The ianVisits guide to October's unusual events, tours, lectures and exhibitions happening around London.
Coronavirus: Events may be cancelled and venues closed at short notice, you are advised to check on their websites before making a trip.
Monday 1st October
Lester Hillman, involved with local infrastructure since the 1970s, will explore the highlights.
2pm to 3pm
City of London
More London events on Monday 1st October
Tuesday 2nd October
Alan Sked talks about his founding of the Anti-Federalist League (renamed the UK Independence Party in 1993) and introduces some of the Eurosceptic archive material in LSE Library collections.
1pm to 2pm
Holborn
This lecture by historian Mark Greengrass explores her regnal arts in the context of the French Wars of Religion.
6pm to 8pm
City of London
Alev Scott and Daniel Trilling come to Stanfords to discuss their new books and their first-hand experience of some of the most pressing issues of our time: migration and identity at the edge of Europe and beyond.
6:30pm to 7:45pm
Covent Garden
More London events on Tuesday 2nd October
Wednesday 3rd October
Unfortunately, there seems to be nothing special happening today. Sorry about that!
More London events on Wednesday 3rd October
Thursday 4th October
Discover truly remarkable – but surprisingly little known – collections, featuring everything from artworks to scarce anatomical preparations and ext
5pm to 8pm
Camden
Sisters Uncut will talk about their occupation of Holloway Prison and explore ways to create radical community spaces.
6pm to 8pm
Clerkenwell
Explore the evolution of London architecture, transport and design in over 200 detailed illustrations on this one night only exhibition.
6pm to 10pm
Shoreditch
More London events on Thursday 4th October
Friday 5th October
Unfortunately, there seems to be nothing special happening today. Sorry about that!
More London events on Friday 5th October
Saturday 6th October
£40.00
A day-long festival exploring classical currents in contemporary culture.
All Day
Greenwich
London Archaeologist journal celebrates its 50th anniversary with its first ever conference.
10am to 5:30pm
Southwark
A wondrous old barn now filled with random heritage clutter -- go for the atmosphere than the objects themselves.
10:30am to 4pm
Upminster
Monthly open day at one of London's more curious and delightful museums, devoted to the history of the sewing machine.
2pm to 5pm
Tooting
More London events on Saturday 6th October
Sunday 7th October
Displays and tastings, live music, bee keeping and wood turning demonstrations, a hotly anticipated baking competition, children’s activities.
11am to 3pm
Fulham
A monthly opening of the Victorian museum of industrial testing equipment.
11am to 5pm
Southwark
Step back in history and visit the terminus building of London's original international airport - in Croydon.
11am to 4pm
Croydon
Occasional open days at Capability Brown's Gatton Park landscaped 600 acres.
1pm to 5pm
Reigate
Bring your conkers and take part in the 17th annual Hampstead Heath Conker Championships.
2:30pm to 6:30pm
Kentish Town
£5.00
Hear from the producers of London‘s inaugural Urban Tree Festival and from the Sheffield Street Tree Festival.
2:30pm to 4:30pm
Euston
More London events on Sunday 7th October
Monday 8th October
A panel debate on improving gender equity in the workplace.
8:30am to 10:30am
Southwark
From the East End and Hackney through Soho and the 'Mittel Europe' of NW2 & 6 trace how London's Jewish journey has been portrayed on the page and the big screen.
6:30pm to 7:45pm
Covent Garden
Free
Lab-grown meat promises burgers and foie gras without the side-order of animal suffering and environmental damage. Is fake meat a real solution to these problems?
6:30pm to 8pm
Holborn
More London events on Monday 8th October
Tuesday 9th October
This talk will cover the internment and deportation of refugees to Britain during the Second World War
6:30pm to 8pm
Russell Square
More London events on Tuesday 9th October
Wednesday 10th October
A discussion about Huguenots, Spitalfields, weavers, wives and widows.
5:30pm to 6:30pm
Caroline Taggart talks about her new book Bognor and Other Regises: A potted history of Britain in 100 royal places.
6:30pm to 7:45pm
Covent Garden
Fifty years on from the events of 1968, prominent activists from different generations will examine the significance of student protest then and now.
6:30pm to 8pm
Holborn
On the 100th anniversary of women getting the vote, Helen Pankhurst - great-granddaughter of suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst charts how women’s lives have changed over the last century, offering a powerful and positive argument for the way forward.
6:30pm to 8pm
Richmond
Join Dr. Miranda Kaufmann for a voyage into Black British History aboard The Golden Hinde.
