Wharf Life, Sept 28-Oct 12, 2022

inside

The

Sophie Goddard

Wharf Life Hacks

Stephen Dudeney -

Astronomy Photography

Bow Arts -

Leaside Lock - The

Orchard Wharf -

Fresh Wharf -

sign uphere to get Wharf Life’s free, weekly newsletter in your inbox

what’s on things to do, places to go, people to see

Where? Crossrail Place Roof Garden Canary Wharf

HEALTH | Meditation And Mindfulness

In recognition of World Mental Health Day, Dr Padma Coram will be leading free, two-hour meditation sessions in Canary Wharf.

Oct 10, noon, 5pm, free, canarywharf.com

Where? Montgomery Square Canary Wharf

EXPERIENCE | Dark eld

Oct 12-16, 19-23, times vary, from £10, canarywharf.com

Where? Canada Square Canary Wharf

ash back

Find out how Third Space’s massive facility in Canary Wharf is fully equipped to help commuters and residents make the most of every single tness session. And there’s currently no joining fee thirdspace.london

Scan this code to read our interview with Third Space elite personal trainer Stephanie Whitehead

read

feast your eyes on these

Every issue Wharf Life covers six areas surrounding Canary Wharf to bring you the best of what’s going on beyond the estate From Page 33 the joy of six

get in touch

correct us we want to hear from you need something xed?

Editorial email info@wharf-life.com call 07765 076 300

Advertising email jess.maddison@wharf-life.com call 07944 000 144

Go to wharf-life.com for more information

Our editorial team works hard to ensure all information printed in Wharf Life is truthful and accurate. Should you spot any errors that slip through the net or wish to raise any issues about the content of the publication, please get in touch and we will investigate

Email info@wharf-life.com

We meet Richard Hilton, the man behind the fabulous Fairgame

What it’s like to dine at M – Canary Wharf’s gastronomic playground

The Canary Wharf PA Show is all set for its November launch

Welcome to the 73rd issue of Wharf Life. There’s a lot to see and do in Canary Wharf and the surrounding area right now, with the launch of epic funfair-themed venue Fairgame at the top of the wishlist. Just don’t miss out on M, The Canary Wharf PA Show, Taca Taco and Stanton Williams’ modern Henge...

SKATE | Ice Rink Canary Wharf

There’s no clearer sign that winter is coming than the arrival of the ice in Canada Square, back for another year alongside the O Piste Bar.

Oct 22-Feb 25, from £19.95, icerinkcanarywharf.co.uk

The immersive thrillers return to Canary Wharf with Eulogy, Flight and Coma all set to run chilling ngers down your spine in the darkness.

Trinity Buoy Wharf welcomes Wandering The Wilderness

Taca Taco has landed in Deptford Market Yard –all you need to know

Bow Arts’ founder Marcel Baettig on housing London’s creative community and buying the charity’s rst space in Bromley-ByBow, as its work continues to secure a ordable space for artists

on the radar

Canary Wharf Group has launched the Canary Wharf App, with news, o ers and listings for the estate. Available on Android and iOS, there’s even a month-long competition with a prize of a £500 Canary Wharf gift card for new users with newsletter sign-up canarywharf.com need to know

less on and around the Wharf

Sports and leisure facility In2Sports has opened its doors at Wood Wharf’s Harbord Square. It o ers a multi-purpose sports hall, a room that can be used for Yoga or CrossFit and a training room – all available for hire with community discounts in2sports.org

Former London Fire Brigade borough commander for Tower Hamlets, Steve Dudeney has written London Fire ghter, a chronicle of his 31-year career in the service

Wine Fair nicolas.com

Family musician David Gibb launches an album in Limehouse

cosmos

National

Museum

words

you need qwasi

adjective, fake, from New English

Bearing some resemblance to, say the tax cuts of former chancellor Anthony Barber in 1972, made when in ation was only 7.3%, that failed to generate growth and saw the value of the pound fall sharply. Hell in a handkwart?

apricity

noun, real, from Old English

A little-known term for the warmth of the sun when felt on the skin in the winter months, possible creating a yearning for April and spring. Possibly invented for Henry Cockeram’s dictionary in 1623

GIG The Blackbyrds

Boisdale Of Canary Wharf, Oct 25-29, 9pm, from £24 boisdale.co.uk

Audiences can expect jazz-funk and r’n’b from The Blackbyrds, who are set to play ve nights at Boisdale Of Canary Wharf in October. Assembled in the mid-1970s in Washington DC by legendary trumpeter Donald Byrd, their output has been sampled by everyone from De La Soul to Massive Attack.

cut short

Executions, Museum Of London Docklands Oct 14-Apr 16, £15

We’ve just entered the new Carolean period, but what of the Caroline – the reign of King Charles I? Executions is a new exhibition set to open at the Museum Of London Docklands in October. It will use objects, paintings and projections – including a vest reportedly worn by King Charles I when he was executed – to examine and illuminate nearly 700 years of public killings and how those events have shaped the city we know today. Visitors to the exhibition can also expect a recreation of the Tyburn gallows – a structure used to hang people near Marble Arch – and the last letters of condemned individuals. Go to museumo ondon.org.uk

DESIGN - Henge Wren Landing, Canary Wharf free, until October 20 canarywharf.com

This installation by architects Stanton Williams has been placed in Canary Wharf as part of this year’s London Design Festival.

Henge, we’re told, “is inspired by the Neolithic stone structures that create a space separate from the outside world,” and has been created from pieces of 150million-year-old Jurassic limestone and modern plywood with lighting designed to play on the textured surfaces of its components.

In contrast to the suspected sacred uses of the historic structures it takes its layout from, Henge is intended as a “participatory sculptural form” –something we spotted one young Wharfer embracing following the installation’s placement.

Its position, just down from Cabot Square towards the oating bridge over to West India Quay, makes it a pleasant place to eat outside or as a place to take a breather and re ect during a busy day.

Failing that, it might serve East End pagans as a 21st century update for those who don’t fancy a lengthy trip to Salisbury Plain. Go to londondesignfestival.com for more information

Toploader have performed as a trio since reforming in 2009 to record their album Only Human

GIG - Toploader Boisdale Of Canary Wharf, Cabot Square October 20, 9.30pm, from £19 boisdale.co.uk

Whether it’s Dancing In The Moonlight, Achilles Heel or any of the other big tunes from Onka’s Big Moka (a titled inspired by an anthropological documentary about Papua New Guinea rather than a co ee order), Toploader are preparing to once again blast their late Britpop anthems out to Wharfers. Having disbanded in 2003 and reformed six years later, the current line-up includes three of the ve original members, namely frontman Joseph Washbourn, Rob Green and Dan Hipgrave, who is also well known as a writer.

Canary Wharf subscribe to our newsletter and get Wharf Life content in your inbox each week for free

SCAN TO

by Jon Massey

Fairgame is something fresh. While competitive socialising has been around for a while in Canary Wharf, it’s almost as though Electric Shuffle and the brightly coloured minigolf by Craig And Karl, were gateway drugs. This new venue is a pure sugar rush of grown-up silliness.

Overseen by a cheerful, furry pink bear, who may have been to a few too many illegal raves in the 1990s, Fairgame is a vast, 20,000sq ft funfair-themed bar, playground and street-food hangout. There are cocktails, pizza, nine games to try and Prosecco-infused candy floss.

The venue’s owners have taken spaces once occupied by Davy’s, The Limehouse and The Merchant and knocked through to make a massive space with a terrace stretching down Fishermans Walk.

Don’t worry too much about finding it, though. Helpfully there’s a five-metre rubber duck sat in the dock right outside.

That, in itself, is a statement both of location for the venue, but also of wider intent for Canary Wharf. What better way to let London know the direction the estate is headed, than by pointing the way with a giant yellow duck?

Like the dock its aquatic land mark sits in, however, Fairgame is more than just the ersatz glamour of a dodgy funfair. Behind the fun is a serious operation run by some big names and the activities are scrupulously honest.

Fairgame’s co-founders include Paul Campbell of Hill Capital Partners, who sits on the boards of Hawksmoor, The Alchemist and Blacklock, and music industry lawyer Andrew Myers. But it’s Gymbox founder and now CEO of this new venture Richard Hilton who takes me on at Gopher Broke, the venue’s update of Whac-A-Mole.

