The ianVisits guide to November's unusual events, tours, lectures and exhibitions happening around London.
Sunday 1st November
A collection of Fairground Organs on display and performing for the audience.
11am to 5pm
Amersham
A talk about the supposedly cursed mummy brought back to the UK by Thomas Douglas Murray.
Starts at 1pm
The guided tour of the Albert Memorial gives you exclusive access inside the memorial railings,
Starts at 2pm
South Kensington
A talk some of the nineteenth century women’s petitions and stories from the Foundling Hospital archives.
2pm to 4pm
How can you donate your body? How might it be used? Under what circumstances might it be rejected?
Starts at 3:30pm
This will be Jo Brand’s fourth performance on behalf of the charity since its inception in 2004.
Starts at 7:30pm
More London events on Sunday 1st November
Monday 2nd November
£12.00
The printing revolution in 15th-century Europe brought unprecedented quantities of books into the world. It quickly became clear that some selection was necessary if readers were not to drown in a sea of paper. But how to select?
6:15pm to 7:15pm
Camden
There has been talk of robots taking our jobs for ages. But did you know that they already are?
6:45pm to 8:15pm
South Kensington
A discussion and celebration of our animal, bird and plant life.
7:30pm to 9:30pm
More London events on Monday 2nd November
Tuesday 3rd November
This lecture will focus on discussion of the archaeological dig, how this progressed, and the archaeological evidence for the remains being those of Richard.
Starts at 6pm
Barbican
Four speakers, representing a spectrum of views, will explore to what extent relations between Jews and the left have turned sour.
6:30pm to 8pm
Join journalists, historians and psychologists in conversation about capital punishment from the Tower of London’s history to the 21st century.
Starts at 7pm
With the help of a live model, Dr Lishman will explore what Richard III’s body might tell us about how he lived and died.
Starts at 7pm
Free
A celebration of the life and career of horror movie icon Vincent Price hosted by the late actor’s daughter Victoria Price
7pm to 10pm
Bow
Is it true that men are into casual sex but women want commitment? Do men actually prefer thin women? Do women want macho, high-status men?
Starts at 7:30pm
Whitechapel
More London events on Tuesday 3rd November
Wednesday 4th November
Worth seeing for more than just the nude wrestling scene.
All Day
In this talk, Helen R. Jacobus will analyse the mathematical basis of the Aramaic calendars in the Dead Sea Scrolls.
6:30pm to 8pm
Explore the life and gossip of Hervey’s life and writings.
7pm to 11am
More London events on Wednesday 4th November
Thursday 5th November
Cosmonauts curator, Dr Natalia Sidlina will talk about the exhibition and how objects were chosen, or left behind.
Starts at 2pm
A screening of rarely seen 1930s footage of Flinders Petrie, information about the screening of a BBC 1953 TV documentary,
6pm to 8pm
A digitally re-mastered coloured version of the Vincent Price cult classic will be screened. Victoria Price, daughter of the actor, will introduce the film.
Starts at 7pm
Islington
£13.20
Local poet Alison Hill launches her new collection of poems Sisters in Spitfires, which explores the little - known story of Britain's World War 2 female pilots.
Starts at 8pm
Teddington
More London events on Thursday 5th November
Friday 6th November
Barts Pathology Museum makes for a suitably creepy venue for this London exclusive presentation on the life and career of legendary horror film icon Vincent Price, given by his daughter, Victoria Price.
Starts at 6pm
6:30pm to 8pm
Holborn
Animation is a time-consuming business. Perhaps that's why so many animated films are preoccupied with time
Starts at 7pm
Clerkenwell
Wonderful memories of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin & Sammy Davis Junior in a fabulous production that continues to be successful worldwide.
Starts at 7:30pm
Bromley
More London events on Friday 6th November
Saturday 7th November
On this tour Paul Talling, takes you on a walking tour around Hampstead showing you the sources of three of London's best known lost rivers.
Starts at 11am
Hampstead
Can you imagine what the world would be like if The Great Exhibition of 1851 had never finished?
Starts at 11am
Kensington
£5.00
A walking tour of prefabs in Brockley and Nunhead
Starts at 12pm
Brockley
Monthly open day at one of London's more unusual, and delightful museums.