7pm to 9pm
Southwark
Come and hear the tale of Mary Overie and other strange myths and legends of Old Southwark told by candlelight in the Cathedral. Story telling and live music by George Hoyle.
7pm to 8pm
Southwark
More London events on Wednesday 10th October
Thursday 11th October
A tour of Dennis Severs’ House, focusing on the women of 18 Folgate Street.
Starts at 12pm
Whitechapel
An evening of ladies who united to get the BNP out of Tower Hamlets during the 90's.
6:30pm to 8:30pm
Whitechapel
From cracking us up to not cracking things up – spend an evening hearing about the life of Spitting Image co-creator, Roger Law.
6:30pm to 7:30pm
Soho
This illustrated talk will describe the lives and work of two illustrators who were contemporaries of William Heath Robinson.
7pm to 8pm
Pinner
More London events on Thursday 11th October
Friday 12th October
Exit Through the Gift Shop is the groundbreaking film from Banksy, the world's most famous graffiti artist – a global phenomenon with a fiercely guarded anonymity.
Starts at 12am
Russell Square
All-day conference on the legacy of the 1943 plans for the rebuilding of post-war London.
9:45am to 4pm
Clerkenwell
An annual wreath laying ceremony at Edith Cavell’s statue, just off Trafalgar Square.
Starts at 10:30am
Trafalgar Square
£25.00
A rare opportunity to visit the Temperate House after dark and sample drinks from around the world.
6pm to 9:30pm
Richmond
A panel of experts will discuss two kings and their reputations for piety, as well as Edward’s tomb in the context of the Abbey and medieval monuments.
6:30pm to 8:30pm
Richmond
More London events on Friday 12th October
Saturday 13th October
Free
London's lost buildings – from coaching inns and horse markets to riverside mansions and gin palaces – are the focus of a this exhibition.
9:30am to 4:45pm
Clerkenwell
A day of free walking tours led by the official tour guides for four of London’s most fascinating areas.
10am to 4pm
The theme of the symposium is the maintenance and/or restoration of funerary architecture and/or sculpture.
10:30am to 4:30pm
Clerkenwell
Tours of the the only surviving windmill in inner London
1pm to 2pm
Brixton
£11.07
Join George and Vanessa for the story of the ‘Highgate Vampire’ told outside in the gloaming.
Starts at 3pm
£10.30
Enjoy screenings of vintage, cult and blockbuster sci-fi movies in our planetarium, followed by a short talk on the science behind the fiction by a Royal Observatory astronomer.
5:30pm to 7:45pm
Greenwich
£25.00
A rare opportunity to visit the Temperate House after dark and sample drinks from around the world.
6pm to 9:30pm
Richmond
£10.30
A second film screening of the evening at the Royal Observatory.
8:15pm to 10:15pm
Greenwich
More London events on Saturday 13th October
Sunday 14th October
Rob Evans discusses the secret group of police spies and forty years of state espionage monitoring British protest groups.
3pm to 4:30pm
Holborn
More London events on Sunday 14th October
Monday 15th October
This talk examines objects from the Museum’s collection in order to chart a range of striking connections between Stonehenge, other regions of the British Isles, and continental Europe.
Starts at 12am
Russell Square
A lecture on the progress of the Northern line extension project.
Starts at 6pm
Vauxhall Bridge
Free
With apparently two-thirds of Britons suffering from sleep problems, this Forum event promises to be your wake-up call, exploring the science, philosophy and literature of sleep.
6:30pm to 8pm
Holborn
More London events on Monday 15th October
Tuesday 16th October
The story of Joseph Gray weaves intrigue and deception through a career which spanned both world wars.
2pm to 3pm
Richmond
History journalist and photographer Simon Wills reveals the little-known stories about our most well-known trees from his new book.
2pm to 3pm
City of London
A one-night event in celebration of legendary anatomist William Hunter’s 300th birthday.
6pm to 9pm
Camden
Tom Nancollas takes us to some of the most emblematic surviving offshore lighthouses.
6:30pm to 7:45pm
Covent Garden
The rise of online abuse has poisoned political debate and is turning good people away from getting involved with politics. Can anything done about it and is it possible to create a kinder, gentler politics?
6:30pm to 8pm
Whitehall
More London events on Tuesday 16th October
Wednesday 17th October
Join social historian Tessa Boase to hear the intriguing untold story of women, birds, hats – and votes.
