Chiara Wilkinson Time Out Profile (original) (raw)
Chiara Wilkinson has been with Time Out since June 2021, first as Staff Writer on the London team. These days, she is Deputy UK Editor, looking after features and covering everything from music, culture and nightlife to social issues, lifestyle trends and local community stories.
In 2022, she was named one of the PPA’s 30 Under 30 winners and was shortlisted for Best Features Writer at the 2022 BSME Awards. Chiara has also written for titles including Vice, The Guardian, Vogue, Dazed, i-D and DJ Mag.
The token Scot of the editorial team, Chiara grew up in Edinburgh and is now based in London. She likes clubbing, yoga, going to music festivals, Italian food and The Pub. Follow her on Twitter @ChiaraWilkinson.
Articles (188)
Want a drink? You've come to the right place. This is Time Out’s list of best bars in London, our curated guide to London’s drinking scene, featuring the buzziest booze dens in the capital right now. If it’s on this list, it’s excellent. These are the 50 places we'd recommend to a friend, because we love drinking in them and have done many times over. From classy cocktail joints to delightful dives, hotel bars, speakeasys, bottle shops, rooftops and wine bars, London's got them all. But what makes a truly good bar? Well, our critieria for inclusion on this list is simple; a menu of genius drinks is important, but so is overall vibe – there’s no point having the perfect paloma if you have to drink it in a bar that smells of bins. To make the Top 50 a bar has to be fun, full of lovely folk, be inclusive and also look the part. The latest additions to our list include the new Three Sheets in Soho, Rasputin’s by London Fields, Bar Lina, an Italian aperitivo spot underneath the famous Soho deli, Jumbi hifi bar in Peckham, Oranj's vertitable wine warehouse in Shoreditch, and Helgi's, a suggestively Satanic rock bar in Hackney. Now go forth and booze. RECOMMENDED: Like bars? Then you'll love London's best pubs. Leonie Cooper is Time Out London’s Food and Drink Editor, and she'll have a dirty gin martini if you're buying. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines.
The 12 most underrated city breaks in the UK
When it comes to planning a city break in the UK, a lot of places will probably spring to mind: London, Manchester, Edinburgh. Don’t get me wrong – these are all brilliant cities in their own right, but they shouldn’t always overshadow the other excellent destinations which are slightly more off the beaten path. This country is home to sprawling metropolises, cobbled mediaeval towns, foodie hidden gems and cultural hotspots which double as gateways to stunning countryside. So how do you choose the top spots? To put together this list, we asked our team of editorial staff and expert local travel writers based all over Great Britain to tell us their recommendations for fantastic city breaks. From Scotland to Stoke, here are the best UK city breaks, chosen by us. What is the cheapest UK city break? It’s widely known that London is a pricey place to visit. Edinburgh isn’t much better these days. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a decent hotel room in any large UK city for less than £100 a night, so if you’re looking to save on cash, we’d recommend heading somewhere a bit smaller. Sheffield, our top UK city break, generally offers one-bed Airbnbs and hotel rooms for less than £100. Wells, Stoke and Dundee also offer more affordable accommodation – just bear in mind you’ll probably have to spend a little bit extra to get there, if you’re coming from London. What is the best UK city to get to by train? If you’re travelling from the capital, you’re less than two hours on the train f
The 40 best Halloween songs of all time
Grab your fangs, your bottle of fake blood and your poison of choice: it’s Halloween time. And that means things are about to get seriously spooky, but there’s likely to be some dancing too. And you know what that means: it’s time for our Halloween playlist! There‘s no one size fits all for Halloween tunes. Some of what you’ll find on this list is seriously scary. Some songs were actually written about regular ol’ heartbreak but sound like they were made for a horror movie. Some of them have featured in your favourite spooky Netflix shows. But from The Cramps (of ‘Wednesday’ fame) to Olivia Rodrigo’s ex-boyfriend bleeding her dry, we’ve got a Halloween tune for everyone here. Time to get freaky, people. RECOMMENDED:🎤 The best karaoke songs🕺 The best pop songs💧 The best sad songs🎅 The best Christmas songs
10 hacks to help you find a room to rent in London – from Londoners old and new
I’ve lived in this city for four years and have lived in four different properties in that time. A London baby, I know – but still long enough to have learned a thing or two about the capital’s treacherous rental market. My first London home was a strange-smelling shoebox above an agave bar on Kingsland Road. The second? A recently renovated Victorian townhouse with a garden which a former flatmate snagged for bargain rates during the pandemic (we begrudgingly moved out when the landlord raised rent by a sweet 60 percent). Fast forward through a month at an ex’s and now I’m living in a shared house in a decent area, paying below average rent with an (actually!) nice landlord. Hell, it’s not perfect, but I could be doing a lot worse. The art of finding a good room to rent in the capital is an art you’ll slowly learn to master – often because you won’t have much other choice. Those horror stories about evil landlords, bidding wars, impossible flatmate interviews and viewing queues down the street? Not to scare you, but there’s some truth in them. RECOMMENDED: 23 things you should know before moving to LondonLondoners on their subletting horror storiesInside the murky world of property guardianships There is, of course, the bog-standard advice you shouldn’t overlook when searching for a room: don’t rent somewhere with mould (it probably won’t go away), always do the viewing in person, and don’t take that flat on the other side of the river to your pals (you won’t make the jo
Glastonbury 2025: dates, tickets and potential line-up for the music festival
