James Beeson

Slutty for cheese? Get yourself to one (or all) of these brie-lliant events.  The London Cheese Project A post shared by Julia Galvin (@juliagalvin) on Dec 30, 2016 at 7:11am PST A two-day celebration of ‘the great British cheese renaissance’, complete with talks and tastings, live music, craft beer and cocktails, is coming this May. The festival will feature one-off collaborations between urban cheesemakers and Camden Market’s street traders. Expect an appearance from The Cheese Bar and malakoffs (Swiss fried cheese balls!). Camden Market. Chalk Farm. Sat May 6-7, From 11am. Free. Cheese & Wine Pairing with La Fromagerie & Solo Supper Club A post shared by La Fromagerie (@lafromagerieuk) on Apr 5, 2017 at 4:29am PDT Indulge in three ultra-cheesy courses at this evening curated by La Fromagerie’s Ed Billings, each one paired with a different wine. The menu features a double baked cheese soufflé, Pecorino and lentil salad and a cheese plate. Be prepared to get stuck in, as the meal will be made with your own two hands. You’ll also be given recipes to recreate the dishes at home. Calthorpe Project. King’s Cross St Pancras. Fri Apr 21, 7-10:30pm. £33 (£26.40 for students). Camden Pizza Jam (Voodoo Ray’s + The Cheese Bar Collaboration) A post shared by Voodoo Ray's (@voodoorays) on Feb 25, 2017 at 8:58am PST Voodoo Ray’s have got serious skills when it comes to pizza mash-ups. They’ve previously teamed up with fried chicken pros Butchies, b

Let’s face it, dogs are great. Whether they’re fetching you a stick or begging for a treat, there’s no better companion to spend the day with. But if you’ve ever struggled to find things to do with your canine companion in London, a new dog-friendly guide book is hoping to change that.   ‘London for Dogs’ features over 120 ideas for things to do with your dog in the city. The book is handily arranged by borough, and features recommendations from popular bloggers with dogs, so you and your four-legged friend will never feel unwelcome again – from dog-friendly pubs to beauty salons where you can pamper your pooch. The book even features inspiration for short trips away, so Buster the beagle and Daisy the dachshund will never have to go into the kennels again. Check out some cute snaps of London dogs from the book:                          ‘London For Dogs’, by Sarah Guy (Ebury Press) is out now. Buy it here. Photos: Ben Rowe. In other dog news, did you spot the pug skateboarding through Clissold Park?

Like Mexican? Like Thai? Like barbecue? Then clear your schedule for next Sunday, because taco king Breddos is teaming up with the sous chef John Chantarasak from Thai restaurant Som Saa for a one-day-only collaborative feast.  Kicking off at noon and running till late, the event will feature an array of Thai-Mex dishes, from red curry short rib tacos with blackened pineapple nam prik to whole salt-crusted sea bass with habanero jaew (chilli dipping sauce, to the uninitiated) and buttermilk fried chicken wings with roast chilli jam and Thai basil. Drinks will include Singha beer, mescal margarita buckets and som tam chillibacks, so there’s no chance of you going thirsty either. It’s walk-in only, so be prepared to get down early. We’re already salivating in anticipation. Can’t get into Breddos? Get your Mexican fix elsewhere at our pick of taco restaurants.

Next weekend marks a year since we lost one of music’s greatest icons. Pop legend Prince was a regular cover star for Time Out throughout the years and is fondly remembered by millions living across the capital. What better way to celebrate the life and achievements of the seven-time Grammy award-winning artist than at one of these Prince-themed events? Grab a ticket, party on down and let the purple reign! Purple Rave – The Ultimate Prince Party Prince super-fans and Glastonbury/Bestival veterans Rob da Bank and Tayo have teamed up for an extra special DJ set at the Clapham Grand. The night will also feature live music from tribute band Princeless and a showing of the 1984 film ‘Purple Rain’ on a 25ft wide screen. Expect sing-along anthems, amazing remixes and incredible cover versions long into the night. Clapham Grand. Fri Apr 21.      Prince Party at the Macbeth Hoxton’s Macbeth pub, which has been hosting music and arts events for well over 100 years, is putting on a big night to celebrate everyone’s favourite sexy mutha humper. Drop by their shrine (yes), party like it’s 1999 among the purple balloons and raise a glass to the dearly loved Purple Majesty on the one-year anniversary of his departure. The Macbeth. Fri Apr 21. 9pm.   The South London Soul Train – Prince One Year Anniversary Special For those of you who want to celebrate Prince but have plans on Friday night, The South London Soul Train are putting on an epic extravaganza of funk, soul, disco and Motown ov

There’s no such thing as a free lunch. But there is such thing as a cheap lunch (or dinner for that matter), and that’s exactly what you can get when the new Soho branch of steak restaurant and cocktail bar Foxlow’s opens next month. The folks behind Hawksmoor are opening up a fourth all-day restaurant in the centre of London, serving up slow-smoked ribs, superlative fried chicken and hulking great steaks to the masses. The soft launch runs from Monday May 8 and continues until dinner on Saturday May 13, and you can get a whopping 50 percent off food at brunch (from 9am), lunch and dinner by emailing soho@foxlow.co.uk with the following information: - Your name - Your preferred date(s) - The number of guests (maximum six) - Whether you’d like to book for brunch, lunch or dinner - Your email address and telephone number  Looking for more cheap eats? Check out 15 dishes for a fiver and under.

