 Explore your city with visits to places
of interest in or near London. We'll walk a bit as
well, and learn about the history, architecture,
topography and people that make London the
fascinating place it is.
Group Coordinator: Liz Simpson
(click to contact)
|
When
At least one visit a month, on
different days and times, to avoid always clashing
with the same iU3A groups.
|
Where
Visits cover all of Greater London including visits to
historic houses, museums, galleries and churches. |
Members are advised of forthcoming visits by
email and sign up (by responding to the email) for each
visit in advance on a first come, first served basis.
Individual visits may be limited to 10-20 members depending
on the destination. To keep things simple (!) for me, I'll
open booking for each visit about a month before the date
and if numbers are limited I'll let you know.
Please note that many visits require payment
of entrance charges. Some events are free, but many require
a payment for an entry fee or guided tour. When an event is
'pay on the day' please have the correct money with you, in
an envelope with your name on it as this is the best way of
checking who has paid and who has not! If I ask for payment
in advance it should be by cheque made payable to ‘Islington
U3A’ and sent to me, or by electronic payment direct to
iU3A’s account. Email me if you need more information. If
the visit is ticketed, I will ask for a stamped, addressed
envelope from you so I can send you your ticket/s.
Organised
Group Events
All scheduled visits
from March to June 2020 were cancelled because of Covid-19.
We now have a very reduced programme of 'Explorations' (no
more than one a month), arranged with current restrictions
in mind, and these events are notified to group members by
email as and when they are set up.
Other
Events and Places Worth a Visit
'Exploring London' group members also receive emails from
time to time, with sources of information on virtual and
live Explorations which can be booked individually, venues
which are open to visit, and other events and topics of
interest.
Recent Visits
05 October — A 'Bronze Age Mystery'
in th

e London Borough of
Havering was too good to miss and drew a group of Explorers
back to the Museum of London Docklands! We had a fine,
sunny, day to visit an almost deserted Canary Wharf: photos
in the full report
here caught some of the group by an
ice-cream stand and the eerily quiet office buildings, as
well as the Museum display itself. The Museum has an annual
programme of temporary exhibitions and this year's reveals
the extraordinary hoard of more than 450 Bronze Age
artefacts discovered during an excavation in Rainham in
2018. The atmospheric displays covered the excavation, how
bronze objects were made, the theories put forward to
explain the deposition of the objects — and the continuing
schedule of research essential to an archaeological
excavation like this. The exhibition continues until April
2021 so there's plenty of time to visit
www.museumoflondon.org.uk where you
will find information about booking a timed entry slot.
07 August — another step forward for 'Exp

loring
London' as a small group of us went across the Thames to
revisit the Garden Museum, in the church next to Lambeth
Palace. The Museum was one of the first places in London to
reopen this summer so it seemed appropriate that we braved
August temperatures in the 90s, and made it our first visit
to an 'indoor' venue. The Museum itself is always worth a
visit, and the gardens were looking verdant and well-tended,
but the primary reason for going this time was to see the
temporary exhibition about Derek Jarman's house and garden
in Dungeness called 'My garden's boundaries are the horizon'
— and we saw this clever representation of Prospect Cottage
as we went into the exhibition. The report
here has several more photographs —
including socially-distanced Explorers about to go into the
Museum. We met up again outside for refreshments but forgot
to photograph that!
On
05 and 19 July, Derek Harwood led two s

mall
groups of Explorers following the ‘Sculpture in the City’
walking trail of art installations in the City of London.
This group photo shows our socially distanced walkers on 19
July; Julie H and Jill L recorded their responses to the
first Exploration on 05 July in their report
here, which is illustrated with photos
by Jill and Derek.
On
11 March a group of London Explorers met outsi

de
Whitechapel Art Gallery to join guide Rachel Kolsky for an
exploration of East London, themed around 'Whitechapel
Doorways'. Rachel is well-known for her popular walks in
London and thanks to Judith Birch, who made all the
arrangements, we had a private two hour tour with her.
Little did we know that Covid19 would make this the last
'Exploring London' event for the time being; our scheduled
visit to the Mansion House on 20 March was cancelled by the
venue, and along with other iU3A groups, the rest of our
programme has been suspended for the foreseeable future. But
this last event has resulted in an excellent report, with
lots of photos — read it
here
February — and it was time for Exploring

