Wharf Life, Oct 4-18, 2023

chat to Antony Costa from Blue and Björn Ulvaeus of ABBA as the former boy band star takes over the role of Nikos at Mamma Mia!

Pages 38-39

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Where? Museum Of London Docklands West India Quay

EVENT | Black History Month

Join the museum’s hosts throughout the month for a series of daily talks and weekend family storytelling sessions centred on Docklands history. October , 1.15pm, 3pm, free, museumo ondon.org.uk

Where?

Everyman

Cinema Crossrail Place

FILM | Killers Of The Flower Moon Preview

Lily Gladstone and Leonardo DiCaprio star in this improbable epic western romance from Martin Scorsese. See it rst at this Green & Blacks preview. Oct 19 , 7pm, £27.45, everymancinema.com

Where? Museum Of London Docklands West India Quay

REPAIR | A Stitch In Time: Mending Workshop

Join textile designer Alice Cullen for a session of repair and rescue inspired by the museum’s Fashion City exhibition. Learn to x those holes. Oct 28 , 10.30am, £25, museumo ondon.org.uk

Welcome to the 98th issue of Wharf Life. We don’t often focus on celebrities in our pages, but a chat with Björn from ABBA, a host of famous faces at Boisdale and even Brian Cox (actor, not professor) popping up on the Wharf have captured our attention. Time, perhaps to remember what a draw this area can be

3236

docker’s grandson Ian Rae

Canary Wharf - West India Quay

Gearing up for The PA Show Autumn, this time at Old Billingsgate

How a new Thames Clipper has cut CO2 emissions by 90%

How Carolina Kollmann has created the Forge Art Fair with the aim of lling Craft Central’s Isle Of Dogs headquarters with creativity and vibrant work and events

The colder weather is upon us and I’ve been struck down with Covid – it seems to be doing the rounds again. I’ve caved and turned on the central heating. I’m also craving a gingerbread latte and a mince pie. My boots and knitted jumpers have been unearthed from the back of the wardrobe, the evenings are getting darker and my skin is getting drier. Not just on my face, everywhere.

One issue I’ve had on and o all year is dry aky, yet pimply skin around my nose. I put this down to blowing my nose a lot, whether I had a cold or hayfever. But despite trying lots of di erent types of moisturisers and even professional facials, the problem persisted. After doing some reading, I found that I may have seborrheic dermatitis, which sounds awful, but can be treated by washing your face with a good quality anti-dandru shampoo. The National Eczema Society says on its website that seborrhoeic dermatitis is a common scaly rash that typically a ects the scalp, face and chest, but can a ect other areas, too. The condition appears in those areas of skin with large numbers of grease (sebaceous) glands, such as the scalp and sides of the nose.

l Healthcare professionals advise people to wash their body with an anti-yeast shampoo containing ketoconazole, as well as using it on the scalp. Leave it on for ve minutes before rinsing and use no more than twice a week. I picked up a bottle of Nizoral Anti-dandru Shampoo. It’s available at Boots stores in Jubilee Place and Canada Place, priced £9.10 for 60ml. Expensive, for such a small bottle, but a little goes a long way and I have to say I’m amazed by the results.

l Of course, moisturising after using a drying agent on my face is a must. I stumbled on an online retailer some time ago that I’ve grown to love, very simply called Skin Shop. Its Hydrosil range is made for both adults and children who are prone to eczema, dermatitis and chronic dry skin. I vouch for the Hydrosil Turmeric Butter And Hypoallergenic Milk Salve, £10.95 for 75ml. I’d also like to shout about the retailer’s LipQ Liquorice Balm, 30g priced at £9.50. No-one enjoys getting cold sores, and this smooth all-natural lip balm gets to work at the rst sign of one rearing its ugly head and can be used daily as a preventative measure too.

l A good hand moisturiser is essential at this time of year too. Personally, L’Occitane is my go-to in this department with its Verbena Hand Cream, costing £7.65 for 30ml. Find it at the brand’s store in Jubilee Place. It moisturises without feeling greasy, and smells heavenly.

Natasha Maddison @pazzanatasha on Insta

by Jon Massey

The London Restaurant Festival, which runs until the end of October is in full swing and this year there are a whole bunch of Wharf-based o ers readers should be aware of.

There’s a Hawksmoor x MMy Wood Wharf tie up on October 10 with two courses and a welcome drink at the former followed by a cocktail masterclass with Ethika and cheese and sweet pairings to nish things o at the latter. Tickets cost £99.17 with the event kicking o at 6.30pm.

There’s also a Gourmet Odyssey

lunch for £120 with six courses across three venues. Taking place on Sunday, October 22, from 12.30pm, the afternoon will take in Mallow, Fish Game and Dishoom with wines from English producer Gusbourne.

Tickets for both are going fast, so interested parties should get moving.

Failing that, throughout the month restaurants on the Wharf will be running special deals including Roka, Sticks ‘n’ Sushi, Iberica, Feels Like June, The Ivy In The Park, Chai Ki, Boisdale, Obica, Fish Game, Mallow and Six By Nico. Highlights include 25% o dinner and show packages or 50% o Rat Pack shows at Boisdale, two courses plus a welcome cocktail for £35 at Chai Ki and £15 o when spending £50 at Mallow.

