Woolwich Works is set to be steeped in spirit when Whisky Live London returns in March, 2025.
This year the tasting event is celebrating its 25th anniversary complete with a makeover and an extensive array of brands.
The basic format of the show is simple enough.
Visitors pay about £50 for which they get a guide, entry, a Glencairn tasting glass and the opportunity to sample unlimited pours from the various distilleries and organisations featured.
Scotland dominates, of course, however there’s also a World Whiskies Awards 2025 stand offering ticket holders the chance to try expressions from around the globe.
Beyond exploring the exhibition, which will be arranged in the Fireworks Factory, the Woolwich venue’s largest space, a range of add-on experiences such as masterclasses and tutored tastings can be booked.
The show takes place over two days at Woolwich Works – image by Chris Sharp / sharp-pictures.com
excitement building for Whisky Live London
“I’m so excited for this year’s Whisky Live London, especially as it celebrates the 25th anniversary of this magnificent event,” said Bradley Weir, the editor of Whisky Magazine who will be hosting tastings at the show.
“I realise I’m very privileged to have the opportunity to pick the brains of industry leaders and master distillers, but what is so special about this event is that it allows everybody to talk whisky with those who pour their hearts into it every day as a profession.
“Also, let’s not forget the sheer volume of product that is available to sample from all over the world, some of which can be extremely difficult to source.
“It’s such a special event to see so many distilleries come together under one roof all with the common goal of educating, entertaining, and hopefully making even more fans of their brands.
“I can’t recommend it enough to anybody with an interest in whisky and fine spirits, from beginners to aficionados — and I hope to meet some of you at my tasting masterclasses.”
Prices for Bradley’s tastings start at £15.83, while visitors can also learn to blend their own whisky in sessions with his colleague, Christopher Coates for £46.88.
Beyond the basic ticket, the show offers a Classic Experience and a Premium Experience at £71.72 and £102.77 respectively.
The former offers five hours of access to the show, while ticketholders for the latter will be able to roam the stands for six hours, get access to a premium lounge with complimentary refreshments and a token to use at the show’s street food vendors.
They will also receive two tokens to try rare and award-winning whiskies at the World Whiskies Awards Premium Stand and get a tote bag to carry any purchases they might make.
All visitors to the event will be able to enjoy live entertainment and street food and to make purchases from Parisian whisky shop La Maison Du Whisky – the event’s official retailer.
The event features a range of different packages for visitors – image by Chris Sharp / sharp-pictures.com
key details: Whisky Live London
Whisky Live London is set to run at Woolwich Works from March 28-29, 2025.
Tickets start at £51.02 for three hours access to the show including a tasting glass and unlimited pours.
Now in its third year of operation, the stately pleasure dome of Phantom Peak – decreed in Canada Water by Nick Moran, Glen Hughes and their team – recently launched a fresh season.
The fully immersive townscape, complete with canals and platypuses, has welcomed some 83,000 guests to its 30,000sq ft playground.
Part role-playing game, part escape-room, part platypus, the show has seen visitors wind their way through more than 100 storylines split into 11 seasons with live actors and digital counterparts on hand to weave the pleasant fictions.
Having recently celebrated its 400th show, the venue is currently hosting JonaCon.
Its 12th season sees the town all shook up with the arrival of buff and marvellous Jonas, founder, director and celebrated figurehead of JONACO, the company that runs pretty much everything in a completely unsinister way.
Despite being the townsfolk’s supposed saviour, this is the first time Jonas has appeared in person at Phantom Peak’s actual performances and visitors will quickly pick up on the tensions, unrest, secrets and rebellious fervour.
Indoors, outdoors, Phantom Peak is a whole world to explore including a network of black canals – image by Alistair Veryard Photography / alistairveryard.com
a world to discover
Mysteries that demand examination abound.
The latest season includes 10 new stories to explore as JonaCon features exclusive Q&A sessions with key figures, teasing tales such as The New Adventures Of Jonas and The Real Househubbies Of Phantom Peak.
As ever, performances start with a grand opening ceremony and close with a finale performance.
In between, visitors are free to explore the open-world environment, taking advantage of the attraction’s various hospitality options as they see fit.
There’s a reason Phantom Peak has won a multitude of awards since opening, with many guests returning time and again to discover fresh stories, puzzles and silliness.
The experience is ideal for groups and inquisitive minds – image by Alistair Veryard Photography / alistairveryard.com
key details: Phantom Peak
JonaCon will run at Phantom Peak in Canada Water until May 11, 2025.
The attraction is open from 6pm-10pm on Thursdays and Fridays, from noon-4pm and 6pm-10.30pm on Saturdays and from noon-4.30pm on Sundays.
Tickets start at £42 per person. Wharf Life readers can get 10% off with code WHARFLIFEat the checkout.
The tale of retired pirate-turned-babysitter Orpheus Clinker, who descends on the unsuspecting Terrapin family with his mates for a riotous party, is clever, funny outlandish and overblown.
In some senses it’s a good metaphor for the whole topic of piracy.
We love the hyperbole in it.
Disney’s to blame, of course, for casting alcoholic rake Robert Newton to gurn his way through Treasure Island as the gravelly-voiced, one-legged Long John Silver in 1950.