London’s annual visit
to Two Temple Place, to visit the impressive building and
see the 2020 exhibition. Sourcing display items from
regional collections and bringing them to London has been a
raison d’etre for the Two Temple Place exhibitions since the
building opened to the public, with themes ranging from
Cornish artists to John Ruskin, the Jazz Age to Ancient
Egypt. This year the focus is on collectors of textiles:
embroidery, costume, design and textile art — ‘visionary
women’ indeed. Explorer Rachel wrote about one of the
featured collectors in her blog
here. Read Liz’s report on the visit
here.
In
January, ‘Explorers’ headed west to the museum

quarter
‘Albertopolis’ and visited the Science Museum, where a new
permanent gallery ‘Science City 1550-1800’ is giving a new
aspect of London to explore and the temporary exhibition
‘The Art of Innovation’ was coming to the end of its run.
Bob H’s report
here gives a view of the exhibition —
the group are pictured outside — and explains that we took
so much time in it that ‘Science City’ will have to
wait for another visit!
Getting together for tea in January is now
a tradition for the large ‘Exploring London’ Group, with a
dual purpose, as the images show. It’s the chance to talk
together about what we’ve done in the past year and
exchange ideas about our next visits — and eat cake!
December — Thanks to Explorer Norman W’s in

valuable connections
with
Goldsmiths’ Hall, another small group of
Explorers had a chance to join one of the Goldsmiths’
Company’s tours of their hall on Foster Lane in the City.
The Goldsmiths’ company received their first royal charter
in 1327 and the hall is the third hall on the site, which
the company has occupied since 1339. The current building
was designed by Philip Hardwick and was carefully restored
after damage during WW2. The opulent interiors were opened
up for the tour — and some members (though sadly, not
Explorers) had the opportunity to try on company robes.
Margaret V’s photo, taken during the visit, shows the
impressive staircase — dressed for the festive season!
On
29 November we visited the headquarters buildin

g of the
Royal
College of General Practitioners in Euston Square.
Originally built in 1906-8 as the HQ of an insurance
company, it has a faux Greek tiled entrance hall and a foyer
which now includes a café which members of the public can
use! They are hosting the WOWI (What Once Was Imagined)
exhibition with 35 pieces of art scattered throughout the
ground floor. Pharmacopoeia — a collaboration between artist
Susie Freeman and GP Dr Liz Lee — is a unique blend of art
and medicine and, while celebrating advances in treatment,
also questions over-diagnosis and overprescribing. Topics
such as mental health, antimicrobial resistance, chronic
disease and contraception were explored. Our favourites were
Cigarette Dress, Saved Pills, Armour, Sonia, and Cradle to
Grave Pill Dot Diary Banners.
Within walking distance on Euston Road, we were

taken to
the
Elizabeth Garret Anderson Gallery at the Unison
building. The original entrance hall to the hospital has
been restored to the original 1890 appearance and a second
room — the gallery — has a domestic interior. Elizabeth
Garret Anderson, born in 1836 in Whitechapel, went on to
become the first female to gain a medical qualification in
the UK (although she had to learn French and travel to Paris
to gain her degree). She set up the London School of
Medicine for Women where women could be treated by women.
She was also a suffragette and in later life became Mayor of
Aldeburgh. She died in 1917. This exhibition, which we
thoroughly enjoyed, explores all aspects of her life through
photographs, projections, video, sound and words. (Kate
Wark)
On the 07 and 15 of
November, Explorers h


ad further
opportunities to visit the premises of
Hand & Lock
on Margaret Street, W1. This company dates back to 1767 and
specialises in exquisite embroidery for couture garments and
uniforms. A report on the first visits in March are on the
webpage, together with a blog written by fellow-Explorer
Rachel. Two photographs, by Margaret V and Jean P taken in
November, show the Hand & Lock guide Rachel describing
the history of the company and its work, and the view from
the workshop window along the streets north of Oxford
Street, which used to be a thriving centre for the garment
trade.
October — The 9th
was a busy day for
Explorers! In

the
morning the first of two groups visited the Bloomsbury
building of the
London School of Hygiene and Tropical
Medicine, which celebrated the 120th anniversary of
its foundation on 2 October. The photo shows the group
meeting at the Keppel Street entrance, with Victoria Cranna
from the Library and Archives, who led the tour. Brenda H
has written a detailed report of this first visit
here; the visit was repeated on 14
October.
Then in the afternoon a small group of ‘Explorers’ a

nd
members of the Art in London group managed to visit the Hall
of the Worshipful Company of Painter-Stainers, one of the
oldest of the City of London’s Livery Companies. The Hall is
usually only open to the public on Open House Weekend and
can’t accommodate group tours so our group took advantage of
an exhibition of Livery Company members’ work to see inside.
The current hall dates to 1961 and replaces one heavily
damaged in 1941. We could see the Court Room (with original
charters on the walls) and the Great Hall on the first floor
with its fine stained glass windows. Paintings of, and by,
Company members were on every wall, as might be expected.
It’s worth keeping an eye open for future exhibitions, and
the next Open House Weekend to see inside
this
interesting building.
Archive
For a summary view of our visits over all the years, have a
look
here.
For details of our visits in iU3A year 2018/19 look
here.
For details of our visits in iU3A year 2017/2018 look
here.
For details of our visits in iU3A year 2016/2017 have a look
here.
For a summary of visits (January 2016 to October 2016) click
here.
Or if you are interested in reading about our even earlier
visits in 2015 then have a look at our archive
here.