Rudy Bay
A better way to notice London |
London gives you more choices than anyone could possibly keep up with. London Favourites exists to make that abundance feel useful rather than exhausting.
Each week we choose a small number of places, people, ideas and experiences that genuinely earn your attention — then add a few things that make the city easier, more surprising or simply more fun to know.
This week: an Islington café where the seasons write the menu, 1.25 million fungi hidden at Kew, the quiet reinvention of London’s Royal Parks, two founders changing period care, and an art fair trying to put artists back at the centre.
And because a good London week needs more than five stories: there is a polar bear question, your seven-day forecast, a river beneath Fleet Street, a free weekend escape hatch and one number that makes the city a little easier to navigate.
Open curious. Leave knowing something worth passing on. |
Trivia Question❓Which famous London landmark once kept a polar bear that was allowed to swim in the Thames to catch fish? Answer at the bottom of the newsletter |
Your 7-day London forecast |
Make the most of it: Monday and Tuesday are the warmest, brightest bets. For the weekend, Saturday currently looks the better outdoor window — a good excuse to pair a Royal Parks walk with our story below on how those landscapes are quietly adapting to a changing climate. Met Office forecast checked early Monday 5 October. London reserves the right to change its mind. |
Five things worth your time this week |
Clementine is the new 20-cover Islington café from Anna Higham, founder of Quince Bakery, bringing its seasonal British approach into a sit-down space for breakfast, elevenses and lunch.
Think porridge, tattie scones, Scotch pancakes, toasties, pies and excellent coffee — in a space shaped by Shaker and Arts and Crafts influences.
Thoughtful without being worthy, distinctive without being exclusive — and easy to imagine becoming a neighbourhood favourite. Read More... |
For the first time, Kew’s Fungarium is opening its doors to the public through limited behind-the-scenes tours.
Its collection of more than 1.25 million dried fungal specimens supports research into new species, climate change, plant relationships and medicine.
It is a wonderfully unexpected side of one of London’s best-known gardens — especially if your idea of a good day out includes learning something you had no idea you wanted to know. Read More... |
The Royal Parks has launched a five-year horticultural vision to prepare London’s eight Royal Parks for hotter summers, wetter winters and more extreme weather.
The plan includes more diverse planting, more careful use of water and resources, support for wildlife and protection of the parks’ historic character.
The interesting part is how quietly this change may appear: a different border or planting scheme can be part of a much larger adaptation strategy. Read More... |
Here We Flo began with friends Tara Chandra and Susan Allen talking in an LSE bathroom about the lack of organic period products.
Since launching in 2017, the company has grown into a £10.6 million brand spanning period care, sensitive bladder products and sexual wellness.
What makes it interesting is the combination of irreverent branding, commercial scale and a social mission built into the business model. Read More... |
Fair Play Art Fair launches at One Marylebone from 15 to 18 October with around 70 independent artists selected for their work rather than their ability to pay for exhibition space.
Visitors can meet artists and buy directly from them, alongside live performance, music, food, drink and late-night programming.
For anyone interested in contemporary art but less interested in the ceremony around it, this feels like a promising addition to Frieze Week. Read More... |
London, did you know? There’s a river beneath Fleet Street |
Walk down Fleet Street and you are crossing one of London’s largest rivers — you just can’t see it.
The River Fleet runs from Hampstead and Highgate towards Blackfriars. It helped sustain Roman and medieval London, carrying trade and supplying water for food, drinking and bathing.
Then London did what London sometimes does: overwhelmed it. By the Middle Ages the Fleet had become so foul that monks complained to the king about its smell. But even this filthy river had a glamorous chapter — upstream wells became fashionable spas, visited for their supposedly healing waters.
Next time you pass Fleet Street, imagine the city still flowing underneath you. |
No Bayeux Tapestry ticket? Go anyway. |
Tickets to see the Bayeux Tapestry at the British Museum disappeared in record time. But here is the useful bit: you can still join the celebration for free.
On 10–11 October, 11am–4pm, the museum’s Big Bayeux Bash fills the weekend with free workshops, medieval embroidery, collaborative textile-making, drop-in history sessions and — gloriously — a medieval-themed pub quiz.
It is pitched as family-friendly, but grown-ups who like history without ceremony should find plenty to enjoy too.
London Favourites verdict: a sold-out cultural event with a genuinely worthwhile free side door. That is exactly the sort of thing we want to tell you about. |
The London number — 95 |
95 Tube stations are now step-free.
That is more than a third of the Underground network, following recent accessibility upgrades. All Elizabeth line, DLR and tram stops are step-free too, while TfL says around 94% of London’s 19,000 bus stops are accessible.
Why we like this number: it is not trivia for trivia’s sake. It quietly changes which parts of London are easier to enjoy — for wheelchair users, parents with buggies, travellers with luggage, and anyone whose knees have started negotiating terms.
Sometimes a better London arrives one lift at a time. |
💡 Answer to Trivia Question: The Tower of London. In 1252 Henry III was given a white bear — almost certainly a polar bear — by the King of Norway. It was kept on a stout cord and allowed into the Thames to swim and hunt for fish. |
What should we know about next? |
The best London recommendations still travel person to person.
If there is a place, person, idea, independent business, exhibition, neighbourhood secret or quietly brilliant experience you think deserves to be better known, reply and tell me.
It does not need to be new. It just needs to be worth knowing.
Until next week, |