1pm to 1:45pm
South Kensington
Explore the idea of Charles Dickens not only as a novelist, but as a Victorian man of science.
2pm to 3:30pm
Clerkenwell
An evening with Alan Hinkes OBE – the first and only Briton to climb all 14 of the world’s highest mountains.
7:30pm to 10:30pm
Southwark
More London events on Wednesday 17th October
Thursday 18th October
Moor Park Mansion is a Grade I listed Palladian mansion set within over 300 hundred acres in Hertfordshire.
Starts at 10am
Rickmansworth
A tour of Dennis Severs’ House, focusing on the women of 18 Folgate Street.
Starts at 12pm
Whitechapel
A talk about Harriet Martineau, a 19th Century radical writer and campaigner.
6pm to 8pm
City of London
Imperial will host a showcase of how innovation and new ideas could help address the major environmental issues we face on both global and local scales.
6pm to 9pm
South Kensington
A panel discussion and talks looking at around how technology can and does add value to the trusted contents published by The Telegraph and Economist.
6pm to 9pm
Sloane Square
Christine was a leading figure in the pioneering trans rights organisation Press for Change, working on new employment legislation and the Gender Recognition Act. She will be selling and signing copies of her new book Trans Britain after the talk.
6:15pm to 7:15pm
Whitechapel
£5.00
Wander amongst botanical-inspired installations and discover the Horniman after hours with a special line-up of music, performances and activities.
6:30pm to 10pm
Forest Hill
Dr Robert Saunders (Queen Mary) talks about his new book which explores Britain’s first national referendum on whether the UK should remain in the European Community.
6:30pm to 8pm
Holborn
Give your views on how we can help Londoners clean up our air.
6:30pm to 7:30pm
South Kensington
More London events on Thursday 18th October
Friday 19th October
Free
A talk about the campaign to allow Women to sit in the House of Lords.
2pm to 3pm
City of London
Free
Engineering Late will return for a night of exploration, extravagance and entertainment finding out how our complex capital works.
6pm to 10pm
Pimlico
An evening of outdoor circus performances along Store Street while the local independent shops and cafes remain open.
6pm to 9:30pm
Euston
Dr Tristram Hunt will discuss how the museum’s founding commitment to design, education and industry continues to define it today.
6pm to 8pm
Euston
£15.00
Discover what it meant to be a woman during this period and how these writers have brought the era to life.
7pm to :
Clerkenwell
More London events on Friday 19th October
Saturday 20th October
Skills of the Huguenots Day celebrates contemporary interpretations of these talents so whatever you are interested in, drop in and participate.
11am to 4pm
Whitechapel
The Gentle Author of Spitalfields Life traces the history of this cultural tradition and explores how it has shaped the identity of the place through the centuries.
Starts at 11am
Whitechapel
A monthly classic car show/meet just behind Waterloo Station.
12pm to 4pm
Southwark
Explore the collection of publications, ephemera and artefacts that form part of the UK Leather Archive at this free ‘drop in’ display.
2pm to 4pm
City of London
A debate about the culture and history of tattooing.
2pm to 3pm
Picadilly
Step into Roman London’s military fort, located under the Museum, and learn about the Roman foundations, their discovery, excavation and preservation.
2pm to 3pm
Barbican
This unique document is in private hands and speaker Kate Wigley from the School of Textiles, offers a rare opportunity to discover more about this previously undiscovered gem.
2pm to 3pm
Whitechapel
A display of Meccano and old cars at the Victorian steam pumping station.
7pm to 8pm
Feltham
More London events on Saturday 20th October
Sunday 21st October
This year's event will be feature a special Leyland display, recallsing the final days of Leyland RTs in service in November 1968.
10am to 5pm
Weybridge
Join the Lee Valley Ranger Team and learn the tips and tricks on how to make hand rolled beeswax candles.
10am to 12pm
Enfield Town
A display of Meccano and old cars at the Victorian steam pumping station.
10:30am to 4pm
Feltham
£5.00
The London Gaming Market is a place to buy retro video-games, board games and merchandise all in one place.
11am to 4pm
Euston
Free
Apple Day celebrations at Borough Market and Southwark Cathedral.
12pm to 4pm
Southwark
Free
Dancing, Music, Games, Apples, Pedlars, Bees, Conkers, and Cider, The Hobby Horse and Story Orchard.
12pm to :
Southwark
An opportunity to get up close and personal with archaeology at Fulham Palace, and learn more about the rich and varied history of this ancient site.