“Fairgame is a revolution,” said the Watford-born entrepreneur. “We want people who come here to feel elated. That goes for our staff too – it’s vital they enjoy what they’re doing to create that environment.

“When I was a little kid, I used to love going to the funfair. It would come round once a year and my parents would take me. The games were magical – the chance to win a prize.

“When you transition to being a parent yourself you realise it’s really expensive and the expe rience is a bit grotty, but there’s still something magical about the games – you can’t help but love playing them and that’s what I want people to feel, here in Canary Wharf.”

While there’s a whiff of nostalgia about Fair game – its tagline is that it’s the funfair “exactly like you don’t remember” – the games aren’t fixed or charged individ ually, they’re played purely for the pleasure of competition, although cuddly bears are given as prizes for those who do especially well.

“We’ve genuinely reinvented them,” said Richard. “Every game has tech in it so people will be playing really slick games and competing. You can play in groups of two, five, 10, 15 or even 100 – which is great for a corporate day out – the number is unlimited.

“You’ll be able to see how you’ve done in individual games through our leader boards and overall, once you’ve played all nine. We incentivise people with the bears, but really it’s the joy of beating the people you’re with that you’re playing for.”

Fairgame is a revolution.

We want people who come here to feel elated.

That goes for our staff too – it’s vital they enjoy what they’re doing

Players pay £13 per person, which gets then 75 minutes to tackle each of the nine games at the venue, twice. Packages that include food and drink are also available.

Playing is not mandatory, however, and Wharfers are free simply to visit the venue for cock tails at the Bumper Bar or dishes from on-site vendors Burger And Beyond, Rudy’s Pizza Napoletana and Dos Mas Tacos. Its terrace gets the sun in the evening and

Richard Hilton, Fairgame how Fairgame is set to change how Wharfers socialise when it officially opens up its doors on October 4

a venue like no

While bears are not awarded as prizes for individual games, they are given as prizes for those who do especially well

Fairgame plans to install covered seating and heaters for comfort.

Inside, visitors will find plenty of flashing lights, two bars, semi-private booths, a private events space, a candy floss and sweets bar and all the pun-tastic games.

Fairgame has reimagined and re-branded a multitude of classics such as Lawn Of The Dead, inspired by crown green bowling, Pantry Pandemonium – a game where missiles are thrown to knock targets off shelves and Circus Freak, where contestants try to accurately aim a water gun to raise a clown’s head faster than their opponents. It’s the variety that Richard thinks will be key to the venue’s success.

“I don’t have a favourite – I love them all,” he said. “That was the joy in selecting them – I chose the ones I enjoyed the most and was best at.

“

Final Furlong – our roller derby – is great and we also have one called Dunk The Junk, which hasn’t been made since the 1970s. You have to try and get as many balls as you can into these rubbish bins, but the lids keep opening and closing so you have to time it just right. I love it.

continued on Page 8

Open Evening and Morning for prospective parents and pupils. Tour the school, meet the Principal, pupils and staff. We have places available for Year 7 and all year groups. All pupils sit GCSE Biology, Chemistry and Physics. Unique Enrichment Programme of visits and talks. Range of subjects offered includes Computer Science, Astronomy, Philosophy, Classics and Ancient Greek.

Sign up to Fairgame’s newsletter for 50% off during soft launch until October 2

Images by Matt Grayson – find more of his work at graysonphotos.co.uk or @mattgrayson_photo on Insta

9Funfair games to play at Fairgame where visitors paying £13 each get 75 minutes and two attempts at each one

getting greener

Since the easing of the lockdown restrictions in 2021, we have seen increasing numbers of people returning to Canary Wharf. Between office workers, residents and visitors, up to 200,000 people come to the estate every day and that means a lot of rubbish gets deposited into our bins. You may have seen “Zero Waste to Landfill” written on those bins. But what does that really mean?

In 2021, Canary Wharf Group decided to take control of our waste management operations by bringing it in-house. That means we have greater control of how closely rubbish is monitored, how it’s transported and where it ends up.

Our strategy is based on a hierarchy. Before anything else, we aim to prevent waste being created in the first place. After prevention comes minimisation and then reuse, recy cling, energy recovery and, finally, disposal.

When rubbish does end up in one of our bins, every item gets taken to our loading bays by our electric waste lorries to be sorted by our staff. Items are separated by type of material in the waste, which helps us identify the most appro priate disposal route.

We then load the separated waste onto barges, where it is then transported via the Thames to its end destination.

We estimate that, by moving rubbish this way, instead of using lorries, we reduce emissions by around 10% annually. If you’re interested in finding out the end destinations for all of our waste streams, you can find our Operational Waste Strategy on our website.

Taking our waste manage ment operations in-house is an exciting step, but we know we have more to do.

If you have ideas for how we can move forward, please get in touch.

Sophie Goddard is director of sustainability at Canary Wharf Group and can be contacted via sustainability@canarywharf.com

Go to canarywharf.com or breakingtheplastichabit.co.uk

Scan this code for more information on sustainability in Canary Wharf

Page

“The majority come from the USA, but one – Phoney Island –our version of a duck shoot, comes from Oldham and is made by a guy who just takes joy in creating games.

“They all test different abilities – shooting, throwing, hitting – the idea was to do something more stimulating than having a venue dedicated to one thing.

“The reason funfair games are great is the variety, and nobody else has thought about putting them together like this in a circuit.”

Richard himself has history as an entrepreneur. Having started out in the advertising world, he spotted Crunch while working in New York and created Gymbox in 2001 for the London market.

“I saw something in the States and wondered why nobody had done it in Britain,” said Richard, who sold most of his shares in 2016, while remaining a director of the company.

“I was going to retire, but realised I was too young. My wife definitely wasn’t ready for me to give up work, so I began to look into something called competitive socialising.

“If I go out, I’m quite happy sitting in a pub and talking to a friend, but the younger generation want a bit more.

“So I had a go on one of the golf concepts but found it a bit repetitive. That’s where the idea for Fairgame came from.

“The reason we picked Canary Wharf for the first one is that it’s a really interesting area and now that Crossrail is here, it’s even more accessible.

“There’s the business commu nity but with Wood Wharf and the areas around the estate, there’s a large residential population too.

“You’re getting brands like Hawksmoor and Patty&Bun that I don’t think would have opened a decade ago – it’s evolving and changing. I live on the other side of London and it’s not what I thought it would be.

“That’s thanks to Canary Wharf Group – there’s a vision for the place and it’s going to get even better, especially now its five minutes from Liverpool Street and 13 from Tottenham Court Road. It’s an exciting journey when you think what it was like even five years ago and it’s great to be a part of it.”

Go to wearefairgame.com for more details or to book

Scan this code to find out more about Fairgame

480Jon Massey’s winning score on Gopher Broke while playing Fairgame CEO Richard Hilton – a contest that never need be repeated, now we know who’s best

Our strategy is based on a hierarchy. Before anything else, we aim to prevent waste being created in the first place

Sophie Goddard, Canary Wharf Group

by Sophie Goddard

Canary Wharf’s waste is now managed in-house

Fairgame co-founder and CEO Richard Hilton squirts water to raise a clown’s head up to the ceiling in the game Circus Freak

Dunk The Junk

The wall of bears also acts as a decent selfie location for the ‘Gram

Final Furlong

Space Race and Circus Freak

Pantry Pandemonium

Images by Matt Grayson – find more of his work at graysonphotos.co.uk or @mattgrayson_photo on Insta

As the razor edge of my steak knife slices cleanly through the butter-soft hunk of USDA prime fillet steak from Cedar Rivers Farm in Colorado, I find myself wanting to use words like “clinical precision” to describe how M has been put together.

The interior of the recently opened restaurant, arranged over the lower floors of Newfoundland tower, has been laid out with surgical perfection.

There are irregular quadri laterals of neatly cut wood on the floor and seagull-themed lights gliding over the heads of diners, illuminating blue leather seats beneath.

Everything has the gloss of quality and the sparkle of expense, from the Thamesthemed wine tasting area to the heated toilet seats in the bathrooms.

But the reason M demands attention, is not the seamless clarity with which it’s been conceived or the accuracy of that realisation.

That’s just scenery. Nor is it the faultless cooking with sublime ingredients. It’s because M wears all of this with impossible lightness and dares to convey an almost prepos terous sense of fun.

