The UCL Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment has brought together some 60 exhibits in four sections, Ecologies, Habitations, Mappings and Reclamations, all based on work carried out at UCL. So it’s a bit of a show off about their work, but it does prompt some thinking about how the urban world around us has evolved over time.

Although open to the public, the exhibition has the feel of being aimed at students working in the building, with many of the captions written by someone who has ingested a copy of Roget’s Thesaurus. That said, the exhibition is quite wide-ranging, so it’s likely most people will find something of interest.

A rather impressive cork map of central London is quite a delight to look at, if used as just a placemat for the research message on top. Nearby are some early UCL publications looking at disability access issues for houses, and also how research into the layout of blocks of flats has improved airflow for the people living in them.

One display looks at how studies of the popular brick types used around London can inform retrofitted insulation that works for the houses in those areas. It turns out that not all bricks are the same.

The exhibition also examines how modern materials science can create building surfaces that actively clean the atmosphere. And even after reading the label, I still have no idea what the hooded woven top with lots of arms and hands was for.

It’s an OK exhibition, worth sticking a nose in if in the area, and as it’s just around the corner from the Wellcome Collection, you probably will be nearby at some point.

The exhibition, London Intersections, is at The Bartlett School of Architecture on Gordon Street until 15th May 2026. It’s free to visit and open daily Monday to Wednesday, 9am – 5pm, Thursday and Friday, 9am – 8pm and Saturday and Sunday, 10am – 6pm.

Details here.

There are arguably two Dick Whittingtons, the real man, rich, successful and generous, and the pantomime character, fun, joyful and keen on cats.

The stone is for the Panto character.

Sitting next to a busy road, the stone is claimed to be the spot where the pantomime Whittington heard the bells of London calling him back to seek his fortune.

It also has a rather long and confusing history – possibly originating with a leper’s hospital, possibly stolen, possibly replaced with the original or maybe not, possibly left inside an old pub, and might be either 150 or 200 years old. Oh, and the cat on the top was only added in May 1964.

But much like the panto myth, the facts don’t really matter – this is the ancient Whittington Stone, and who cares what boring historians with their tedious so-called facts say.

However, sitting next to a busy road, it’s been suffering a bit from dirt and pollution, so a project by the Heritage of London Trust and Islington Council, supported by the Englefield Charitable Trust, has arranged its restoration.

The old railings had corroded and had to be replaced, while the incised lettering on the stone has been recut and painted to make it stand out.

The stone itself has also been cleaned to remove the old grime. The restoration was carried out by SSH Conservation, and an interpretation plaque will be added on the nearby wall shortly.

One upside of modern car emissions standards is that the stone didn’t seem to get much dirtier between 2015 and 2025, and now that it’s been cleaned, it should stay so for much longer as well.

You can find the Whittington Stone on Highgate Hill, a few minutes walk from Archway tube station — follow the signs for the hospital.

And, sad to say, the announcement will probably be met with a collective shrug, as it was always rather awkward to explain quite what it was trying to achieve.

Although the exhibitions were always free, they struggled frankly. Not quite arty enough to be an art gallery, but not enough science to appeal to that audience either.

Some worked, but few.

But at least they tried. Too many people are quick to criticise things that don’t work as things that shouldn’t have been done, but how do you know if it will work unless you try? I’d rather a world of a hundred interesting failures than one where hardly anything happens for fear of being criticised for making a mistake.

All current Science Gallery London programming will continue through to the end of the 2025–26 academic year, concluding with The Art of Care: Through the Eyes of Tomorrow’s Doctors, which opens to the public on 22nd June 2026.

The Science Gallery London opened in late 2018, replacing the McDonald’s next to London Bridge station, as an outpost of King’s College with a ground-floor cafe and an upper-floor exhibition space.

Although usually called the London Cable Car inside train diagram maps, the change appeared on the TfL website yesterday when all the IFS branding was removed from the cable car pages. It remains branded as IFS Cloud on the tube maps until those are next updated.

IFS Cloud took over sponsorship of the cable car in 2022, initially for 2 years, with the option to extend for up to 8 years. They renewed the contract in 2024, but decided to end it on 18th March 2026

Transport for London (TfL) also confirmed that it doesn’t expect to seek a replacement sponsor, as they’re focusing on revamping the cable car as a travel experience. Earlier this year, TfL started looking for a partner to refresh the cable car as a predominantly leisure-focused destination. The changes could include improvements to the overall customer journey and a potential transformation of the South Terminal into a more immersive, experience‑led environment.

In a statement, Danny Price, Director of Sponsored Services and Regulatory Compliance, said:  “Since opening in 2012, London’s Cable Car has become one of the capital’s most popular visitor attractions, welcoming around 1.5 million customers each year.

“As both the Cable Car and the sponsorship market have evolved, so has our approach. Rather than entering into a new contract with a named sponsor, we will now focus on a number of short-term creative partnerships that help us celebrate the seasons, major events and cultural moments in the capital.