It was such a popular turn he wound up getting the starring role in Blackbeard The Pirate in the film of the same name, before returning as Long John for another movie in 1952 and a miniseries.
Then you have the fierce passion and dashing acrobatic brilliance of Burt Lancaster in The Crimson Pirate, also in ‘52.
More recently there’s been the entertainment giant’s lucrative decision to employ a Keith Richards impersonator to carry a lacklustre franchise based on a theme park ride to financial success.
These glamorous portrayals are unsurprising.
Pirates have long been drawn as swashbuckling adventurers associated with lush islands, flamboyant dress and buried treasure.
But what’s the truth?
John Ryan’s cartoon Captain Pugwash first appeared in print in 1957 after 12 rejections – image by Isabel Ryan / Estate of John Ryan
Pirates promises to “deconstruct these myths and illuminate the realities” of life for the likes of Edward “Blackbeard” Teach, Anne Bonny, Mary Read and William Kidd – who ended his days at Execution Dock in Wapping and is immortalised in the name of a pub on the Thames.
Taking in stories from across the globe, the exhibition will look to the Caribbean and beyond with tales from the South China Sea, the Indian Ocean and the coast of North Africa.
Visitors will be able to see nearly 200 objects including loans from the National Archives, V&A and BFI.
The exhibition will be presented in sections with the first looking at the image of pirates in fiction and considering the impact of characters such as Captain Hook and Captain Jack Sparrow as well as Long John Silver.
This includes original illustrations from hapless cartoon pirate Captain Pugwash, by artist and writer John Ryan, who began life in a comic strip before starring in a children’s TV show.
Detail from Davy Jones’s Locker by William Lionel Wyllie – image by National Maritime Museum
dispelling the fiction
“Real Pirates” will go on to investigate tales of specific outlaws and their exploits on the high seas, inspired by A General History of the Pyrates by Captain Charles Johnson first published in 1724 as the golden age of piracy came to an end.
Then visitors will see “Global Pirates” with objects selected to showcase piracy around the world including the story of Chinese captain Shap Ng-tsai who was active in the mid-19th century.
Eventually Shap’s fleet of 27 junks was destroyed in a joint action by an Anglo-Chinese squadron under Captain John Charles Dalrymple Hay and Major General Hwáng in 1849.
There’s also a focus on Barbary piracy and the Bombardment Of Algiers in 1816, when a British-Dutch force attacked the city in an attempt to resolve the problem of naval crime in North Africa.
The action resulted in the release of 3,000 Christian captives, but came at a cost, as it was more deadly than the Battle Of Trafalgar.
While the exhibition might not rise to heights of a rumbustification, nor the need to pore through a dictionary to see which words are made up, it nevertheless promises to be a blockbuster.
Apt then that Orlando Bloom’s costume from the first Pirates Of The Caribbean flick will be on show.
The first edition of Treasure Island, which came out in 1883, featured a treasure map drawn by author Robert Louis Stevenson – image by National Maritime Museum
key details: Pirates at the National Maritime Museum
Pirates is set to open at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich on March 29, 2025, and will run until January 4, 2026.
Adult tickets cost £15 and £7.50 for children. Entry for Royal Museums Greenwich members is free.
Greenwich Peninsula is set for a day of events to mark the arrival of the Year Of The Snake on February 1, 2025.
Celebrations for Lunar New Year will run from noon-4pm with a host of free and paid-for activities scheduled.
Those attending can expect workshops, cultural performances, a paper lantern installation and dishes from Asian street food vendors in addition to offerings from Canteen Food Hall And Bar.
“We’re excited to see Greenwich Peninsula once again transform into a hub of celebration for Lunar New Year,” said Greewnich Peninsula director, Laura Flanagan.
“Our riverside neighbourhood is the perfect destination to experience art and creativity, and this year’s programme has something for everyone.
“With themes of connection, prosperity and renewal, we’re delighted to collaborate with so many talented performers, artists and experts to bring these experiences to life.”
Highlights on the programme include the return of the traditional dragon that will once again weave its way through the area as well as lion dance performances – new for 2025.
Through acrobatics, puppetry and rhythmic drumming, these spectacles aim to chase away bad fortune and welcome good luck for the year ahead.
A range of workshops and activities will be on offer
celebrating on the Peninsula
“Greenwich Peninsula boasts an unrivalled offer for anyone looking for a London less ordinary,” said Visit Greenwich chief executive, Barrie Kelly.
“Its Lunar New Year festival is just one of the brilliant cultural offerings enjoyable year-round, bringing community together through creativity.
“We’re thrilled to be partnering with them and can’t wait to get involved with all the amazing events on offer.”
The area’s Lunar New Year programme is part-funded by the government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund and supported by the Greenwich Council and the Mayor Of London and in partnership with Visit Greenwich.
Activities will include workshops from Yi Crafts, offering visitors the opportunity to try bamboo weaving, Chinese knot-making, woodblock printing and paper cutting.
There will also be an opportunity to learn or master Mahjong, guided by experts from Dear Asia language school.
Its free sessions at Bureau in Design District will also cover the game’s history and explore various strategies available to players.