2pm to 5pm
More London events on Saturday 7th November
Sunday 8th November
A talk about origins of the garden city movement—perhaps the most radical idea in town planning of the 20th century.
2pm to 4pm
Stoke Newington
Falling poppies will be projected onto the Elizabeth Tower from dusk on Remembrance Sunday.
Starts at 5pm
More London events on Sunday 8th November
Monday 9th November
Learn about the mechanism of possession in Early Modern Protestantism, the role of sin, the stories of the devil.
Starts at 5:30pm
Southwark
David McKitterick considers how some kinds of books became marked out as being curious in some sense, and as rarities.
6:15pm to 7:15pm
This talk focuses on the hoards discovered in London including the Cheapside Hoard of exquisite Elizabethan jewellery, and the Hackney Hoard buried during WW2.
Starts at 6:30pm
Kensington
This panel will debate the advantages and perils of this changing cultural landscape of state and private support.
6:30pm to 8pm
Holborn
What does Sweden’s concept of feminist foreign policy imply and what can it teach governments and institutions?
6:30pm to 8pm
Holborn
A former UK Home Secretary, and a Nobel Prize winner debate 'who’s looking after the world?'
7:30pm to 9pm
More London events on Monday 9th November
Tuesday 10th November
10am to 5pm
A pioneering discussion of discrimination in rugby, from the grass-roots right through to the international level.
6:30pm to 8pm
Holborn
£10.00
How can the UK become more resilient to the environmental, social, and economic impacts of a changing climate?
7pm to 8:30pm
South Kensington
A talk by Lois Amos on The Garden behind the Wall, the revival of the Georgian Kitchen Garden at Bedford's Park.
Starts at 7:45pm
Annual commemoration and wreath laying at Platform 8 in Victoria Station.
Starts at 8pm
Victoria
More London events on Tuesday 10th November
Wednesday 11th November
Four of the exhibition's curators are staging a special event in UCL's Art Museum to mark Remembrance Day.
1pm to 3pm
The Editor of the London Evening Standard gives a talk on modern journalism.
Starts at 6pm
Soho
What does London reveal of itself at night? And what does it offer to those who choose to loiter in its streets after dark?
Starts at 6:30pm
This talk will explore the use of specialist outdoor laboratories called ‘taphonomy facilities’, for forensic research and criminal investigations.
Starts at 6:30pm
Barbican
Free
If art leads to knowledge, what is its relationship to science and philosophy?
6:30pm to 8pm
Holborn
Volume Two of Charles Moore's acclaimed authorized biography, which he will talk about in this lecture, covers the central, triumphal years of her premiership, from the Falklands to the 1987 election.
6:30pm to 8pm
Holborn
A film screening and a critical debate with the director, producer and writer Annalisa Piras and executive producer Bill Emmott.
6:30pm to 9pm
A talk that explores the life and folly of Britain’s best known fool.
Starts at 7pm
More London events on Wednesday 11th November
Thursday 12th November
Archive Learning Days explore key National Theatre productions and performance genres.
10:30am to 3:30pm
This lecture will be devoted to this little-known landscape of medieval musical experience.
Starts at 1pm
Holborn
Free
At our first-ever Being Human Lab, we want to bring together researchers in the humanities, makers, artists and anyone with an opinion, to explore the pressing issues facing humanity.
1pm to 6pm
Euston
What are the odds that events will conspire to put London under water during the next few years?
Starts at 6pm
Holborn
Covert prohibition performances, underground cabaret acts, artist talks about secret stores as well as a trail through the hidden Horniman.
Starts at 6:30pm
Join Professor Helen Chatterjee MBE as she celebrates these charismatic apes, shares their evolutionary history and investigates our relationship with them.
6:30pm to 9pm
In his lecture, Lionel Barber will discuss the FT’s response to disruption -- identifying the role of media in a changing, global, technology-driven world.
6:30pm to 8pm
Holborn
Free
The second Being Human festival of the humanities kicks off in earnest with an evening of activities in the University of London’s iconic Senate House.
6:30pm to 9pm
Euston
£9.00
Charting the history of black music radio in London during the 1980s.
