The ianVisits guide to March's unusual events, tours, lectures and exhibitions happening around London.
Sunday 1st March
Monthly open day at the museum to London's first international airport - in Croydon.
All Day
Croydon
Monthly opening of the organ collection, with many playing music through the day.
11am to 5pm
Amersham
A monthly opening of the Victorian museum of industrial testing equipment.
11am to 5pm
Southwark
More London events on Sunday 1st March
Monday 2nd March
Author and broadcaster Travis Elborough is joined by cartographer Mary Spence and writer Zoran Nikolic for an evening exploring maps of the most unusual and peculiar corners of the globe.
7pm to 8:30pm
Camden
More London events on Monday 2nd March
Tuesday 3rd March
Join artist Niki Gibbs and firefighters for an in-depth discussion on art and life behind the scenes at the fire station.
6pm to 7:30pm
Clerkenwell
In this lecture Environment Professor Jacqueline McGlade will explain why in relation to UN Sustainable Development Goal 5 is to 'achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls'.
6pm to 7pm
Barbican
This discussion will engage with the instrumentalisation of this memory during the Yeltsin and Putin era.
7pm to 8:30pm
Bloomsbury
Anthropologist Dr Helen Cornish shows how responses to Murray’s work since the turn of the millennium help us consider what counts as history and as Witchcraft.
7:45pm to 9:30pm
Southwark
More London events on Tuesday 3rd March
Wednesday 4th March
This talk will examine why laws are simple and how the combination of simple laws can lead to rich complexity.
1pm to 2pm
Barbican
For London social historians, Derek Morris tells us about life in Whitechapel from 1600 to 1800.
2pm to 3pm
Clerkenwell
A panel explores landmark events in the history of whistleblowing, from early trade unions to the Francis Report.
5pm to 7pm
Harley Street
This talk will provide rigorous evidence on the importance of mental and physical wellness for not only quality of life but also career success and productivity at work.
6pm to 7pm
Barbican
A panel discussion with academics and journalists who will reflect on the US presidential primary results and give their predictions for the general election.
6pm to 7pm
Holborn
Free
Connect with the art, the history and the meaning behind tattoos through the lens of the Armed Forces.
6:30pm to 9:30pm
Chelsea
This evening’s event will investigate the changing role of the political elite in the period of almost a century since Noel Coward produced his one act comedy Hands Across the Sea.
6:30pm to 8:30pm
Holborn
A one-off evening indulging in food histories and memories.
Starts at 7pm
City of London
More London events on Wednesday 4th March
Thursday 5th March
£20.00
Revisit all that you learned about 20th-century British history in school with Cathy Newman’s fresh twist on the stories that place women front and centre, instead of in the footnotes – or even omitted altogether.
7:30pm to 9pm
Richmond
More London events on Thursday 5th March
Friday 6th March
UCL's annual festival of astronomy and particle physics.
tba
Euston
Rodney Atwood outlines the contributions made by Sir Archibald Montgomery-Massingberd and challenges his reputation as a reactionary military leader.
Starts at 11:30am
Chelsea
£18.00
Explore the orchid festival after dark in these evening events taking you into the world of Kew and Indonesia.
Starts at 6:30pm
Richmond
£12.00
Join the writer and producer of BBC’s Call the Midwife for a discussion on the media’s depiction of pregnancy.
Starts at 7pm
Clerkenwell
More London events on Friday 6th March
Saturday 7th March
UCL's annual festival of astronomy and particle physics.
tba
Euston
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 7th March
Sunday 8th March
No events are listed for today. Sorry.
More London events on Sunday 8th March
Monday 9th March
Given the press is often accused of overstepping the mark, invading people’s privacy or publishing material that is harmful to the national interest, where might the limits of press freedom lie?
6:30pm to 8pm
Holborn
More London events on Monday 9th March
Tuesday 10th March
Hear from senior busines leaders from across the City about why creativity and innovation have never been more important for commercial success.
8am to 11am
City of London
A new look at Sir Christopher Wren's radical, unrealised plan for the rebuilding of post-Fire London as a Baroque city of wide avenues, piazzas and waterfront quays.
2:30pm to 4pm
Clerkenwell
A lecture where Bob Spence will reflect on how predictions by 12 respected engineers in 1995 turned out in 2020.
5:30pm to 6:30pm
South Kensington
Join Sir James Hough to discuss gravitational wave detection and how this has led to breakthroughs in astrophysics.
6:30pm to 7:30pm
St James
Panel debate on violence across Africa, Asia and Latin America, the relationship between economic demand, conflict, gender and environmental rights
6:30pm to 7:45pm
St James
Celebrate the work of avant-garde Krautrock kings Kraftwerk with author Uwe Schütte and music journalist David Stubbs
7pm to 8pm
Soho
Are computers truly creative—or are they merely tools to be used by musicians, artists, and writers?
7:30pm to 9pm
Holborn
More London events on Tuesday 10th March
Wednesday 11th March
Free
This lecture will explore how this bloody crisis shaped myths of Japanese cruelty and cults of Catholic sanctity in Europe, while also precipitating the 250-year ‘closing’ of Japan and the intense piety of a small remnant of underground Japanese Christians.