Glastonbury is the UK’s biggest (and arguably best) music festival. Taking place at Worthy Farm each summer, it boasts more than 100 stages and attracts more than 200,000 music lovers. It’s also notoriously difficult to get tickets for. The 2024 edition saw Dua Lipa, Coldplay and SZA headline the Pyramid Stage, with a load of other epic performances from the likes of Femi Kuti, Confidence Man, Olivia Dean and Jamie XX – as well as some iconic secret sets. How to register for Glastonbury 2025 tickets. You can read our on-the-ground reviews of last year’s event here (and daily reviews below), but if you’d rather look forward to the 2025 festival, stay tuned. It’s been confirmed by the event organisers that the mighty festival will indeed be making a comeback for 2025, and while it’s not shared a huge amount of details just yet, it’s never too early to mark your calendars and start planning your ticket buying strategy (we have tips for that, of course). Here’s everything you need to know about Glastonbury Festival 2025, including dates, ticket sale dates and line-up rumours. RECOMMENDED: ⛺️How to get Glastonbury 2025 tickets⭐️ Glastonbury 2024 Day 1 review: Dua Lipa and LCD Soundsystem fire the festival off to a spectacular start.⭐️⭐️ Glastonbury 2024 Day 2 review: soaring headliners Coldplay wrap up a talent-packed day⭐️⭐️⭐️ Glastonbury 2024 Day 3 review: born entertainers SZA and Shania Twain bring festival to an energetic close When is Glastonbury 2025? Mark your calendars:
37 brilliant beaches in the UK, for sandy bays and stunning views
Money is a little tight these days, meaning we can’t just hop on a plane every time we fancy a bit of sun, sea and sand action. But the good news? We’re in the UK, where there’s an abundance of fabulous beaches for every occasion. Some look as if they’re straight out of the Mediterranean, and some (just some) may even rival the best beaches in the world – but whatever you’re after, you’ve got to know where to look. What are the UK’s most beautiful beaches? Pretty beaches are dotted all over the UK, but you’ll find some absolute beauties in Scotland, Cornwall and Wales, where the water is often clear, beaches are surrounded by tall cliffs and greenery and you might even find sand between your toes. On our list of the UK’s best beaches, we’ve included the prettiest and most serene stretches of coast out there, but we’ve also included those better for vibes, families and big old picnics. They might not be lookers, but they’re perfect for a seaside day out. RECOMMENDED:🏖️ The most amazing hidden beaches in the UK🌊 The best outdoor swimmming pools in the UK🏊 The best wild swimming spots in the UK🌤️ The best places to visit in the UK ⛰️ The most beautiful places in the UK This guide was written by Time Out editors from all over the UK. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. This guide includes affiliate links, which have no influence on our editorial content. F
19 costumes you should consider for Halloween 2024
It’s finally Halloween month. You know what that means? Time to start wracking your brain to come up with the most original costume out of your friend group. Gone are the days of traditional ghoul and ghost get-ups. In 2024, Halloween is a prized opportunity to flex your cultural clout by dressing as the most obscure reference to pop culture you can think of. Last year, we had bed bugs, Barbie and, erm, King Charles III’s fingers. This year? Expect everything from new Roald Dahl characters to deceased footwear. RECOMMENDED: All the best Halloween film screenings in LondonThe best Halloween parties in LondonWhere to go pumpkin picking near London this Halloween We’ve collated a list of everything you should consider dressing up as this year – from the abstract to the glaringly obvious, from the scary to the oh-so-cute. Here are the best Halloween costumes for 2024. Brat brain rot Image: Jamie Inglis for Time Out Messy, sexy and endlessly chaotic, Charli XCX’s slime green album ‘Brat’ was everywhere this summer – even Kamala Harris referenced it in her presidential campaign. ‘That’s so brat,’ ‘they say we’re alike, they say we got the same hair’, ‘bumpin that’, ‘so Julia!’: our brains have been so programmed to think in bratty lyrics and Charli interview sound bites, it’s no wonder our sense of selves have started to eerily decompose. Wear this: Charli XCX merch, a little white strappy top (no bra), BIC lighter, tangiable ditziness. Bloody cavalry horse on the loose Back
Amazing UK treehouses you can actually stay in
These days, treehouses can be more than a few planks of wood in the back garden. They can be luxurious, quirky, with hot tubs and saunas and space for whole families (dogs included). The UK is full of some pretty amazing properties built in unsuspecting woodland, which make for ideal getaways for when you need your dose of mother nature. Sure, cities are great and all – but sometimes it’s nice just to get away and escape to the countryside. Luckily for you, that doesn’t mean pitching a tent and sleeping on the cold, hard ground in the middle of the woods. If you’re trying to focus more on wellbeing, peaceful vibes and reconnecting with Mother Earth, what better way is there than to take a trip to the gorgeous, luscious countryside and nurture your inner child in one of these grown-up treehouses? Whether you’re hoping for a rustic treetop adventure or fancy soaking in a tub on the private decking of your super-luxe cabin on stilts, we have a treehouse for you. Here are some of the best treehouses in the UK that you can book right now.RECOMMENDED:💕 The best romantic weekend getaways in the UK🏞️ The most beautiful national parks in the UK Who makes the cut? While we might not stay in and review every Airbnb featured, we've based our list on our expert knowledge of the destination covered, editorial reviews, user reviews, amenities and in-depth research to find you the best stays. This article includes affiliate links. These links have no influence on our editorial content. F
The best restaurants in Borough
Borough is known for having one of the best food markets in the world, but it's also home to some seriously good restaurants as well as its brilliant market. The new Borough Yards development – just next to this historic, edible wonderland – is where you'll find some of the best spots to have a sit-down feast. If you're off to SE1 and your stomach is rumbling, then consult this list so you can hunt down all our favourite spots for a fabulous feed. RECOMMENDED: The best restaurants in London Bridge. Leonie Cooper is Time Out London’s Food and Drink Editor. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines.