Terms and conditions apply and diners should check with venues at the point of booking their table.

Go to londonrestaurantfestival.com for more information or to book the main experiences

Egg Breakfast Roti, £6.50

Karapincha, Canary Wharf

Jubilee Line station

karapinchakitchen.com

It’s fair to say this pocket of warm, delicately stretched roti is not the most aesthetically pleasing dish on o er at Karapincha. But with a chai of co ee thrown in thanks to the brand’s breakfast o er it’s not only great value, it’s taste is surprisingly punchy. There’s no shortage of bland morning options in Canary Wharf but we’d take these avourful, freshly prepared oblongs lled with egg, spring onion and green chilli any day of the week...

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Segments the Mandala Lab is divided into, where visitors can interrogate the emotions of envy, anger, attachment and pride as they travel a path to greater wisdom

by Jon Massey

Tim McHenry’s job is essentially to get people interested in things. A lithe and slender man with a strong shirt game, the chief programmatic officer of The Rubin Museum Of Art in New York is an erudite guide as he takes me round the institution’s Mandala Lab in Canary Wharf.

The cylindrical installation popped up in Wood Wharf’s Union Square in September, is free to visit and opens daily from noon until 6pm (8pm on Thursdays). It’s set to remain in place until November 25 – but what on Earth is it?

“As the name might indicate, it’s an experiment,” said Tim. “All we do at The Rubin is inspired by the significant body of Himalayan art we have in our collection – it’s an exploration of mind and a negation of life and death, the deep stuff.

“In order to welcome people

into that, we thought we might want to bring them into the shallower end of the pool until they learn to swim.

“It needs to be accessible, not only because the wheelchair ramps work, but also because if you look at a painting in the collection, you might not understand it. Walk inside this version of a painting that we’ve created here in Canary Wharf, however, and its meaning becomes clear because it’s a visceral journey,

and it will help you see what it is about you that you have the capacity to change.

“The experience is based on a Tibetan Buddhist painting in The Rubin’s collection – a mandala, which in Sanskrit means circle. It has no beginning and no end, it’s all encompassing. This is a microcosm of your mind.

“Your embarkation point is on the outer rim and you’ve got to find your way to become the middle. At the centre is

all-encompassing wisdom, but this only comes about by fully understanding what ignorance is.

“The Lab has four segments, each of which has a portal, the green room for envy, blue for anger, yellow for pride and red for attachment. You can enter through any of them.

“We’ve represented the mandala in the painting physically so people can step inside – it’s a metaphorical embodiment of the principles in the painting. All we’re doing is asking that people step inside – like Mary Poppins and Bert jumping into chalk on the pavement.”

The experience comes in four parts. Envy sees visitors synchronise their breathing with a light, together with others in the same space. Pride is a chance to look at oneself in a distorted mirror before deciding which of four categories one fits into. Attachment is an opportunity to explore scent and memory. Anger is a chance to hit a gong before lowering it into a tank continued on Page 8

Canary Wharf - West India Quay

how the Rubin Museum’s Mandala Lab offers a chance to take a deep breath, feel and think

Image by Jon Massey

Percussionist Evelyn Glennie performs at the Lab’s launch

Actor Brian Cox watches his anger dissipate in a tank of calming water

The Mandala Lab is located at the end of Water Street in Wood Wharf’s Union Square

of water and seeing the furious vibrations quickly dissipate in the calming liquid.

Incidentally, the gongs have been designed by various prominent individuals including celebrated percussionist Evelyn Glennie and Peter Gabriel, formerly of Genesis. Tim and The Rubin are more than happy to call in celebrities to further the museum’s reach and expose more people to the ideas in its collection.

“Since joining The Rubin when it opened just over 20 years ago, it’s been my job to make Himalayan art accessible and popular, using many techniques including high profile people, contemporary artists and culture,” said Tim who ran events for the New Yorker magazine prior to his role at the museum. “What was really transformative was recognising that Buddhist art is largely about an exploration of the mind and with that came the interesting idea of looking at this philosophy in comparison to what we understand about how our brains work – the latest neuroscience.

“We ran a series called Brainwave where we would have a scientist on stage with someone from a different walk of life and we’d try to unpack our behaviour and the choices we make by virtue of the context.

“We had Jake Gyllenhall on dreams, for example, and Whoopi Goldberg on time, which brought The Rubin attention – particularly secular – that it might not otherwise have had given that the art is largely Tibetan Buddhist and to some degree ritualistic in that it’s an exercise of the mind.”

That’s exactly the point of the Mandala Lab and you don’t need to be famous to experience it – although, incidentally, actor Brian Cox (Logan Roy in the excellent Succession) did pop up at the launch party to bash a gong in anger.

It’s intended as a journey of self discovery – a series of activities designed to provoke thoughts about the self, our place in the world and our relationship to others.

“Envy, for example, is devoted to this exploration of this rather sharp-elbowed, competitive thing that sometimes inhabits our minds and hearts,” said Tim. “Why did someone else get a pay rise and I didn’t? Whatever it is, it’s something that we feel we lack in ourselves – it’s always self-centric.

“Here the exercise is super simple – if the first thing you did in your life was take a breath, then it will probably be the last, and that’s all we’re asking people to

do. They breathe in time with a light source.

