• Digital Business Transformation: Where Should You Begin?

    Digital business transformation is a huge and confusing topic, making it very difficult to know where to begin. The Open ROADS Community has created the Digital Mastermind to answer this question and guide your entire transformation journey. The essence of this method, which we call “Digital Thinking” is to “Identify a Scenario, then Start Small, Think Big, and Align Business & IT to Scale Fast”. This is encapsulated in the figure below.To put this into practice, a de
  • Cody Dock secures funding to restore Thames Ironworks boat

    Cody Dock secures funding to restore Thames Ironworks boat
    East London’s Cody Dock has been awarded nearly £1.7 million to restore a historic vessel made by Thames Ironworks and construct a new heritage centre for Newham.
    Proposed heritage centre (c) Cody Dock
    The aim of the Lighting Up The Lea project will see them able to preserve the Frederick Kitchen, one of the last boats to be produced at the mighty Thames Ironworks, whose closure in 1912 brought on the demise of shipbuilding in London. Once restored to its former glory, this historic
  • Tickets Alert: Tours of a remarkable Wandsworth home resume next month

    Tickets Alert: Tours of a remarkable Wandsworth home resume next month
    An unremarkable looking house on a busy Wandsworth road conceals a quite remarkable interior, and following some restoration works, limited tours will resume
    Exterior of 575 Wandsworth Road (c) ianVisits
    This is the simply named 575 Wandsworth Road, an ordinary terraced house which was bought in 1981 by a Kenyan born civil servant, and it’s what he did inside that makes it a marvel to visit.
    When Khadambi Asalache moved in, to deal with damp problems in the basement, he decided to clad the
  • Deep borehole dug underneath Parliament over Easter

    Deep borehole dug underneath Parliament over Easter
    Over the Easter holiday, a deep borehole was drilled underneath the Houses of Parliament, reaching more than twice as deep as the Elizabeth line tunnels. The 84-metre deep borehole was part of 1,500 hours of intrusive surveys across the Palace of Westminster while the MPs were away to investigate the geological condition of the ground on which the Palace stands.
    (c) Houses of Parliament Restoration and Renewal Delivery Authority
    The Palace of Westminster needs extensive restoration work and the
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  • Warning of two-week closure of the Liverpool Street to Chingford railway

    Warning of two-week closure of the Liverpool Street to Chingford railway
    The Liverpool Street to Chingford railway line will be closed for 16 days this summer as Network Rail replaces a large bridge supporting a road junction near the Hackney Downs.
    This will affect both London Overground and Greater Anglia services that use the railway and some changes to other services that pass through the Hackney area of London.
    The affected railway runs on arches above the streets along most of its length, but as it approaches the Hackney Downs, it dips down into a tunnel to pas
  • Charing Cross Library’s “Matteotti Affair” exhibition revisits 1924’s anti-fascist movement

    Charing Cross Library’s “Matteotti Affair” exhibition revisits 1924’s anti-fascist movement
    A century ago, the kidnapping and murder of an Italian politician could have prevented the rise of Mussolini, and there’s currently an exhibition about the man in Charing Cross.The location of an exhibition about an Italian is no mere convenience, as the library has a strong Italian heritage.
    The building was actually built in 1891 for Samuel Addington & Co, a woollen merchant. They moved out, and in 1937, it was taken over by the Italian Benevolent Society. It became the London office
  • Murder, Mystery, and Masterpiece: Caravaggio’s last painting arrives in London

    Murder, Mystery, and Masterpiece: Caravaggio’s last painting arrives in London
    A dark, brooding painting dominates a dark room in the National Gallery at the moment, sitting next to the fragile document that only recently confirmed that this is indeed the last painting by the brilliant but flawed artist Caravaggio.This depiction of the Martyrdom of Saint Ursula – she of 11,000 virgins – was commissioned by one of Caravaggio’s patrons while the artist was still on the run after he had been convicted of murder. Being a murderer wasn’t enough to stop p
  • Bimetallic coin to mark the National Gallery’s bicentenary

