The 1885 Singers are Putney’s choir, all volunteers, all local and all talented. A musical hotbed in our tiny parish of 3.52 square miles – and that goes for the orchestral ensemble too. There’s something beautiful about walking into a concert space knowing three of the singers and bumping into three others in the audience. Community spirit warmed up All Saints Church by the…
Secret Maps at the British Library is absolutely engrossing, 5 stars. 24 October – 18 January 2026. Of the 4 million maps in the collection, the Lead Curator of Antiquarian Maps, Tom Harper, has cherry-picked 100+ for our delectation, and as he doesn’t have enough of his own, he’s borrowed a choice few from other collections. It’s been a 5-year process.
Of the 4 million maps in…
Glyndebourne is a cultural feast, a unique package of countryside, opera, art, gardens and Sussex heritage. With Christmas fast approaching, what about gift-vouchers for Glyndebourne? It may be the very answer you’ve been looking for, for that hard-to-please in-law! Vouchers start at £20. For those with mobility issues, you can still keep them in touch with their passion by offering a…
Medieval Women at the British Library 25 October 2024 – 2 March 2025, £17 adult ticket. 5/5! AB-FAB, lots of time to catch it, allow 2+ hours, prepare to be astounded – and disgusted.
Marvellously Multisensory – they’ve got everything except TASTE (thank goodness) to delight you at this exhibition of the medieval world from a woman’s perspective. The smells of…
Bellringers at Hampstead Theatre runs between 27 September to 2 November 2024. London Mums‘ Rating: 3/5.
Real-life bellringers Daniel, Me, Paula, Susan, Evie, Fiona and Sarah
Well I’m a real bellringer and I’m very aware it’s a bit niche. I only know of one other literary work which delves into our world, The Nine Taylors, a murder mystery. So my band and I were super…
A Silk Road Oasis: Life in Ancient Dunhuang at the British Library, 27 September 2024 – 23 February 2025. 5/5 stars, allow 1-1.5 hours. This one-room exhibition offers a sometimes charming, sometimes brutal insight into life in Dunhuang, China, in the first millennium AD.
This one-room exhibition offers a sometimes charming, sometimes brutal insight into life in Dunhuang, China, in…
Discos for Grown Ups, 240 dance evenings around the country, book on Eventbrite. 4/5 stars
🙂 Live DJ
The DJ played a selection of dance hits from the 70s, 80s and 90s, to please the diverse age groups, mums and daughters, lovers and groups on mate-nights like us. The slight problem with that, according to my friend, Susan, was the 70s melodies came out sounding wishy-washy next to the drubby…
Totoro on the big screen, a perfect outing for a rainy day. The animé Titan Hayao Miyazaki has produced dozens of big hitters, but Totoro is often considered his greatest. Totoro has the cult status of Winnie-the-Pooh here.
A common theme in his movies is a childish sense of awe at the majesty of nature and the importance of respecting it. He expresses nostalgia for a pre-industrial 1950s Japan…
5/5 stars: Sublimely Ridiculous. SH!TFACED SHAKESPEARE at Leicester Square Theatre may first appear a dummit – down stunt to ensnare the Shakespeare-virgins, and my companion this evening was a perfect road-tester; a proud petrol-head who avoids Shakespeare like the pox. We look forward to hearing what he has to say.
Historically, drunk-on-duty actors may well have been the norm in Tudor…
Wanna dance, but gotta get back for the babysitter? Discos for Grown-ups is the perfect solution, starting early, ending early, and playing all those hits that rocked you as a teen.
With 47k+ bookings logged on eventbrite and 150 shows in 2024, London Mums will be sending in a team of die-hard disco Divas to find out what all the fuss is about. In case you can’t make it, there’s…