London is absolutely world-class when it comes to museums. Obviously, we’re biased, but with more than 170 of them dotted about the capital – a huge chunk of which are free to visit – we think it’s fair to say that there’s nowhere else in the world that does museums better. Want to explore the history of TfL? We’ve got a museum for that. Rather learn about advertising? We’ve got a museum for that too. History? Check. Science? Check. 1940s cinema memorabilia, grotesque eighteenth-century surgical instruments, or perhaps a wall of 4,000 mouse skeletons? Check, check, check! Being the cultured metropolitans that we are, Time Out’s editors love nothing more than a wholesome afternoon spent gawping at Churchill’s baby rattle or some ancient Egyptian percussion instruments. In my case, the opportunity to live on the doorstep of some of the planet’s most iconic cultural institutions was a big reason why I moved here at the first chance I got, and I’ve racked up countless hours traipsing around display cases and deciphering needlessly verbose wall texts in the eleven years since. From iconic collections, brilliant curation and cutting-edge tech right down to nice loos, adequate signage and a decent place to grab a cuppa; my colleagues and I know exactly what we want from a museum, and we’ve put in a whole lot of time deliberating which of the city’s institutions are worth your time. So here’s our take on the 25 best ones to check out around London, ranging from world-famous cultural
The best new restaurants in London
Every week, a frankly silly amount of brilliant new restaurants, cafés and street food joints arrive in London. Which makes whittling down a shortlist of the best newbies a serious challenge. But here it is. The 20 very best new restaurants in the capital, ranked in order of greatness and deliciousness. All of them have opened in the past 12 months and been visited by our hungry critics. So go forth and take inspo from this list, which features everything from deep fried olives at Sesta in Hackney, hip fish bar Tollington's in Finsbury Park, Oma and Agora's Greek-ish cuisine in Borough Market, hyped Mayfair spot The Dover, the Whitehall wonder that is Kioku, British bistro classiness at Sael in St James’s, fire and fish at Lita in Marylebone and Med sharing dishes at Morchella in Clerkenwell. This list is updated regularly, so check in often to find out what we really rate on the London restaurant scene. Leonie Cooper is Time Out London’s Food and Drink Editor. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. RECOMMENDED: The 50 best restaurants in London. The hottest new openings, the tastiest tips, the spiciest reviews: we’re serving it all on our London restaurants WhatsApp channel. Follow us now to tuck in.
23 things you should know before moving to London
I moved to this city in the deep, dark depths of the pandemic. My first flat was, obviously, awful. The landlord was dodgy (shock). It was full of mould. The shower was next to the kitchen and had no door. Still, though, I look back on those days fondly. One rare sunny afternoon we climbed out of my flatmate’s window to sit on the roof, drinking homemade Bloody Marys and blasting the Bad Boy Chiller Crew from a box speaker into the sticky, polluted air of Kingsland Road. We got quite a few glares from passers-by, but also a fair amount of smiles. Whether you’re moving here for study, work, family, or another reason, your first months in London will be challenging, but you’ll probably look back on them with such fogged-up rose-tinted glasses it will hardly matter anyway. Use this time to meet as many new people as you can and to make mistakes. Be broke, go to M&M world (don’t actually), get lost on the tube. That said, there are some things I wish I’d known before coming here. Hindsight is a blessing, as they say. But we’re not gatekeepers, so we asked Time Out staff to share their top tricks and tips for anyone moving to the capital. Some of these folks have been born and bred here. Others are adopted Londoners, like you might well be one day. Listen up, take note, and good luck.
Listings and reviews (107)
If you’re into clothes, you can’t really get much better than this. Join Vogue and some of the top forces in fashion – like John Galliano, Christopher Kane and Law Roach – for a jam-packed day of talks, materclasses and mingling in the stylish setting of Central Saint Martins. The theme for this year’s event is ‘Power of the Runway’, and will feature a conversation with John Galliano and actor Gwendoline Christie, a chat with Lena Dunham and Christopher Kane and a behind-the-scenes tour of CSM fashion studios. That’s just the start of it: expect more stars, more glam and more surprises. All attendees will receive an exclusive gift bag worth more than £400, as well as access to interactive workshops with London designers and a cocktail reception.