    Bimetallic coin to mark the National Gallery’s bicentenary
    A new coin has been issued to mark the National Gallery’s 200th anniversary, although it is unlikely to be seen in shops as it is a collectable coin.
    Although it’s a collectable coin, it’s also legal tender, in the very narrow definition of what qualifies as legal tender (no, Scottish banknotes aren’t legal tender). That required the King to authorise the production of the coins with a Royal Proclamation, and they would have been validated in the Trial of the Pyx earlier
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  • The Tottenham High Cross

    The Tottenham High Cross
    In the middle of a north London road junction can be found a 400 year old stone tower that once gave its name to this part of London.This is the Tottenham High Cross, erected sometime between 1600 and 1609 by Owen Wood, a local resident and later Dean of Armagh, on the site of a wooden wayside cross first mentioned in 1409. It marks what was the centre of Tottenham Village. In fact, the area later became known as High Cross before later urban expansion saw it revert back to being part of Tottenh
  • Tickets Alert: Routemaster bus history tour of Richmond

    Tickets Alert: Routemaster bus history tour of Richmond
    There’s a chance to go on a tour around some of the key historic locations in the Richmond area, with your journey between them taking place in a Routemaster bus.
    The tours will be conducted in Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill’s classic Routemaster bus, and money raised from the tours will support the local Habitats & Heritage charity’s conservation work.
    Two tours will take place on Saturday 1st June 2024:Morning tour
    Will visit the Kilmorey Mausoleum and the St. Leonards Court
  • Demolition of the old Museum of London approved — but also delayed

    Demolition of the old Museum of London approved — but also delayed
    The City of London has approved plans to demolish the former Museum of London building and neighbouring Bastion House, but the Communities Secretary Michael Gove has also called the plans in for review.Michael Gove’s department issued an Article 31 Holding Direction yesterday, which technically prevents the City of London from making a decision until his department has also reviewed the plans. So, the City of London has been able to indicate that it approves the plans, but construction wor
  • Hampton Court Palace gardens free open days

    Hampton Court Palace gardens free open days
    A few weekends each year, the expansive gardens surrounding Hampton Court Palace are open to visitors for free.As it happens, the gardens used to be free to wander around every morning, but that changed after the pandemic, and now they’re only open a few days a year — but the upside is that they’re open for the entire day.
    The gardens are huge and exceptionally varied, ranging from neat formal box hedged spaces to wide open lawns and even the so-called wilderness, which is pret
  • Horizon 22 – London’s highest viewing gallery can now be rented for private events

    Horizon 22 – London’s highest viewing gallery can now be rented for private events
    Horizon 22, London’s highest — and free — viewing gallery is now available to be hired for events as well.
    Horizon 22 (c) ianVisits
    Fortunately for the crowds who throng to visit during the daytime, events can only take place in the early morning or evenings, so the viewing gallery will remain a free venue during the daytime.
    For people wanting the space for their private events, it is now available from 6am to 9.30am and 7pm to 3am, seven days a week, and has a capacity for up
  • Visit the church of St Martin Within Ludgate

    Visit the church of St Martin Within Ludgate
    This is an unusually designed church close to St Paul’s Cathedral, which has probably existed for around 900 years, although naturally, the current building is much younger.It’s claimed, dubiously, to be where legendary King Cadwallo was buried in 677, although he was likely furious about this, as he would have still been alive at the time. He didn’t die for another five years.
    In fact, the earliest known reference to a church here is much later, dating to around 1174, and the
  • Discovering Britain’s cultural tapestry at UAL’s folk costume exhibition

    Discovering Britain’s cultural tapestry at UAL’s folk costume exhibition
    A horse’s skull on a pole sits in a room with pearly queens and morris dancers as part of an exhibition looking at Britain’s rich traditions of folk dance.The exhibition in the London College of Fashion is a brisk visit to the world of carnivals and dances, and not just olde England, but the 1970s restorations of lost traditions and modern interpretations that mix in multicultural influences.
    It’s a mix of showing off traditional dance costumes as works of creative art and tell
  • Urgent talks to buy more Elizabeth line trains

