The history of colour paints: Patrick Baty, Britain’s foremost paint historian unearths hidden treasure in his first book The Anatomy of Colour June 29, 2017 After a fire raged through Hampton Court Palace, a huge restoration effort took place to restore its historic halls and royal bedchambers. Historic Royal Palaces, the charity responsible for maintaining the building, reached out for new interior designers in some cases, but what they needed most was experts to emulate the architecture as accurately as [...]
The long weekend: Unwind on the French Golden Island of Porquerolles at the meeting point of Provence and the Cote d’Azur June 26, 2017 We discover the golden island of Porquerolles off the south coast of France. THE WEEKEND: Spend a long weekend on the picture-perfect Isle de Porquerolles, an island little-visited by Brits in a region where the rustic charm of Provence and the cosmopolitan chic of the Cote d’Azur overlap. Cycle through olive orchards, hike along rugged [...]
Taking a tour of Tokyo’s fish markets, karaoke bars and robot restaurants June 19, 2017 The best day I spent in Tokyo was when I woke up, with a start, asleep on my sofa still at 10am after staying out until five doing karaoke, drunk still but with a hangover headache. On the surface level I would not recommend this to anyone – the housekeeping woman was incredibly scared by [...]
Focus On Orpington: Developers are starting to show an interest in this well-connected town in Zone 6 June 16, 2017 When house-hunting in London, the sleepy town of Orpington may not be high up your list. But there are many reasons why it should be, not least because its house price growth is among the fastest in outer London. According to estate agent JLL’s London Residential Heat Map, house prices in the BR6 postcode grew [...]
Interiors: The Ivy Collection is spreading across London like a glamorous disease. We go on a restaurant crawl through the city June 16, 2017 A colleague recently took me to a new Asian restaurant in Shoreditch. As we were shown to a table my face fell. One of us would be looking out at the room and the other would get to look at a concrete wall. Kindly, my courteous companion took the duff seat, but neither of us [...]
How to prevent dry skin when you fly June 15, 2017 | City Talk Take advantage of Estée Lauder’s complimentary express beauty services next time you’re at the airport. Created exclusively for the travel retail environment, with the time-pressed traveller in mind, these speedy treatments each take just one minute flat. With Estée Lauder’s express beauty airport services, travellers can learn fast, easy techniques that are designed to combat [...]
Focus on Leyton & Leytonstone: First time buyers, cafes and coffee shops take over the high streets of E10 and E11 June 13, 2017 First time buyers have a fight on their hands if they’re planning to buy in Leyton. The E10 neighbourhood, along with its E11 sibling Leytonstone, is one of the most sought-after affordable housing hotspots in the capital. The popularity of nearby Stratford has undoubtedly boosted the good fortunes of this area, as the overspill has [...]
Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2017: The same old show with the same old problems June 8, 2017 Each year the Royal Academy selects many hundreds of works of art, both amateur and professional, and piles them high and wide for its Summer Exhibition. And each year many thousands of words are written questioning whether this is Any Way to View Art. The correct answer is “No, this is No Way to View [...]
For King and Country: As Swaziland celebrates 50 years of independence, the king took to the stage to make an astonishing announcement June 8, 2017 Portraits of the Lion and the Great She Elephant — King Mswati III and his mother — stare down from the wall of the immigration office. The animal print pattern of the king’s tribal dress seems a world away from the border-bureaucracy of entry stamps and customs forms, but it’s part of the dichotomy of [...]
Barber Shop Chronicles review: Inua Ellams’ razor sharp play draws profound connections between disparate men June 8, 2017 Set in half a dozen barber shops across two continents, Inua Ellam’s energetic, funny, banter-driven play seeks to join the dots between the experiences and opinions of black men in geographically disparate locations. And there are are plenty of dots to join in a play that ricochets between barber’s chairs as far apart as Johannesburg [...]