Starts at 7:30pm
More London events on Thursday 12th November
Friday 13th November
This one day symposium will explore facets of the occult world by bringing together speakers and rarely exhibited materials from both libraries.
12pm to 6pm
Euston
Margaret Murray found an ‘afterlife’ from archaeology as an expert on witchcraft and folklore. But did she identify herself as a witch?
6pm to 9pm
Gus Casely-Hayford chairs a rich series of talks on some of the powerful and successful civilisations that once dominated vast areas of West Africa.
6:30pm to 8pm
Camden
A discussion about the past, present and future of our drive to explore the cosmos.
7:30pm to 9pm
More London events on Friday 13th November
Saturday 14th November
£10.00
These tours have been created to mark the 100th anniversary of the ‘Johnston’ typeface, designed by Edward Johnston in 1916.
tba
The procession starts at 11am but there are events all day and fireworks over the Thames to finish.
All Day
Normally, it costs to go inside St Paul's Cathedral for anything other than to worship -- but on Lord Mayor's Show day, entry is free all day.
8:30am to 3:45pm
A diverse group of local artists will be coming together for our first arts and crafts fair to be held at Strawberry Hill.
Starts at 11am
Twickenham
Annual visit to see behind the scenes at Port of London Authority's Richmond Half Lock
Starts at 12pm
Richmond
To mark the birthday of the Prince of Wales, there will be Gun Salutes in Hyde Park and at the Tower of London.
Starts at 12pm
More London events on Saturday 14th November
Sunday 15th November
£12.10
All Day
Join author Caitlin Davies for an illustrated talk on the history of Thames swimming at Richmond.
Starts at 2pm
Richmond
Free
Dante thanksgiving service exploring Dante and Christianity, including readers from UCL and the Warburg Institute and music for piano and ‘cello.
6:30pm to 7:30pm
More London events on Sunday 15th November
Monday 16th November
In this short introductory session, by Tony Fish and Steve Bell, we provide an overview of the latest digital fabrication tools including 3D printing, laser cutting and CNC milling.
10am to 1pm
Camden
Three of the country’s leading editors talk about what can be done to help more women journalists get to the top.
Starts at 6pm
A showing of the silent film recently restored from a Bologna archive, made over a hundred years ago and inspired by Gustave Doré’s engravings.
6:30pm to 7:30pm
A talk by the curators of, and private visit to, the Scotland Yard's 'black museum' exhibition.
7pm to 6pm
£26.65
Having performed to over a million fans since they formed over a decade ago, Rumours of Fleetwood Mac returns to the UK.
Starts at 7:30pm
Wimbledon
More London events on Monday 16th November
Tuesday 17th November
Free
The talk will attempt to juxtapose the male body of the terrorist and gay man in order to discuss transgressions of masculinities.
1pm to 2pm
Euston
Is it possible to use knowledge of bubbles to examine something as large as the global ocean?
1:15pm to 1:55pm
In this panel, four ‘digital humanists’ will introduce their work and explain how research in the digital humanities is affecting everything from how we engage with culture in museums, to how we navigate the cities around us.
6pm to 7:15pm
Euston
The Orwell Lecture 2015, entitled War, Words and Reason: Orwell and Thomas Merton on the Crises of Language will be given by Rowan Williams, Baron Williams of Oystermouth.
6pm to 8pm
This event will discuss immigration and asylum policies in Britain in the context of Britain’s place in Europe.
6:30pm to 8pm
Holborn
10 years of 24 hour drinking - a debate, not a piss up celebration.
Starts at 6:30pm
More London events on Tuesday 17th November
Wednesday 18th November
This lecture looks at the architectural patronage of the City's Lord Mayors from earliest time to the present.
Starts at 6pm
Barbican
Dr Afua Cooper will be sharing her research on African-Canadian history, with particular reference to the role of Afro-Canadians in the era of slavery and emancipation in the 18th and 19th century.
6pm to 7:30pm
Kathryn Harkup's talk investigates the poison (or poisons) used by the murderer in several classic Agatha Christie mysteries.