    Urgent talks to buy more Elizabeth line trains
    Alstom, the train manufacturer, has confirmed that it’s in “intense discussions” with the government and Transport for London (TfL) about a fresh order of new trains for the Elizabeth line.
    Elizabeth line trains in Old Oak Common depot (c) ianVisits
    Alstom has warned that its Derby factory could close due to a gap in production with no new orders expected, and that could see 1,300 staff made unemployed and some 15,000 jobs in the supply chain put at risk. The company has future
  • Tickets Alert: Visit the 10 Downing Street garden

    Tickets Alert: Visit the 10 Downing Street garden
    As part of the annual Open Gardens weekend, there’s a chance to visit the garden at 10 Downing Street, and the ballot for tickets is now open.There will be two tours on Saturday June 8th, 2024. As there is a limit of 24 people per tour, a free ballot is being run to win a place.
    If you are selected for a place on the tour, you must take a photographic ID with you (either a Passport or Driving Licence), and there’s a minimum age of 12 years for visitors.
    The gardeners will be on hand
  • Entente Cordiale exhibition shows off the secret pact between Britain and France

    Entente Cordiale exhibition shows off the secret pact between Britain and France
    As you might have seen in the news recently, it’s the 120th anniversary of the Entente Cordiale, when Britain and France signed several agreements to stop bothering each other.There’s also a short-run exhibition about the diplomatic shenanigans that led to the two European powers agreeing to be cordial over their territorial disputes — being held at the Institut français du Royaume-Uni in South Kensington.
    It’s predominantly a lot of history boards which start on t
  • Celebrate the centenary of London Underground’s Camden Junction tunnels

    Celebrate the centenary of London Underground’s Camden Junction tunnels
    This Saturday (20th April) marks the centenary of one of the London Underground’s most impressive engineering feats. Despite thousands of people using it every day, hardly anyone ever gets to see it in its full glory.
    Reproduced with kind permission of Dan Dare Corp Ltd.
    This is Camden Junction, the massively complicated set of tunnels that linked the two branches of the Northern line and they carried their first passengers on 20th April 1924.
    The junction owes its existence to a number of
  • Pitzhanger Manor acquires Julian Opie’s walking man

    Pitzhanger Manor acquires Julian Opie’s walking man
    A walking man who has approaching Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery since 2021 but never arriving will remain stuck in place as the digital artwork has been bought by the gallery to go on permanent display.
    (c) Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery
    Julian Opie’s LED sculpture, Curly Hair, 2021 was first shown at Pitzhanger in 2021 as part of Julian Opie’s solo exhibition, coinciding with the reopening of the gallery post-COVID lockdown.
    The acquisition of Curly Hair was made possible by the ge
  • Dalston’s Kingsbury Road pedestrian and cyclist bridge has reopened

    Dalston’s Kingsbury Road pedestrian and cyclist bridge has reopened
    An important cycle and pedestrian route over the London Overground in Dalston has reopened after Network Rail completed bridge replacement works.
    The reopened Kingsbury Road bridge (c) Network Rail
    The bridge, originally built in 1913, closed late last year as it need to be replaced as the iron girders that supported it were becoming corroded. Engineers demolished the old bridge over Christmas 2023 and then lifted in the replacement with a crane over the last weekend of January 2024.
    Now that it
  • Umbro 100: Exhibition looks at sports clothing’s cultural impact

    Umbro 100: Exhibition looks at sports clothing’s cultural impact
    Down a goods delivery ramp and past the bins is an unexpected location for an exhibition about football shirts — but that’s what you can find underneath a Marylebone building at the moment.The exhibition marks the centenary of the British sportswear brand Umbro, which was founded in 1924 by brothers Harold and Wallace Humphreys. The company’s name is a portmanteau of um, from Humphreys, and bro, from brothers.
    However, it’s not entirely a look back at the history of the c
  • London’s Alleys: Cavendish Court, EC2/EC3