It’s an atmosphere that I suspect owes much to owner, Martin Williams. Sharply dressed, he certainly looks the part, but it would be naive to interpret M as a basic ego trip, despite its front door coming in the form of a giant illuminated version of his first initial.

There’s no self worship here – instead M is the result of Martin’s years of toil in the restaurant trade, finding what’s good, working to ensure its sustainable credentials and then being confident in sharing those things with the world.

This isn’t a place of fusty reverence or hushed tones as dishes are revealed. This is a venue with a wheel of fortune where, for £68, diners can play steak roulette with the possi bility of winning Kobe Grade 10* fillet – normally £150.

I miss out on the top prize – my US cut weighing in at £52 instead – but as the menu rightly points out, there are no losers. Half the pleasure was in the gamble, anyway.

For a few brief revolutions I was in possession of Schroding

Scan this code to find out more about M or to book a table

er’s Kobe and that was easily worth taking the £16 hit.

Better than my excellent beef was the soft, silken mound of burrata de grasse. At £13.50 this proved to be a fully-fla voured bag of cheese, keenly offset by the acid of the little confit tomatoes sat all round it.

Alongside a crate-to-plate salad (£6.50) – with ingredients grown locally on the Isle Of Dogs – and a rich, filling cheese board (£13), every part of the meal was executed precisely. Put together, the dishes became greater than the sum of their parts.

That was also true of the whole experience. As a base line, the food and drink were excellent. But it was the warmth of the welcome, the lights playing on the dark waters of the dock outside and the thrill of spinning a big wheel that will see me return again and again. That and the beautiful burrata, of course.

Go to mrestaurants.co.uk

Canary Wharf

taste test

M restaurant, Canary Wharf

Price to play steak roulette at M restaurant in Canary Wharf’s Newfoundland tower

Clockwise from top, M’s cheese board, burrata de grasse, USDA prime fillet steak and crate-to-plate salad

Bus route 241 now runs between Stratford City bus station and Royal Wharf.

Buses will connect to Pontoon Dock station for DLR services, Royal Wharf pier for river boat services, and Custom House for ExCeL station for both DLR and new Elizabeth line services.

This is one of the ways we’re helping improve your journeys around London. Download TfL Go for live bus times

by Jon Massey

Community” is the word on the lips of Lisa Farnfield. As Mash Media sales director, she’s responsible for organising the first PA Show Canary Wharf, which is set to take place on November 2 at the East Wintergarden in Bank Street – and she’s determined to make it a place of connection as well as business.

Mash runs The PA Show at Excel – a nationwide gathering of those working as personal, executive and virtual assistants or office managers – which is gearing up for its 12th edition when it returns to Royal Docks in March.

Building on the success of this year’s show, the company decided to try something new in the interim.

“The PA Show Canary Wharf will be an intimate event for those working in the sector in London, that we’re holding due to popular demand,” said Lisa. “It’s boutique – a way for people to come and meet suppliers, connect with likeminded people and learn from the great content we’ll be putting on.

“The East Wintergarden is a great venue, exactly the right size, and it has great facilities at the heart of Canary Wharf. There will be two theatres on the day, one focused on tech and the other on personal development.

“Speakers include Abigail Jones, an EA at Instagram, Lauren Bradley, founder and lead trainer at The Officials, Abigail Barnes founder and CEO at Success By Design Training and Sarah Howson and Marianne Whitlock – co-founders of Strategic PA Recruitment.

“It’s a chance for people to brush up on their skills and to come together – especially as being a PA, EA or VA can be an isolated position.

“The show is just in the run-up to Christmas and it will have a really special feel to it. We’ve got corporates and companies coming along – venues, restaurants, bars, hotels – a lovely selection of high quality businesses.

“Our focus will be the PA community and we’ll be running continued on Page 14

show ready for the

Canary Wharf

how The PA Show Canary Wharf is set to help people connect as it arrives on estate

Theatres packed with tech and personal development content at The PA Show Canary Wharf

Image by Matt Grayson – find more of his work at graysonphotos.co.uk or @mattgrayson_photo on Insta

Lisa says she wants the event to bring PAs, EAs, VAs and office managers together at the East Wintergarden

some great activities during the show, such as speed networking and a prize draw.

“We’ll also be inviting everyone who attends to after-show drinks so that our visitors and exhibitors can wind down together and connect.

“That’s what people want and it’s our job as an organiser to tune into that – to make sure we have the right content and the right suppliers. Our experience with this new style of event will also feed into the main flagship show in March – our all-singing, all-dancing gathering of the sector nationally.”

Visitors to the East Winter-

garden will get access to The PA Show Passport allowing them to get stamps from exhibitors to qualify for a goody bag and entry into a prize draw.

Prizes include a £500 gift card from passport sponsor Harrods Corporate Services and Eastbourne Tennis corporate hospitality tickets for four from Keith Prowse.

Exhibitor slots at the show have nearly sold out, with only a couple remaining.

Lisa, who used to live and work in Docklands, said: “I think that’s about location – being in Canary Wharf has drawn people’s attention. Live events are back and people want to go to them. It’s not just about putting on a show, it’s about putting on an experience.

“There’s so much change in this area, it’s important for people to know what’s coming up.

“We want people to say: ‘Wow, that was a great experience’ –that’s our main aim with this more intimate show, a very select group of exhibitors and a layout that allows people to stay connected throughout the event.

“On a personal level, I’m thrilled to be back in Canary Wharf. There’s a real community here, not just for those who work here, but among those who live locally. It’s really meaningful to come back and deliver something like this here.”

Lisa said planning for this event had also informed how Mash will evolve the main PA Show when it returns to Excel from March 1-2.

“Because it takes place in spring it will have a different feel, but it will be a more intimate experience,” she said.

“We’ll be having five theatres but also more activities to attract a wider, larger audience.

“It’s about what we can do to make sure there’s a real buzz on the show floor.

“Throughout there will be exhibitors that really pull people in and we’ll have the PA Passport and speed networking – some of the things we’ve developed for this smaller show. We’re always striving to ensure the layout and ingredients that go into the show are both as good as they can be so we deliver something that people want to return to again and again.

● PAs, EAs, VAs, office managers and those in similar roles can attend The PA Show Canary Wharf – sponsored by South Western Railway – for free. Registration is essential for entry. Theatre sessions cost £42 including VAT. Visitors can get 10% off through Wharf Life with code 1009

Go to thepashow.com for more information

Canary Wharf

Scan this code for more about The PA Show Canary Wharf

The PA Show Canary Wharf will take place at the East Wintergarden in Bank Street

It’s not just about putting on a show, it’s about putting on an experience

Lisa Farn eld, Mash Media

Being part of the crowds during the Queen’s lying-in-state gave me time to reflect on what she meant to our country and indeed the world. Countless tributes were paid to Her Majesty during that period of mourning.

I had the honour and privilege to meet the Queen in 2017, when Peter Behrend and I represented our company at a Buckingham Palace reception to celebrate Creative Virtual winning the Queen’s Award For Innovation – an unforgettable experience.

What resonated with me when listening to the personal accounts of other people who had met her, was how she made a special connection with individuals.

For me, the legacy of Queen Elizabeth II will be giving us the courage and hope to face the future.

In a world of rapid change, she demon strated that great leadership transcends the turmoil around us.

Being true to her word and building strong lifetime relationships were the essence of what made the Queen one of the greatest leaders the world has ever known.

Her steadfastness and loyalty are an inspiration for future generations. She leaves us with a renewed hope for the positive force of community spirit and

the importance of standing together as a nation.

She epitomised that strong British spirit and courage that has got us through some of the toughest times in history.

She leaves us with a sense of being part of something bigger – bound together in a kingdom that she kept united for as long as many of us can remember.

It’s a reminder of our country’s important role in the world.

As we grieve for the Queen, we should reflect on her own words that “grief is the price we pay for love”.

