The ianVisits guide to May's unusual events, tours, lectures and exhibitions happening around London.
Thursday 18th May
Free
Catharine A MacKinnon argues that the right seemingly minor interventions in the legal realm can have a butterfly effect that generates major social and cultural transformations.
5pm to 6pm
Holborn
Free
The story of the London Rubber Company's marketing of condoms.
6pm to 7pm
Camden
Join Dr Matthew Green to discover how it blossomed into 'a human awful wonder of God' and 'the necropolis of the world' in the 19th century.
6pm to 8pm
City of London
The atmospheric rooms of Benjamin Franklin’s only remaining residence highlighting the original features of this Grade I listed Georgian townhouse in evening light.
6pm to 9pm
Trafalgar Square
Live folk music, tastings from local craft brewery Portobello Brewing and period entertainment through the historic spaces.
6:20pm to 10pm
Fulham
This is the history of how a secret science was developed to read and measure aerial imagery,
Starts at 6:30pm
Picadilly
The Georgian interiors of Charles Dickens home will be open for twilight browsing.
Starts at 6:30pm
Clerkenwell
Wander around the galleries and gardens after hours and enjoy music, curator tours, animation, and performances.
6:30pm to 9:30pm
Forest Hill
Discover the fading remains of advertising painted on walls which remain a ghostly presence in Bankside and over London. Illustrated talk by Sam Roberts
7pm to 8:30pm
Southwark
A drinks reception to celebrate the launch of Jamie Bartlett's new book Radicals.
7pm to 9pm
Bethnal Green
More London events on Thursday 18th May
Friday 19th May
In this lecture, Dr Emma Hanna will explore the will explore the musical sound worlds of the airmen on active service 1914-18.
Starts at 12:30pm
Colindale
The Bank of England Museum will offering a rare opportunity to visit out of regular opening hours.
5:30pm to 9pm
City of London
An evening of events, talks and demonstrations at the National Gallery. Most events are free, some paid/booking.
Starts at 6pm
Trafalgar Square
Talks on the craft of distilling, drinking songs, cocktail masterclasses, lessons on gin pairings and of course, lots of gin to taste
6pm to 10:30pm
Bethnal Green
The atmospheric rooms of Benjamin Franklin’s only remaining residence highlighting the original features of this Grade I listed Georgian townhouse in evening light.
6pm to 9pm
Trafalgar Square
£15.00
Come on a journey to discover some of the most fascinating aspects of the era - from the Profumo affair, to mods and rockers, and the sexual revolution.
6:30pm to 10pm
Richmond
The opening night of the new Prize for Illustration: Sounds of the City exhibition at London Transport Museum.
6:45pm to 10pm
Covent Garden
More London events on Friday 19th May
Saturday 20th May
The Rickmansworth Festival celebrates canals, the community and the environment.
10:30am to 10:30pm
Rickmansworth
A monthly classic car show/meet in central London.
12pm to 4pm
Southwark
More London events on Saturday 20th May
Sunday 21st May
The Rickmansworth Festival celebrates canals, the community and the environment.
10:30am to 5:30pm
Rickmansworth
Dulwich Burial ground open; guided tours on the hour.
1pm to 5pm
Dulwich
The Notting Hill May Fair is known and loved for its traditional village games and stalls, music, Maypole dancing, Fancy Dress competition and Dog Show.
1pm to 5pm
Notting Hill
Open day at the school gardens, with Japanese Garden, Bonsai collection, exotic birds and a maze.
1pm to 5pm
South Croydon
Visit a series of 7 floating barge gardens connected by walkways and bridges.
2pm to 5pm
Southwark
More London events on Sunday 21st May
Monday 22nd May
No events are listed for today. Sorry.
More London events on Monday 22nd May
Tuesday 23rd May
A talk about a plan to map the universe to locate Dark Matter, which is thought to make up three-quarters of the universe but is invisible.
6:30pm to 8pm
St James
This event will invite fresh ideas and blue-sky thinking from London’s built environment professionals, providing a forum for new solutions to our transport and infrastructure needs.
6:30pm to 8:30pm
Euston
Hear some protagonists of the postmodern architecture movement discuss Number One Poultry and other postmodern buildings at risk
7pm to 8:30pm
Regent Street
Join a panel of experts to uncover what Donald Trump really wants – and how he plans to get it.
Starts at 7pm
Holborn
A screening of the cult space alien singing plant film in a botanical venue.