“One of the most interesting advances in psychology and neuroscience is the idea of entrainment, where individuals sit in the same space and do something at the same pace.

“Their heartbeats start to align and that starts to develop that subliminal bond and, over time and repeated exposure, will start to foster pro-social behaviour, because we think of ourselves as one. When that happens, there’s nobody left to be envious of. It’s a metaphor, but it’s an experience metaphor, and this is what Mandala Lab is all about.”

Over the course of the four segments, visitors are gently exposed to the idea that we are all connected, that we are all the same and that we are also all different and individual – that these things are all true at the same time.

“It’s about establishing these teachings which are all about how we navigate our emotions – how we can harness the energy that we expend on maintaining them into a greater understanding of how we can deal with life,” said Tim.

“The aim is that we’re not buffeted by these reactive feelings of anger, attachment, envy and pride, which we find hard to control. Indeed, when we can’t control them, we tend to lash out and damage others and ourselves, which can lead to grief.

“Those behaviours can become habitual patterns that are ultimately harmful. What we’ve experienced in New York with the Lab is a move to a more selfless nature – from the individual to the community – that’s something we could certainly do with a little more of.

“I hope this installation is a spur to understanding for people on the Wharf – it’s free to everyone so come on down.”

Go to canarywharf.com or rubinmuseum.org for more information about the Mandala Lab

Years since The Rubin was founded in New York to display a collection of Himalayan art, primarily Tibetan Buddhist

Above, visitors explore scent and memory in Attachment

Right, visitors to Envy sit and time their breathing with a pulsating light alongside others

We’ve represented the mandala in the painting physically so people can step inside – it’s a metaphorical embodiment of the work’s principles

Tim McHenry, Mandala Lab

by Jon Massey

What connects a single that spent seven weeks at No. 1 in the US, the voice of Muddy Waters, the theme song to The Sopranos, The First Cut Is The Deepest, celebrity gangster Dave Courtney and Jools Holland?

It’s Boisdale Of Canary Wharf, as the restaurant, bar and live venue celebrated its annual music awards – showcasing the breadth and depth of the kind of artists who regularly perform there on the stage above Cabot Square.

Hosted by Jools and celebrated jazz saxophonist Yolanda Brown, the annual event brought together a host of talents – some starting out, some well established and others who’ve enjoyed whole lifetimes in the business.

That meant an evening where two-time Grammy winner, Gregory Porter, performed Hoochie Coochie Man with Nick Reynolds of the Alabama 3 in front of Mud Morganfield – Muddy Waters’ son, Snow belted out his 1992 global platinum hit Informer and Dave Courtney’s daughter, Courtney Courtney, won the rising star award.

Other highlights included Mud taking the stage himself (again with Reynolds), Kid Creole And The Coconuts’ energetic rendition of Annie I’m Not Your Daddy and a potent set from the Alabama 3, making good on their promise to deliver upbeat, acid house country all night long.

In short, the atmosphere was electric, warm and wild – as unpredictable as Boisdale always is at its best under the singular leadership of owner Ranald Macdonald. This year’s winners were as follows:

Reggae Artist

UB40

Best Album

Suzi Quatro and KT Tunstall for Face To Face

Global Icon

Snow

Outstanding Contribution

To Music

Gregory Porter

Scottish Artist

The Cuban Brothers

Lifetime Legend

Kid Creole And The Coconuts

Blues Artists

Alabama 3 + Mud Morganfield

Soul Artist

Shalamar

Instrumentalist

Bluey

Rising Star

Courtney Courtney Band

The Brand New Heavies

Awards were handed out at Boisdale to a diverse collection of acts spanning the worlds of rock, jazz, country, soul and blues 14

how the Boisdale Music Awards offers a snapshot of the talent that’s regularly gracing the stage at the epicentre of local, live entertainment rewarding the

PP Arnold Rapper Snow Courtney Courtney

The Alabama 3 in full flow at Canary Wharf

The blues is everything to me, it’s life. You can run but you can’t hide. It might not catch you today, but it’ll catch you tomorrow

Mud Morganfield, Blues Singer

Jazz Artist

Polly Gibbons

Female Artist PP Arnold

Male Artist Howard Hewett

With unexpected collaborations, dancing on the tables and a spirited address from rapper Big Narstie, it was an event to remember. Here’s what a few of the winners had to say:

Gregory Porter

Outstanding Contribution To Music

“It’s wonderful to win this award. The community of musicians and artists here are some of the best, so I’m really honoured.

“Having Muddy Waters’ son in the audience and performing one of the songs that made his name was incredible – it’s the history and the lineage of the music and I’m appreciative of Boisdale for that.”

Courtney Courtney Rising Star

“My mind’s a little bit blown,

to be honest. I’ve always sung. My brothers and my cousins all make music but I’ve only recently started to write my own stuff. I’m testing the waters. People seem to be enjoying what I’m making and so I’m going to keep creating.

“I write with my best friend –he’s been through every major life event with me and that’s amazing.

“At the moment, heartbreak is my inspiration – it’s one of the only emotions I’ve processed and healed from and it’s easier to write when you’re on the other side of something.”