Greenwich Peninsula is easily accessed from across east and south-east London thanks to North Greenwich Tube station, the London Cable Car and the Uber Boat By Thames Clippers river bus service.
The area boasts a wealth of attractions including the diverse architecture and creative businesses of Design District, the restaurants, shops and venues in The O2 and plentiful parks.
Visitors will find plenty of places for refreshment and entertainment including the independent street food traders at Canteen, Firepit Art Gallery And Studios and Oxygen Active Play and Hollywood Bowl at The O2 for kids.
There’s even the opportunity to try indoor skydiving with iFly’s 170mph vertical wind tunnel, for those seeking a thrill on their trip to the area.
Visitors will be able to try woodblock printing at Greenwich Peninsula
activities for Lunar New Year at Greenwich Peninsula
As Lunar New Year approaches, here’s a run down of Greenwich Peninsula’s activities and attractions on February 1, 2025, so you can plan your visit and avoid missing out…
>> when?Noon
Brut Tea Tasting – £5
Join Brut Tea founders Joyce and Raphael for an intimate tea-tasting session showcasing four blends from the company. Book online for this session at Design District’s Salon
>> when? Noon, 12.30pm, 1pm, 1.30pm
Chinese Knot-Making – £6
Yi Crafts will welcome visitor’s to Design District’s D4 building for a series of 30-minute interactive workshops exploring this intricate art form. Participants will create decorative ornaments. Pre-book online.
Dear Asia will be hosting two sessions of Mahjong
>> when?12.30pm, 2.45pm
Play Mahjong – FREE (book)
Dear Asia will lead two 90-minute sessions where participants will play and learn about this ancient game. Ideal for beginners. Book a spot in advance for a game at Design District’s Bureau restaurant.
>> when?1.30pm, 2pm, 2.30pm, 3pm
Paper Cutting – FREE (book)
Take half an hour to immerse yourself in the delicate and festive art of paper cutting with Yi Crafts workshops. Participants will create decorative pieces during the sessions. Book ahead.
>> when?1.30pm, 2.15pm, 3pm
Lion Dance – FREE
Perhaps the heart of the celebrations will be a pair of dances performed one after the other in Peninsula Square. First up, a dynamic lion dance will chase away bad fortune with vibrant costumes and powerful drumbeats.
>> when?1.45pm, 2.15pm, 3.15pm
Dragon Dance – FREE
After the three lion dances, a traditional dragon dance will follow with the creature winding its way through the crowds under the careful guidance of the performers. The dragon is said to bring luck, prosperity and renewal for the year ahead.
There will be lots to see and do to welcome the Year Of The Snake
>> when?2pm, 3pm
Bamboo Coaster Weaving – £10
These two workshops by Yi Crafts will see participants discover the techniques behind this traditional practice. Participants will use sustainably sourced bamboo strips to make their own coaster. The hour-long workshops, at Design District building D4, should be booked in advance.
>> when?2pm, 2.30pm, 3pm, 3.30pm
Woodblock Printing – FREE (book)
Also run by Yi Crafts at D4, these half-hour sessions are intended for those seeking “a creative and meaningful” Lunar New Year experience with those taking part learning traditional techniques to create their own printed works.
key details: Lunar New Year at Greenwich Peninsula
Lunar New Year celebrations at Greenwich Peninsula are set to take place on February 1, 2025, from noon-4pm.
While much of the festival is free to attend, some activities require pre-booking, while others are paid.
In one important sense, or lack of it, In The Dark is a tough sell.
That’s because, despite positively fizzing with enthusiasm for the project, founder and director Andrea Cockerton can’t talk much about the actual content of its forthcoming performances in anything other than general terms.
To do so, would be to shatter the secrecy and ruin the experience.
What she can tell me is the basics.
In The Dark aims to do for music, what celebrated pitch black dining experience Dans Le Noir has been doing for food since the early noughties in Clerkenwell.
“In a way, watching people performing is a distraction,” said Andrea.
“You’re looking at them, at the other audience members, perhaps checking the time.
“I wondered what would happen if you took that away?
“When you can see, you’re processing a great deal of visual information.
“But, with sound surrounding you in the dark, your brain does all kinds of different things.”
Performers play in the dark, with audience members wearing eye masks to minimise distraction
the origins of In The Dark
Andrea, a pianist, composer, and arts entrepreneur, developed the idea initially for large-scale musical collective
We Are Sound, a group she founded in Cambridge that puts on “gloriously chaotic” gigs featuring more than 120 amateur performers.
“We’d done quite a few shows in London at Scala, Union Chapel, Bush Hall and loads in Cambridge,” she said.
“It was with that group that I was trying to think about what else we could do.
“So I told them we were going to do some shows in darkness.
“The idea was that it would be a really great experience both for learning music and for performing.
“I put the tickets on sale and they sold out within half an hour. We added extra shows and they just kept selling.
“Each performance was about 30 minutes and the feedback was phenomenal. Normally, with music you don’t get much but it came flowing back to us.
“People were saying it was the most extraordinary experience, that they would never forget it.
“Audiences found it profoundly moving.”