1pm to 3pm
Fulham
Explore the idea of Charles Dickens not only as a novelist, but as a Victorian man of science.
2pm to 3:30pm
Clerkenwell
Explore the life and career of 18th-century actress, singer, feminist author and campaigner Kitty Clive.
3pm to :
Clerkenwell
More London events on Sunday 21st October
Monday 22nd October
Mac Andrade, Major Projects Director at South Western Railway will focus on major projects, including Waterloo station.
5:30pm to 7pm
Vauxhall Bridge
More London events on Monday 22nd October
Tuesday 23rd October
Look out for black boats speeding along the Thames firing guns at each other for a couple of days.
10:10am to 10:20am
A Gun Salute of 41 rounds will be fired from the Tower of London for the State Visit of the King and Queen of the Netherlands.
Starts at 12pm
Tower Hill
Come and hear Dr Emma Spary discuss her research on the often-overlooked role of priests in the history of pharmacy.
6pm to 7:30pm
Camden
Geoffrey Munn OBE MVO will give a talk on funerary jewellery, with exhibits.
7pm to :
North Kensington
More London events on Tuesday 23rd October
Wednesday 24th October
Look out for black boats speeding along the Thames firing guns at each other for a couple of days.
10:50am to 11am
As we approach Halloween, Nick will regale us with tales of his introduction into the business, via fishing the dead out of the sea during the Falklands War, and recount the history of this fascinating topic.
6:30pm to 8:30pm
Barbican
£16.00
The Royal Institution teams up with online news site The Conversation to discuss conspiracy theories.
7pm to 8:30pm
Hanover Square
More London events on Wednesday 24th October
Thursday 25th October
Join a panel of experts to discuss the pressures on local journalism, its role in democracy – and how YOU can be part of the solution.
5pm to 7pm
New Cross
Experience Dickens’s beautiful townhouse as if the author himself had just stepped out the door.
6pm to :
Clerkenwell
This talk by Kirsty Chilton will divulge the secrets of the corpse trade in London in the Georgian Period.
7pm to :
Southwark
More London events on Thursday 25th October
Friday 26th October
Tara Finn explores illegal prostitution and its social ramifications in First World War Britain.
11:30am to :
Chelsea
£5.82
A unique occasion for a chance to view the museum's specimens over the course of an afternoon, particularly if you'd like to draw them, and to see the museum's current art exhibition
1:30pm to 4:30pm
Barbican
Free
An afternoon of talks on the artists and art of the suffrage campaign through items in the Women’s Library collection.
2pm to 6pm
Holborn
Roam around the Museum after hours and discover the role of females in nature and women science.
6pm to 10pm
South Kensington
During World War I, there was vicious and devastating fighting between Japan and Germany in the sea off the coast of Wales.
6pm to 7pm
Camden
Simon Callow has spent a great deal of his life in libraries and this is his hymn to them.
6pm to 7pm
Soho
Drawing on recently declassified records in British and American files, this talk illuminates a long-hidden feature of wartime medicine: the deliberate modification of bodies for the purposes of disguise.
6:30pm to 8:30pm
Pimlico
Join special guest Simon Singh for a drink and a lively discussion on alternative medicine, based around his appropriately-named book Trick or Treatment? Alternative Medicine on Trial.
6:45pm to :
Soho
Grab some shoulder pads, blast out some Duran Duran and get ready for a wicked 1980s themed Friday Late at London Transport Museum in Covent Garden.
6:45pm to 10pm
Covent Garden
Dr Romany Reagan will take us on an exploration of the beginnings of occultism and the gothic imagination in Victorian culture.
7pm to :
Southwark
A chilling performance of The Cabinet Of Dr Caligari.
Starts at 7:30pm
Clerkenwell
More London events on Friday 26th October
Saturday 27th October
A guided walk around the Metroland area.
10:30am to 2pm
Wembley
See amazing working Meccano models of cars, cranes, trains, funfair rides and more! Build your own model and enter the Creative Challenge.
10:30am to 4:30pm
Eltham
£5.00
An exhibition of Acorn / BBC / RISC OS computers and software, with Atoms, BBCs, Electrons, Archimedes, and RiscPCs, plus the new systems like the Raspberry Pi, ARMX6 and Titanium.
11am to 5pm
Hatton
This popular event celebrates African arts and culture, as well as enhancing Black History Month.