Outlaws: Fashion Renegades of 80s London
A yellow all-in-one jumpsuit, conical spikes protruding out of all angles. A black beret adorned with buttons, chains and keys. Gold leather trousers with an adjoining bag rhino-horning upwards from the crotch. If you were a London club kid in the ’80s, it didn’t matter how impractically you dressed: if something was fabulous, you would wear it. This new exhibition from the Fashion and Textile Museum captures that lust for dressing up via an extensive collection of clothes, jewellery, photographs, magazines and memorabilia which came out of a specific corner of the city at a revolutionary time for fashion. The whole thing revolves around Leigh Bowery, the eccentric performance artist and designer, who arrived in London via Australia at the turn of the decade, and whose squat bedroom – complete with Star Trek wallpaper – we’re welcomed into at first instance. Here, we’re introduced to Bowery’s designs: his bold silhouettes, textural embellishments and playful motifs crop up throughout (be sure to look for the fantastic Kirby grip detailing, using rows and rows of hair clips to create a Chanel-adjacent, DIY tassel effect). You’ll wonder how our wardrobes all got so homogenised and boring. ‘Taboo had a reputation as the wildest club in town’, a newsreader’s voice reads over a pixelated dance floor clip. Taboo, the short-lived nightclub on a corner of Leicester Square, swiftly became a home for Leigh and other noted creatives – like Boy George, John Galliano and Pam Hogg – to
Rose Matafeo: On and On and On
Rose Matafeo is just like the rest of us. She uses her Notes app for just about everything: recipe ideas, drafts of her will, one-liners. She hates Taylor Swift. She struggles to get her head around the brainrot internet vernacular of Gen Z. And it’s this relatability, delivered with such a natural, frantic rhythm, that will have you smiling and nodding along like a bobble-head cat for a full 60 minutes. The Kiwi creator of beloved sitcom ‘Starstruck’ and winner of the 2018 Comedy Award at the Fringe takes an introspective, confessional approach to her latest show. She contemplates her twenties, from the boarding school men she dated to being an introvert in London, she lurches into accents and light self depreciation. She examines her own love life, following all of its tragic characters via being dumped in your thirties and the weird world of online relationship coaches – covering subjects which could endanger coming across as bland or clichéd, but are delivered with such zeal and intelligence that it feels like you’re hearing about them for the first time. It occasionally lurches into rushed moments of chaos which don’t allow space for material to land – and a few comparisons, like those of Harry Potter and Mario Kart, fell a bit flat. But for the most part, Matafeo is truly very funny. The hour takes on an arc, tricking the audience and swiftly, slyly, returning to its core messages. Fierce, clever and unashamedly ordinary, it’s a celebration of being your true, unapolo
What is it? Sneaky Pete’s is a 100-capacity, one-room club (or sweatbox, as you might call it), open every single night on Edinburgh’s main clubbing thoroughfare, the Cowgate. Is it worth visiting? In a phrase, hell yes. Sneaky Pete’s has punched well above its weight over the years to become the finest gig and club venue in the city with an electric atmosphere. The resident club nights bring in some of the finest DJ talent in the country, including Midland, Skream, Jyoty and more. Does it have a cloakroom? No cloakroom, but there’s a little selection of lockers you can pay to use. We’d probably just advise doing things the old fashioned way: coming without your work laptop, and shoving your jacket in a pool of beer in the corner. 📍 Discover the best things to do in Edinburgh
Kaso at One Hundred Shoreditch
The rooftop at cooler-than-cool One Hundred Shoreditch hotel has gone through its fair share of iterations since opening. The most recent is Kaso, although don’t expect any huge conceptual changes: the shiny pink marbled tiles remain, as do the various cacti, night-time DJ sets and, most importantly, the sweeping views across the city skyline. What has changed is the menu: spearheaded by Turkish-born chef Ilknur Celik, it’s a Middle Eastern affair split into specials, hot and cold mezzes and sweets. The plates are reasonably pricey for what they are – and you’re not getting anything boundary-pushing here – but everything looks good and tastes great. What you’re really paying for is that big old view. (This is very much an Insta-worthy venue.) There’s a narrow strip of terrace on one side allowing for small tables, mostly seating people on dates or creative agency business meetings, which are ‘first come, first-get-the-view’. That said, even if you don’t get a terrace table, you’re still perfectly poised to wash down your borek with a nice gaze (or glare) over various Shoreditch tower blocks. Aubergine is scored, charred and charcoaled, with gorgeously soft and golden insides From the menu ‘specials’, we ordered the half aubergine: scored, charred and charcoaled into a blackened shell with gorgeously soft and golden insides, all on a bed of zhoug-y, tahini sauce. The harissa chicken was somewhat sadly slapped next to some limp-looking gem lettuce and mushy tomato – but the
We recognise Henry Rowley from somewhere: ‘I’m a TikToker,’ he says, opening his Fringe hour. With a healthy 1.3m followers on the platform, the 26-year-old gained traction about five years ago for his mocking sketches of posh uni mates (he’s perfected the ‘rah’ girl in the smoking area), and has been popping up on For You Pages ever since. He’s not completely new to live – he came to the Fringe last year with a short WIP as part of a group showcase of TikTok stars, bringing many of those characters from the screen to the stage. But, given this is his first, proper stand-up hour? His confidence is impressive. The show dips in and out of sketches – extended versions of the 30-second skits we might expect to find on his TikTok feed – very loosely framed by reflections on his online fame. There’s some good stuff here: the exaggerated re-enactment of his Tatler interview and the surreal budget airline jab. Some of it felt stale before it had even started: the Steven Bartlett riff felt like we’d seen it before and the generic dating app jokes were also in need of a freshen up. Where Rowley shined was when he leant on what he’s known for. The audience was chuffed to see one of his key posh girls, Minty, from Bristol uni, make a share of appearances (he even revealed he’d answer calls as Minty in his old tech job): the vape sketch and the introduction of the ‘diabetic jazz’ DJ went down well. Granted, performing to a room full of Fringe-going Russell Group grads, this should have b