Mud Morganfield Blues Artist

“It’s fantastic to be recognised in this country. I’ve pretty much spent my whole life in music and I’d give anyone starting out the same advice – you don’t need a drink or drugs to play better, don’t believe the hype. You just need what God gave you.

“The blues is everything to me, it’s life. You can run but you can’t hide. It might not catch you today, but it’ll catch you tomorrow.

“I had this music running through my head since I got to this world. A lot of my music is my father’s – a lot of people didn’t get a chance to see Muddy Waters and I just hope I can give them a glimpse of what that might have been like. I don’t think anyone gets the style quite like I do and I’m proud of that.”

Rob Spragg aka Larry Love Blues Artist

“When the Alabama 3 started, it continued on Page 12

The Cuban Brothers’ boisterous set

Singer Gregory Porter teams up with host Jools Holland and harmonica player Nick Reynolds of the Alabama 3 for a version of Willie Dixon’s Hoochie Coochie Man, made famous by Muddy Waters, whose son was also an award-winner and performer on the night

from Page 11

was very much with this kind of awards ceremony in mind. We’d go to the Brit Awards and pretend we were from Alabama, not Brixton.

“Now we’ve risen to the heights of Boisdale in Cabot Square. I was totally spooked out by seeing Mud perform – we sampled Muddy Waters on Woke Up This Morning, which became the theme song for The Sopranos TV. The blues allows for a certain raggedy-ness that the world needs alongside earthy rock and roll.

“Hopefully, this award puts us on the ladder of success after years of dirty gigs and tours – maybe we’ll wind up in some penthouse in New Jersey or something. For us, creating music is about the community you put yourself in and what you absorb.

“We’re very blessed by the stories that Brixton generates and all those things that come out at 4am in the pubs – then we put it all together in the studio.”

Polly Gibbons

Jazz Artist

“I’ve never won an award before so I’m very pleased. It’s lovely to have been considered and even better to have won.

“I’ve just released my ninth album, although in some ways it feels like my first, because this is the only one to feature all my own songs and arrangements.

“It’s called As It Is and the song I performed was Man Of Moderation, which is about my dad and features my family on backing vocals. He was diagnosed with Parkinsons but was quite a dynamic person – he played electric bass, got me into the blues and founded a festival called Green Belt. The disease has brought him to his knees – he was 6ft 2” and is now about 5ft 8” and it’s my observations as a daughter of a life very well lived.”

Howard Hewett

Male Artist

“I’ve been singing since I was 10 years old – inspired by my mum. She was a gospel promoter in Ohio and that’s how I cut my teeth. As an artist and lead singer of Shalamar, the thing I want to communicate to my audience is integrity. There’s a whole lot of crap out there right now, so it’s about quality not fads. Connecting with people when you’re performing is a really great feeling. That’s what we need.”

l The Boisdale Music Awards takes place annually, usually in September. Go online for bookings or to enquire about tickets for 2024’s edition.

Go to boisdale.co.uk

Scan

catch these

gig dates for your diary at Boisdale Of Canary Wharf – most events can be enjoyed with dinner or without

OCT 25- 9.30pm

PP Arnold

From £19, show only From £69, with dinner boisdale.co.uk

A living legend in the soul world and this year’s best female artist, audiences can expect hits such as The First Cut Is The Deepest, Angel Of The Morning and It Won’t Be Christmas Without You. Critically acclaimed, she’s worked with everyone from Stevie Wonder and Ike And Tina Turner to Nick Drake to the Small Faces.

NOV 15 - 9.30pm

Citrus Sun ft. Imaani

From £19, show only

From £69, with dinner boisdale.co.uk

Formed by musician Bluey in the late 1990s, this group are set to present music from their latest album with inspiration from guitarist Jim Mullen. Expect jazzy numbers such as Mais Uma Vez and Calling Mr Wolf from the rhythm section and star of Incognito, fresh from winning the Instrumentalist award at Boisdale.

APR 24- 9.15pm

Boogie Woogie Spectacular

From £149, with dinner (there is no show-only option) boisdale.co.uk

This might be a way off, but Jools Holland’s Boogie Woogie And Blues Spectacular always sells out with the band leader allowed to indulge in his great passion for tickling the ivories. The evening will also feature the talents of Neville Dickie, the hair of Axel Zwingenberger (google him) and the slick playing of Ladyva.

Muddy Waters’ son, Mud Morganfield, sings the blues on stage at Boisdale Of Canary Wharf

make it

try this recipe from plant-based restaurant Mallow in Wood Wharfe

Ezme can be served as a side dish or a starter to get a meal off to a sweet, flavourful start

visit the venue

Mallow Wood Wharf

Find the restaurant on Park Drive, open for breakfast, lunch and dinner from 8am-11pm on weekdays, 9am-11pm on Saturdays and 9am-10pm on Sundays

Go to mallow london.com

pomegranate ezme

this recipe makes a decent serving

>> A Turkish classic – the Swiss Army Knife of side dishes – it’s part dip, part salsa and part salad. When served alongside warm flatbread and hummus, it makes a great opener to a meal, but it is also a fantastic accompaniment to grilled dishes as it adds a great splash of sweet, acidic and fresh flavour.

