48 Hours in… Port Lympne, Kent: from rhino to bistros May 20, 2016 Where to stay Port Lympne’s Treehouse Hotel sits on the tree tops with views across 600 acres of greenery and animal reserve. The double rooms come with a golf buggy and use of the luxury clubhouse. Visit aspinallfoundation.org Where to go Ride in an open-sided safari truck at the award-winning Port Lympne wildlife park, where [...]
Long Weekend review: Le Pavillon des Lettres is Paris’ hideaway for linguists and bookworms May 20, 2016 THE WEEKEND: They may still deliver the wow factor but we’ve all done the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre more times than we can remember. For a trip to Paris with a difference, brush up on your rusty GCSE French and soak up the city’s vast cultural history while indulging in world famous patisserie, wine [...]
This Is Living is a David Nicholls-style weepie starring This Is England’s Michael Socha May 20, 2016 This is Living | Trafalgar Studios | ★★★★☆ This is Living is a weepy in the David Nicholls mould, effectively and sometimes shamelessly pressing the audience’s emotional buttons; at least a third of the people there on opening night were openly sobbing. The two-man play begins with Michael (Michael Socha, This Is England) standing over [...]
X-Men: Apocalypse review: James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender can’t salvage this incoherent X-jumble May 19, 2016 X-Men: Apocalypse takes the franchise’s hard-won chips and bets them all on tumbling pyramids and slo-mo explosions. It sells the X-Mansion for a bag of CGI beans. It’s an incoherent jumble, lacking any kind of authoritative vision; a collection of disparate elements that rub uncomfortably against each other, more closely resembling a fan-made super-cut than [...]
New homes on sale in London this weekend: from Maple & Co’s old furniture factory to apartments near the Hurlingham Club May 19, 2016 The Maple Building, Kentish Town From £525,000 The old Maple & Co furniture factory in Kentish Town has been transformed into 57 one, two and three bedroom apartments and penthouses. The six storey building, which dates back to the 19th century, has been restored by The Linton Group and retains its red brick facade alongside contemporary [...]
Focus on Notting Hill property: Prices may have fallen, but is it all down to stamp duty reform? May 19, 2016 Notting Hill hasn’t been having the best of weeks, if truth be told. On Tuesday, a report from estate agent Stirling Ackroyd revealed that average house prices had fallen in several prime central London locations. In W11, they’ve gone down by 10 per cent from the first quarter of 2015 to the first quarter of [...]
Property of the Week: Poet and critic Ezra Pound’s house in Kensington has doubled in price in three years May 19, 2016 A few times a week, a crowd of tourists gather outside this house on Kensington Church Walk to have their pictures taken with the English Heritage blue plaque outside. Set in a quiet cobbled courtyard, this Victorian townhouse was the home of ex-pat American poet and critic Ezra Pound between 1909 and 1914 and it [...]
A Hologram For The King starring Tom Hanks is a feel-good frolic for those who admire easy charm May 19, 2016 A Hologram For The King | ★★★☆☆ Tom Hanks is enjoying something of a renaissance, courting Oscar once again with both Captain Phillips and last year’s Spielberg reunion Bridge of Spies. His new film, based on the 2012 Dave Eggers novel, sees him playing a charismatic American businessman looking to seal a tech deal in a [...]
The Rose and the Ring at The Charterhouse: How to enjoy country opera within the Square Mile May 19, 2016 The Rose and The Ringw | The Charterhouse | ★★★★★ Country-house opera is a peculiar experience. You dress up, park your car on a rich Englishman’s estate, drink champagne and have a picnic, all the while being immersed in the operatic experience. The Charterhouse hosted a City-based version last week with a riotous production of [...]
Jeff Koons: Now at Damien Hirst’s Newport Street gallery features Three Ball 50/50 Tank, Balloon Monkey (Blue) and Bowl With Eggs (Pink) among other star attractions May 19, 2016 Jeff Koons: Now | Newport Street gallery | ★★★★★ Whatever your opinion of Damien Hirst’s own artwork, it’s hard to fault his activity as a collector and proprietor of the fantastic Newport Street gallery. A strong start with his debut exhibition of John Hoyland paintings continues in this blockbuster survey of Jeff Koons: Now. Hirst’s [...]