Finale

THE FINAL TALLY: £287.12

Thank you so much to everyone who contributed to making that happen! For a tiny, spontaneous solo effort like this, it’s pretty incredible… thank you all. If you would still like to make donations to the cause, you are of course welcome to do so, it just won’t be added to the tally shown here.

(I did mean to put this up yesterday, but I slept in so late, was so concussed when I woke, and on top of that disoriented by the loss of one hour, that I was pretty much quite dysfunctional.)

Here are a few yummy last photos of Holland Park:

And finally, a question for everyone:

Filed under: !modpost, photos

Roundup

I honestly can’t believe I’m actually DONE. And that it’s coming to 9pm 28 March. And that I’ve really been at this for 24 hours. It felt like it went by really quickly. Surreal.

Anyway, I just wanted to end off with a sort of summary post, which lists every major destination out nicely and shows you where they are on a map if possible. In order of appearance:

Broadway Bookshop
Reviewed: here
6 Broadway Market
Hackney
London, E8 4QJ
Nearest tube station: Bethnal Green
Google Map
You can follow the same directions to Broadway Market, reviewed: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5*

Horniman Museum & Gardens
Mentioned: here
100 London Rd, Forest Hill
London, SE23 3PQ
No tube station. Direct trains run from London Bridge and London Victoria.
Getting Here

Columbia Road Flower Market
Mentioned: here
Nearest tube station: Old Street
Map

Museum of Childhood
Reviewed: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5*
Cambridge Heath Road
London, E2 9PA
Nearest tube station: Bethnal Green
Google Map

The Fan Museum
Mentioned: here
12 Crooms Hill
Greenwich
London SE10 8ER
Nearest station: Cutty Sark DLR
Google Map

Sir John Soane’s Museum
Reviewed: 1, 2
13 Lincoln’s Inn Fields
London, WC2A 3BP
Nearest tube station: Holborn
Google Map

London Wetland Centre
Reviewed: 1, 2, 3, 4*, 5, 6
Queen Elizabeth’s Walk
Barnes, London
SW13 9WT
Nearest tube station: Hammersmith
How to Get There

Ruislip Lido
Mentioned: here
More information and directions

Franco Manca
Reviewed: here
4 Market Row,
Electric Lane, Brixton
London SW9 8LD
Nearest tube station: Brixton
Google Map

Museum of Brands, Packaging and Advertising
Reviewed: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7*
2 Colville Mews, Lonsdale Road
Notting Hill
London, W11 2AR
Nearest tube station: Notting Hill Gate
Google Map

Holland Park
Reviewed: 1, 2, 3
Nearest tube station: Holland Park
Google Map

Thank you all SO much for your support, encouragement and comments, and huge, huge special thanks to everyone who’s donated. I could not have done it without you all. I’m keeping the donations open for another 24 hours to account for timezome differences and catching up, so everyone has until 9pm GMT, Sunday 29 March to donate if you want to. The UK clocks are going forward tonight, by the way – don’t get confused.

I actually have more photos I want to share, particularly of the orangery in Holland Park, and may do one final post of that tomorrow – check in again then! Till then -

I’m out of here. For a long, long sleep.

Thank you for being here with me. ♥

Filed under: !modpost

On Victoria and Bushfires

At this somewhat halfway-ish point, I just wanted to take a quick breather and post about the cause that I’m doing this for.

I’ve said a lot already on this page, and elsewhere, about why this is important and why we should help. But I wanted to devote a post to the topic in greater detail, because it’s hard to squeeze into an email or pageful of other information just how horrifying the Black Saturday bushfires were. And worst of all is the fact that at least one of them was probably started intentionally.

Imagine seeing the sky that colour. Imagine knowing that it’s coming towards you and you have literally sudden split seconds to decide what to do, whether to try and salvage things from your house, to stay and try to valiantly fight, to flee. Imagine running or driving with fire at your heels. I can’t even begin to conceive what the people of Victoria went through that day. This blog has done a terrific job of collating photos of the bushfires – have a look.

Marysville used to be a tourist hotspot, a pretty, quaint little town used as a base for the Lake Mountain ski resort. The fire wiped it out like it never existed. Almost every single building in the town has been destroyed, and it’s only just been reopened to former residents after being sealed off as a crime scene since 7 February. The fires claimed 45 lives in this town alone.

Climate change is one of the big culprits being fingered in the fires. And if it’s true, it’s terrifying. This could happen again. This could happen anywhere. Think about it.

Filed under: !modpost

Introduction

WELCOME ALL

I’m psyched! I hope you are too. I just wanted to kick off with a quick introductory post, rather than plunge right into the deep end with photos. Just to get things going.

I am, in case you’re wondering, actually blogging all this over the next 24 hours from scratch. I haven’t pre-written ANY bit of it. I’ve spent ridiculous hours sifting through all the pictures I have, and agonised somewhat over which to post and when, and come up with a rough (very rough) schedule of how my 2.5 days’ worth of touring is going to be blogged. It’s likely to change along the way so I won’t give anything away now. But every post you’re about to read will have been frantically written and prepared in the half-hour window between posts. (Except this one. This one is being written at 8:23pm, prior to my preparing a giant thermos of tea. Saving the coffee for later!)

At the moment we’re on a nice healthy £104.49 of pre-Blogathon donations, so thank you very, very much to all who have donated! I really appreciate it.

Coming up, you can look forward to a mainly East End-centric Day 1, a lovely little gem of an outdoor market, and one of London’s less well-known free museums. People who’ve donated £20 or more and have the password I’ve emailed them will also get to find out the location of the best coffee I’ve ever had in London. (Or maybe in the world. Decision pending – I need to go back and try it again.) But first, where it all started: the front door of my house, in Stockwell.

Filed under: !modpost, photos

TONIGHT

BLOGATHON IS ON TONIGHT!

Don’t forget to tune in at 9pm GMT, or subscribe to the RSS feed for your regular half-hourly fix.

We’re very nearly at the first major milestone of £100 for donations, so please help tip that over the mark and keep the meter rolling.

EDIT: And we’re now officially over £100! Thank you, Kevin-お爺さん!

Filed under: !modpost

New contact form

I’ve just added a contact form that makes it dead easy to get in touch, whether you want to let me know how much you’ve donated or just have questions/comments.

Also up is a tantalising teaser of what’s in store. Don’t miss the preview post below this one.

Make your donation today to the Australian Red Cross, British Red Cross or Wildlife Victoria, and don’t forget the best content is reserved for donors of £20 or more!

Filed under: !modpost, australia, blogathon, bushfires, charity, london