Celebrating London's (Hi)Story

Rachel Holdsworth
By Rachel Holdsworth Last edited 188 months ago

Last Updated 27 February 2009

Celebrating London's (Hi)Story

Tudors_27Feb09.jpg
Expect a whole lot more of this sort of thing / image author's own
Boris Johnson was at Hampton Court this morning to hobnob with a bunch of Tudors and launch the “Story of London”, a month long celebration of the city's past, present and future (or so the GLA tells us) happening in June.

There's going to be a jazz and film weekend, linking with Ronnie Scott's, and the BFI are taking early films of London to local cinemas and community venues. You'll have the choice of joining one of 120 walks or exploring the city's architecture. But you're going to be really, really, happy if you're a bit of a history nerd. And we mean that in the most excited possible way.

This year marks the 500th anniversary of Henry VIII becoming King - not Henry VII as the BBC have it - so there'll be a Tudor river pageant carrying 'Henry' and 'Katherine of Aragon' from the Tower of London to Hampton Court, pretty much 500 hundred years to the day when the newly married couple first entered the city, and Tudor knights will joust at Eltham Palace. Other eras get a look in with a celebration of the Battle of Waterloo at Apsley House and a Victorian country fair at Kenwood House. There's also hardcore history porn on offer - lectures by the likes of Simon Schama, Tristram Hunt, Lisa Jardine and Andrew Roberts discussing subjects ranging from constructing St Paul's, Victorian slums and the Cold War. That's just filthy.

Poems on the Underground are releasing a special book, there's classical music at the Horniman and you might even be lucky enough to see the Museum of London's secret back door that opens onto the old Roman wall. Gah, there's so much stuff happening that you should just go check out the website yourself. Or keep watching this very space, cos we'll bring you the best of the month's events.