In The Dark’s 2025 season includes dates under the hull of the Cutty Sark in Greenwich
pushing forward In The Dark
Just as Andrea, who studied music at Cambridge before spending time in the world of business, and the project was getting into its stride, the pandemic arrived and upset things.
“I knew by our final performance that I wanted to try In The Dark with professional musicians because I thought it had the potential for a wider run, perhaps in the West End,” she said.
“It’s taken five years for two reasons.
“Firstly, I was very sick with Covid and Long Covid and secondly I was diagnosed with cancer.
“I’m OK now and I’m back up to full speed – I felt this needed to happen and I’ve never been someone who doesn’t follow my dreams.
“So then it was a case of finding some venues and a group of musicians.”
In The Dark, featuring Andrea’s Hush Collective, is set for a run of performances at St Bartholomew The Great in Smithfield, Trinity Buoy Wharf in Leamouth and a couple of shows under the hull of the Cutty Sark in Greenwich in celebration of Burns Night.
But why seek out characterful venues at all, if audiences can’t even see them?
“While the shows differ slightly in format depending on the venue, what’s common to all of them is that they are in beautiful buildings, beautiful settings,” said Andrea.
“People have a little bit of time to enjoy that before sitting down.
“It’s a calm, slightly visceral atmosphere.
“People are given masks and they put them on before the show begins.
“The acoustics are an important factor in the choice of venue too – it’s 99% unplugged so you need some kind of resonance.
“While the audience don’t see the performers, there’s quite a lot of movement too, which changes the sound and the experience for the listeners, so we need space for that to happen.
“There are no monitors, no metronome clicks for the musicians, no conductor – nothing – and that’s both risky and extraordinary for the performers.
“It’s all done through rehearsal – the players have to know the material well enough so they know exactly what’s going to happen and when.
“As an audience member you’re not seeing how you respond, and as a performer you’re not seeing how you perform – there’s this fantastic freedom and that’s why people have responded to it so well.
“It really is magical, I’d listen to a performance like this every night if I could.”
Audiences cannot see the musicians who are playing for them at an In The Dark performance
revealed at the end
Audiences only see members of the Hush Collective at the end of the performance, when details of the programme are also revealed.
Without endangering those precious secrets, we can at least say there might be elements of ambient, Scandi, nu-folk and experimental music with hints of electronic and classical thrown in for good measure.
Beyond the music itself, there’s another dimension to In The Dark, which Andrea hopes to develop and grow beyond this run of performances.
“If this goes well in London, the aim is to take it into Europe, especially the Scandinavian countries,” she said.
“Part of our ethos is to pay our musicians fairly – we want to do things right for people working on the project.
“Some years ago I set up The Dosoco Foundation to support music related projects and we’ve given out about £20,000 over the years to a variety of initiatives.
“We’ll be giving 5% of the profits from In The Dark to that organisation to help fund it.”
key details: In The Dark
In The Dark performances in east London are set to take place at St Bartholomew The Great in Smithfield on various dates and times from January 16, 2025, and at The Chain Store at Trinity Buoy Wharf in Leamouth from March 20.
Tickets start at £35.
The Cutty Sark will host two shows on January 25, 2025, at 7.15pm and 9.15pm.
A little like the exhibition space he runs in south-east London, there’s an upbeat openness about Gareth Gardner.
Originally from Warwick, he studied civil engineering in Southampton before taking a job as a journalist and moving to the Isle Of Dogs back in 1995.
“Mudchute was my first experience of living in London,” he said.
“I was working on New Civil Engineer, a big trade magazine at the time, and it was really good – we had 25 editorial staff, two staff photographers – it was just insane.
“They trained me really well, as they had a policy of employing half civil engineers and half journalists, the idea being that we would cross-fertilise our areas of expertise.”
More media jobs followed, before an opportunity to write one particular feature heralded a change in career.
“I was obsessed with photography from an early age, and I somehow managed to persuade my employer in my last job as a journalist to let me go for a one week course on large format film photography,” he said.
“The piece was about whether architects should be taking their own pictures.
“I loved it and that was it – I decided I was leaving my job and went to the London College Of Printing to study photography.
“That’s what I’ve done ever since. I’ve got a big client base for architectural design now, creating images for magazines and organisations.
“Mostly I photograph cultural institutions, galleries and temporary exhibitions – that sort of thing – and I love all of that.
“I do architectural interiors, getting commissioned by architects and designers to photograph completed projects.
“That might be reportage-style, or an interior that’s hyper-styled to within an inch of its life.
“These different approaches are interesting and enjoyable, I get to meet interesting people and work around the world.
“I quite like the idea that when I turn up to a shoot, I haven’t met the people before and have to make something happen on the day – try to create something to tell the story of their project.
“With my editorial background, I’m looking at the narrative, the story, what they are trying to say, what their marketing objectives are, what they are doing with the photographs.
“It’s quite a niche area of photography and requires specific equipment.”
Boundary Conditions at Gareth Gardner Gallery
the birth of Gareth Gardener Gallery
The latter requires space and that’s really what we’re here to talk about.
Having lived around the capital and in and out of the city, Gareth decided he’d like to move back to south-east London.