12pm to 6pm
Trafalgar Square
An adult pumpkin carving class - part of our About Face seminar season - which includes pumpkin, candle and glass of mulled cider. Learn the reasons why we carve faces into pumpkins at Halloween before diving in yourself
1pm to 5pm
Barbican
Experience what it was like to be an Edwardian school pupil, as Dr Pedley shows what life was like for a school dentist in 1910.
2:30pm to :
Harley Street
A weekend of magic lantern performances from magic lantern performers Jeremy and Carolyn Brooker.
Starts at 7pm
Clerkenwell
More London events on Saturday 27th October
Sunday 28th October
Alongside our more traditional games we will be hosting “Apple-lympics” in our riding arena, with sack races, egg and spoon and wellie wanging.
12pm to 4pm
Kentish Town
A weekend of magic lantern performances from magic lantern performers Jeremy and Carolyn Brooker.
Starts at 7pm
Clerkenwell
More London events on Sunday 28th October
Monday 29th October
Gardener. Curator Gareth Brereton introduces the BP exhibition I am Ashurbanipal: king of the world, king of Assyria.
Starts at 12am
Russell Square
Create your own spooky-faced jack-o-lantern with the assistance of an expert.
4pm to 5pm
New Oxford Street
Westminster Abbey will commemorate the 400th anniversary of the death of Sir Walter Raleigh with a day of events in St Margaret’s Church.
6:30pm to 7:30pm
Pimlico
Designer and former Barbican resident Stefi Orazi celebrates this unique complex in her new book The Barbican Estate.
7pm to 8pm
Soho
More London events on Monday 29th October
Tuesday 30th October
Create your own spooky-faced jack-o-lantern with the assistance of an expert.
4pm to 5pm
New Oxford Street
A talk about the engineering that went into the new polar research ship, The RRS Sir David Attenborough.
6:30pm to 8:30pm
St James
Laura Sedgwick, who co-authored "Gothic Dissections in Film and Literature: The Body in Parts" will take us on a frightening journey through the use of masks, the distorted face and injury in Gothic and Horror films.
6:30pm to 8:30pm
Barbican
Susan Owens, author of The Ghost: A Cultural History will describe some of the huge variety of ways in which Britain's artists and writers have presented ghosts.
6:30pm to :
Greenwich
Hear Sarah Gristwood discuss the relationship between Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West, explored in her recent book Vita and Virginia, followed by a Q&A session.
7pm to 8pm
Richmond
Join leading researchers and policy influencers to discuss whether the Government’s current drug policies are sufficiently based on evidence and fit for purpose, or doing more harm than good.
7pm to 8:30pm
Southwark
£10.00
A screening of a peculiar movie about a computer that becomes sentient then seeks to have a child of its own.
9pm to :
Homerton
More London events on Tuesday 30th October
Wednesday 31st October
Tour the printing workshop, historic rooms, and famous library.
11am to 12:30pm
City of London
Demonstrations, researchers into dark matter ready to answer your questions and an opportunity to have a quick tour of the telescopes we have on site
5pm to 6:30pm
Mill Hill
Free
Explore the mystical objects and potent rituals of our magical past in this free Hallowe’en event.
6pm to 8pm
Euston
Talk by Anthony Grenville on Britain and depictions of the British in texts by Jewish refugees from Nazism
6:30pm to 8pm
Russell Square
£25.00
An evening tour filled with dark stories of death and spooky happenings!
6:30pm to :
Poplar
200 years after the publication of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, discover how the novel has shaped our hopes and dreads around death.
6:30pm to 8pm
Euston
Enjoy a drink and uncover some gruesome animal facts along the way with Halloween-themed specimen labels.
6:30pm to 9pm
Euston
The theme for the October Lates event is the Year of Engineering.
6:45pm to 10pm
South Kensington
This talk will focus on how easy it can be for healthcare practitioners to move from saving lives to doing away with them. The focus will be on Dr Harold Shipman who killed hundreds of his patients over a 28-year period.
7pm to :
Southwark
Delve into the realms of the unknown with producer of the Unexplained podcast Richard Maclean Smith for a night of strange tales and live music.
7pm to 8pm
Soho
Join Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport chief Toto Wolff and a panel of expert speakers to find out about the engineering wizardry that propels some of the fastest humans on the planet.
7:30pm to 8:30pm
South Kensington
Join compere and comedian Steve Cross bringing together some brilliant literary Londoners with a passion for the mysterious and the supernatural.
7:30pm to :
City of London