Ezme means ‘crush’ in Turkish, which is an important part of the process.

ingredients

1 small pointed red pepper, deseeded and finely diced

1 small red onion, peeled and finely diced

2 ripe plum tomatoes, deseeded and finely diced

½ red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped

4 tbsp pomegranate seeds (about half a fruit)

2 tbsp flat parsley, finely chopped

3 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp pomegranate molasses

squeeze of fresh lemon juice

pinch of sumac

pinch of chilli powder

good pinch of salt

method

>> Start by dicing the pepper, onion, tomato and finely chopping the red chilli.

>> Next chop the parsley and deseed the pomegranate.

>> On a large chopping board, combine the above ingredients and chop well together. Continue to chop until the mix has released a lot of liquid and the consistency is similar to salsa.

>> Transfer to a bowl with all the juice and combine well with the olive oil, pomegranate molasses, lemon juice, chilli powder, sumac and salt to taste.

we’ve teamed up with Mallow to bring you a recipe for this versatile side dish or starter for the table to delight guests when entertaining

Canary Wharf + West India Quay

by Jon Massey

If you’re looking to save money as a small or medium-size company, you need to have a travel policy in place,” said Joe Thurgood, sales manager at South Western Railway (SWR). With the post-pandemic return to face-to-face meetings, making journeys to attend events or spend time with clients has been back on the agenda for some time.

That means organisations of all kinds returning – or in the case of some more recent startups, beginning – to booking travel for people to get them to where they need to be efficiently. It’s something the company Joe works for is taking seriously – developing the SWR Business Direct platform to enable users to book journeys across the whole country, not just on its own trains.

“It’s free to sign up, there are no fees on top of the fares and it’s very easy to use,” said Joe. “It takes businesses about 20 minutes to set up an account and then there’s a dedicated customer service team to look after clients.

“We also offer online training in how to use the platform, though it’s been designed to be as simple as possible. It offers businesses the ability to track bookings that are made and to generate reports that tell them who travelled when and where they went. There are also custom fields that can be used to capture things like PO numbers, the department an individual works in or the customer they were going to visit.

“Users can make things as detailed or as simple as they like, so they can easily see whether the firm is operating in line with a travel policy.

“Customers can set up different users with different roles. For example, a director might be able to travel first class or to book those seats only if the journey is longer than an hour.

“You can put all this information into the platform, so it

acts accordingly when a person wants to make a booking. One of the other things it does is that it will show users all of the prices available for their journey. That’s in contrast to some other apps that might only offer the cheapest.

“This means you can see options that might be more appropriate – adding on ferry tickets or a TfL Travel Card, for example, to ensure you are buying what you need.”

With the majority of companies taking greater care with their environmental impact, SWR Business Direct also has a built-in tool to help firms assess this.

“You can track your carbon footprint if you’re serious about your green agenda,” said Joe. “At any point, the platform will provide a detailed report on that, which is something businesses increasingly want to talk about.”

SWR, which operates a network of services from Waterloo to destinations including Exeter, Portsmouth, Weymouth, Reading and Guildford, created the tool in a bid to offer companies and their employees a frictionless way of booking travel on the railways.

“If you’re a large organisation, it’s likely you have a travel policy that’s saving you millions of pounds,” said Joe. “For small and medium-size businesses, saving money is even more imperative – managing your cash flow is vital – and you need to be meeting clients, tendering for new business or travelling to see existing customers to improve retention. It also helps guard against fraud.

“We are always happy to talk to organisations to discuss a policy or to help them come up with one. When it comes to train travel, that doesn’t always mean just booking the cheapest fare on offer.

“Especially with smaller organisations, there’s a focus on caring for the wellbeing of staff and so they may be happier paying for a slightly pricier ticket if it means members of their team are less stressed when travelling.

“That might mean being able to

The SWR Business Direct platform o ers users a simple interface to book travel and a wealth of information that can be captured

Cost of signing up for the SWR Business Direct platform, which also charges no fees on top of the fare prices on o er

Travellers can use digital tickets or pick up paper copies with no need for a company credit card

how SWR Business Direct can help companies handle their rail travel needs across the whole of Britain

The SWR Business Direct platform o ers companies a way to handle all of their rail bookings across the UK

travel managing your business

listen to a podcast or catching up on work on the train rather than being stuck in a queue of traffic. That way companies know staff will arrive at their destination relaxed and ready to work.

“It might also mean having a flexible ticket so, if a meeting finishes early or is cancelled in a certain location, the employee has the ability to get a different train rather than wasting time.”

SWR is currently targeting small and medium-size organisations and those who book travel within them, such as PAs, EAs and office managers. To that end, the company is sponsoring The PA Show Autumn, which is set to take place on October 17 at Old Billingsgate on the edge of the Thames (see Page 32 for more).

The platform is always online, allowing users to make and plan bookings at any time and there are no fixed contracts for clients.

In addition to featuring the lowest fares available for any given journey, the platform allows customers to purchase season tickets individually or in bulk, and to benefit from a range of discounts and offers – including up to 34% off when booking three or more tickets via GroupSave.

The service provides both digital eTickets and paper tickets, which can be collected from any station in the country without the need to present a company credit card.

Business travellers on SWR services can expect free Wi-fi at stations and on board all trains, as well as quiet carriages on selected services. First class facilities include large tables and at-seat wireless charging. The railway is also set to receive a fleet of 90 new Arterio trains that will operate on its network, promising better performance, greater capacity, air conditioning, cycle racks and charging points for every seat.