Watching 'Playfight', you’ll be transported back to adolescence: from opening the envelope on exam results day to competitive playground gossip. You’ll bump into former friends who exist only in memory (or your hometown pub on Christmas Eve) and feel at once grateful and melancholic that you’ve grown up a bit since then. ‘Playfight’ is a three-man drama following a group of friends over the course of 10 years, through their GSCEs to navigating their first sexual experiences and working out what they want to do with their lives. There’s Kiera (played with excellent command by Sophie Cox): the brash, over-the-top and slightly misguided northerner who recounts losing her virginity on a tennis court with close to no filter. There’s Lucy (Lucy Mangan): ditzy, Christian and somewhat secretive. Then, there’s Zainab, played by Nina Cassells: the headstrong, sceptical, intelligent lesbian who realises she has feelings for her friend. The whole thing plays out around ‘tree’, their playground meeting point, represented in Hazel Low’s gorgeous, simple set by a luminous ladder in the middle of the floor. The cast walk, climb and swing around it, as tensions unravel in the circle staging. Certain moments are so heavy, you’ll let out audible gasps. Other times, you’ll be laughing out loud, or sitting awkwardly in your seat as sexual tension feels palpable. As years pass and scenes play out with a great, compelling pace, we see the girls grow in distance – summed up best by the scene where
It’s been seven years since Hannah Gadsby was last at the Edinburgh Fringe, debuting ‘Nanette’ before it exploded on Netflix, cementing the stand-up as a Fringe-changed-your-life household legend. A lot has changed since then: they’ve won an Emmy, published a New York Times best-selling memoir and ‘started sleeping in posh hotels’. Gadsby, in other words, is now living a different life. It’s one of the themes they explore with exhausting self-awareness in ‘Woof!’ – along with all of the anxieties about remaining relatable that lurk under that level of fame. As they hammer home: how on earth will we be able to laugh along to a story about swimming with whales? Spoiler: we aren’t able to. The Aussie stand-up starts the show by telling us it will be about ‘big questions’ and goes on to touch on everything from grief and class to gender, climate anxiety and being neurodiverse. It’s packed with sharp, intelligent writing: it has a clever narrative and is vulnerable and brave. But, as an hour and a bit of comedy, it falls flat. Maybe it’s the over-emphasis on ‘meh’ references to cabbage patch dolls and plastic plants, the cheap poo jokes or the baffling, desperate whale sketches. Perhaps it is trying to do too much at once, or – more likely – the problem is that the show lacks any grittines and actual humour for it to properly resonate. While confident, the delivery is overly casual and the more soul-searching spiels verge on self-indulgent. Clever moments of societal critique, i
Rose Matafeo: On and On and On
Rose Matafeo is just like the rest of us. She uses her Notes app for just about everything: recipe ideas, drafts of her will, one-liners. She hates Taylor Swift. She struggles to get her head around the brainrot internet vernacular of Gen Z. And it’s this relatability, delivered with such a natural, frantic rhythm, that will have you smiling and nodding along like a bobble-head cat for a full 60 minutes. The Kiwi creator of beloved sitcom ‘Starstruck’ and winner of the 2018 Comedy Award at the Fringe takes an introspective, confessional approach to her latest show. She contemplates her twenties, from the boarding school men she dated to being an introvert in London, she lurches into accents and light self depreciation. She examines her own love life, following all of its tragic characters via being dumped in your thirties and the weird world of online relationship coaches – covering subjects which could endanger coming across as bland or clichéd, but are delivered with such zeal and intelligence that it feels like you’re hearing about them for the first time. It occasionally lurches into rushed moments of chaos which don’t allow space for material to land – and a few comparisons, like those of Harry Potter and Mario Kart, fell a bit flat. But for the most part, Matafeo is truly very funny. The hour takes on an arc, tricking the audience and swiftly, slyly, returning to its core messages. Fierce, clever and unashamedly ordinary, it’s a celebration of being your true, unapolo
Bluebell Treehouse, Woodland Park Lodges
You know how you keep saying you want to ‘get away from it all’? Turns out it actually can do you a lot of good. Leaving behind the muggy crowds of Euston, I hopped on a train to Shrewsbury, before taking a half hour taxi past handsome hamlets, countryside pubs and rolling green fields into a secluded woodland near the border of Wales. Here, you’ll find Woodland Park Lodges: a collection of charming, purpose-built treehouses that make for a stunning (and stunningly quiet) getaway. The Bluebell Treehouse sleeps six: there’s a twin, a double and a double master bedroom with an en-suite. Built on stilts amoung the branches and done up to top-tier standards, with beautiful exposed wooden beams and outside ratlan furniture for when the sun makes an appearance, you’ll have everything you need for a chilled weekend away. Soak off in the bubbling hot tub, take a countryside walk to a local pub (I’d recommend The Vault in Ellesmere for a quirky beer garden and cocktails on tap) or cook up a family-style meal in the well-equipped kitchen to eat around the large dining room table. Nearby, you can stroll through country roads to Ellesmere – it takes around 50 minutes down country paths – where you can grab a coffee around the lake at The Mere. There are also plenty of woodland walks directly from the lodges if you fancy something shorter. It feels luxurious but still completely immersed in nature For entertaining, there’s a large, open plan kitchen-diner-living room with a big TV, fire
‘Shrek’ is one of the greatest animated films of the twenty-first century. It has an iconic soundtrack, one-liners which will imprint into your brain and characters ripe enough to sustain a franchise nearing its fifth iteration. ‘Shrek’ has a spirit so strong it has created themed raves and immersive experiences. You’d be forgiven for thinking that anything ‘Shrek’ related would be good. But you’d be wrong. First seen in London way back in 2011 and now returning as part of a UK tour, this adaptation of the 2001 film now feels like a high camp panto gone wrong. The show opens up with baby orge Shrek being waved off into the big bad world, but from there onwards, the first half was in verbatim with the film – though the classic lines – ‘heading the right way for a smacked bottom’ and ‘ogres are like onions’ – fell flat, not least helped by the abysmally butchered Scottish (if you can call it that) accent of Antony Lawrence’s Shrek. Even his roars lacked oomf. The arrival of a cuntified Lord Farquaad, played by James Gillan, who wore gold sequined hot pants and zoomed into his wedding on a scooter, was some welcomed light relief from the chaos – and Cherece Richards, playing the dragon, had vocals which just about made up for the humdrum singing and accompanying soundtrack. The costumes were good and the stage design was fine. For kids, there are plenty of rude burp and fart scenes. And the casting of singer-songwriter Todrick Hall – who pranced around, practically carrying th
