For day ten of my London Advent Calendar we go back to the frigid, wet weather of late May and a visit aboard the equally grey and foreboding HMS Belfast. This stalwart old lady of the Royal Navy saw action throughout World War II and the Korean War. She has been moored near Tower Bridge […]

For day nine of my London Advent Calendar we take a trip under the river through the Greenwich foot tunnel and emerge next to the restored Cutty Sark. After having undergone a recent (and rather controversial) £50m restoration the ship now gleams on the riverside. Beneath it’s bow is one of the largest collections of […]

For day eight of my London Advent Calendar it has to be the most fascinating of many enjoyable museum visits I made in that month – the lovely Cinema Museum at Elephant & Castle. The museum is a treasure trove of cinema architecture, fixtures and fittings and a lot else besides – there are also […]

Day seven of my London Advent Calendar takes us up to the top of the bell tower of Westminster Cathedral, and it’s commanding views over London. The spiritual home of London’s Roman Catholics north of the Thames, this is a remarkable and imposing religious building. It might not have the grandeur of St Paul’s Cathedral […]

It was really difficult to pick a suitable subject for the sixth window of my London Advent Calendar – March was chock full of visits to interesting places. On balance though, leaving out museums the most unusual was Kensington Roof Gardens… Set high above Kensington High St, these ’30s era manicured spaces are breathtaking – […]

For day five of my London Advent Calendar the destination is Vauxhall City Farm, just a few minutes walk from the tube station. Established on part of the site of the old Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens in 1977, the farm squeezes a lot of animals into it’s small plot, including three alpacas! Vauxhall City Farm also […]

For the fourth window to open on my London Advent Calendar we head out along the North Circular to the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Neasden. The largest Hindu temple outside India, it is dedicated to the 19th century Swaminarayan, who devotees believe to be an avatar of the ‘supreme being’. This breathtaking edifice is […]