Launch Email 8

Heads up on a wine tasting tonight, and 13 other things

September 04, 2020 • Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes

IRL and online cultural experiences to help you make the most of Camden 

> Friday 4 September 2020

Do you feel 2020 just passed a turning point with the schools going back? Or maybe suspect there are still months of space/time mush ahead, including the prospect of a non-Christmas? The next few weeks should reveal all, but here are some brilliant diversions on your doorstep, whatever happens. 

 1. Taste Wine Under the Arches TONIGHT 

In a clever Covid pivot, 

 

The Fields Beneath

is now also going to be a neighbourhood wine bar. They have an intriguing selection of over 20 natural wines, all of which can be tasted at tonight's 

free launch event (

6.30-8.30pm). All they ask is that you BYO glass in the spirit of our sanitised age. Owner Gavin will talk you through the list, which is all vegan, organic or bio-dynamic. Under-the-arches drinks to brighten up local autumn evenings are now a thing.

Please RSVP if you want to attend the tasting so they can manage safe numbers, either by Instagram DM @fieldsbeneath or simply email them

   2. The Jazz Cafe Returns  

Hooray - Parkway's celebrated music venue announced reopening plans this week, with an impressive live line-up 

 from September 19th. The Covid-safe all-seated layout harks back to the original Jazz Cafe when it opened 30-years ago in a former bank. Although the reduced capacity is no long-term solution for today's venue, there's still huge excitement at the return of events including Dele Sosimi's afrobeat nights and emotive R&B songstress Etta Bond. Tickets for the seated dancefloor or the full restaurant on the balcony are available now, and you can feel doubly good about supporting a vital London music institution while having a damn fine night out.

 

 3. Take Out a Book Prescription 

London's iconic floating bookbarge,

Word on the Water

, currently moored canalside near Granary Square, have an ideal

 for lovers of traditional paper-based reading experiences. Take out their Book Prescription in either 'bookworm' (one novel a month) or 'avid reader' (two) varieties, suggest a theme, your recent favourites or just choose pot luck, and carefully selected page-turners will begin arriving at your door, or indeed to those of friends located further afield. There's also an option for a curated box full of 8-10 pre-loved books too, for the even more adventurous reader. 

   4. Sonic Spaces for Camden Kids  

The annual

Open House Weekend

(19-20th) is when the public get to have a rare nose around some of the capital's most beautiful buildings. The 2020 Covid edition has become a mixture of visits, walking and cycling tours and an online programme.

 is a self-guided tour for 13-18-year-olds, that uncovers the area's unique music heritage from punk to britpop, rock stars to funki dreds. There's a playlist to soundtrack the route, which takes a couple of hours to complete. Follow the same link for loads more architectural inspiration and activities, with loads for adults too.

   5. Visit St Pancras-on-Thames  

Exploring the UK's oft-overlooked close-at-hand attractions has become a popular alternative to the quarantine risks of overseas breaks. But did you know you can stumble across a bizarre slice of Camden history at Fawley Hill, near Henley-on-Thames? The uber-eccentric McAlpine family home includes an animal sanctuary, a restored Victorian railway including station and museum, and Ironhenge (pictured above). It was created using pillars removed from St Pancras Station when the undercroft was opened up during the Eurostar restoration. A pagan-style circle was the obvious next-best use for them, and a new lease of life as a quirky wedding venue and home to the occasional grazing camel or llama. Naturally.

  • Regent's Park Road's Greenberry Cafe definitely win some kind of prize for the poshest outdoor seating of the corona-summer. Hoping the sun returns to extend Camden's 'streatery' season, and discussion for doing something similar every year.

  • Did you know that The Brunswick shopping centre has its very own art gallery now? And not only that, but cricket legend Phil Tufnell is currently showcasing his own abstract street-influenced art, a collection based around a sassy character  known as Tuff Cat. Sounds strange, but definitely true - and the art looks great. 

  • The Royal Parks have a free iPhone and Android app available that uses geolocation to teach you all about the trees of Regent's Park. Music for Trees then also plays special compositions inspired by the various species, created by students from the Royal Academy of Music, also based in the Park. It's an audiovisual aboricultural feast for the senses, ideal for tail-end of summer walks.

  • Curzon and Camden Market are teaming up for some live open air cinema this month (16th-30th) at North Yard. They are foregoing the usual tired alfresco crowdpleasers in favour of some of the best indie movies around. Check the listings.

  • The big redevelopment of Gospel Oak's Murphy's Yard site, potentially including 750 new homes and a landscaped new walk between Kentish Town and Hampstead Heath, moves on to the next phase with a public forum on Tuesday. Register in advance to have your say and ask questions. 

  • Kenwood House is now open again for time-slot tickets to visit the house and its art collection, while the cafe terrace makes for a very good socially distanced snack spot for Heath walkers, too.

  • Kings Placecontinue to innovate in the Covid performance space, with possibly the first live show by a symphonic orchestra anywhere in the UK since lockdown, this Monday at the West Handyside Canopy. Playing Beethoven's 7th in A major from memory, the venue's in-house Aurora Orchestra will shun chairs, sheet music and stands to celebrate the joy of live music to a suitably-spaced audience. 

  • The design competition for the creation of 'park in the sky' Camden Highline begins next week. This latest video reveals a few more details about how it will work.

  • Finally, this video from Canal and River Trust, part of the Londonist Canals of London series, is well worth a watch for plenty of background history for fans of the waterside walk along Regent's Canal from the Islington Tunnel to Camden Lock, via King's Cross.

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