For more information or to sign up for an SWR Business Direct account, email the team via businessdirect@swrailway.com

Users can make things as detailed or as simple as they like so they can easily see whether the firm is operating in line with a travel policy

Joe Thurdgood, SWR

getting greener

by Sophie Goddard

Air quality – and therefore air pollution – is a hot topic at the moment. That’s particularly the case following the expansion of the Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ) to cover all London boroughs at the end of August. Originally covering just the congestion charge zone, it expanded to cover inner city areas such as Tower Hamlets, Southwark, Newham, Greenwich and Lewisham in 2021, before making headlines when it grew to cover the whole of the capital – replacing the former Low Emissions Zone.

ULEZ is specifically intended to lower nitrogen dioxide pollution (NO2), which is harmful to our respiratory systems, causes inflammation of the airways and can cause infections, worsen seasonal allergies and exacerbate existing lung and heart conditions.

PM2.5s are another major contributor to air pollution. These are very small particles released by burning fossil fuels that can lodge in the lungs and cause long-term lung and heart conditions.

An investigation in The Guardian recently revealed that 98% of people in Europe were living in areas with dangerous air pollution levels, exceeding the guidelines for PM2.5s as set out by the World Health Organisation. Research has shown that poor air quality contributes to more than 9,000 excess deaths in London every year.

For many years we have closely monitored air quality in Canary Wharf, including NO2 and PM2.5s. With the positioning of

Sophie Goddard,

our buildings and the proximity of water supporting air flow, we are pleased with the monitoring results we see.

But we know there is always more that can be done. That is why we continue to closely monitor the data and take action to seek improvements.

We can all make a difference to help prevent air pollution, whether it’s by turning off vehicles instead of idling or choosing to cycle or take public transport.

We can all take steps this autumn to protect ourselves and our community –now and in the future.

Sophie Goddard is director of sustainability at Canary Wharf Group and can be contacted via sustainability@canarywharf.com

Go to canarywharf.com or breakingtheplastichabit.co.uk

Scan this code for more information on sustainability in Canary Wharf

We can all make a difference to help prevent air pollution, whether it’s turning off vehicles instead of idling or choosing to cycle or take public transport

Canary Wharf Group

Why not ride a bike rather than taking the car, to limit air pollution

1,800

by Jon Massey

Ihave some sympathy with TfL. Trying to cover all the places that Liverpool Street station now connects to is no easy task, with the Elizabeth Line now meeting the Circle, Hammersmith And City, Metropolitan and Central lines as well as the Overground and National Rail at the interchange.

That there’s a direct exit from the Liz Line and connection to Moorgate, often gets lost in the mix – but it makes for a whole range of extra possibilities for those using the link, including onward journeys via the Northern line and northbound rail services.

It’s more than that too, of course. It also puts everything that part of the city has to offer within easy reach of Canary Wharf – a seven-minute ride from the estate’s station.

For Carsten Raun, this alteration in the physical infrastructure of the capital means pitching the London Oktoberfest tent at Finsbury Square makes all kinds of sense.

“We actually started in the UK at Cambridge this year and now we’re coming again to London – first in Ealing and then at Finsbury Square near Moorgate,” said the event director and organiser. “We’ve been on the Isle Of Dogs in previous years and, in 2023, we’re a little closer to Canary Wharf again.

“The transport is really great in this location, so I think it’s easy for people to get there.

“It’s great to be back – we have been running in the capital for more than 10 years.

“Of course, we will be offering the bratwurst, pretzels and schnitzel that people love and the beer imported directly from

our brewery in Bavaria. They make two different wonderful draught beers for us, one is the FestBeer, which is a sweet lager and then a craft beer.”

Specifically, the beer hails from the small town of Ebermannstadt, located to the north of Nuremberg. Located beside the river Wiesent, the Bavarian FestBeer Brewery dates back to 1776 and originally operated as a communal facility for the local population. Its flagship brew uses malt from Vienna and Hallertauer hops for a pleasant level of bitterness combined with floral and herbal aromas.

“We’ll be having a band from Germany again, playing throughout our run inside the tent,” said Carsten.

“I call it Oktoberfest music –traditional music as well as songs that people can sing along with.

“The capacity of the venue is 1,800 people and that makes for a really great party. We’re very much back to pre-pandemic times, people just want to have a great night out.

“We’ll also be bringing our outstanding Halloween Party back on October 28, where people are welcome to dress up to have some spooky fun.

“The last weekend in November will be focused on a luxury experience for companies and corporate clients who would like to celebrate.

“There will be a special lunch for businesses from noon-5pm on November 2 and 3, where they can bring clients to entertain them.

“Personally, I’m looking forward to Halloween. Each year we do it I’m really surprised by how much effort people put into their costumes, although you don’t need to be dressed up to get in, of course. Some are very terrifying. It’s also worth

mentioning that any size of group can be seated together if they book at the same time and for the same package.”

Standard entry starts at £5 although there are a number of packages available as well as the option to buy or rent traditional leather lederhosen and dirndl dresses.

Bavarian Tickets cost between £25 and £32, with seating in the middle part of the tent, a 1.5 pint measure of FestBeer, bratwurst in a roll and a German snack.