Queen Elizabeth II will live in our hearts forever, may she rest in peace and rise in glory.

marking a farewell

Chris Ezekiel is founder and CEO of customer engagement solutions specialist Creative Virtual based at West India Quay’s Cannon Workshops Follow @creativevirtual and @chrisezekiel on Twitter

virtual viewpoint by Chris Ezekiel

Scan this code for more information about Creative Virtual

70Years and 214 days – the length of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign in Britain, the longest of any British monarch and the longest verified reign of any female sovereign. Only Louis XIV of France reigned for longer, at 72 years and 110 days

Advertising screens turned off in honour of the Queen at Canary Wharf Jubilee line station on September 19 to mark her funeral

Third Space print Wrap online thirdspace.london

Kidd Rapinet Solicitors print Pages 1, 4, 13, 15 online kiddrapinet.co.uk

New Scientist Live print Page 3 online newscientistlive.com/wharf-life

M Restaurant print Page 5 online mrestaurants.co.uk

Harris Science Academy print Page 7 online harrisscienceeastlondon.org.uk

TfL print Page 11 online t .gov.uk

Fives Docklands print Page 14 online football5s.com

Guinness Homes print Page 24 online leasidelock.com

jess.maddison@wharf-life.com

here

Ballymore print Page 25 online riverscape.co.uk

Countryside print Page 27 online countrysidepartnerships.com

Hamptons print Page 28, 29 online hamptons.co.uk

Galliard Homes print Page 30 online galliardhomes.com

Perfect Waxing print Page 32 online perfectwaxing.uk

Rooms To Breathe print Page 32 online rooms-2-breathe.co.uk

London Burger House print Page 32 online londonburger.com

Wharf Life is published by Massey Maddison Limited and printed by Ili e Print Cambridge. Copyright Massey Maddison Limited 2021 In regard to advertising material submitted by third parties and printed in Wharf Life, each individual advertiser is solely responsible for the content of such material Massey Maddison Limited accepts no responsibility for the content of advertising material, including, without limitation, any error, omission or inaccuracy therein

David Gibb is set to perform his family-focused songs at Half Moon Theatre on October 29

launch attending the

how family music favourite David Gibb is set to unveil his brand new album for kids and parents

by Jon Massey

The October half-term is on the horizon, so here’s an event for parents seeking a family event to put in the diary. Musician and storyteller David Gibb is set to launch his latest album with two shows at the Half Moon Theatre in Limehouse on October 29.

He’ll be sharing songs and tales from the new record –Pedal Onwards – as well as performing tracks from his

back catalogue, which spans an eclectic mix of styles including soul, rock, folk, jazz and funk.

Billed as a musical rendition of a childhood spent on two wheels, David’s latest album was inspired by growing up with a cycling-obsessed father.

Audiences can expect stories of toe-curling embar-

Scan

rassment at being picked up by a parent in full Lycra alongside fonder memories of local children queuing up to have their bikes serviced by his dad.

David will be joined for both shows by multi-instrumentalist Oli Matthews and double bassist Sean Law.

The shows are suitable for all ages, with plenty of opportunity to sing along.

Tickets cost £7 for the performances, which are set to take place at 11am and 2pm on October 29. Go to halfmoon.org.uk for more information

what’s on things to do, places to go, people to see

Where? Troxy Limehouse

GIG | Public Service Broadcasting

Known mainly by their pompous stage names, this London band plays banjo, samples, drums, ugelhorn, and vibraslap. High quality nonsense.

Oct 13, 7-11pm, from £38.05, troxy.co.uk

Where? Tower Of London Tower Hill

EVENT | Halloween At The Tower

Ghosts of those who spent their nal days within will whisper menacing tales as you explore Traitors’ Gate, the Sca old Site and the Bloody Tower. Oct 22-3, included in usual ticket price, hrp.org.uk

Where? Wilton’s Music Hall Wapping

STAGE | A Dead Body In Taos

Sam is sent on a journey of discovery to New Mexico after the body of her estranged mum is found in the desert with a note pinned to her.

Oct 26-Nov 12, 7.30pm, from £13.50, wiltons.org.uk

diary date

Scan this code to nd out more about the performance or to make a booking for one of the shows

Musical fantasia Only An Octave Apart is set to run at Wilton’s Music Hall until October 22 featuring veteran drag performer Justin Vivian Bond and countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo. Expect quality duets. Tickets from £21 wiltons.org.uk

Shows David will play to launch Pedal Onwards

out

about

shows

fires writing

Former London Fire Brigade borough commander for Hackney and Tower Hamlets has written a book about his experiences in the service

Image by Jon Massey

how Stephen Dudeney’s London Firefighter chronicles his 31-year career battling blazes in Tower Hamlets and Hackney

by Jon Massey

There’s a circle to this story – it begins and ends with the printed word. Stephen Dudeney grew up in Poplar, just down the road from its fire station. As a boy in the 1970s, he was fascinated with the fire engines, even chasing them on his bike when he was old enough to ride.

“I loved them,” he said. “When I was about 12 I started going to the big library in Mile End to look at picture books full of them.

“Then, one day, I saw a book with a really bright cover – loads of flames and fire engines. I pulled it off the shelf, and it was just full of text. I was disappointed, but I started reading it and found I quite liked it.”

It was an encounter that fed what was already a growing passion and Gordon Honeycombe’s Red Watch about firefighers in Paddington and Denis Smith’s Report From Engine Co. 82 about a fire crew in New York added further fuel to the flames.

Stephen said: “Gordon, who was then an ITN newsreader, had done a lot of charity work with the London Fire Brigade, and his book was a bestseller. It’s known as the book that launched a thousand careers because a lot of people – a bit older than me –had read it and decided to join.”

While Stephen had always been fascinated by fires, once harassing his dad to take him to see a big blaze in Wapping, his journey to becoming a firefighter really began aged 14 when he and a friend volunteered to help out at Poplar fire station.

“We turned up on bonfire night because we knew it would be busy and offered to make the tea and cook some dinner for them,” he said. “We both expected them to tell us to go away. I remember them saying ‘Thank you very much’ and we were expecting a ‘but’.

“Instead, they said: ‘We’d love you to. Come on Thursday night, about six’. So we did.

“It was a different time, that’s not something that could happen now – just imagine, an unaccompanied

We turned up at the re station on bon re night and o ered to make the tea and cook some dinner for the re ghters. That couldn’t happen now

Stephen Dudeney, Author

14-year-old at the station. Looking back, I expect they thought I was a poor kid, which I wasn’t really. I don’t think they thought I’d end up as a firefighter – I probably didn’t seem intelligent to them.

the hoses. I hope this book shines a light on the modern brigade and how firefighting is a bit of London history. I want people to come away thinking we’re not a bad bunch.

what’s on things to do, places to go, people to see

Where? The Space Westferry Road

time. It changed me at school too – I

“But I’d join in with all the banter and I used to go down the pub with them – fancy being given a pint at that age. It was a good time. It changed me at school too – I started using that banter at school and the other kids probably thought I was a bit of a live wire.

“I was probably fairly bright and had been doing well with my studies but I know I was a bit of a disappointment to my parents because, having been put in the advanced classes with good reports, at that time I decided I didn’t need to worry about all that because I was going to be a fireman.”

Stephen joined the brigade in 1987, with his first shift the day after the King’s Cross fire that claimed the lives of 31 people.

His 31-year career saw him serve at all the fire stations in Tower Hamlets, rising first to training officer and then station officer before going on to become station commander and then borough commander for Hackney in 2013. Then, as Tower Hamlets had been placed in special measures, he returned to the area where it all began for him, finishing his career as borough commander in 2018, based at the new Millwall Fire Station on the Isle Of Dogs.

While that completed the circle career-wise for Stephen, he’s since gone one step further, publishing London Firefighter, a book that aims to give readers a sense of the evolution of the London Fire Brigade during his more than three decades of service.

“The changes have been massive over that time,” he said. “When I joined, it was still very much the fire brigade of the post-war era.

“The big changes came through the 1990s and into the 2000s, and it’s now completely unrecognisable.

“We used to do a lot more of a lot less – it was fires, car crashes and the occasional flood.

“When you look at what’s done now – all sorts of things such as water rescue and animal rescue – the firefighters have got equipment and procedures that are so different. If I’d joined in 1957 and left in 1987, I would have recognised everything.

“Leaving in 2018, the only thing that was the same, was the water and

write a book and I’d

I retired, I thought I would do something about it.”

“I’d always had the idea that I wanted to write a book and I’d kept notes over the years – moving files over from computer to computer. Then, when I retired, I thought I would do something about it.”

While the book offers vivid first-hand accounts of what it was like for Stephen to tackle ferocious fires up close, it also offers a wider perspective on the sheer complexity of organising the service and its multitude of functions.