Seeking a place for storage and to use as an office, he found Enclave – a clutch of artist-run units in Resolution Way and decided to create something a bit beyond his initial brief.
“Paying large amounts of rent just to store things seemed a bit misguided – but here the whole remit is that you should have some form of public-facing activity going on,” said Gareth.
“I’d had a studio where I was living previously in Acton and needed somewhere to put everything.
“So this made me think that it would be a really good opportunity to do something I love alongside my more commercial work.”
“Working frequently in museums, this actually relates to what I do,” said Gareth.
“I’m very interested in how things are curated and designed – I knew I wanted to open a gallery and there’s not another one like it in Britain as far as I can tell.
“It doesn’t show lots of glossy photos of newly-built buildings, – we’re not about flattering architects and developers.
“We try to do things that are an artistic and creative response to architecture and place, that capture the impact of humans on our environment by what we build.
“There’s also an aspect of social documentary too.
“The idea is also to try to make it as accessible to people who wouldn’t normally exhibit as possible.
“Putting on an exhibition can be an incredibly expensive undertaking – printing, framing, hiring the space itself.
“I have this optimised approach.
“We print everything here and we have frames people can use.
“We try to elevate all the stuff we have and try to make it look as high end as possible within the context of trying to keep it affordable.
“Architectural photography is very much the domain of white, middle-class, straight male, so it’s about trying to get different voices in.
“It’s difficult to get different perspectives.
“It’s all about getting new stories told about architecture, especially if there’s local relevance to what we do.”
Close To The Hedge at Gareth Gardener Gallery
from the past to the future
Previous exhibitions have included Boundary Conditions, with photographers capturing images of the Pepys Estate in Deptford, inspired by a series for The Architectural Review half a century ago and Close To The Hedge – an exploration of hedges which garnered national media coverage and that is set to be re-staged in extended form for the Royal Horticultural Society in 2025.
“The gallery is a small space, but we try to make the most out of it,” said Gareth.
“We try to have a lot of extra interpretational material to put the images in context.
“I’m also interested in getting involved in publishing again on a small scale.
“I’ve always enjoyed working on layouts with designers and art directors.
“We try to do four exhibitions a year.
“I also do portfolio reviews and anybody can apply for free to have their work looked at.
“I’ve been lucky to have had a lot of really nice things happen in my career and I think everybody deserves to have their work looked at.
“Some photographers have exhibited here as a result of that process – it’s great to pay it forward and people can buy the work, although we’re not primarily a commercial space.
“I’d love for the gallery to develop further.
“We’re always looking for ideas to reach as many people as possible.”
key details Gareth Gardner Gallery
Gareth Gardner Gallery is located in Deptford’s 50 Resolution Way in Enclave 10.
Further exhibitions will be announced online in due course for 2025.
Inside iFLY, four massive jet engines – two at the top and two at the bottom – pump air through a vertical cylinder to create winds of around 170mph.
The walls of the chamber might be transparent, but the conditions within are completely different to anything else at ground level.
It’s a place where physics no longer makes sense to one’s body, where extraordinary things are possible. It’s a complete rush for the senses, the mind and the muscles.
Apt then that the concept of indoor skydiving is a paradox.
Obviously it’s not possible to fall out of a plane while in a building.
But iFLY’s facilities offer the next best thing – an opportunity to experience some of the sensations of free fall without the need for an aircraft.
More than that, its flights don’t require parachutes, significant prep or, crucially, the massive time sink and expense of jumping out of actual planes.
There’s also a comparatively tiny risk of death.
Heading down to the Greenwich Peninsula to give it a go, I’m nervous.
It’s not often I’m invited to step out of my comfort zone in quite such a literal sense.
Having signed a waiver and headed up stairs the first thing I see is the wind tunnel itself – a glass tube inside which an instructor is watching a participant apparently defy gravity.
There’s that paradox.
The vertical wind tunnel allows those entering to float on the updraft and perform acrobatics
Even through the soundproofing, the roar of the air is constant.
After a quick safety briefing, during which our instructor reveals he’s a veteran of some 250 actual sky dives, we don helmets, goggles and baggy flight suits – loose to create more drag and make the flying easier.
In contrast our instructor is in a sleek, skin-tight number for maximum control and minimum drag.
It’s his job to stand, impervious to the wind, and guide the paying guests into the air.
Once we’re through the air lock into an antechamber, the noise makes talking impossible. Communication is via hand signals and I’m beckoned forth for my flight.
The directions are clear – flop forward into the wind, legs out and try to relax with outstretched arms.
That’s easier said than done with the relentless buffeting of the wind and the noise.
But there’s a strange feeling of lift and I’m basically hovering when, quite clearly, I should be falling to the floor.
It’s like no other sensation.
Wharf Life’s Jess Maddison takes to the air in iFLY At The O2
The instructor grasps me round the waist to start with and positions me in the rushing air, adjusting my position before gradually releasing me completely.
I’m flying, even if I’m unstable and have no control or ideas about how to manoeuvre.
After what seems like minutes, but is probably seconds of sensory overload, he pushes me back out of the tube and my feet hit the floor.
The adrenaline is surging. I’m euphoric. I understand why people want to go back again and again to taste that strangeness.
