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Welcome to the IanVisits Calendar of lectures, talks, heritage events, organised walks and other random miscellany which Ian thinks would be of interest.
Disclaimer: I do my best to keep the information up to date and accurate, but caveat emptor applies and you are advised to check with the venue before travelling.
 | = Event is free of charge (sometimes a donation is appreciated) |
 | = Pre-Booking required. |
Fri, 19 Mar, 2010
| 12:00 PM | Pilgrim badges (Barbican) |
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A chance to see and handle some medieval Pilgrim's Badges - many of which have not been on display before |
| 01:00 PM | Reel London - Treasures of the Councils of London (Farringdon) |
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A showing of old promotional films made by the former London County Council and GLC |
| 07:00 PM | The Famous Fanny Burney - Performed by Karin Fernald (Fleet Street) |
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A solo show based on the journals and letters of Fanny Burney, later Madame D'Arblay (1752-1840) |
| 07:00 PM | The miraculous disaster of immortality (Mayfair) |
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Understanding why we age and die might enable us to achieve that ultimate goal - immortality. But what kind of life would eternal life be? |
| 07:00 PM | The miraculous disaster of immortality (Mayfair) |
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Understanding why we age and die might enable us to achieve that ultimate goal - immortality. But what kind of life would eternal life be? |
Sat, 20 Mar, 2010
| 09:00 AM | Carters Steam Fair in Battersea Park (South Lambeth) |
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Traditional steam based funfair visits London for the weekend |
| 10:00 AM | Study Day: Labour on Labour |
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This one-day event will ask today’s labour movement to describe the people or groups who inspired them in their beliefs and politics |
| 10:30 AM | WW2 Reenactment Group at Military Museum (Woolwich) |
| A team of re-enactors will be portraying airborne Royal Artillery Gunners who took part in 'Operation Varsity' in 1944 | |
| 11:00 AM | Fulham Foreshore Clean-up (Fulham) |
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Help to clean up the riverside foreshore in Fulham |
| 11:00 AM | Hackney History Walks - Monuments and Memories (Clapton) |
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Guided tour around St John at Hackney Church - one of the area's dominant landmark buildings. |
| 01:30 PM | Wild Food Walk (Bow) |
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Join us for an edible, guided walk and have a nibble around the park learning about what foods can be eaten from the wild at this season. |
Sun, 21 Mar, 2010
| 09:00 AM | Carters Steam Fair in Battersea Park (South Lambeth) |
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Traditional steam based funfair visits London for the weekend |
| 10:00 AM | Low-Tide walk along Deptford Creek (Deptford) |
| A 2.5 hour walk along Deptford Creek at low-tide, nr Greenwich | |
| 10:30 AM | London Film Day - Film Locations and History at Somerset House (Temple/Aldwych) |
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Tour of Somerset House focusing on its use in film and TV shows |
| 10:30 AM | WW2 Reenactment Group at Military Museum (Woolwich) |
| A team of re-enactors will be portraying airborne Royal Artillery Gunners who took part in 'Operation Varsity' in 1944 | |
| 02:00 PM | Guided Tour of Copped Hall |
| Guided tour of this Georgian mansion - currently being restored - as well as the gardens. | |
| TBA | Dockyard dictionary (Poplar) |
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Spoken-word artist Germander Speedwell marks World Poetry Day by leading a wordy wander around the docks. |
Mon, 22 Mar, 2010
| 01:00 PM | Feliks Topolski: Eye witness to the 20th Century (Barbican) |
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A look at Topolski, who spent 14 years working on a 600ft mural in the railway arches in Waterloo. |
Tue, 23 Mar, 2010
| 06:00 PM | Post-Recession Prospects in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (Green Park) |
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A talk by the President of the European Bank on the impact of the credit crisis on the region, and the work of the EBRD |
| 06:30 PM | With Winston Churchill at the Front (Green Park) |
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This talk will take a detailed look at his time 'at the front' and show how Churchill proved to be a very able, if unusual, leader of men. |
| 07:00 PM | People, Place and the Interpretation of Time (Greenwich) |
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Panel debate on the concept of time, social exchange and economics prior to an art event on the Jubilee Line. |
| 07:00 PM | The Blackest Streets (Barbican) |
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Sarah Wise, author of 'The Blackest Streets', discusses the nature of the crowded slums of 19th-century London |
Wed, 24 Mar, 2010
| 04:00 PM | Launch of 'New Architecture in Japan' and talk by Yuki and Edmund Sumner (Camden) |
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A talk and photo book launch focusing on architecture in Japan. |
