planning regulations and widespread conservation have kept much of it outside of Westminster, and the area around it, in particular. But there are five buildings in a very short walking distance from Stanford’s where you can get some sense of what modernism in Britain is all about – its stylistic diversity, its long history, and the different ways it has adapted – or hasn’t – to historic context.
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5 Favourite Outdoor Swimming Spots in London
Do you live or work in London? In town for a visit? Do you enjoy swimming outdoors and are looking for new places to swim? The new guidebook Outdoor Swimming London takes you on an aquatic tour to bring you 140 best wild swims, lakes and outdoor pools, all in or within easy reach of the capital.
John Weller and Lola Culsán share five of their favourite places to swim on the periphery of London: all accessible by tube, train, boat or bike. Perfect for an adventurous day out.
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Where is Drury Lane? Getting lost in London by Jon Woolcott
I’m not a practical man: simple DIY tasks fox me, I don’t enjoy ladders, electricity makes me jumpy. I’ll call for technical help when my printer runs low on toner. I have a handyman on speed-dial, a capable wife, and a nearby younger brother for whom these tasks hold no terrors. But for all this I find that one science, or sort of science, Geography, is my friend. It’s not all Geography – specifically it’s a sense of place. My sense of direction, if not exactly unerring, is well attuned to the compass points. I know where I am, and mostly, where I’m going. I love Ordnance Survey maps, whatever their scale, not only for their solid reliable practicality, but for the way they situate me so completely in any landscape, and for their often remarked-upon beauty. I can spread a map on the floor and pore over it for hours, bum aloft, tracing footpaths and rivers, marvelling over contour lines marking hills and steep sided valleys, wondering over derivations of village names, imagining the lost settlements marked in that ghostly gothic script. In short, I know my way around, and I am glad of it.
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A cartographic taster from the National Army Museum
We asked Robert Fleming, the Templer Study Centre Manager at the National Army Museum to give us a few tasters of some of the fascinating collections related to survey and cartography held at the museum. Continue reading A cartographic taster from the National Army Museum
Events this winter at the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)
This winter come along to the Royal Geographical Society and hear the experts with the Society’s spring programme of events. With a wide range of talks and exhibitions at venues across the UK, there is something for everyone with an interest in geography. Continue reading Events this winter at the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)
Where is Moldova? The family board game demo day
If you are looking for your post-Christmas lunch or Boxing Day board game, come and meet Peter the inventor of ‘Where is Moldova?’ who is hosting a live demonstration day in our London store on Tuesday 19th December. Learn how to play this fabulous family board game and ask Peter why he named his game after a land-locked country in south east Europe. Continue reading Where is Moldova? The family board game demo day
5 top animal guests on the Royal Institution’s Christmas Lectures, by Helen Scales
The Royal Institution Christmas Lectures are perhaps best known for the noisy, messy physics and chemistry experiments, performed to demonstrate aspects of cutting edge-science in front of an eager, young audience. In years when the lecturer’s chosen subject is biology – in particular the science of the natural world – these demonstrations often take on a distinctly wilder tone, as menageries of living animals are welcomed into the RI’s world famous lecture theatre.
I delved into the last century of the RI’s biological Christmas Lectures for my book 11 Explorations into Life on Earth, and here’s my pick of the most delightful, intriguing and tricky animal assistants. Continue reading 5 top animal guests on the Royal Institution’s Christmas Lectures, by Helen Scales
Five reasons to climb trees by Jack Cooke
What better way to explore the city than through its canopy of trees? Jack Cook, author of The Tree Climber’s Guide tells us why we should leave terra firma every now and then and take to the trees: Continue reading Five reasons to climb trees by Jack Cooke
Get out and explore London’s Rivers
It’s London Rivers Week this week and the whole city is encouraged to get out and explore rivers. Whether its the mighty Thames or the humble hidden Walbrook that inspires you, we’ve got all you need to make the most of the rivers London has to offer. Continue reading Get out and explore London’s Rivers