For example, during his career Stephen played his part in the response to such major incidents as the 1996 Docklands bombing by the IRA at South Quay on the Isle Of Dogs and the Buncefield fire – the biggest incident of its kind in peacetime Europe – when an oil storage facility exploded in 2005.

“You expect to see and experience some things as a firefighter,” he said. “I was called out to Grenfell Tower and it remains the worst thing I’ve ever seen. From a mental health point of view, I’ve largely survived the fire brigade in terms of the awful things that I saw over the years, but Grenfell really affected me.

“Since I left the service, I’ve started a company that consults and advises on fire safety and I was recently on my way to do a survey of a building when I passed the tower.

“I thought I was OK, seeing it again, but later on I couldn’t get it off my mind.

“Even though I wasn’t there over the night, when it was at its worst, it’s had a tangible effect on me and I think there will be a generation of firefighters who will feel the same, who will never forget it.”

That’s also the point of Stephen’s book. To set down what happened and who it happened to, so those events and people aren’t forgotten.

London Firefighter by Stephen Dudeney is published by Austin Macauley Publishers and is available from Amazon priced £11.99. Go to stevedude68.com or amazon.co.uk for more

Scan this code to nd out more about London Fire ghter or order a copy

STAGE | Prisms

This intense play is all romance, friendship, jealousy and secrets as four young women and a pet turkey explore early 20s angst, optimism and witchcraft. Oct 18-22, 7.30pm, £15, space.org.uk

Where? Poplar Union Poplar

GIG | Zashiki Warashi

This taiko (Japanese drums) and ute duo are set to present The Rainmaker – a musical performance of original sounds inspired by ancient traditions. Oct 22, 7pm, £10 in advance, poplarunion.com

Where? The Space Westferry Road

STAGE | The Last

This play is a one-woman adaptation of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s 1826 novel written after the death of her husband and three of her children. Oct 11-15, times vary, £15, space.org.uk

last chance

There are still two days left to see Wandering The Wilderness – an exhibition of work by painter Anna Keen at Trinity Buoy Wharf. The installation is free to visit and open until September 30 as part of Totally Thames 2022 trintybuoywharf.com

Scan this code to nd out more about Wandering The Wilderness on Anna’s website

want more?

whar ifelive

by Laura En eld

When we chat, Thorne Addyman is rumpled, tired and a little distracted. Pretty standard for someone who has launched their first restaurant –Taca Tacos – during an economic crisis. But his disarray is also due to the Deptford resident recently becoming a father.

If you think it sounds bonkers to bring new life into the world at the same time as launching a Mexican restaurant, I agree.

But Thorne said opening in Deptford Market Yard a few weeks before his daughter was born felt just right.

“I’ve been interested in the arches for a while but it’s a big commitment,” said Thorne, who has spent years cooking at pop-ups and markets.

“A year ago, I did go and view one, but didn’t feel ready. Then, it was still available in June, so I asked to have another look and it felt like the right decision to go for it. Deptford feels more alive this year and it seems like people who don’t live here are taking it more seriously and saying it is really coming up.

“I only live four minutes away and was having a baby, so that made it all very manageable.”

Reality is hitting a bit differently now he has to get up in the night for nappy changes and feeds. But Thorne does seem to be managing the juggle admirably, roping in family to help with babysitting while he preps ingredients.

The restaurant serves up six varieties of tacos, inspired by Thorne’s trips round the food truck scenes in California and Mexico – where he had his eyes opened to the amazing variations of the dish.

His menu includes the bestselling beef birria, which takes six-hours to slow-cook in a broth flavoured with four different chillies that’s then served on the side for dipping. There is also the green chile pork served with avocado, pink onions, jalapeno salsa and coriander; the chicken pibil, baja fish, pulled ‘shrooms quesataco and a black bean taco.

“There are no rules for tacos,” said Thorne. “There are combinations of flavours that work better, but it is just about carrying food to your mouth.

“Going on those trips really helped me understand how amazing Mexican food can be and how that’s missing in this country.

“It’s mind-boggling that everywhere you go they have their own styles. In Mexico City I had an Argentinian fusion taco with smoked cheese and rib-eye steak.

I’m interpreting different areas and bringing a different collection of flavours and styles to London.

“The Mexican wave is very early on and I’m hopefully catching it at the right time.”

Formerly an east Londoner, Thorne and his wife moved to Deptford in 2018 attracted by its “cool vibe”.

“It felt like there was a strong community here and such an array of food and drinks and shops as well,” he said. “Walking down the high street, it almost felt like you could be in a different country with the smells, colours and fabrics.”

Thorne is in that new baby haze, different

like you could be in a different smells,

As we talk I can sense Thorne is in that new baby haze, where parents are prone to streams of consciousness.

“It is still in the phase where it’s all very new and we’re like: ‘What is this thing How do we keep it alive ’,” he said.

My request for some career background is met with a 20-minute rundown of his life from age 14, when he started as a pot washer in his home town of Hay On Wye in Wales.

He talks about learning the importance of little things such as caramelizing onions for flavour, his move to London to work at Jamie Oliver’s steak restaurant Barbecoa in St Paul’s, and his two-year hiatus at a food and drink PR agency in Shoreditch.

The pull between kitchen and office continued, with a stint doing savoury wa e pop-ups in east London followed by a job for St Austell brewery in sales.

“I didn’t love it or hate it,” said Thorne. “But fast forward two-and-a-half years and I got that itch again to do something with food.

“My mum’s family are American and we were very lucky as kids that we were able to go to California near enough every year, where there’s lots of Mexican food.

“So my wife and I went on a road trip there and spent a lot of time eating tacos to really soak up some of the Mexican food that was about. When we came back, I started recipe testing and finding authentic suppliers in London.”

In June 2019 Thorne started with a four-week taco pop-up at The Greenhouse in New Cross Road (since closed), which sold

a feat of

how the founder of Taca Tacos is balancing life with a newborn and running his rst restaurant in Deptford

Hours – the length of time Thorne slow-cooks Taca Tacos beef birria for6

Thorne says the name ‘Taca’ stands for tacos and California

Images by Matt Grayson – nd more of his work at graysonphotos.co.uk or @mattgrayson_photo on Insta

what’s on things to do, places to go, people to see

Where?

The Albany Detford

GIG | Lewisham Underground

Prepare for four nights celebrating Lewisham’s contribution to all things grime, curated by local artist Novelist. Expect 16 hours of music.

Oct 13-16, 7pm, £12.50 per night, thealbany.org.uk

Where? The Albany Detford

out every night. A three-month stint at a tequila bar in Dalston was juggled around his job, but just as momentum was building, Covid hit.

Furloughed from work, Thorne sold taco meal kits and a partnership with Plateaway saw his numbers jump from batches of 20 that he hand-delivered in south-east London to selling 200 a week nationwide.

with a trip to Mexico.

“I hadn’t ever been before, which I didn’t feel was great given I was selling tacos,” he said.

“I went to Mexico, southern California and Austin, Texas – I read lots of books and blogs and ate tacos and burritos all day.

“The food trucks of LA became a big inspiration for our business. It’s a pretty good way of bringing it over to London because they are Mexican families but they cater for western buyers.

The duo spent time building the menu and the venue, with handmade tables, authentic Mexican ingredients and finishing touches Thorne said made all the difference.

“We spend three hours making a salsa because the ones you buy aren’t fresh,” he said.

“They don’t really give you that hit of deliciousness and umami, where you taste all of the different levels.

STAGE | The Story Of Claudia Jones

Billed as a riotous blend of stand-up storytelling, visuals and song, this production tells the story of the political activist and her deportation to the UK. Oct 15, 7.30pm, £14, thealbany.org.uk

Where? Brunel Museum Rotherhithe

“We got lots of good reviews, lots of bloggers wanted to try them but, as lockdown began to ease, we had to stop,” he said.

lockdown began to ease, we had

“All the way back in 2018, I’d put in a proposal for Brockley market, which is notoriously difficult to get into, but then the guy who runs it contacted me the day before we got married last August, and asked if I could do tacos there. It was a big moment as it’s established – some of the traders have been there for 10 years and it was a gateway to something a bit more serious. I could buy some equipment and it wouldn’t just be a pop-up.

“We did that every Saturday and built up a customer base and got lots of good feedback.

“It was the first time I was able to interact with customers and having them come up and tell you they’ve enjoyed it makes it all worthwhile.”