| 05:30 PM | Creativity, Innovation and Design (South Kensington) |
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This presentation will explore the tensions involved with creativity, the value and use of creative tools in engineering and the importance of design. |
| 06:00 PM | Alfred Hitchcock's London Odyssey: Location Art in the Capital (Trafalgar Square) |
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An illustrated talk by Sandra Shevey on the London set design of film director Alfred Hitchcock. |
| 06:30 PM | A View From the Foothills - Talk and book signing With Chris Mullin (Farringdon) |
| Chris Mullin MP talks about his book on the life in the New Labour Government from 1999 to 2007 | |
| 06:30 PM | St John Passion at St Paul's Cathedral (St Paul's Cathedral) |
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Free concert of Bach's famous musical composition for Easter. |
| 06:30 PM | Towards a Greener Building Industry (Bloomsbury) |
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A debate about low energy design in new building projects |
| 07:00 PM | Is the age of celebrity-obsessed media coming to an end? (Bayswater) |
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A group of journalists discuss the state of celebrity dominated news media. |
| 07:00 PM | The Web: The Ultimate Propaganda Machine? (South Kensington) |
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What happens when authoritarian governments try to control internet activisim |
Thu, 25 Mar, 2010
| 12:30 PM | Sir Thomas Fairfax and the English Revolution (Chelsea) |
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Weekly lunchtime talks at the National Army Museum. |
| 01:30 PM | The art of Benin (Bloomsbury) |
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Anthropologist Nigel Barley brings to life the spectacular art and culture of the West African kingdom of Benin in an illustrated talk |
| 02:00 PM | Guided Walk - 19th Century Pioneers |
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A walk that will look at the achievements of a group of influential people who are remembered with statues and memorials in Kensington Gardens. |
| 06:00 PM | Southwark Lore (Southwark) |
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An evening of Southwark history from an esoteric point of view |
| 07:00 PM | Russia: a 19th-Century Power in a 21st Century World? (Bloomsbury) |
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A talk with diplomat, Sir Tony Brenton on the current Russian political situation. |
| 07:00 PM | The Big Itch with Strange Attractor (Hackney) |
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A lament for the UK's declining flea population followed by an introduction to bed bugs |
| 07:00 PM | The Honey Bee - Gateway to biology, cultural icon and agricultural helper (Kew) |
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A talk by Professor Ratnieks - the leading authority on honey bee biology, bee keeping and other social insects |
Fri, 26 Mar, 2010
| 11:00 AM | Easter Chocolate Festival (Southwark) |
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The Chocolate Festival returns to Southbank Centre just in time to shop for all your Easter treats. |
| 01:00 PM | Medieval marriage (Barbican) |
| Lunchtime talk on the subject of medieval women and marriage. | |
| 07:00 PM | The History of Swearing, The World of John Willie and the Community of Time Travellers (Hackney) |
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The talks on three strange topics. |
Sat, 27 Mar, 2010
| 08:00 AM | Steam train (60019 Bittern) running through North London (Camden) |
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A famous, and visually distinctive steam train, the 60019 Bittrn will steam from Euston Station towards Manchester |
| 09:00 AM | Carters Steam Fair in Battersea Park (South Lambeth) |
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Traditional steam based funfair visits London for the weekend |
| 11:00 AM | Easter Chocolate Festival (Southwark) |
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The Chocolate Festival returns to Southbank Centre just in time to shop for all your Easter treats. |
| 11:00 AM | Hackney History Walks - Monuments and Memories (Clapton) |
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Guided tour around St John at Hackney Church - one of the area's dominant landmark buildings. |
| All Day Event | From Enlightenment to Romanticism c. 1780–1830 (Bloomsbury) |
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lectures and gallery talks on topics including Grand Tourists, public science, Sir John Soane, and the Enlightenment Gallery. |
| All Day Event | The City Musick (Barbican) |
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All-day seminar on the London Waits, the official City musicians in the 16th to 18th centuries. |
Sun, 28 Mar, 2010
| 09:00 AM | Carters Steam Fair in Battersea Park (South Lambeth) |
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Traditional steam based funfair visits London for the weekend |
| 11:00 AM | Easter Chocolate Festival (Southwark) |
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The Chocolate Festival returns to Southbank Centre just in time to shop for all your Easter treats. |