“This commercial decision is aligned with increased demand from brands to run shorter, more flexible, experience-based activations, and operating without a named sponsor will mean that the London Cable Car is a more attractive proposition for these partnership activities. We have a number of exciting plans in development for the London Cable Car, which will help ensure it remains one of the best things to do in London.”

But from now on, the dangleway is officially the London Cable Car.

Although the sponsorship has ended, the day-to-day operations are unaffected, and FirstGroup will continue to be the operator.

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Incidentally, the GLA pages on the City Hall website are still showing Emirates branding on the cable car

The corner, long home to the Burger King outlet, and several buildings along the small side streets behind could be redeveloped into a new venue, and externally, the most distinctive change will be the huge wraparound video screens.

The development is being led by the local landowner, Soho Estates, which has been buying up the corner plot for some years. They initially proposed to clear the site back in 2021, and a later plan to embed a video screen into the existing office windows was approved with planning permission.

They’re back with a new plan to redevelop the whole site and install huge video walls on the curved corner. The developer says that the screens will display a mix of community, arts, and cultural programming as well as commercial content.

There’s a public consultation here, and a preview of the plans will take place in Leicester Square on 2nd May.

As for the venue itself, the entrance will be on Cranbourn Street, allowing visitors to access the attraction away from the Square itself, where red carpet premieres and other major events frequently restrict access. From there, visitors will enter the main building via a below-ground connection. The attraction will unfold across three double-height floors with large, flexible floorplates designed to accommodate a range of exhibitions and events.

At the top of the building, a rooftop restaurant with terraces will offer new views across Leicester Square.

A planning application is due to be submitted in the summer of 2026.

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Updated 30th April 2026 – corrected note about video screen planning permissions.

However, at the same time, they’ve quietly extended the Fashion Gallery’s closure.

The Fashion Gallery closed in April 2025 for refurbishment and was due to reopen about nowish. However, eagle-eyed observers might notice that the reopening date has been pushed back significantly to Autumn 2028.

In a statement, a V&A spokesperson said: “Following the pandemic, the FuturePlan programme was re-sequenced. We are delighted to be opening several new ground‑floor galleries, including the Korea Gallery in winter 2026, the South Asia Gallery in spring 2028, and the Fashion Gallery in autumn 2028. We look forward to sharing more information later this year.”

As it happens, the Fashion Gallery is next to the South Asia galleries, so both are closed at the same time.

The South Asia gallery’s appearance dates to a 1990s revamp, and the museum says in its planning statement that “many of the showcases have reached the end of their functional lifespan and now require replacement to meet modern standards. Similarly, the uniform lighting throughout the gallery does little to highlight the architectural features or create a dynamic atmosphere that enhances the viewing experience.“

Although the gallery is on the ground floor, it still has rooflight windows. These were given a solar film in the late 1980s, but they’re decaying and need replacing, and there are damp problems in the upper levels of the room. Also, the layout was from a time when accessibility clearly wasn’t given much thought, as there are several mini-raised levels throughout the gallery.

The plans aim to push the displays back from the centre of the room so that it’s less of a cluttered maze-like effect, while also showing off the architecture of the room itself. They will also be levelling the floor and adding a gentle slope where some steps can’t be avoided, so that the entire gallery is fully accessible for the first time.

One thing that turned up in the planning document is that the floor is raised up over the original, which is still down there, but that’s a delicate mosaic which needs protecting, so it will remain hidden under a replacement raised floor.

Planning permission was granted earlier this month. The South Asia gallery has already closed to visitors, and will remain closed until Spring 2028.

The Harmondsworth Great Barn owes its existence, indirectly, to the Norman Conquest, when William the Conqueror began handing out land to his followers. Having nabbed King Harold’s estates after the conquest in 1066, William gifted Harold’s estate at Harmondsworth to William FitzOsbern as thanks for his help in killing the Anglo-Saxons. It passed through several owners until it eventually came into the ownership of Winchester College.

As the land was farmland and they needed a barn to store the grain, in 1426-27, the College paid two men about £50-£100 to build one for their estate. All this happened 600 years ago, and the barn was still being used for agriculture right up to the 1970s.

It had a somewhat troubled history after that, but in 2012, it was bought by English Heritage, and now it’s open twice a month between April and October.

And what better year to visit than in its 600th anniversary?

And unexpectedly, the Mayor of Hillingdon was in attendance at the first open day of 2026 to welcome visitors, and, as hazelnuts used to be farmed in the area, he planted a hazelnut tree near the barn.

A visit to the barn is part to admire the sheer size and woodiness of the building, but also to learn about its history from the many simple displays dotted around the building. You can learn about the area’s agricultural history, some of the efforts made in the past to preserve the barn from further decay during its neglected years, and see many scale models of the buildings that once surrounded the estate.