Events with Kerb and wedding catering followed and then Thorne decided to up his game

“Going there, seeing it, eating it, tasting it was so important. Knowing my food was up to scratch compared to those who have cooked it from recipes that have been in families for generations. When I came back, I felt fully inspired.”

He had taken on Deptford local Tung Van Phan as head chef in November who encouraged him to go for it, when the Market Yard space came back on the table.

“Tung has completely thrown himself in and I could not have done this without his help,” said Thorne. “He is such a big part of the story and the journey. “

“We spend a lot of time recipe testing and speaking to butchers and suppliers about what they’ve got.

“I think the tortillas I use are the best in the UK because they are made fresh by two Mexican guys and delivered the next day.”

So how is he managing to juggle childrearing and restaurant running?

“It’s been a crazy couple of months really,” he said. “We’ve got family based in Deptford so yesterday my auntie picked our daughter up and one of her cousins was playing with her all day. I was able to do prep and my wife was able to sleep.

“Being a parent is a completely new area of life that you never knew existed until you’re in it. It’s definitely been interesting doing both.”

Go to tacatacos.co.uk for more information

KIDS | Smelly Trail

Great for ages 7-11, this trail of scents challenges visitors to identify precious cargoes using just their noses. No sni s, no buts. Included with entry. Oct 22-25, daily, £6, thebrunelmuseum.com

check out

Thorne Addyman, Taca Tacos

Recently released book What’s In A London Pub Name by James Potts and Sam Cullen features numerous boozers in Rotherhithe and Deptford and is on sale now from Capital History, priced £8.95 capitaltransport.com

Scan this code for more information about the title or to place an order for their book

There are no rules for tacos. There are combinations of avours that work better but it’s just about carrying food to your mouth

Scan this code to nd out more about Taca Tacos

The birria combo comes with hard and soft shell tacos and beef broth for dipping

David says excessive phone use can contribute to depression, anxiety, OCD and ADHD

If a therapist is helping someone with depression or anxiety, it’s wise to look at the client’s whole life. What are their relationships like? Do they sleep enough? Do they exercise? All these things have an obvious e ect on our mental health.

To this list, we should ask how much time someone is spending on their phone. Excessive use has been shown to have comorbidity (love that word) with depression, anxiety, obsessive compul sive disorder and ADHD in young adults.

There are many reasons for this, but a big one is that our phones are very good at producing a dopamine response in our brains. When we are in a constant state of stimulation, our brains try to maintain balance by dialling down our response to dopamine, so the thing that used to give us a high eventually becomes a baseline.

Take away the source of the stimulation and there may actually be withdrawal symptoms. Have you ever felt anxious trying to not look at your phone?

Bingo...

Mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal said: “All men’s miseries derive from not being able to sit in a quiet room alone.”

Now, 400 years later, I think this is even more true. Our brains were never designed by evolution to be in a constantly hyper-stimulated state, and living like this has mental health repercussions.

The good news is the dopamine receptors in your brain can actually be reset fairly quickly. Plan to have a day without your phone.

If that seems impossible, start by deleting or setting some boundaries on social media apps and games that you might always play. Make your phone as boring as possible. When you’re going about your day, notice your need for distraction and try to come back to the moment. If your phone has been destroying your attention span, there’s only one way to get it back. You must practise paying attention, especially to yourself.

stars of the show

Follow @davetheyogi on Twitter and Instagram and @DavidLefebvreSellYogaAndPsychotherapy on FB

Scan this code for information about David’s work as a transpersonal counsellor and psychotherapist

There may be withdrawal symptoms. Have you ever felt anxious trying to not look at your phone? Bingo...

David Lefebvre Sell

take a breath by David Lefebvre Sell

David Lefebvre Sell is a Greenwich-based psychotherapist and Yoga instructor who teaches at Third Space in Canary Wharf

Disconnection Event by Gerald Rhemann – the overall competition winner

Entries for the 14th iteration of the Royal Observatory Greenwich’s Astronomy Photographer Of The Year competition

Scan this code to nd out more about the exhibition

by Jon Massey

The overall winner of the Royal Observatory Greenwich’s Astronomy Photographer Of The Year Competition has been announced. Gerald Rhemann’s Disconnection Event –an image that captures a piece of Comet Leonard’s gas tail disconnecting and being carried away by the solar wind – has won the top prize, beating more than 3,000 entries from 67 countries around the world.

Gerald said: “This award is one of the highlights of my astrophotography work. All the e ort that went into making this image a success was worth it.”

The Young Astronomy Photographer Of The Year was won by two 14-year-old boys from China. Yang Hanwen and Zhou Zezhen collaborated to capture Andromeda Galaxy: The Neighbour - an image of one of the largest and closest galaxies to the Milky Way.

The competition is held in partnership with

BBC Sky At Night Magazine. Judge and art editor for the title, Steve Marsh, said: “The world’s best astrophotographers have turned out to showcase their talent and innovation. What 14 years of the competition have shown is that astronomy is timeless and can withstand anything. This year has showcased some almost ‘space telescope’ quality imaging, with entrants pouncing on celestial events as they happened.”

Royal Observatory Greenwich astronomer Ed Bloomer said: “Once again, we’ve had a great year for astrophotography, and the entrants have produced amazing images. The standard is incredibly high. It was really satisfying to see how many had challenged themselves to capture rarely imaged or transient events – some you won’t have seen before and some that won’t be seen again.”

More than 100 images entered in this year’s competition will be on show at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich until August 13, 2023. Entry to see the exhibition, which displays the photographs on lightboxes, costs £10 for adults and £5 for children to visit. Go to rmg.co.uk/astrophoto for more

what’s on things to do, places to go, people to see

Where? The O2 Arena Peninsula

GIG | Roxy Music

Marking the band’s 50th year, Bryan Ferry and crew are set to play Greenwich Peninsula as they re-release the albums Roxy Music and For Your Pleasure. Oct 14, 6.30pm, from £172 theo2.co.uk

Where? Beanfeast Woolwich Works

GIG | Fela Kuti Birthday Celebration

The Amalga, an Afro-inspired band, will be celebrating the life of Fela Kuti with a set of his tunes and some original material in a similar groove. Oct 21, 7pm, £7.50, woolwich.works

Where? Greenwich Theatre Greenwich

STAGE | Unknown

The Big Issue and RoughHouse Theatre present Dougie Blaxland’s play about homelessness, based on a tragic, true story of a young person on the street. Oct 18-22, 7.30pm, £15, greenwichtheatre.org.uk

ash back

British-Iranian musician Pouya Ehsaei is set to bring his Parasang Project to Woolwich Works on October 7 as part of Arsenal Of Sounds.

Tickets cost £10.50 for the show, which also features Addictive TV’s Orchestra Of Samples woolwich.works

Scan this code to read Wharf Life’s interview with Pouya and nd out how his system allows him to jam with other players

more?

how the Royal Observatory and National Maritime Musuem are showing the very best images of the cosmos on Earth

Back To The Spaceship by Mihail Minkov

Andromeda Galaxy, The Neighbour by Yang Hanwen and Zhou Zezhen Background image, detail from The Night Highway by Filip Hrebenda

how the return of New Scientist Live to Excel promises to ood the Royal Docks with thrilling talks and activities

by Jon Massey

We grandly title it: ‘The world’s greatest festival of ideas and discoveries’,” said Martin Davies. 2022 will be his first year in charge of delivering New Scientist Live, which returns to Excel in Royal Docks from October 7-9. While our interview is conducted via a phone call, 20th century tech can do nothing to mute his obvious enthusiasm and excitement.

“When New Scientist magazine first started doing the show, I found myself being rather envious – I’d had my eye on this job for a few years, so I’m really pleased to be working here now,” he said.

His role as the title’s head of event production is a natural fit for a man who spent more than 13 years at the Royal Institution, helping to deliver its programme of lectures and events.

“I studied natural sciences at Cambridge and ended up specialising in the history and philosophy of science,” said Martin. “That meant I came out of university knowing a bit about lots of different things, but not really a specialist in anything, which is terrible if you want a research career.

“That wasn’t for me – I’m a real generalist – so the career I’ve had at the Royal Institution and now, here, is absolutely perfect. One day I’m talking to a neuroscientist and a biologist and the next to a particle physicist and a chemist.”