At the end, the instructor offers a showcase.
Bobbing up and down in the tube, he effortlessly executes flips and headstands, shooting up and down apparently at will.
It’s breathtaking and a tantalising display of the proficiency that can be achieved in this otherworldly realm.
Wharf Life Verdict: 4/5
key details: iFLY At The O2
iFLY’s current Black Friday 2024 deals mean an entry-level Kick-Start experience costs £32.99 per person.
The normal cost is £109.99. This includes two flights (lasting the equivalent of three real skydives), equipment hire and a flight certificate.
Numerous other packages are available including virtual reality at The O2 facility.
The most popular is currently £43.19 per person and includes photos and videos of four flights. This is normally £149.99.
Its 2024 Open Studios event offers visitors the chance to meet resident creatives, hear the stories behind the objects they have made and perhaps to do some shopping.
This year, Cockpit Arts will extend its opening hours, with sessions running from 4pm-8pm on November 29 and from noon-6pm on November 30 and December 1.
It has more than 175 residents spread over sites in Deptford and Bloomsbury, working in disciplines from fine jewellery and ceramics to woodworking, fashion, textiles and even antiques restoration.
I sat down with Ashley Gerling, Cockpit’s head of marketing and digital, to find out more:
what’s the history of Open Studios?
It’s been running for nearly 15 years, providing collectors and lovers of fine art and crafts the opportunity to visit makers in the studios where they create their incredible work.
what’s new this year?
We’ll be welcoming back several Cockpit alumni who will be exhibiting and selling their work.
We’re also planning a cross-site exhibition of some of our makers’ most exciting new work and are offering half-price admission for local residents.
Cockpit’s studios are located at Creekside in Deptford
what can visitors expect to see?
An authentic look behind the scenes of a working makers’ studio – seeing the spaces where craftspeople work.
They’ll be able to discover pieces in progress and, in Deptford, visit our shared leather, weaving and woodworking hubs where makers have access to specialist equipment and the chance to work at scale and collaborate on new projects.
Open Studios is also a shopping destination, where you can buy pieces direct from makers while learning the stories behind each one.
why is the event important?
Open Studios is important as it not only provides our makers with a chance to connect with collectors, curators, buyers, students, other craftspeople and the public – it’s also a chance for Cockpit to share its work.
Cockpit is the only remaining specialist craft studios in London.
Despite having helped launch the careers of some of the biggest names in contemporary craft, it remains a hidden gem.
Maker Darren Appiagyei shows members of the public some of his creations
are there any new makers?
Ten new makers have joined Cockpit since our last Open Studios, including leatherworkers, weavers, textile designers, basket makers, jewellers and a sculptor specialising in mould making and casting.
who’s your longest-standing maker?
Sally Lees, a jewellery designer and enameller has had a studio at Cockpit for more than 20 years.
Several of our Bloomsbury makers are coming up on their 30-year anniversaries.
which makers are creating a buzz?
Wood sculptor Eleanor Lakelin – a Loewe Craft Prize finalist, whose studio is at Cockpit Arts in Deptford – opened her first solo exhibition in London this summer and was commissioned by The Fine Art Society to create a series of vessels for its Extinction Collection using 875,000 year old wood found at Happisburgh beach.
One of sustainable fashion designer Phoebe English’s dresses was acquired by The Metropolitan Museum Of Art’s Costume Institute this year.
In other news, she recently showed her latest collection, entitled Cloud Cover, at London Fashion Week.
JIhyun Kim’s Salty Fairy Ring series at Cockpit
key details: Cockpit Arts Open Studios
Open Studios is set to run at Cockpit Deptford on November 29 from 4pm-8m and on November 30 and December 1 from noon-6pm.
A three-day pass for the event costs £25. General admission is £10, while visitors can get on the Friday for £5. Children, 16 and under, go free.
Cockpit Arts Deptford has undergone a £3.42million project this year to revitalise the former 1960s council office next to a railway viaduct on Creekside.
It came about after the site was under threat in 2015 from a mixed-use development plan.
Cockpit commissioned Cooke Fawcett to unlock the potential of the premises and the project won the support of Lewisham Council and the Mayor Of London’s Good Growth Fund.
Completed in June, it includes London’s first Craft Garden, a new public entrance and a café.
The garden was designed by Sebastian Cox and features furniture from his first outdoor dining range embedded into a textured landscape intended to emulate Deptford Creekside’s environment.
Plants have been selected for their use in craft processes, including willow, used in basketry, and madder, used in natural dyes.
The new entrance includes artwork Head, Heart, Hand created by Cockpit-based artist and designer Amber Khokhar, in collaboration with the local community.
It celebrates stories and characters from the local area across 1,300 hand-glazed tiles featuring nearly 100 hand-drawn illustrations as well as a series of tiles showcasing more than 40 locally spoken languages.
- Jon Massey is co-founder and editorial director of Wharf Life and writes about a wide range of subjects in Canary Wharf, Docklands and east London - contact via jon.massey@wharf-life.com
Even before his final, rousing performance as the Evil Queen last Christmas, Anthony Spargo had begun grappling with Dick.