And some that still do.

A scale model of the barn has itself been recently conserved, and do notice the warning sign about washing hands in the farmyard diorama.

But really, it’s a visit to gasp at the sheer size of the wooden structure. Large today, it must have been immense when it was built compared to what people were used to.

Truly, as John Betjeman said, it’s the “Cathedral of Middlesex”.

The barn is now open twice a month from 11am to 4pm and is free to visit.

In its 600th anniversary year, it will be open on:

• Sun 10th May 2026
• Sun 24th May 2026
• Sun 14th Jun 2026
• Sun 28th Jun 2026
• Sun 12th Jul 2026
• Sun 26th Jul 2026
• Sun 9th Aug 2026
• Sun 23rd Aug 2026
• Sun 13th Sep 2026
• Sun 27th Sep 2026
• Sun 25th Oct 2026

Details here.

Getting to Harmondsworth Great Barn

The barn is just to the northwestern edge of Heathrow Airport.

You can take the 350 bus between Heathrow Terminal 5 and West Drayton stations or the U3 bus between Heathrow Central and West Drayton. The buses run roughly every 20 minutes and take about 6 minutes from West Drayton.

Or walk – it’s only about 30 minutes from West Drayton station.

When in Harmondsworth village, head to the Five Bells pub, and the barn is at the end of the lane.

It’s an annual(ish) event, and will see seats in the cinema offered for just £5 per person (compared to £6.50-£13.50 normally) for selected screenings between 8th and 13th May.

The Genesis Cinema is on Mile End Road, a short walk from Whitechapel or Stepney Green tube stations.

The full lineup is here.

Fri 8th May

15:15 – American Psycho

20:45 – Enter the void

Sat 9th May

15:20 – The Seventh Seal

17:50 – 8 ½

21:00 – Crash

Sun 10th May

14:35 – Metropolis

17:50 – Aguirre, the Wrath of God

20:10 – Nil by mouth

Mon 11th May

18:25 – Flow

20;40 – The Holy Mountain

Tues 12th May

18:30 0 The Gleaners and I

20:45 – It was just an accident

Wed 13th May

18:20 – Who framed Roger Rabbit?

20:55 – Big trouble in Little China

Thur 14th May

18:00 – Transformers

21:00 – Audition

Fri 15th May

18:10 – La Haine

20:35 – Stalker

Sat 16th May

16:35 – Shrek

18:35 – Spice World the Movie

21:00 – Good time

Sun 17th May

14:30 – Space Jam

16:40 – Seven Samurai

20:55 – Fist of Fury

Mon 18th May

18:10 – Watership Down

20:45 – How to have sex

Tues 19th May

18:00 – Tokyo Story

21:00 – Weekend

Wed 20th May

18:10 – Petite Maman

20:10 – Yi-Yi

Thur 21st May

18:00 – Paris, Texas

21:00 – The skin I live in

Fri 22nd May

18:05 – Pather Panchali

20:30 – Scarface

The hall is large, opulently decorated, and packed with history. As it’s only occasionally open to the public, it makes for a memorable place to visit.

Tours last about an hour and each tour can accommodate up to 40 people at a charge of £10 per person, which goes to the Goldsmiths’ Company Charity.

The next two tours will take place on Monday 8th June 2026, and tickets for the 11am tours are here, and for the 13:30pm tours are here.

Tickets must be booked in the name of the person/people attending, as a photo ID matching the name on the booking will be required for entry.

Goldsmith’s Hall is on Foster Lane, a short walk from St Paul’s (Central line) or Barbican (Elizabeth, Metropolitan, Circle lines) tube stations.

Titled LUMINISCENCE, the production combines 360-degree video mapping with choral performances by the Lux Aeterna Choir, alongside a narrated script voiced by actor Hugh Bonneville.

The cathedral’s interior will be used as a projection surface, with digital visuals cast across its domes, mosaics and columns. Organisers say the show is designed to transform the Grade I-listed building into an immersive environment combining light, sound and storytelling.

The production includes a newly commissioned script by writer Tim Whitnall, which traces the history of London from its early development through to the present day. The narrative is accompanied by a live choral score featuring arrangements inspired by composers including Beethoven, Verdi, Debussy, Vivaldi and Bach.

One element of the show will digitally recreate decorative mosaics originally intended for the cathedral’s upper domes, which were never completed due to funding constraints during construction. Using digital modelling based on historical designs, the projections aim to present how the interior might have appeared if the original plans had been realised.

The organisers say the combination of projected imagery and live choral music will create a large-scale audio-visual installation within the cathedral space.

The waitlist early access booking window opens on 12th May, offering a 10% discount for early sign-ups, with general on sale from 13th May.

Performances will run at Westminster Cathedral from Wednesday 1st July to Sunday 27th September 2026.

A tip: if visiting, subject to availability on the day, you might also want to take the lift to the top of the campanile tower for views across central London.