Visit Greenwich Blogger

Half term in Greenwich

Half term is here and it feels like the beginnings of Spring are in the air, hoorah! Greenwich is sparkling in the sunshine this morning and absolutely overflowing with special events and fun activities for kids. If there isn't something here to keep the mini-me's in your home happy then we're just not trying hard enough.

The National Maritime Museum always has lots for kids to do and it's nearly all free. There are Explore Saturdays, Discover Sundays and Play Tuesdays every week. This week, to celebrate the Chinese Year of the Water Snake you can be inspired by Chinese flags in the Museum and create your own Family Flags, hunt for Chinese sailing boats with Creative Cargo and join in with the Chinese New Year celebrations.

Or you could find out what it took to paint the Painted Hall when you Scale it Up and try your hand at some unusual artistic techniques at the Old Royal Naval College where conservation is under way. You'll even get a peek behind the scaffolding at the work in progress.

Cutty Sark is a downright thrill of a place to visit at any time of the year but there are some extra activities this week to entertain and excite your children over the half term break. Sailor James Robson takes you on a voyage From Britain to China where you'll hear about his life on board the famous old tea clipper and discover some dark facts about a nice cup of tea. Or you could make a fan or an animal mask inspired by Chinese New Year to take home as a reminder of your visit.

There's a big Poetry Party happening at the splendid Greenwich Theatre, on Tuesday and Wednesday, with poetry pass-the-parcel, nursery rhyme hats, haiku balloons and going-home poems plus live music and lots of joining in. Or if you have slightly smaller little 'uns to keep happy you could introduce them to the joys of classical music at Bach to Baby, in St Alfege church, where romantics are at the top of the bill.

Down at Woodlands Farm there are three days of half term events including felt making, bird box building and living off the land - go on, get wild in the country!

And if you think your kids are noisy try introducing them to the Louder than Thunder tour at Firepower, the Royal Artillery Museum, in Woolwich Arsenal. There's face painting, fun in the Camo Zone and firing a real life cannon. That should shut them up.

You can find out more about all these activities on our events calendar and don't forget that the Royal Observatory, National Maritime Museum, Old Royal Naval College, Queen's House, Greenwich Market, the Planetarium, the Fan Museum and the wonderful Greenwich Park will all be open as usual! There, that's given you something to think about, hasn't it.

Anton's Uncles at Greenwich Theatre

13 September 2012
James Haddrell is  Artistic Director at the splendid Greenwich Theatre, which has just embarked on its Autumn season. He writes proper prose, not disconnected rubbish like me, so pay attention. Here he is...

"The Olympics and Paralympics may have come to a spectacular end but it’s certainly not the end of this year’s international showcase for Greenwich. On Sunday 23 September the cast of Theatre Movement Bazaar’s award-winning theatrical celebration, Anton's Uncles travel from their home in Los Angeles to Greenwich to prepare for a week-long residency at Greenwich Theatre.

I first met this company at the Edinburgh Festival in 2011 when their show emerged from over 2500 other productions as the one-to-watch, having earned an LA Choreography Award, a host of five star reviews and a UK Outstanding Theatre Award. I spent the subsequent year wooing the company and negotiating to bring them to Greenwich (and with the time difference between London and LA, that’s meant a lot of late night phone calls!).

Anton's Uncles is unlike any piece of theatre I’ve ever seen before. It’s inspired by Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya, but you don’t need to know the play (or even like it!) to be swept away by this vibrant, comic, immaculately choreographed hour of dance, music and performance. The best way to describe the show is simply as an hour of theatrical joy.

After a week here in Greenwich we’re touring - I’ll be driving the tour bus early and late and putting in my regular working day in between and our technical manager will be touring the set in the back of a van while running the theatre technical department at the same time. We’ve never been satisfied with limiting our work to what people might expect of a team of six! Seriously, we’re always looking for ways to make the next big leap, and Anton's Uncles is certainly that.

There’s no question that 2012 has been a truly Olympian year for us at Greenwich Theatre. While other theatres across the country have struggled with the economy, we’ve transferred shows to Brighton and Edinburgh, won an award in Dublin and been invited to present a show in New York. Greenwich is fast becoming an international theatre powerhouse and audiences are set to benefit later this month when Theatre Movement Bazaar bring their unforgettable show to Greenwich Theatre. I hope you can come along!"

Anton's Uncles is at Greenwich Theatre from Tuesday 25 September until Saturday 29 September

Greenwich at Games time

12 September 2012
Well, I'm back. After a summer away enjoying the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games it's time to start posting again and I'll begin with a few images from Greenwich's Games experience. Greenwich Park was the venue for the Equestrian events, as you might have seen on TV, and it looked super green and sparklingly gorgeous in those pictures.