The veteran villain will, this year, be in his 11th season as the baddie at Greenwich Theatre’s annual pantomime, having also taken over writing the shows in 2022.
It’s a daunting task, with work beginning on the panto of Christmas future even before the curtain has fallen on the current offering.
“I was writing bits and coming up with ideas for Dick Whittington And His Cat, while we were doing Snow White in 2023,” said Anthony.
“What’s great about that is you’re in the right mindset and the physical space – you can start thinking about what we might do with next year’s story and then ideas spring to mind.
“Uncle Steve is in the dressing room with me and, between shows, we’re able to discuss those ideas and start work.”
Steve Markwick (the aforementioned ‘Uncle’) has been musical director for the annual pantos for the past 19 years and returns, alongside artistic director James Haddrell who, well, directs.
“Every year, the three of us sit down for a tete-a-tete and go through which pantos we’d like to do,” said Anthony.
“I’m already thinking tentatively about what we might do in 2025 and we haven’t even started this one.
“I just love it – creating the shows from the beginning. It’s great fun and it beats working for a living or doing a proper job.
“We get to escape into it for two or three months every year. It’s knackering, but it’s so enjoyable.
“We all have to look after each other and it becomes like a family.
“Acting in one of the longest festive runs does take a physical and mental toll.
“We have to make sure we take our vitamins, not have too many drinks and get our sleep.
“But you get into a routine and it’s lovely.”
Anthony as the Evil Queen in Snow White – this year he’ll be King Rat in Dick Whittington And His Cat
a twist on Dick Whittington And His Cat
While Anthony – who plays supervillain King Rat in the show – is remaining traditionally tight-lipped, audiences can expect a “mind-blowing” cliff hanger at the end of act one that takes the show in a completely different direction in the second half.
“When you start writing a panto, there’s the moral – what it teaches us and all that,” he said.
“Dick Whittington is a rags-to-riches story. Our hero comes to London with his cat to seek his fortune, because he’s penniless.
“Usually things go well and, after a bit of an adventure, he does do well.
“But I’ve always thought that telling kids everything will be OK if you can become rich and famous, isn’t quite right.
“So, I’ve mixed things up a bit.
“Act One is traditional, setting up all the characters and, while Dick does come to London to seek his fame and fortune, he realises that’s not the most important thing in life. It’s friendship and love.
“A person with a handful of friends is rich indeed.
“Instead, in our show, it’s King Rat who goes on the journey to find fame and fortune, but discovers it doesn’t really lead him anywhere – we’ve inverted things a bit.
“It wouldn’t be a Greenwich panto without a twist – last year it was the Seven Dwarves using a B-52 Bomber to melt the Evil Queen’s ice palace with salt from their mine.
“No-one remembers that from the original story.
“Fortunately, James is really cool and when I ask him whether we can do things that are weird and whacky, he usually says: ‘Great, we should do it.’.
“The audiences we get are amazing because no matter how mad we thought it might be when we’re making the show, they go with it, revel in it and that’s just so lovely.
“That gives you so much confidence to be silly and stupid.”
Louise Cielecki, seen here as Mutley in Robin Hood at Greenwich Theatre, will also be in the cast
familiar faces returning
Anthony has also relished writing for some familiar faces, who will return to Greenwich’s stage for the production.
“One of the characters is Tommie The Cat, who’s played by Inés Ruiz, fresh from her role in Beauty And The Beast at the theatre over the summer,” said Anthony.
“She’s Spanish and, while it wasn’t my original intention to have that as the character’s nationality, we’ve incorporated it.
“So now Tommie is Spanish, she’s got castanets and it adds another level to things.
“Louise Cielecki is also back as King Rat’s sidekick Muffy Mouse.
“I know her well now, as she played jester Muddles in Snow White and Mutley in Robin Hood, and it’s lovely to write when you can hear the words in an actor’s voice.
“I’m really looking forward to working with her again.
“I’m also looking forward to my scenes with the dame.
“I can’t tell you the name of the character because it would give too much of what we’re doing today, but we’ve cast a guy called Phil Yarrow in the part, who Uncle Steve knew from another production.
“He’s really good – an affable guy – and, rather than feeling the need to do a stand-up routine in the audition, he was all about the script and the character.
“That fits perfectly with what we do here – first and foremost we’re about story. King Rat has quite a few scenes with him and I’m really looking forward to those too.
“It’s such an intense thing to do, it’s important that we all get on whether it’s the musicians, the cast or the crew.
“Having had such a weird time over the Covid years when we had to pull back on set design and the cast, it’s wonderful to properly be back, following on from last year.
“We’ll be having the revolving stage back again, which we had last year – and that helps really make the show.
“We always get a lovely response from the audience and that was especially true last year for Snow White.
“As for next year, I can’t reveal which show we’ll be doing but we’ve been talking about Peter Pan.
“I’d also love to have a go at Jack And The Beanstalk, which would be great fun and nothing is set in stone.
“Until then, I can’t wait to take on King Rat.”
Anthony Spargo as the Sheriff Of Nottingham in Robin Hood
key details: Dick Whittington And His Cat
Dick Whittington And His Cat is set to run at Greenwich Theatre from November 22, 2024, until January 5, 2025.