Starts at 7:15pm
Herne Hill
More London events on Tuesday 23rd May
Wednesday 24th May
Find out how VD was prevented and treated during the war - as well as society’s changing attitudes towards disease and sexual practice.
1:30pm to 3:30pm
Richmond
A rare opportunity to visit Lambeth Palace Gardens in the evening.
5:30pm to 8pm
Southwark
This talk will describe the remarkable challenges and opportunities associated with hypersonic flight and space access.
6:30pm to 9:30pm
Tottenham Court Road
£3.00
Photographer Ed Richardson shares an insight into life at Trinity Hospital.
7:30pm to 9pm
Greenwich
More London events on Wednesday 24th May
Thursday 25th May
Moor Park Mansion is a Grade I listed Palladian mansion set within over 300 hundred acres in Hertfordshire.
10am to 12pm
Rickmansworth
An afternoon of talks on how gardens, plant medicines and urban landscape can contribute to the health and wellbeing of patients and communities.
3pm to 7pm
Euston
A historical seminar looking at nursing in the Boer War, the first major British conflict in which nurses in large numbers were deployed.
3:30pm to 7pm
Harley Street
Free
The Beefeaters of the Tower of London and the clergy of All Hallows Church recreate an ancient confrontation and their beating of the bounds.
Starts at 6pm
City of London
£5.90
Death Diary examines the most interesting, bizarre and audacious crimes to blight England’s first city.
6pm to 8pm
City of London
Join the London Forteans for two short talks on the ghosts and legends of Camlet Moat and the Crouch End Spriggan.
7:45pm to 9:30pm
Whitechapel
More London events on Thursday 25th May
Friday 26th May
Join Ceri Buckmaster on a wild food walk around Southwark and discover how to identify seasonal plants and flowers in some unexpected locations,
11am to 2pm
Southwark
This after-hours tour explores the history of the Tower of London through the lens of changing attitudes to gender and sexuality,
Starts at 7pm
Tower Hill
More London events on Friday 26th May
Saturday 27th May
Visit the c.1397 Grade 2 listed ‘threshing’ barn, over 100ft x 40ft in size, with a fine crownpost roof.
Starts at 10:45am
Rickmansworth
Guided tours of the London Transport museum's archive of posters and artwork.
Starts at 11am
Acton
This after-hours tour explores the history of the Tower of London through the lens of changing attitudes to gender and sexuality,
Starts at 7pm
Tower Hill
More London events on Saturday 27th May
Sunday 28th May
£8.00
Occasional open day at the under-restoration Victorian steam pumping station.
10:30am to 4pm
Abbey Wood
More London events on Sunday 28th May
Monday 29th May
Open day at a 3 acre garden with a mile-long path in a Labyrinth.
12pm to 5:30pm
North Weald
More London events on Monday 29th May
Tuesday 30th May
Dickens also suffered with a number of medical conditions which will be discussed in detail during the lecture.
6pm to 7pm
Barbican
Free
Within our apparently secular, globalised, and technology-driven world, we are witnessing a return of apocalyptic thinking.
6:30pm to 8pm
Holborn
£14.00
Join microbiologist B Brett Finlay as he argues that the only way to save children from an over-sanitised world is to let them eat dirt.
7pm to 8:30pm
Hanover Square
More London events on Tuesday 30th May
Wednesday 31st May
Free
Celebrate London’s extraordinary history and heritage with activities at Southbank Centre.
Starts at 12pm
Southwark
An opportunity to hear BBC Radio London and The Robert Elms Show’s resident gardening expert, St John Stephen, talking in person about what he has learnt after a quarter of a century as a gardener in London.
2:30pm to 4pm
Whitechapel
A talk about the social impact of the industrial boom on the lives of the people of Battersea.
6pm to 7pm
Battersea
A forest is full of chatter and trade, if only we could sense it.
Starts at 6pm
The City of London
With introduction by film maker Peter Williams, the film charts the top-level deal under which Unit 731’s research was secretly traded to the USA.
6:30pm to 8pm
Russell Square
Explore nightlife in the capital from the 1920s to the present, through original archive materials and a series of talks in Bishopsgate Institute.
Starts at 7pm
City of London
The first event of the Whitechapel Gallery's London-wide Jonathan Meades retrospective will screen Meades' work on artists, photography and modernity.
Starts at 7pm
Clerkenwell