Starts at 6:30pm
Barbican
6:30pm to 8pm
Holborn
The British-Iranian architect will discuss the role of architecture in the 21st Century city.
Starts at 6:45pm
A talk about the scientist’s life and work.
Starts at 7pm
A taste of how earlier generations entertained themselves at home in the 17th century.
Starts at 7pm
Bethnal Green
Veteran peace campaigner Bruce Kent, former chair of CND will be talking about people who have had the courage to say “no” to war.
7:30pm to 9pm
Islington
Noel Fielding (The Mighty Boosh, Never Mind The Buzzcocks, Luxury Comedy) is embarking on his first live tour in five years.
Starts at 8pm
Bromley
More London events on Wednesday 18th November
Thursday 19th November
Just how radical has the LSE ever been? Has it ever been a hot bed of revolution as critics have claimed? And how true is it of the LSE today?
1am to 1am
Holborn
Free
This talk looks at how we have learned to survive in space and the challenges remaining for us to truly live in space.
Starts at 2pm
£8.00
The story of women & death is not a new one but with the 'death positive' movement upon us it is certainly the perfect time to explore it.
6pm to 8pm
Free
Come and explore the ‘sounds that move us’ in this special evening blending multisensory science and philosophy with talks by musicians and researchers,
6pm to 8pm
Euston
A public audience will be given an insight into lawyerly life and duties and an opportunity to engage with barristers, and the scholars who study them.
6pm to 8pm
City of London
A talk about the significance of Georgian buildings in Jamaica’s recent history, as you enjoy some rum punch and Jamaican patties.
6:30pm to 8pm
Picadilly
This play on the dubious practices of property developers was written by Michael Palin, and has rarely been seen since 1988.
Starts at 6:30pm
A talk about the men who supplied the dissecting rooms of London from the graves of the city, and the tricks of the their trade.
Starts at 7pm
Noel Fielding (The Mighty Boosh, Never Mind The Buzzcocks, Luxury Comedy) is embarking on his first live tour in five years.
Starts at 7:30pm
Wimbledon
£7.50
Henry Marsh, one of the country’s top neurosurgeons, reveals what it is to play god in the face of the life-and-death situations he encounters daily
Starts at 7:30pm
Richmond
Join Colin O'Brien for a look back through a magnificent collection of photographs.
Starts at 7:30pm
More London events on Thursday 19th November
Friday 20th November
A walking tour around Charterhouse Square, then inside the Cancer Institute's research labs.
2:15pm to 4:30pm
Clerkenwell
6:30pm to 8pm
Camden
£12.00
A talk about light, its transformative and unifying qualities, and what fascinates and fuels scientists and artists to experiment with it.
7pm to 8:30pm
7:30pm to 11pm
Camden
More London events on Friday 20th November
Saturday 21st November
Join Royal Society University Research Fellow Lucie Green to walk and talk about the activity and atmosphere of our nearest star, the Sun.
7:15am to 8:45am
This Wikipedia edit-a-thon allows those taking part to edit Wikipedia articles using Victoria County History (VCH) and British History Online (BHO) materials to enhance local history articles.
10am to 4pm
Euston
£12.00
A panel of artists, scientists and architects examine our contemporary urban experiences of light.
2pm to 4pm
More London events on Saturday 21st November
Sunday 22nd November
No events are listed for today. Sorry.
More London events on Sunday 22nd November
Monday 23rd November
A talk about the great encyclopaedia commissioned by the Yongle emperor in 1402, which at 11,000 volumes, has always been too big to print.
6:45pm to 8:15pm
Camden
More London events on Monday 23rd November
Tuesday 24th November
Free
This is the story of brilliant physical intuition leading to deep insights of the Universe in which we live.
Starts at 6pm
Barbican
£5.50
The cabaret-style night where London's top museum talent divulges the gossip, intrigue and excitement of museum life.
Starts at 7pm
Clerkenwell
An opportunity to hear Philip Franses give a short introductory talk on his new book Time, Light and the Dice of Creation.
7pm to 8:30pm
Bloomsbury
Julian Dobson takes a look at some of the pressures and tensions facing London markets.