A post shared by Science Museum (@sciencemuseum) on Feb 6, 2017 at 4:53am PST Yeah, bank holidays are great when the sun is shining. But what happens if the rain pours and the clouds in the sky just won’t go away? Here’s a list of five great museum exhibitions where you definitely won’t get wet this weekend.   Robots at the Science Museum 500 years of robotic history are packing into this entertaining and slightly creepy exhibition at the Science Museum. Expect to see a few famous faces from science-fiction, as well as real life examples, like a sixteenth-century mechanical monk and an animatronic, wall-mounted baby. Unnerving. A post shared by Science Museum (@sciencemuseum) on Feb 9, 2017 at 8:39am PST People Power: Fighting for Peace at the Imperial War Museum In a week where protesting has taken centre stage, this excellent documentation of a century’s worth of activism is well worth a visit. People Power: Fighting for Peace takes in protests from the outbreak of the First World War all the way through to the huge anti-Iraq demonstrations of 2003. A rich, inspiring and patriotic history lesson. A post shared by m a p s o s a 🎆 (@oddlm) on Apr 11, 2017 at 2:30pm PDT Josef Frank: Patterns–Furniture–Painting at the Fashion and Textile Museum Josef Frank’s fresh and outward-looking style of fabrics are the visual and emotional equivalent of a cup of tea and a nice sit-down. An Austrian Jew who, against a pa

Feeling competitive? Swingers, London’s first permanent crazy golf bar, has announced a tournament to find London’s ultimate crazy golf champion. The Swingers Open, which starts on April 24 and runs until September 11, will pit teams of eight against other companies from the same industry. The winners of each round will receive a boozy luxury hamper courtesy of Tanqueray TEN and a place in the semi-finals on September 4. What’s more, win the grand final and your team will win a trip to Paris including first class Eurostar travel, a night at Le Grand Pigalle, dinner and a Tanqueray experience. If that isn’t a hole in one, we don’t know what is. The victors will also receive the coveted Swingers Trophy and champion green jackets, designed by Gresham Blake. Entry to the tournament is a hefty £160 per team, but this includes a cocktail on arrival (essential pre-game preparation), plus food from one of Swinger’s street food vendors, which includes Patty & Bun, Pizza Pilgrims and Bubbledogs. Swingers, which opened in April of last year, features two nine-hole courses with a variety of obstacles including lighthouses, a loop-the-loop and even a rotating windmill. Think your golf skills are above par? Email open@swingersLDN.com to enter. Swingers is at 8 Brown’s Buildings, EC3A 8AL. Want more fun and games? A rooftop in Stratford is being transformed into the ultimate playground this summer.

Bank holiday travel can be an absolute nightmare. You’re headed home for the Easter weekend. You arrive at the station, laden down with rapidly melting chocolate eggs and dirty laundry. Then, disaster strikes. Those pesky folks at TfL have decided to carry out engineering works, and your tube line isn’t running. Even if you’re not leaving London, you still need to get around – unless you plan on spending the entire long weekend on a sofa, obviously. Although given that TfL is planning disruption on SIX lines, we wouldn’t blame you if you did. But don’t panic, we’ve put together a full list of all the planned engineering works to get you where you need to be this weekend.   TfL Rail Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday: No service. Victoria Line Sunday and Monday: No service. Literally nothing to see here. District and Hammersmith & City Lines Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday: No service between Aldgate East and West Ham. Circle Line Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday: Part closed, but stations will remain open and served by other lines.  Metropolitan Line Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday: No service between Wembley Park and Uxbridge or Northwood. There will also be engineering and maintenance work on parts of the DLR, Overground and tram network across the weekend, so expect some delays. Full details of alternative travel options, in addition to information and maps of the work taking place over Easter, are available on TfL’s website. 

Crack out the sun cream and put on your sunglasses, because Open House, a free entry event organised by British Summer Time and presented by Barclaycard, is returning to Hyde Park this July. Sandwiched in between two weekends of shows from the likes of Green Day, Justin Bieber and The Killers, Open House is a free four-day extravaganza of summer activities. On offer will be live screening of the Wimbledon Championships, live music and entertainment, an open air cinema and, naturally, plenty of street food stalls and pop-up bars. The full timetable for the cinema is yet to be announced, but you can expect live music from 10am each day, with acts such as the London Gay Men’s Chorus and Old Dirty Brasstards on the line-up. Oh, and the bars will be open from 12pm each day, so it’s the perfect excuse for some good old-fashioned daytime drinking in the sun. Fingers crossed the weather doesn’t let us down.  British Summer Time’s Open House will take place on Mon 3, Tues 4, Weds 5 and Fri 7 July in London’s Hyde Park. Find out more here. Want more alfresco fun? Check out London's best rooftop bars.

Litterbug Londoners are polluting the Thames with thousands of wet wipes, according to a new study – with a whopping 277 wipes found in just one square metre of the riverbed. The findings, released by Thames21 as part of a Thames River Watch citizen science event called The Big Count, revealed over 4,500 wet wipes were found in one 154m squared patch of foreshore. The density of wet wipes also increased further away from the shore, suggesting that these figures could be the tip of a very dirty iceberg. Unlike plastic bottles, which float, wet wipes are heavy and sink to the bottom of the river. It is thought that Londoners are guilty of flushing the wipes down their toilets, unaware that the products are not biodegradable. When the city’s Victorian sewerage system overflows (on average once a week), huge numbers of wipes make their way into the Thames, endangering its wildlife. A recent study found that more than seven in ten Thames flounder (it’s a fish) had plastic in their stomachs. Thames21 Chief Executive Debbie Leach said: ‘These figures reveal the shocking extent to which wet wipes are wrecking the Thames riverbed. It’s crucial that people bin their wet wipes, not flush them.’   In other dirty findings, tube passengers are exposed to ‘eight times more pollution than motorists’.   And here’s an app that shows you the least polluted routes through London.