Hidden gems in London.

[Onionringo]

Hi,

What are your hidden gems in London? I seem to have found myself with a couple of free days, completely child free, and as I live on the outskirts of London, thought I'd try and explore places I've never been. All suggestions welcome for interesting museums, bars, restaurants for lunch, parks, shops, anything. I've generally stuck to all the well known places and museums, my favourites being the Portrait Gallery and the V&A. That's where I always seem to end up, and I'm determined to stay away from them this time.

Any ideas? What would you do if it were you with these days to fill?

For cookery courses:
Billingsgate cookery school near Canary Wharf
ahead bakery school in Borough market

Yes. OP can you ask MNHQ to move this post? It would such a shame for it to disappear. I'll never remember them all and I plan to work my way through the list.

<a class="break-all" href="//www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brookwood_Cemetery" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Brookwood Cemetery

IIRC there are a couple(?) of medieval streets somewhere within "The City" though I maybe wrong.

Remus
Postman's Park directions. Go to St Paul's tube station.

Once there identify St Martin's Le Grand (it is a street running perpendicular to Cheapside). Tesco Metro and Maplin are on it.

Look for the Museum of London sign on the brick wall ahead which is at the end of St Martin's Le Grand. Walk along St Martin's Le Grand towards the Museum of London sign. If you reach it though you have walked too far!

About 50m before the end of the street/ museum of London signage there is a pedestrian crossing and Church (London City Presbyterian).

Just before the church there is a small gateway with some greenery around it. This is the entrance into Postman's Park.

The plaques for bravery are about 5minutes walk from the entrance. Keep walking straight ahead from the entrance.

My favourite hidden gems in London are:

Fashion & Textiles museum - Missoni is currently on.
Design Museum
Geffrye Museum

I love a wander round the city - there is a sculpture trail round the city at the moment you can download the map from here and access other resources:
www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do/visit-the-city/art-architecture/sculpture-in-the-city/Pages/descriptions-of-artworks.aspx

If you come down to Borough don't miss crossbones garden - a medieval unconsecrated burial ground - it is on the corner of Union Street & Redcross Way.

Kenwood House, Jewish Museum in Camden, Petrie egyptology. Oh and Wellcome Collection.

And definitely the Wallace.

You can go mudlarking on the Thames too - there are organised groups who usually find some interesting bits.

And if you want a really hidden gem, the Hill Gardens and Pergola behind Jack Straws Castle in Hampstead are fabulous

I've done the mud-larking, it's fascinating.

Very strict rules about 'eyes only' (you can't dig, or even scrape away to get at something half-covered - just lift things off the surface; you need an official permit for anything more serious), but there are millions of bits of clay pipe, old china, Tudor/Elizabethan pins (people's clothes were held together with pins), and pieces of red roof tile from the time of the Great Fire. We were told that if it had a small circular nail-hole in the fragment, it was a roof tile.

You can keep all these small un-valuable finds if you want. But anything potentially important has to be reported - and people do find amazing things. The Thames has seen thousands of years of history. It's incredible, really.

The top bit of Hampstead Heath is really lovely and atmospheric with ponds and old trees. (Bit of a cruising hot spot mind) there is an orangerie and pagoda and you can walk across it and look at what used to be an old psychiatric hospital. You could then walk into golders hill park and into Golders Green (which I find fascinating) for some Jewish food.

Sorry just cross posted with lynda and it's pergola not pagoda as I wrote!

Lurker
Thank you so much. Going to London next week, so I am going to copy your instructions down and try to follow them!

Love this thread.

2 London cats that make me happy:
Dr Johnsons cat Hodge outside his house eating oysters
The Heals cat

❤️ This thread.

corn do threads get taken off?!!!!!!! Yikes!!!!

They are not taken off as such, but in Chat they disappear after 30 days. Maybe MN can move it to one of the holiday topics.

There should be a London net' topic for those of us living & working here. Maybe I'll ask HQ to consider it?

Threads in Chat disappear 90 days after they're started.

A few months ago someone started a thread in Site Stuff requesting a London topic. I've just bumped it!

Ok, sorry. But it would be nice to keep this one whatever. A London thread would be good, I live near enough to visit regularly

Add your votes here www.mumsnet.com/Talk/site_stuff/2579538-Can-we-have-separate-board-for-London?pg=1

Thanks for all your replies, and glad that others are finding it interesting and useful too. I certainly now have a long list, more than I can do with my upcoming free time, but keepng for the future.

I agree it'd be a shame for it to disappear. Somebody suggested I request for it to be moved. How do I do that? And where should it go?

The Globe Theatre tour is interesting and afternoon tea there is lovely

The Museum of Methodism is in the basement of the Methodists Hall near Old Street, next to it is John Wesley's house and they do tours of it, you need to meet in the Museum.

Has anyone mentioned Pollock's Toy museum?

The Building Centre off Tottenham Court Road is good, it has free exhibitions, cafe, a massive scale model of London, a book shop and 2 floors of what looks like a trade exhibition of building things, like windows, tiles, taps. It is always quiet there.

In Greenwich, Royal Teas (a bit off the main drag) does lovely breakfasts, cakes etc.

OP - if you report your own post, and ask MNHQ to move the thread to another permanent topic (days out? UK holidays?), they should do it for you.

My DD would LOVE mud larking! Will investigate.