Starts at 7:30pm
More London events on Tuesday 24th November
Wednesday 25th November
This lecture attempts to look at some of the array of Art inspired, at least in part, by Medicine and Surgery.
6pm to 8pm
This talk will look at the history of Battersea Town Hall and explore the wider significance of civic spaces
6pm to 7pm
Battersea
Vistors will be able to surround themselves in what the Victorian writer called ‘a ruddy, homely… glow’
Starts at 6:20pm
The Greenwich Historical Society presents an illustrated reminiscence by Julian Watson.
6:30pm to 9pm
This talk will showcase the surprising world of Victorian Sex Education.
Starts at 6:30pm
Barbican
An in conversation event with Baroness Thatcher's authorised biographer Charles Moore.
6:30pm to 9pm
Could this form of investment and speculation in cities and buildings be causing de-urbanisation?
6:30pm to 8pm
Holborn
Free
In this talk Dr. Hammond will provide an insight in what it is like to work in one of the world's most inhospitable deserts,
6:30pm to 8pm
Euston
Free
Take in a zombie invasion, the Enigma machine, fine art and the planets at this month’s maths-themed Science Museum Lates.
Starts at 6:45pm
Join this talk as we explore the determination of this intriguing character despite a backdrop of war and personal turmoil.
Starts at 7pm
More London events on Wednesday 25th November
Thursday 26th November
Eminent historian Professor Louis will examine Britain’s role inthe creation of the UAE and the origins of the contemporary Persian Gulf.
1am to 8pm
Holborn
Join Egyptologist John J Johnston, as he celebrates this most Egyptological of the Doctor’s adventures
6pm to 8:30pm
Professor Roger Luckhurst, Birkbeck, University of London, explores literary and cultural representations of mixed blood.
Starts at 6:30pm
This panel event showcases findings from a new edited collection on police stop and search. The implications will be discussed by a range of experts.
6:30pm to 8pm
Holborn
Does the ICC’s poor record in prosecuting sexual and gender-based crimes risk its ongoing legitimacy?
6:30pm to 8pm
Holborn
Jenny Woolf, author of the biography The Mystery Of Lewis Carroll, delves into this tangled web of Victorian creepiness,
Starts at 7:45pm
Whitechapel
More London events on Thursday 26th November
Friday 27th November
A gin and beer themed walk around Clerkenwell with a Clerkenwell and Islington Guide.
2pm to 4:30pm
Clerkenwell
See some of the famous etched glass from Pesci’s fish and chip shop, as well as other wonderful objects from the ‘Borough’s Attic!’
4pm to 6pm
Becontree Heath
In this talk Acting Director Helen Dorey will explore the Soane as a shrine in which death and memory are woven together.
6pm to 7pm
More London events on Friday 27th November
Saturday 28th November
Thomas Pakenham and artist and researcher Dr Anne Anderson will talk about London's elm tree heritage, and the wider importance of trees.
2pm to 3pm
More London events on Saturday 28th November
Sunday 29th November
Talk and discussion led by John Iles and Neil Sinden.
11am to 1pm
A note that a steam train will pass through West London and can be watched from the sidelines.
Starts at 11am
With a huge variety of gift ideas from over 150 stalls, the annual Christmas Fair at the College has become a regular one-stop Christmas shopping day.
11:30am to 4pm
Dulwich
Guided tours of the 1930s modernist town hall, currently being converted into an arts centre.
Starts at 2pm
Hornsey
More London events on Sunday 29th November
Monday 30th November
Launch of a report into the impact of HS2 on the Euston area.
6pm to 8:30pm
Ian Deary will describe an amazing longitudinal research project, the Disconnected Mind, which is helping to find the answers.
6:30pm to 8pm
Camden
In an era when machines can out-perform human beings at most tasks, we will neither need nor want doctors, accountants, consultants, and many other professions, to work as they did in the 20th century.
6:30pm to 8pm
Holborn
£9.00
Celebration and discussion of London and it’s drinking history and culture; from the taverns to the gin craze, to craft brewing and beyond.
7pm to 9pm
£23.50
With the help of Monkey and a bag of tricks, truly anything can happen in this unmissable improvised adventure of hilarious witchery.
Starts at 7:30pm
Soho