First things first, you’d be forgiven for thinking this was in Hackney. The lucent, swish interiors, the window seats overlooking the street, the low-intervention wine list, the highly aesthetic menu. But alas; there are no small plates – there are nibbles, starters, mains and puddings – and no, it’s not in Hackney, it’s in Fitzrovia, darling. July is a nice idea. The majority of the menu takes inspo from the Alsace region of northeastern France, bordering Germany and Switzerland, which sounds fun enough, but seems to translate into dishes which are heavy, stodgy and beige. For starters: a ‘meh’ walnut and onion tart with yoghurt and lovage and a clumpy potato salad decorated with bacon and dill. So far, so uninspiring. The chicken schnitzel for mains was dry, while the spaetzle and munster gratin with (not enough) lemon was limp, insipid, monotonous. The atmosphere was almost as beige as the food: most of the chatter seemed to come from the staff, creating a feeling that the whole restaurant was listening to your conversation. As a spot for a glass of wine and a snack on a sunny afternoon, July has potential Luckily, the wine just about made up for the lacklustre food. We enjoyed a nice sharp, florally bottle of Deux Couleurs Orange – one of the handful of ambers on the drinks list which also boasted an exhaustive array of reds, a few dessert wines as well as twists on cocktail classics (expect nectarine spritz, melon negronis and walnut old fashioneds). As a spot for a
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When is the next train strike? Dates and affected lines for November 2024
Disputes between trade unions and train companies in the UK have now been dragging on for well over two years, with rail workers taking action to protest poor pay and working conditions. But while train strikes are officially over for much of the UK after ASLEF negotiated a pay deal, more strikes have now been called for London. Both the RMT and ASLEF unions are set to walk out in November on the tube to protest a pay deal from London Underground. ASLEF will walk out for two 24-hour periods, while RMT members will walk out over a lengthier period of time. As for nationwide strikes? Following the last bout of ASLEF strikes in May – which saw train drivers at 16 operators across the UK walk out over three days – no further action has been called for British train services. Here’s everything you need to know about upcoming industrial action on the UK’s rail network. RECOMMENDED: All you need to know about the train strikes in London.Heathrow Airport strikes 2024: full list of May and June dates and airlines affected. When are the next train strike dates? The next UK rail transport strikes are on the London Underground, with ASLEF’s walk-outs on November 7 and 12 and the RMT striking from November 1-8. Find out more about the specifics of those strikes here. On a nationwide level, there are no future strikes planned for now. What train lines will be affected? Only the London Underground will be impacted by next month’s strikes. When ASLEF workers go on a nationwide strike
London Christmas lights 2024: All the confirmed switch-on dates so far
Listen, we know it’s only the start of October and we’ve just waved goodbye to summer. We know there’s a good chance you’re rolling your eyes at the thought of Christmas already. But the reality is, as soon as night starts to fall earlier and you feel the first chills of autumn creeping in, it’s a good enough excuse to start planning for the festive season. London looks extremely handsome come Christmas, with gorgeously glittery lights adorning every street corner, walkway and lamp post. The first of the festive lights are usually switched on at the start of November, and more switch-ons for different parts of the city are scheduled throughout the month and into early December – helping to bring a little bit of joy to those long, winter nights. To get in the mood, we’ve compiled a list of all the switch-on dates for London’s most dazzling light displays – and boy, there are a lot of them. From Carnaby Street to Oxford Circus, Kew Gardens to Marylebone, here are the patches of the city due to be aglow throughout the festive period. We’ll be updating this list as and when more are announced, so keep checking back and start planning a fabulously festive evening out. When do the London Christmas lights get turned on? Oxford Street Tuesday, November 5. Find out more here. Old Spitalfields Market Wednesday, November 13. Leadenhall Market Thursday, November 14. Covent Garden Tuesday, November 12. Find out more here. Carnaby Street Thursday, November 7. Find out more here. Re
Inside Taboo, London’s ’80s fashion mecca for radicals and renegades
The eighties: a decade of Thatcherism, Top of the Pops, big shoulder pads and even bigger hair. It was a time when student grants and squat housing enabled unmatched creative freedom in London, and artists from far and wide would travel to the city to make a name and express themselves. ‘Outlaws: Fashion Renegades of ’80s London’ is a new exhibition which opens today at the Fashion and Textile Museum, showcasing the work of more than 30 designers of the era. It spotlights the legendary nightclub, Taboo, and its flamboyant creative community centred around the trailblazing fashion designer and performance artist Leigh Bowery. Theatrical and non-conforming, Bowery was born in Australia and arrived in London in 1980 to swiftly make a name for himself. (Bowery is having a bit of a moment right now: a second exhibition devoted to him opens at the Tate Modern in February.) Items in the exhibition span from custom-made clothes from private collections to photographs taken by Time Out’s former nightlife editor, Dave Swindells, cataloguing the dance floor and showing how style found its way from squat housing and clubs into pop culture and high fashion. ‘It was a really revolutionary time,’ said Boy George, whose jacket is on display. ‘It felt like you had this naïve idea that you could change things just by wearing something.’ Taboo – named because nothing there was ‘too taboo’ to wear, see or do there – barely lasted a year, but its impact was huge. An intimate venue on the corner