6pm to 7pm
Barbican
Maya Goodfellow will examine the UK’s hostility toward certain groups of immigrants and unpick anti-immigration narratives to argue for a positive understanding of immigration.
6:30pm to 8pm
Holborn
More London events on Wednesday 11th March
Thursday 12th March
A 1 hour talk for social historians and family historians on how civil records developed during the Industrial Revolution's population explosion.
2pm to 3pm
Clerkenwell
£8.14
Why did they agree to make the perilous crossing to a wild and dangerous land, where six out of seven European settlers died within their first few years? And what happened to them in the end?
6pm to 8pm
City of London
If you’ve ever experienced the joys of the London commute, sat in traffic on the M25 or worried about the carbon footprint of a summer get away, you may have wondered what the future of transport might deliver.
6pm to 9pm
South Kensington
A talk exploring the life of one of the greatest Victorian magicians of all time who was able to disguise his own flesh.
6:30pm to 8:30pm
Southwark
Historian, broadcaster and author Greg Jenner discusses his new publication Dead Famous: An Unexpected History of Celebrity.
7pm to 8:30pm
Southwark
£20.00
Monthly architecture tour of the National Theatre, with drinks included.
Starts at 7pm
Southwark
More London events on Thursday 12th March
Friday 13th March
Free
Join historian Rick Stroud as he celebrates the heroines of the Special Operations Executive who fought to free Nazi-occupied Europe.
Starts at 11:30am
Chelsea
This talk focuses on the lives of pioneering women of the early-20th century, looking at how their experiences raise questions about equal opportunity.
2pm to 3:30pm
Richmond
An in panel discussion with Sophie Aldred, Vinay Patel, Simon Guerrier and Samira Ahmed about the famous TV series.
6:30pm to 8:30pm
Soho
More London events on Friday 13th March
Saturday 14th March
No events are listed for today. Sorry.
More London events on Saturday 14th March
Sunday 15th March
An advisory - that for some reason there will be filming along the Thames this morning.
7:30am to 11:30am
Southwark
£10.00
A furniture and interior design show selling objects from the 20th century.
10am to 4pm
Dulwich
£12.00
Wade in a wild river and experience a different perspective of London history and urban wildlife.
11am to 1pm
Deptford
£2.00
The London Gaming Market is a place to buy retro video-games, board games and merchandise all in one place.
Starts at 12pm
Euston
Is there a pill for love? What about an “anti-love drug”, to help us get over an ex?
7pm to 9pm
Holborn
More London events on Sunday 15th March
Monday 16th March
The process of defining, organising and processing the film’s research will be covered, followed by the experience of subsequently writing a book supporting and expanding on the history set out in the film.
6pm to 7pm
Barbican
A talk by Zack Pinsent, who has gained recent fame for his preference for wearing Georgian clothing, all the time.
Starts at 6:30pm
Tottenham Court Road
Richard Norton-Taylor reveals the secrets of his forty-year career as a journalist covering the world of spies and their masters in Whitehall.
7:30pm to 9:30pm
Holborn
More London events on Monday 16th March
Tuesday 17th March
An evening exploring the maps and wayfinding tools we encounter as we move through our daily lives with renowned design historian Mark Ovenden.
7pm to 8:30pm
Camden
A panel of scientists and comedians talk about Hawking’s legacy and what he had to say about some of the biggest questions facing humanity.
7pm to 9pm
Holborn
An evening of discussion and performance with a scholar of ancient Greek literature, a papyrus conservator and theatre makers as they discuss their collaboration around papyri, sharing techniques and images from their upcoming production
7:15pm to 8:30pm
Camden
at enabled this site of seven acres in central London to become, against all the odds, the facility that children enjoy today?
7:30pm to 9pm
Farringdon
More London events on Tuesday 17th March
Wednesday 18th March
£30.00
Spend an evening exploring some of the rarely seen parts of the Old Royal Naval College.
6pm to 8pm
Greenwich
These hitherto unknown royal ‘palaces’ became the nursery of courtly fashion and etiquette where the king and his courtiers developed tastes that were to fundamentally fashion the art and architecture of Restoration England.
6pm to 7pm
Barbican
More London events on Wednesday 18th March
Thursday 19th March
No events are listed for today. Sorry.
More London events on Thursday 19th March
Friday 20th March
No events are listed for today. Sorry.
More London events on Friday 20th March
Saturday 21st March
No events are listed for today. Sorry.
More London events on Saturday 21st March
Sunday 22nd March
No events are listed for today. Sorry.
More London events on Sunday 22nd March
Monday 23rd March
No events are listed for today. Sorry.
More London events on Monday 23rd March
Tuesday 24th March
No events are listed for today. Sorry.
More London events on Tuesday 24th March
Wednesday 25th March
No events are listed for today. Sorry.
More London events on Wednesday 25th March
Thursday 26th March
No events are listed for today. Sorry.
More London events on Thursday 26th March
Friday 27th March
No events are listed for today. Sorry.
More London events on Friday 27th March
Saturday 28th March
No events are listed for today. Sorry.
More London events on Saturday 28th March
Sunday 29th March
No events are listed for today. Sorry.
More London events on Sunday 29th March
Monday 30th March
No events are listed for today. Sorry.
More London events on Monday 30th March
Tuesday 31st March
No events are listed for today. Sorry.