The Oktoberfest package includes the food, two beers, seating in the front part of the tent and a shot of Underberg –an alcoholic digestive distillation from Germany. These tickets cost £45-£50.

A further £15 per head buys a VIP package with seating in front of the band, a glass of German sparkling wine, two beers, Underberg and schnitzel with Bavarian potato salad. Corporate packages are flexible with various food and drink options on offer and dedicated table service for parties of eight or more. Prices per person start at £100.

l London Oktoberfest typically runs on Thursdays and Fridays from 5pm-11pm and on Saturdays from 11am-4.30pm and 5.30pm to 11pm. Tickets for general admission start at £5. The event runs at Walpole Park in Ealing from October 19-21 and at Finsbury Square near Moorgate from October 26-28 and November 2-4. Go to london-oktoberfest.co.uk for more information or to make a booking

While it is possible to buy tickets on the door, early booking is advised to secure the best spots in the tent

how London Oktoberfest promises a German-themed party seven minutes from Canary Wharf via the Liz Line

The transport is really great in our Moorgate location, so I think it’s easy for people to get to. We’ve been running for more than 10 years

Carsten Raun, London Oktoberfest

Scan this code to find out more about London Oktoberfest

Capacity of the London Oktoberfest tent, which will be in Ealing’s Walpole Park before relocating to Finsbury Square near Moorgate for two weekends

London Oktoberfest’s Moorgate site is easily reached via the Elizabeth Line to Liverpool Street

party ready for the

The festival, which has previously been held at locations on the Isle Of Dogs and near Canada Water, is set to return at sites in Ealing and Moorgate this year

by Jon Massey

The PA Show Autumn is back in east London with a new location and an expanded programme of attractions, training sessions and networking. Following an event that was so popular it tested the capacity of the East Wintergarden in Canary Wharf last year, organiser Mash Media has moved things a little further upstream along the Thames to the vaulted brick arches of Old Billingsgate’s lower ground floor.

Conceived as a more intimate, boutique edition of The PA Show at Excel, the feel is intended to be deliberately festive and seasonal as Christmas approaches.

It’s somewhere for personal, executive and virtual assistants as well as o ce managers to meet suppliers and each other in warm comfortable surroundings.

“We’re really happy with the new location, said isa Farnfield, sales director at Mash and the woman responsible for organising the show. “It has a direct connection to Canary Wharf via the DLR to Bank and is easy to get to from the West End, the City and the South Bank too.

“ t fits really well with our audience in those locations but it

exhibitors in 2023

also gives us greater capacity. The event last year was brilliant – it was rammed – but this gives us room to grow, with more exhibitors and more space for our two show theatres.”

In similar fashion to The Excel event, the boutique version is also very much focused on providing visitors with accredited continuing professional development (CPD) sessions.

“The new venue means we can have bigger theatres so more people can participate, as we were completely at capacity in Canary Wharf,” said Lisa. “We have a fantastic programme of speakers running sessions on both key skills and personal development.”

Training on offer includes the likes of The cials’ auren Bradley on next generation tech, Inspireful’s Hayley Watts on motivating yourself and others around you and Smile Box’s Donna Fisher on wellbeing in the workplace.

“Last year showed a one-day experience was something assistants can fit into their busy schedules – attend a session and then meet the exhibitors,” said Lisa. “With the location, they can easily come for half a day, a full day or the whole experience with networking and drinks at the end.

“We’ll also be running speed networking sessions – one in the morning and one in the afternoon

what’s on sessions at The PA Show Autumn’s two CPD theatres

Key Skills

l Do your minutes actually achieve anything? - 10.30am

l Navigating an increasingly complex sustainability landscape - 11.20am

l Unlock the power of ChatGPT - 12.10pm

l Wellbeing in the workplace - 1pm

l Skills to di erentiate yourself and progress your career - 1.50pm

l Growing your professional network on LinkedIn - 2.40pm

l How to excel at corporate gifting and Christmas party organising - 3.30pm

l How to stand out amongst the crowd - 4.20pm

l Your career’s make-orbreak moment: Emerging tech de ning next-gen assistants - 5.10pm

Personal Development

l Di cult conversations for EAs - 10.30am

l The “WFH-battle” is on: Employee vs Employer. Who is right? - 11.20am

l Motivating yourself and others - 12.10pm

l The project mindset - 1pm

l Your best is yet to come - 1.50pm

l Assisting yourself to mental resilience - 2.40pm

l The tactical triangle: Three perspectives from a strategic partnership –leader, chief of sta and executive assistant - 3.30pm

l Talking anxiety – how to forge ahead! - 4.20pm

l Be seen, be heardcreate a credible, powerful voice - 5.10pm Book at thepashow.com

freeThe event on October 17 is free to attend for personal, executive and virtual assistants as well as o ce managers and those in similar roles

Mash Media’s Lisa

Farn eld says the new venue allows for a greater mix of exhibitors as well as expanded theatres for training sessions

how The PA Show Autumn has found a new, larger home to welcome more visitors and

with 10 companies taking part in each. Those will be supported by M&S Corporate Gifts, with chocolate and wine tasting from Lindt and Ridgeview to enjoy.