| 11:00 AM | Walking tour of Stoke Newington (Barbican) |
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Find out how Stoke Newington grew from a small village on the edge of north London into a smart eighteenth-century suburb. |
| TBA | The First UK Underground Farmers & Craft Market (Willesden) |
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A 'farmers market' with crafts and talks |
Mon, 29 Mar, 2010
| 06:30 PM | Pushkin, the Russian Autocracy and Rebellion (Farringdon) |
| Professor Robert Chandler, the author of a recent book on the greatest of Russian poets, looks at the politics of Pushkin. |
Tue, 30 Mar, 2010
| 07:30 PM | JOURNALISM IN LONDON: The Wapping Strike |
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Andy McSmith looks at the Wapping dispute between Rupert Murdoch's company and the print union. |
Wed, 31 Mar, 2010
| 01:00 PM | Button bonanza (Barbican) |
| Hear about our new collection of over 2,500 medieval and early modern buttons recovered from the Thames. | |
| 06:00 PM | Alfred Hitchcock's London Odyssey: Location Art in the Capital (Trafalgar Square) |
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An illustrated talk by Sandra Shevey on the recurring theme of food in Hitchcock's films. |
| 06:30 PM | Transport for London's Ivan Bennett - Defining a City (Southwark) |
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Talk by TfL London Buses' product designer on street furniture and signage design |
| 07:00 PM | Laughlab (Mayfair) |
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Richard Wiseman talks about his research to find the world's funniest joke |
| 07:00 PM | Laughlab (Mayfair) |
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Professor Richard Wiseman talks about his quest to find the world's funiest joke |
Thu, 1 Apr, 2010
| 06:30 PM | PhotoSocial: Creative Commons |
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A debate about the future of photography and copyright issues |
Fri, 2 Apr, 2010
| 12:00 PM | Clowns International Clowns' Gallery and Museum (Hackney) |
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Monthly opening of the Clown museum archive. |
Sun, 4 Apr, 2010
| 10:30 AM | Bexley Country Show (Bexley, Kent) |
| Traditional country fair with animal demonstrations, food stalls, funfair, etc. | |
| 11:00 AM | Kirkaldy Testing Musum - Open Day (Southwark) |
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Monthly open day at the museum of materials testing in Southwark. One very big machine and lots of small ones. |
Mon, 5 Apr, 2010
| 10:30 AM | Bexley Country Show (Bexley, Kent) |
| Traditional country fair with animal demonstrations, food stalls, funfair, etc. | |
| 02:00 PM | Mayfair - A Culinary Tour (West End) |
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A walking tour around Mayfair with a food and drink theme led by a City of Westminster Guide. |
Tue, 6 Apr, 2010
| 06:00 PM | Candlelit evening at Sir John Soane's House (Holborn) |
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Monthly evening opening of the museum with the rooms lit by candles. |
Sat, 10 Apr, 2010
| All Day Event | Carters Steam Fair in Ravenscourt Park (Hammersmith) |
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Traditional steam based funfair visits London for the week |
| TBA | The Tweed Run |
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Annual cycle procession of young (and old) fogies in Tweet and single-gear bicycles. |
Sun, 11 Apr, 2010
| All Day Event | Carters Steam Fair in Ravenscourt Park (Hammersmith) |
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Traditional steam based funfair visits London for the week |
Tue, 13 Apr, 2010
| 11:00 AM | Annual Inspection of the Kings Troop Royal Horse Artillery (Camden) |
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The Annual Inspection of the Kings Troop Royal Horse Artillery by the Director Royal Artillery. |
| 12:30 PM | The Italian Boy: Murder and Grave-Robbery in 1830's London (Fleet Street) |
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On the trials of three bodysnatchers that marked the ending of that gruesome trade |
| 06:30 PM | From the sublime to the ubiquitous - design excellence for the masses (Covent Garden) |
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A talk about two design icons - Ambrose Heal, of furniture fame and Frank Pick of London Underground |
Fri, 16 Apr, 2010
| 10:30 AM | Gothic Fantasies and the Palace of Westminster (South Kensington) |
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Starting with 19th century photography of the Houses of Parliament, followed by a tour of the building. |
Sat, 17 Apr, 2010
| All Day Event | Carters Steam Fair in Ravenscourt Park (Hammersmith) |
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Traditional steam based funfair visits London for the week |
Sun, 18 Apr, 2010
| 02:00 PM | Guided Tour of Copped Hall |
| Guided tour of this Georgian mansion - currently being restored - as well as the gardens. | |
| All Day Event | Carters Steam Fair in Ravenscourt Park (Hammersmith) |
| |
Traditional steam based funfair visits London for the week |
Mon, 19 Apr, 2010
| 06:30 PM | Mayfair - A Culinary Tour (West End) |
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A walking tour around Mayfair with a food and drink theme led by a City of Westminster Guide. |