 Greenwich town centre was completely transformed as 20,000 spectators a day rampaged back and forth on their way from station to venue and back, barely pausing to stock up on sandwiches and sausage rolls from Gregg's. The weather gods must have been big-time horsey fans because the sun shone almost every day, except for one spectacular and apocalyptic thunderstorm when anyone in the Park, or nearby, was drenched in about fifteen seconds.

 There were also Olympic and Paralympic events at the North Greenwich Arena, on Greenwich Peninsula and the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich but even though those events were as fabulous as any others, the pictures from inside the venues could have come from anywhere. Greenwich Park, however, was recognisably the Park with overhead cameras zooming and swooping down the hill, over the Queen's House, through the Old Royal Naval College and across the river to the Isle of Dogs.

As well as the spectators inside the stadium in Greenwich, there were hundreds more on the grounds of the Old Royal Naval College where a big screen, outdoor ping- pong tables, street food stalls and a sensibly stocked bar kept folks happy as the events onscreen unfolded. Every time a British competitor did something splendid in the Equestrian arena the ecstatic roar of the crowd rolled over the Queen's House and into the Old Royal Naval College just as the big screen sound caught up. It was very exciting.

HMS Ocean kept guard in Greenwich Reach while Royal Greenwich 2012 Volunteers smiled and Gamesmakers smiled and pointed with puffy pink fingers while they patiently explained the route to the toilets for the 4052nd time. It wasn't just the Volunteers - everybody smiled. The Games were thrilling, the sun shone and everybody smiled. 

 And it's not often I get to say that.

Greenwich Peninsula

27 June 2012
It's all go on Greenwich Peninsula these days as preparations for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games continue, London's first ever cable car gets ready to wing its way across the river and intrepid daredevils stride across the roof of The O2.

The cable car, officially the Emirates Air Line, opens at lunchtime tomorrow (28 June 2012) and has already been swooping back and forth over the Thames for the last few months while testing. It looks fantastic and runs from North Greenwich to Royal Docks and, if it ever stops raining, it should provide some outstanding views of the Thames barrier and London docklands.

Also recently open, on the other side of North Greenwich underground station but equally full of height-based thrills, is Up at The O2 where you can walk over the roof of the hugely successful venue. I say walk, but from the people we've seen already having a go, it looks like you need a bit of vim in the leg department. You pick up all the gear you'll need, including a jump suit and climbing chainy stuff I don't know the name for to clip you on to a guide cable, hold on your instructors hand, and off you go.

There's a big, round platform at the top where you should get some more fantastic views, this time in 360 degree colour, out across Greenwich and the rest of the city.

Already open, inside The O2, is the British Music Experience, top notch museum of pop music from Elvis right up to Rihanna. There are lots of costumes, artefacts and other groovy musical memorabilia so turn up at Greenwich Peninsula, hang out for a while and pop along to the British Music Experience. I promise you'll like it...

Greenwich Foot Tunnel

15 June 2012
Seeing as we had a bit of sunshine in Greenwich yesterday I decided to spend some time underground. This is Greenwich Foot Tunnel which stretches under the Thames from Greenwich to the Isle of Dogs, or so you hope as you set off down the shallow slope towards the other side.

As you get to the middle, however, you can't see either end so you could be heading for anywhere at all. Where will you end up? Narnia? Who knows? Well I know, obviously, and it definitely is the Isle of Dogs. Island Gardens, in fact, where you can look back across the river at almost the same view that Canaletto painted over 250 years ago. (You can see the painting along with lots of other good things in the splendid Royal River exhibition at the National Maritime Museum, by the way. More on that below...)

The Tunnel opened in August 1902 so it's coming up to its 110th birthday and  has been having a bit of a facelift recently, which is why the domed roof is so very shiny (and why the pavement around it is so very fencey and skippy). The lifts have been replaced as well as the roof, so it looks nice and smart for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, which are now just around the corner.

Of course that means that the view across the river isn't quite the same this year as it usually is because there's an enormous stadium under construction in Greenwich Park, so I was lying through my teeth in the second paragraph. Sorry about that. The stadium will be used for the Equestrian events and parts of the Modern Pentathlon and will be coming down again after the Games are all over in September.

It's a great view, whatever, and this summer will be the only opportunity to see it looking so different. So if you haven't done it before you should take a stroll under the river and have a look. But if you end up in an enchanted forest, where it's always winter, it's entirely your own fault, so don't blame me.