When you live somewhere for a long time, change can occur without you realising. It creeps in gently: a new coffee shop there, a demolition here, a pub which closed for lockdown and never opened back up. One day you wake up and you’re living somewhere else entirely. Chris Dorley Brown’s photographs catalogue the shifting urban landscape of London’s East End in a similar vein: quietly, slowly, an invisible force at work. Even his images of tower blocks being blown-up have a calmness to them. Documentary in nature, they capture moments in time which often go unnoticed: a construction worker holding a ‘stop’ sign beside a skeletal building being reduced to rubble, an upended car under a towering road bridge, stands of football fans transfixed as the ball is kicked towards the net, the same stands being gobbled and chewed and spat out by a digger only months later. Photograph: Chris Dorley BrownHackney Wick, 2017 Photograph: Chris Dorley BrownCazenove Road, 1987 The East End of London has undergone a dramatic, rapid transformation in recent years. Parts have flourished while others have shrunk and faded. Empty or squatted warehouses have been torn down to make room for luxury flat developments; construction for the 2012 Olympic Games has opened up connections to the rest of the city; Hackney has turned from a relatively run-down part of London into a self-aware borough of creative directors and sourdough starters. Having lived and worked in the East End for the best part o
London’s newest museum is all about the Chelsea Pensioners – and it opens next week
We’re a bit spoiled for choice when it comes to museums in this city. We have a museum of brands. One dedicated to vaginas. Another all about cinemas. Now, London is about to get yet another museum – this time dedicated to the history of the Chelsea Pensioners, the former members of the British Army living in the Royal Hospital Chelsea. Opening on October 1, the new museum is situated in the recently restored stables block at the western side of the Royal Hospital. The stables, designed by Sir John Soane in the early 19th century, have recently undergone a snazzy £12.2 million refurbishment project and will be packed with artefacts like ‘Dead Man’s Pennies’, the medallions given to the relatives of people killed in WWI. You can also expect a video room with oral histories as well as a model of the Royal Hospital Chelsea, showing how the building has changed over the years. Here are a couple of sneak peeks at what the place looks like. Photograph: © Royal Hospital Chelsea Photograph: © Royal Hospital Chelsea The new museum also has a gift shop (which doubles as the Chelsea Pensioners’ private post office) and a café on site. It will be free to visit six days a week, Tuesdays to Sundays from 9am to 5pm, though booking in advance is recommended. Find out more here. Did you see that a replica 17th century warship has arrived in London? Get the latest and greatest from the Big Smoke – from news and reviews to events and trends. Just follow our Time Out London WhatsApp chan
London stand-up Jamali Maddix has launched his new docu-series with Louis Theroux
‘Sometimes, when you’re dealing with people in telly, everything takes a lot of explanation,’ says Jamali Maddix, the Ilford-born Londoner who made a name for himself on Vice, Taskmaster and the Never Mind the Buzzcocks reboot. ‘It’s hard for them to see your mind’s eye, right? But Louis Theroux has been around for fucking years. There’s a thing where not a lot of explanation needs to be made. He sees it. You can just get right to it.’ Maddix’s new series, Follow The Leader, is a new four-part docu-series on U&Dave made with Theroux’s production company. A similar ilk to Maddix’s nervy face offs on Vice TV’s ‘Hate Thy Neighbor’ 2021 series, the show sees the stand-up travelling across the US and South America to interrogate those on the sidelines of society – from paedophile hunters and ‘passport bros’ to Chicago’s most notorious gangs – with infectious charisma. Photograph: Leonardo Machado / Mindhouse / UKTV ‘You know the mad guy at the pub?’ Maddix says, when asked why he’s so drawn to these outsider extremist groups. ‘I always want to know: why is he mad? What he’s saying is always interesting to me. I’ve always been interested in those things: it’s refreshing to see people with their mask off.’ And when it comes to pubs, Maddix is no stranger. Stay tuned for Jamali Maddix’s Time Out London cover to launch our best pubs list on November 5. Jamali Maddix: Follow The Leader airs on U&Dave at 10pm each Tuesday until October 8, with the box-set available to stream free
An espresso martini festival is coming to the UK this month – and our mouths are watering
Calling all lovers of the caffeinated shaken, not stirred. Of the ‘wake me up and fuck me up’. Of the glorious, soft, sweet, energising goodness we call the espresso martini. Legend has it the iconic cocktail was created in the ’80s by London bartender Dick Bradsell, who also invented the Bramble. A young model – rumoured to be Naomi Campbell or Kate Moss – supposedly walked into Fred’s Club and asked for something to ‘wake me up and fuck me up’. Hence, the espresso martini was born. The silky combo of vodka, fresh espresso, coffee liqueur and sugar has been a favourite drinks order ever since, appearing in bar menus, Instagram stories and bottomless brunches across the world. Now, an espresso martini festival has arrived, which will be taking over bars across the country for ten days straight this month. The festival is run by Mr Black Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur and is taking place from September 19 to 29. It claims it will ‘spotlight one of the UK’s favourite drinks as you’ve never seen them before’, offering the chance to taste different takes on the classic cocktail, and featuring takeovers, pairings and special serves with some of the country’s top bartenders and venues. Obviously, this is a clever bit of a brand marketing from Mr Black. But, any excuse to load up on the espresso martinis, and we’ll take it – right? Check out the participating venues below. Shelter Hall, Brighton Absent Ear, Glasgow August house, Glasgow Daddy Marmalades, Glasgow Devil of Brooklyn, Glas
Smoking could be banned in pub gardens and outdoor restaurants
Pints, ciggies, sun. It’s a scene us Brits are so used to seeing – but one we might need to wave goodbye to, before long. That’s because the UK government is reportedly working on plans to extend the indoor smoking ban to a number of open-air public spaces. According to leaked Whitehall documents, smoking could be banned in pub gardens, outdoor restaurants, outside hospitals and at sports grounds. We know what you’re thinking: that means no more asking around for a lighter in smoking areas. The plans would also ban smoking on pavements next to hospitality venues, as well as outside universities, children’s play areas and small parks. Areas excluded from the planned restrictions include private homes or large open spaces like parks or streets. The finer details of the measures are still unknown – it’s not clear whether the ban would apply to the whole of the UK or England only, for example – but we do know that they’re being proposed as part of the tobacco and vapes bill, which was introduced in parliament earlier this year before the general election was called and would prohibit the sale of tobacco to people born on or after January 2009. Dr Layla McCay, the director of policy at the NHS Confederation, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘I’m obviously in favour of measures that help abolish smoking. It is absolutely the health challenge of our time. It’s the leading cause of preventable illness in the UK, so we are heartened to see that progress is being made and that
