A new daily post, highlighting the best things to do around town today (which aren't fully booked). We welcome additions in the comments.
Events
- MUSEUMS: Raise your glass to the British Museum's new exhibition on the rituals surrounding tea, booze and other liquids, which starts today. Free, just turn up, all day
- FREE FOOD: More tea, as the Royal Albert china company serves up free drinks, macaroons and cakes from a van in Soho Square. You're also encouraged to dress up in quintessentially British garb. Free, just turn up, 11am-5pm
- BOOKS: Soho Literary Festival begins, with talks by Tony Parsons, Prue Leith, John Major and others. Each session is £9, upstairs at the Soho Theatre. Just turn up or prebook, on the hour 2pm-8pm
- UNDERGROUND ODDNESS: Illumini's Dickensian Hauntings exhibition opens at Shoreditch Town Hall. Expect weirdo installations, creepy corners, stilt walkers and a sizeable crowd for tonight's launch party. Free, just turn up, 6pm
- BOOZE: The Singleton Taste Room opens in Portland Place, offering snazzy whisky-tasting sessions. Free, just turn up, 6pm
- HISTORY: Ruth Richardson talks about Charles Dickens' early childhood, growing up next to a workhouse in Fitzrovia, and how it affected his later writing. The event takes place at the Florence Nightingale Museum, whose website seems to be down at the moment, so here's a surrogate link. £10, prebook, 6.30pm
- FILM: The Scoop in More London hosts a screening of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, weather permitting. Free, just turn up, 7.30pm
- MUSIC: Spandau Ballet guitarist and Kray impersonator Gary Kemp joins Pauline Black and Robert Elms at the Bishopsgate Institute for a discussion about 80's pop music. Prebook, 7.30pm
- FOLKLORE: The London Fortean Society chooses a lycanthropic topic, with an evening devoted to the natural history of the European werewolf, at The Bell, Spitalfields. Just turn up, £3, 8pm
- CRAFT: Head along to the Book Club in Shoreditch to make stuff out of loo rolls, cardboard boxes and the like. Come Get Felt Up, as it's called, also offers the chance to win a Dolly Parton album. How can you say no? 8pm
Random Fact Of The Day
This is the archer of East Finchley Station, with neither string nor arrow to his bow. The striking figure points down the Northern Line, marking the start (or end) of the tunnel down to Morden, at one time the longest in the world. Morden station once contained his spent arrow, long since stolen. Sculptor Eric Aumonier is also noted for his art deco panels inside the Daily Express building on Fleet Street, which some readers will have visited on Open House weekend.
Weather
An unimaginative day for the weather, featuring a classic autumn lineup of clouds, light showers and occasional sunshine. Boring. BBC Weather.
Secretly Hidden False Rumour Of The Day
Racing driver Lewis Hamilton is named after the London borough of Lewisham.