It’s that breadth that New Scientist Live seeks to offer visitors to the show – an exhibition and a programme of speakers that allows anyone who turns up to encounter and understand ideas and discoveries across a wide range of fields.

“Our mantra is: ‘Science is for

everyone’,” said Martin. “Our writers make the most complex subject understandable for the magazine’s readers and we want to keep that same ethos for the show.

“It’s not for professional scientists or nerds – they’re welcome, too, of course – but for everyone who is interested in the world around them and how things work.”

The event is set to run over three days – a Friday dedicated to school parties with a programme specifically aimed at younger visitors – and the Saturday and Sunday open to all-comers.

“People will arrive at Excel onto our gigantic show floor, which will be packed with stuff to do,” said Martin. “There’s something for everyone – VR roller-coasters, virtual drones to fly, all sorts of exciting activities and the chance to get your hands on some excellent scientific products in our marketplace.

“I’m especially excited about our hospital of the future exhibit where lots of partners will be showcasing some absolutely incredible medical technology.

“There are machines for surgical training so visitors can slice someone up in a virtual environment and they’ll also be able to see robot surgeons – this is incredibly futuristic technology that will be in hospitals in the next five to 10 years. It’s real, not science fiction.

“People might also be surprised to see a lot of exhibits to do with the future of food and might wonder what science has to do with farming.

“But there’s so much technology involved and a real demand for people with STEM skills to work in farming. Take agriculture, for example – there will be a combine harvester there and people will be able to sit in the driving seat, but that’s the wrong way to describe it. It’s more like the cockpit of a fighter jet with screens and joysticks everywhere.”

ideas bringing to life

It’s not for professional scientists or nerds – they’re welcome too, of course – but for everyone who is interested in the world

Martin Davies, New Scientist

Arguably the show’s greatest attraction is its extensive programme of talks, this year spread across four main stages and an interactive stage, with speakers talking on everything from stool transplants to dark matter.

Sir Partick Vallance is set to open the second day of the show with a talk entitled The Future Of UK Science And Innovation. He remains the Government’s chief

New Scientist Live promises a packed show oor with plenty of activities for visitors

Days New Scientist Live will be taking place over at Excel – a day for schools and two for general admission

scientific adviser, having risen to public prominence thanks to his frequent press conference appearances alongside Sir Chris Whitty and a carousel of now mostly former cabinet ministers.

“He’ll mostly be talking about how science is used in government and the part it played in the pandemic, so it will be really interesting to have that inside view of the conversations that were going on in 2020 and 2021 –how he argued the case for science and what lessons can be taken from that when the next crisis inevitably comes,” said Martin.

“There are so many brilliant scientists and writers but some of the people I’m really interested in seeing are the younger, up-andcoming individuals who may not be so well known.

“We’ve got Rohin Francis, for example, who’s a consultant cardiologist and he will be doing a talk called The Human Body: Design Disaster. We may have evolved over thousands of years, but there are things in our bodies that are not designed very well, so that should be a really funny and informative talk.

“Then there’s Dr Simon Clark who will be doing a talk called How To Become A YouTube Scientist. He’s a physicist with half a million subscribers on the platform and does stuff about atmospheric physics – looking at the climate.

“But he also describes life in academia, studying and how to get through a PhD at Oxford, which is no mean feat. He’s a really interesting person.

“We’re always looking for good speakers and I spend a great deal of my time researching the best people to have. But it’s all a team effort. Our journalists all spend a lot of time talking to scientists and we get some great suggestions from them. One example is cognitive scientist Gillian Forrester from CL, who spends her time getting apes to solve puzzle boxes, getting young children to do the same puzzles and asking what we can learn about the ways they do it. She’s such a great speaker.”

Standard tickets to New Scientist Live cost £42 for adults and £1 for children when booked in advance. Family tickets two adults and two children cost £10 – a saving of £12.

There are also options to livestream talks from the event and to get access to content on catch-up. Go to newscientistlive.com/ wharf-life for more information and the full programme of talks

Scan this code to nd out more about New Scientist Live

what’s on things to do, places to go, people to see

EVENT | Free Family Day

Expect African and Caribbean BBQ, themed refreshments, storytelling, dance and music at this event held to celebrate black identities.

Oct 26, 11am-3pm, free, royaldocks.london

Where? Excel Royal Victoria Dock

EVENT | Street Food Live

Europe’s only B2B event for street food and catering professionals, it will feature suppliers, innovative products and technology plus 80 seminars.

Oct 19- 20, 10am-5pm, free, excel.london

Where? Excel Royal Victoria Dock

EVENT | Musical Con

This brand new event features meet and greets with stars of the stage, performances, Q&A’s, panels, musical lip-sync battles and show sing-alongs.

Oct 22-23, 10am-5pm, from £45, excel.london

ash back

Immersive retelling of The Aeneid Dido’s Bar is set to run at The Factory in Royal Docks until October 15 as Dash Arts blends immigration and Roman myth into an epic suitable for the UK in 2022 dasharts.org.uk

Scan this code to read our interview with Dido’s Bar director Josephine Burton at wharf-life.com

Where?

Royal Docks Learning And Activity Centre North Woolwich

Above, New Scientist head of event production, Martin Davies, joined the organisation 10 months ago after more than 13 years at the Royal Institution

by Laura En eld

When the mini budget was announced last week, charities were left mostly empty-handed.

It is a scenario Marcel Baettig, founder and CEO of Bow Arts, is well used to. For the last 27 years, he has worked to generate the means to provide affordable workspaces and steady incomes for artists in Tower Hamlets.

Along the way, the charity has missed out on grants to help buy property, survive Covid and pay energy bills. But it has thrived through a model that allows it to offer subsidised rents to artists and employment in creative projects for schools and commu nity groups.

It has grown from supporting 50 artists to 500 and from one site –its headquarters in Bow Road – to operating in 15 locations spread across London.

Until now, it has only rented space. But after more than two decades it has finally entered a new era with the purchase of its first building – on the ground floor of the Three Waters develop ment at the meeting of the River Lea and Limehouse Cut canal.

“I’m absolutely thrilled,” said Marcel, a trained sculptor who established the charity in 1994.

“This secures our future. The aim has always been to use the income we generate from our buildings to support creative community services, like work in schools, public art galleries and different sorts of events.

“We have been very unlucky with our timing. When we grew and property was affordable, there were grants around for organisations like ours to help buy buildings. But we were just a bit late and all the money had been given out.

“So we’ve had to be very steadfast, slowly save our pennies and get ourselves into a position where we could afford to buy something.

“We’ve eventually managed to do that through the partnerships that we set up about five or six

years ago with housing associa tion Peabody.”

Nine months ago, it approached Bow Arts to create a permanent creative space on the ground floor of the scheme – a joint project with developer Mount Anvil – as part of its community contributions.

“We had been trying to buy something for a long time,” said Marcel. “It’s the only way we can maintain low rents for artists and guarantee support for them in the future. If we have a landlord, they can put the rent up and then, so would we.”

The 57-year-old was inspired to set up Bow Arts after his own struggles as a sculptor.

He said: “I had quite a successful career but the trouble with this type of work is that it’s project-based and when you get to the end of that bubble, you have to start all over again. It might be six months before you get another commission if you’re lucky. So that was quite a hard way to live.

“I just had the idea that if I could get a collective space, where there would be a group of people doing the same sorts of things, then we could control the rent by sharing it and share all the resources.

“I also happened to do quite a lot of education work in schools and with special needs groups – I knew artists had a lot of transfer able skills. I thought it would be a way to get work and build up relationships in an area.”

He found an ally in Marc Schimmel, who had just supported Damien Hirst and helped kick off the Brit Art movement.

“He offered me Bow Road and helped me set up the charity – we were full within three months,” said Marcel. “I’m the only failure, as I’m the one that hasn’t been able to go back to being an artist.”

The charity began saving for a deposit, but found it couldn’t keep pace with property prices no matter how fast it saved.

“We had finally saved £1million and my big fear was that we were going to lose all of that through the pandemic,” said Marcel. “Luckily, we were able to hang on to it, which meant we just about had enough to get a mortgage and buy this property for £2.2million.

Over the last ve years, there has been a real sea change in London and awareness of the strength and the power of the creative economy

“Where we get hit as a charity it is because none of our artists are higher earners – they are all below the VAT threshold so we’re not registered for VAT and we don’t charge VAT. But we have to pay it on the purchase – another £ 00,000 – and then the extra 20 for the fit-out. It is hard to make it affordable for artists.