Matinee and evening performances are available.
Tickets start at £15.50 with restricted view. Standard tickets start at £32.
- Jon Massey is co-founder and editorial director of Wharf Life and writes about a wide range of subjects in Canary Wharf, Docklands and east London - contact via jon.massey@wharf-life.com
“How important it is to know whose shoulders we are standing on – to appreciate, critique, address and revisit the past – and to realise how much we lose if we don’t,” said Dr Susan Croft, associate artist at the London Performance Studios (LPS) and co-founder of Unfinished Histories, a project dedicated to preserving and celebrating alternative theatre in Britain from the 1960s to the 1990s.
You’ll forgive the lengthy description of Susan’s background.
Placing her, her work and its intent in context, is both vital to understanding the point of LPS’ forthcoming exhibition, and somewhat reflective of the wider project it’s part of.
For Susan, a performance she saw as a teenager by narrowboat-based touring company Mikron at the Boxmoor Arts Centre in Hemel Hempstead, was the spark that ignited a lifelong passion for alternative theatre.
The exhibition celebrates theatre made by women in the 20th century
something different
“This was different to the plays I’d been taken to such as Shakespeare for English A-Level, which I loved too,” she said.
“It was something else – working class, about building canals with lots of songs.
“That was my first experience but then I started to search for it.
“The other thing I was hunting for at the time were copies of feminist magazine Spare Rib – I’d describe myself as becoming a feminist from pretty early on.
“While I loved theatre, which was very transformative and I felt could be amazing and life-changing, I wondered where the work by women was.
“There wasn’t a lot of it about at the tail end of the 1970s and in the early 80s.
“So that became my mission – to find feminist theatre – which was a large part of the alternative theatre movement.”
As a writer, curator and archivist who has worked in the arts, academia and museums as well as independently, Susan has created an exhibition that aims to highlight women’s contribution to the dramatic arts in the UK.
Featuring organisations such as the Women’s Theatre Group, Monstrous Regiment, Bloomers Siren, Theatre of Black Women, Munirah, Hard Corps, Blood Group and many more, it paints a rich picture of a scene that flew in the face of convention.
A wide range of material will be on show at the London Performance Studios
fighting for access to the arts
“Directors and playwrights were assumed to be male, most roles, especially good ones, were for men, most companies male dominated,” said Susan, whose published work includes She Also Wrote Plays from 2001, which features more than 400 women playwrights going back to the 10th century.
“In 2024 Indhu Rubasingham is at the helm of the National Theatre and women writers and directors are everywhere.
“The change is huge, has been hard-won and should be celebrated.
“But we still need to work to keep hold of the progress we have made and fight to extend parental rights, especially when funding is tight and the arts are disappearing from the state sector.
“We must fight for access to the arts for all women, as makers and as audiences.”
Taking as its starting point the first Women’s Theatre Festival, held in late 1973 at the Almost Free Theatre in Soho, the exhibition charts progress made over the years and honours the campaigns and work of an earlier generation.
Visitors can expect to discover multiple links to east and south-east London including productions at The Albany and the Half Moon Young People’s Theatre.
Alongside the exhibition will be the publication of Radical Rediscoveries – a collection of rare and unpublished scripts with an introduction by Susan – as well as a two-day symposium bringing women theatre-makers together on November 29 and 30, 2024.
“We’ll look at what was gained then and what has been lost – how we can hold onto our history, and learn from the past and how we can explore, share and revisit some of the amazing work that’s been achieved and set an agenda for the future,” said Susan.
“Creating such an exhibition is a huge challenge.
“It’s about the wealth and variety we can show and planting seeds in people’s imaginations – bringing material back to life for them.”
The exhibition is part of a wider project to recognise key moments in alternative theatre
a wider project at London Performance Studios
That, in many ways, is also a distillation of the mission of FYFFI – Fifty Years Of The Fight For Inclusion – the umbrella project under which Radical Rediscoveries sits.
Over three years as part of Susan’s residency at LPS, she’s making use of Unfinished Histories’ extensive archives to mark three key anniversaries in the development of alternative theatre.
With the Women’s Theatre Festival in 1973 kicking things off, the first Gay Theatre Festival in Britain in 1975 and the publication of Naseem Khan’s report The Arts Britain Ignores, by the Commission for Racial Equality in 1976, will follow.
The plan is to research and revisit selected performances and companies relevant to those milestones via readings, workshops, this exhibition, symposium and publication.
“These were massively significant moments, but it’s not just what happened in those years, but all that has happened from them,” said Susan.
“We need to examine what’s happening now, what’s been achieved, what’s not been achieved, so it’s about both what are the priorities these days and how we remember that earlier work.”
The exhibition runs at the London Performance Studios from November 8 to December 1, 2024
key details: London Performance Studios’ exhibition
Radical Rediscovery: Feminist Theatre in Britain 1969-1992 is set to run at the London Performance Studios from November 8 to December 1, 2024, from noon-5pm. Entry is free.
- Jon Massey is co-founder and editorial director of Wharf Life and writes about a wide range of subjects in Canary Wharf, Docklands and east London - contact via jon.massey@wharf-life.com