One of the UK’s most legendary clubs is now hosting day parties
We love a dance as much as the next person, but it’s true that too many 3am finishers can start to take their toll. It might be part of the reason why so many day parties are popping up over the UK – from Annie Mac’s ‘Before Midnight’ series to London’s legendary Sunday sessions at FOLD. Now, one of Scotland’s smallest (and most beloved) clubs is hopping on the bandwagon. Sneaky Pete’s, the 100-capacity sweatbox on Edinburgh’s main clubbing thoroughfare, has just announced a new series of day parties run by ‘Free Time’. The events will ‘feature legendary touring DJs on weekend evenings with an early curfew’ and have announced shows by Charlie Dark, Machinedrum and House Gospel Choir for the coming weeks, with a closing time of 10pm, five hours earlier than the standard lights-on. The venue said: ‘If you’ve loved Sneaks parties for a long time, but 3am finishes don’t love you back anymore, we have just the thing for you. Our new FREE TIME series of DAY PARTIES feature legendary touring DJs on weekend evenings with an early curfew.’ That basically means you’ll be able to get some serious two-stepping in while also being tucked up in bed with your teeth brushed before the clock strikes twelve. No complaints here. Find out more about the parties here. More from Edinburgh We’re all over Edinburgh, from excellent places to dance the night away to great restaurants, the best bars and delicious brekky spots. Check out our list of the best things to do in the Scottish capital and
How to support communities during the ongoing riots in the UK
Today (August 6) marks seven days of disorder since the Southport stabbings, which saw three young girls killed as well as eight children and two adults injured at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class. A far-right protest followed the day after the tragedy as misinformation was circulated online about the attacker’s identity. Since then, hundreds of arrests have been made as racist and Islamophobic-fuelled violence has spread to other parts of the country. Unrest has broken out in towns and cities including Sunderland, Leeds, Manchester, Nottingham, Hull, Stoke-on-Trent, Liverpool, Belfast, Rotherham and Tamworth. Mosques and hotels housing refugees and asylum seekers have been targeted, police officers have been attacked, shops have been looted and community buildings, including a library and Citizens Advice Bureau, have been torched. As the events continue to unfold, we urge you to stay safe, especially if you feel you’re someone who feels targeted by these attacks. Below, we’re compiling a list of causes you can donate to (if you can) to resist the violence and help rebuild communities across the UK. We’d also suggest emailing your local MP, which you can find here, and urge them to fight against misinformation and far-right violence. Donate to local communities Liverpool: A GoFundMe has been set up to help repair the Spellow Lane Library Hub and food bank, which was torched over the weekend. Belfast: A GoFundMe has been set up for cafés which were targeted. Support chariti
Here’s why everyone is obsessed with this £5 million Victoria Park house
Don’t tell me you’ve not thought about it. Brushing your teeth with your significant other over those twin porcelain sinks. Breaking a sweat on the Peloton while watching old episodes of Peep Show on your shiny new flatscreen TV. Walking your dog in Victoria Park and buying an overpriced Gail’s tomato-and-courgette summer slice without feeling guilty. Stirring a martini at your very own bar and dishing out entreé canapés for your dinner party around that slick kitchen island. Putting your keys in the lock. Taking a shit in the Toto washlet. You’ve thought about it because it is (or it was going to be) your future home. Don’t know what we’re talking about? Why, it’s the £5 million Omaze Victoria Park warehouse conversion, of course. It’s the house of dreams in a location of dreams: Victoria Park village, aka the Notting Hill of Hackney. It’s worth £5 million and the winner is also taking home a sweet £250,000 in cash ‘to make life as comfortable as possible while they work it out’. A former Victorian warehouse with a triple height glass atrium, gym, spa, sauna, jacuzzi and bar, it’s furnished with £160,000 worth of interior design pieces and it has an estimated rental income of £12,000 per month. You can check out what the property looked like before it was done up on Rightmove, here. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Omaze Million Pound House Draw (@omazeuk) In case you’ve been living under a rock, Omaze is an American
Taylor Swift in the UK: Eras Tour timings, setlist and everything you need to know
Hot Swiftie summer is officially underway. After over a year pouring over set lists and constantly refreshing our feeds to hear news about the star, Swifties of Britain are finally getting to experience the Eras Tour live and in person. Her UK run of shows kicked off last week in Edinburgh – Liverpool is up next. On her US leg, we saw the mega star perform through a torrential storm, dive head first into the stage, partake in a short-lived relationship with The 1975 frontman Matty Healy (that then inspired a whole new album), and bring her ex Taylor Lautner out to do a few backflips. We can only hope that the UK leg will be just as exciting and spectacular. So make the friendship bracelets and pick your Era. Here’s everything we know about Taylor’s Eras tour in the UK. RECOMMENDED ERAS TOUR GUIDES🏴 The Eras Tour in EDINBURGH🎤 The Eras Tour in LIVERPOOL🏴 The Eras Tour in CARDIFF👑 The Eras Tour in LONDON When is Taylor Swift coming to the UK as part of her 2024 Eras tour? She’s over in two rounds throughout June and August playing stadiums in Edinburgh, Liverpool, Cardiff and London. The dates are as follows: June 7 2024 – Edinburgh, BT Murrayfield StadiumJune 8 2024 – Edinburgh, BT Murrayfield StadiumJune 9 2024 – Edinburgh, BT Murrayfield Stadium June 13 2024 – Liverpool, Anfield StadiumJune 14 2024 – Liverpool, Anfield StadiumJune 15 2024 – Liverpool, Anfield Stadium June 18 2024 – Cardiff, Principality Stadium June 21 2024 – London, Wembley