“You’re constantly trying to work with the government or HMRC to find ways around it, but there is no provision to support

how charity Bow Arts has nally secured a 999-year lease to secure its long-term future

Artists rent studio space from Bow Arts500

Marcel Baettig, Bow Arts

Marcel has done a lot of the design work for Bow Arts’ new space at Three Waters himself with help from Delvendahl Martin Architects which rents space from the charity in Bow Road

Images by Matt Grayson – nd more of his work at graysonphotos.co.uk or @mattgrayson_photo on Insta

the third sector in doing what it could do very well in this country.

“It’s a real shame considering charities have taken on an awful lot of local services for councils over the past 10 years. A tax break would make a huge difference to us and so many other organisations.”

All of Bow Arts’ education work stopped during lockdown, but it was able to get some financial support from places like the Arts Council and the GLA to help artists keep renting their studios.

Even so, it lost about 20% of its tenants and Marcel said the energy crisis had hit just as things were starting to bounce back.

“None of the mainstream stuff ever comes to us because we’re a charity and it’s all targeted at businesses,” he said.

“We will try the best we can to get grants, but as artists, we’re used to not having a lot of money so we’ll just be putting on thick jumpers.”

Marcel said the charity had finally managed to achieve its goal of a permanent site now the property market was changing.

“People are asking themselves if they are going to get these prices for commercial space and what the alternatives are,” he said. “Then there’s been a lot of interest in the creative sector and in this new area of business.

“Over the last five years, there has been a real sea-change in London and awareness of the strength and the power of the creative economy.

“There are a lot of empty buildings around and people have looked to organisations like ours who have many years experience in filling these buildings and keeping them full.”

Bow Arts’ low rents – which range from £100-£500 per monthhave seen it stay 98% full since day one.

The charity creates a circular economy by ploughing at least 25% of that money into supplying services for the surrounding local area, such as arts programmes for schools and community groups. It trains its artists to be the ones who deliver that work and they get paid for doing it.

The charity is overwhelmed by the demand for what it does, getting about 12,000 hits a month from artists looking for space.

Marcel said it began building relationships with developers a few years ago to try to increase its supply of studios.

“We have worked with the GLA for many years because there is a creative workspace crisis in London with over 50% expected to be lost in the next few years,” he said. “We started to form proper partnerships with organisations like Peabody, Notting Hill Genesis and Mount Anvil

because they’re the guys that are building new places and we can work together to deliver creative workspaces.

“What has been quite incredible is the value added by building an artist community that works with local schools and organisations.

“That has meant a lot of commercial landlords and local authorities have actually given us buildings at very reduced rates, so that we can actually develop this creative placemaking.”

Bow Arts first began working with Peabody in 2015 as a partner on its huge Thamesmead regeneration project. The old Lakeside Centre was transformed into 40 artists’ studios, a community nursery, kitchens and a cafe.

Its plans for the 26,000sq ft of space at Three Waters will see it converted into 70 studios.

Set to open in January, the launch will be celebrated with the award of the East London Art Prize, run by Bow Arts in conjunction with the V&A, UCL and the Whitechapel Gallery.

“It has grown out of the East London Painting Prize and is all about encouraging new artists and promoting them, to bring as many into view as possible,” said Marcel.

“We’ve had 670 applicants, which is phenomenal, and shows how many artists are out there.”

The shortlist will be announced at the opening of Three Waters with an exhibition of work held at the charity’s Nunnery Gallery in Bow. The winner will get a cash prize, free workspace, an exhibition and support for two years until the prize is awarded again.

“It is really hard for young artists in those early stages,” said Marcel. “So an organisation like Bow Arts, which is absolutely committed to supporting them and maintaining affordable rent levels, is vital.

“There’s so much talent out there and, as London pushes east, we’re opening up more markets for people who want to go into the creative sector. It’s become a very viable career.”

Bow Arts also supports the next generation of artists through its work with 100 schools across London.

“We train artists very carefully to be able to deliver workshops, activities, commissions and things like that,” said Marcel.

“Then we’ll develop long-term roles and partnerships with the individual schools and with consortium groups of schools to deliver a creative programme.

“A lot of the creativity has been taken out of the curriculum in mainstream schools.

“We want to expand that operation and Three Waters means there will be permanent funding to support that work in Tower Hamlets and Newham, which will have a huge impact.

“There’s so much talent in the area. So many people from less privileged backgrounds just simply don’t know how to access the arts or even understand that there is a potential career for them there. We’re giving them those opportunities.”

Looking back, Marcel said it was strange how he’d changed alongside the charity, finding a new career without even realising.

“I would never have expected this if I’m very honest, as I always saw myself as an artist,” he said.

“I couldn’t have stayed as enthusiastic about it if it wasn’t such interesting work with interesting people.

“I don’t just mean the creative community, it’s everyone we get to work with – developers, schools and the local community.

“The support we’ve had and the interest from people has been really quite amazing.

“So I have been distracted by this for the past 27 years and that time has really flown by.” Go to bowarts.org for more information

what’s on things to do, places to go, people to see

Where? Nunnery Gallery Bow

ART | Visions Programme One

Patrick Goddard curates 20 lms by international artists together with a new work of his own. The pieces explore nostalgia, ecology and the surreal. Oct 7-Nov 6, 10am-4pm, free, bowarts.org

Where? Rule Zero Fish Island

GIG | Sub Zero Jazz Jam

Turn up, bring an instrument, your voice or just listen as The Dom Pusey Trio once more take the stage for an interactive gig on Fish Island.

Oct 12, 7.30pm, free, rulezero.co.uk

Where? Copper Box Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park

SPORT | London Pulse Corporate Cup Fancy participating in a corporate netball tournament in support of London Pulse’s community programme? Then enter a team for this contest. Oct 12, 5pm-9pm, £750, londonpulsenetball.com

ash back

The Print House at Sugar House Island has been taken over by Jim And Tonic as the brand grows and expands its operation to include rum as well as gin. Expect a big waterside terrace and plenty of drinks jimandtonic.com

Scan this code to read our interview with three men steering the Jim And Tonic ship at wharf-life.com

more?

Scan this code to nd out more about Bow Arts

475

Across

7. Kubrick’s red rum? (6)

10, 8. Selling river crossing’s a game! (7,6)

11. Make the automobile work to carry goods (5)

12. Get rid of the wooden hut (4)

13. Playwright needs nurse for bowel problem? (5)

17. Earth makes things dirty (5)

18. Dennis’ Minnie’s a terror (4)

22. Turning the trams is clever (5)

23. This tube has a pain inside (7)

24. It’s not so important to be him (6)

25. With a brush I’m arrogant (6)

Easy Previous solution - Very Hard

How to play

(7)

Traditionalist finds

tough

Emissions tire (7)

Tessa is confused about her property (5)

Marries an announcement and prohibition (5)

What you don’t know if you’ve sussed the price? (5)

To complete Sudoku, ll the board by entering numbers one to nine such that each row, column and 3x3 box contains every number uniquely.

You can nd strategies, hints and tips online at sudokuwiki.org

More to play

246793185 198546273 357821469 614357892 925418736 783269514 431675928 872934651 569182347

SUDOKU

You can nd more Sudoku puzzles and a wide selection of others available in apps and books at str8ts.com. This Sudoku is supplied by Syndicated Puzzles.

Notes

No. 475

To complete Sudoku, fill the board by entering numbers 1 to 9 such that each row, column and 3x3 box contains every number uniquely.

For many strategies, hints and tips, visit www.sudokuwiki.org

If you like Sudoku you’ll really like ‘Str8ts’ and our other puzzles, Apps and books. Visit www.str8ts.com

Easy Previous solution - Very Hard

the

by

431675928 872934651 569182347

To complete Sudoku, fill the board by entering numbers 1 to 9 such that each row, column and 3x3 box contains every number uniquely.

whether you’re cryptic sleuth or synonym solver in it for quick wins, this should satisfy

For many strategies, hints and tips, visit www.sudokuwiki.org

If you like Sudoku you’ll really like ‘Str8ts’ and our other puzzles, Apps and books. Visit www.str8ts.com

Quick

dog

dwelling

Sudoku Take a break from that phone

Canary Wharf, Docklands and east London people - events - treasure - property