    London’s Alleys: Cavendish Court, EC2/EC3
    This is a narrow winding alley close to Liverpool Street station that’s been here in some shape or form since Tudor times.This part of London is just on the outskirts of the old Roman Wall around the City of London. The name of the road the alley leads off on the western side, Houndsditch, comes from the “moat” that ran around the outside of the Roman wall, where it’s suggested feral dogs scavenged from rubbish dumped in the ditch.
    The land was fairly undeveloped and used
  • You’ll love this Intercity 125 video set to electronic music

    You’ll love this Intercity 125 video set to electronic music
    The music group, Vieon recently released a single as an ode to the venerable Intercity 125 train with a ton of retro film footage set to rather soothing electronic music.It reminds me of how Kraftwerk wrote a hymn to the Trans Europ Express service, which, for a while, ran trains across the mainland, linking far-flung cities in comfort and speed. In the UK of course, the Intercity 125 was the future once, and it still manages to evoke a certain sense that somehow rail travel had a golden age (it
  • Wrecking Telecom Italia’s landline deal would widen shareholder losses

    Only those shorting the shares would be winners if KKR’s purchase is scuppered
  • Ibrahim Mahama wraps the Barbican Art Centre in massive pink fabrics

    Ibrahim Mahama wraps the Barbican Art Centre in massive pink fabrics
    The Barbican Art Centre has been covered in a gigantic bright pink wrapper providing a sharp contrast to the rest of the Brutalist estate.This is Purple Hibiscus, a monumental site-specific artwork by the Ghanaian artist Ibrahim Mahama created from some 2,000 square metres of bespoke woven cloth created by women weavers and sewing collectives in Ghana.
    It’ll probably remind many of the works by Christo artistic duo, where the two partnered to cover buildings in sheets of fabric. The differ
  • Jools Holland and a free light show to mark the National Gallery’s 200th birthday

    Jools Holland and a free light show to mark the National Gallery’s 200th birthday
    Jools Holland will be headlining the National Gallery’s Friday Lates next month as the gallery celebrates its 200th anniversary, with music inside and a light show outside.
    Lightshow render (c) Visual Edge Media / nVisible Productions
    On Friday 10th May 2024, Jools Holland will perform in the Rausing Room as part of a curated programme with musical friends Ruby Turner MBE, Louise Marshall, and Sumudu. Across the rest of the Gallery, there will be DJ sets, music from London Contemporary Voi
  • Consultation into housing next to Hampton Court railway station

    Consultation into housing next to Hampton Court railway station
    A long running plan to build houses on the car park next to Hampton Court railway station has been referred to a new consultation to see if it can proceed.
    The site is a combination of Network Rail land next to the railway station and the demolished site of the Jolly Boater pub, and there is an approved application to build several blocks making up nearly 100 flats and a small hotel on the site.
    The riverside building would comprise three storeys with an additional storey accommodated within gab
  • Exploring Ranjit Singh: A warrior King’s exhibition at the Wallace Collection

    Exploring Ranjit Singh: A warrior King’s exhibition at the Wallace Collection
    Shining brightly in the middle of an atmospheric exhibition is a gold lotus flower throne, on a rare loan that, for the first time, lets us see the intricately decorated back, which is even more impressive than the front.This is the throne of Ranjit Singh, founder of the Sikh Empire, which stretched across parts of modern-day northern India and Pakistan. Normally kept in the V&A Museum, it’s very rarely loaned out to a London museum. Here, it’s freestanding instead of up against
  • There’s now a range of London Underground themed craft beers

    There’s now a range of London Underground themed craft beers
    A brewer has released a London Underground-themed beer range and an exclusive London Craft Beer tube map. Beer52, in collaboration with Transport for London (TfL) launched the range of 16 beers to celebrate London’s craft brewing scene and its transport network.
    (c) IMG / Beer52
    The London Beer Tour, in collaboration with TfL, showcases the diversity and creativity of London’s breweries. Each brewery featured within the collection has been inspired by its own corner of the city, its

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