“We want the people who come to feel connected. An assistant’s role can be isolated and many are very busy, so networking and finding suppliers can be a challenge day-to-day. Here they can find it all in one place.

“We’ve got a lovely mix of exhibitors attending, including lots of new companies, so there will be plenty that people haven’t seen before.”

Sponsored by South Western Railway’s Business Direct app, the show’s exhibitors include the likes of Fairgame, The Savoy, Qatar Airways, Virgin Experience Days, The Groucho Club, PA Life magazine, Harvey Nichols and many more.

“It will be a very relaxed environment with hotels, venues, hospitality, corporate gifting companies and travel supplies all represented,” said Lisa.

“We’ll also be operating our PA Passport, where visitors collect stamps from exhibitors to receive a fantastic goody bag and be entered into our fabulous prize draw. We’re looking forward to a buzzing event – the demand is really strong and it’s a great time of year to bring people together in the run-up to the festive season. We want people to come down, meet each other and explore at their own speed.”

The PA Show Autumn is set to take place on October 17 at Old Billingsgate near Monument station from 10am-6pm with networking drinks until 7.30pm. Free passes to the show are available to PAs, EAs, VAs and o ce managers or those in similar roles.

The next edition of The PA Show will run at Excel in Royal Docks from February 28-29. Go to thepashow.com for more information, to register to attend or to talk to the team about exhibiting

Wapping - Limehouse - Shadwell - Tower Hill

what’s on things to do, places to go, people to see

Where?

The George Tavern Shadwell

GIG | Jimmy Whispers

The upbeat bedroom-pop of the headliner comes ably supported with sets from Dubais and Finit at the venerable east London live venue. Oct 22, 7pm, £7.50, thegeorgetavern.london

Where?

Troxy

Limehouse

EVENT | Entropy

The band’s return to the live stage for the rst time in 10 years has seen them rapidly sell out venues across their 13 date tour. Don’t miss them at Troxy. Oct 21, 7pm, £41.10, troxy.co.uk

Where?

Wilton’s Music Hall Wapping

STAGE | Maybe A Ghost Story

Ideal for Halloween, this seasonal show from Daniel Kitson promises humour, frights and the possibility of a tale about a spooky apparition. Oct 30-Nov 4, times vary, from £12, wiltons.org.uk

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Tower Hamlets Council has launched its latest free school meal initiative, extending the programme to secondary pupils. The boroughwide scheme was unveiled at Swanlea School in Whitechapel towerhamlets.gov.uk

Scan this code to nd out more about the scheme and hear from the Mayor Of Tower Hamlets

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We’ve got a lovely mix of exhibitors attending, including lots of new companies, so there will be plenty that people haven’t seen before Lisa Farn eld, Mash Media

Last year’s edition of The PA Show Autumn took place in Canary Wharf –the event has now relocated to Old Billingsgate, which o ers greater capacity as well as a direct transport link to the estate via the DLR

The show is set to take place at Old Billingsgate on the venue’s lower ground oor

what’s on things to do, places to go, people to see

Where? The Forge Isle Of Dogs

by Jon Massey

TRY

Learn how to craft candles in bright hues using silicone moulds at these sessions from ArdoeiScent at Craft Central HQ, The Forge, on the Island. Oct 21, 28, 1.30pm, £59, craftcentral.org.uk

Where?

Poplar Union Isle Of Dogs

GIG

This verse-focused open mic event promises fun, good vibes and some music alongside the lyrical performances and readings. Oct 20, 7pm, free, poplarunion.com

Where? The Space Isle Of Dogs

Carolina Kollmann wants to build something. Originally from Argentina, the artist and teacher studied in Buenos Aires and at Central Saint Martins in London in the 1990s before relocating to Asia in the early 2000s. Having returned to the UK to live on the Isle Of Dogs in 2019, she took a studio at The Forge, Craft Central’s Westferry Road facility, where she works and runs classes (often involving a glass of wine or two).

Now she’s eager to use the former industrial building as a venue to showcase her work and that of other artists by creating an annual event – The Forge Art Fair.

“I’ve always been very independent and I never paid a penny to expose my art,” she said. “When I was in Hong Kong, I was a member of a group and we’d find sponsors to put on exhibitions.

This new play is set in a sleepy Yorkshire town as a brother and sister attempt to investigate the paranormal in an old school hall. Oct 31-Nov 4, 8pm, £15, space.org.uk

ash back

This is duck breast, served as part of the seven-course tasting menu at Bokan on the Isle Of Dogs. The restaurant has two chief attractions, its 37th- oor views and Robert Manea’s sublime cooking balletnights.com

Scan this code to nd out more about Bokan or to book a table at the venue atop the Novotel on Marsh Wall

want more? @wharfwhispers

“ ere it’s different – it can be very di cult and when found that one organisation wanted to charge me £800 to have my work in an art fair, I decided to start my own.

“ t took a while to find the right artists for this. The main idea I had was that it should be at The Forge – it’s a great place and it needs to be known as creative and artistic.

“I thought that if I created a proper contemporary art fair here, that will create some noise and help draw people from outside the local area to come and visit.

“I knew we couldn’t do 100 artists, that we’d start small and then, if successful, we’d grow.”

The Forge Art Fair is set to take place from October 20-26, with a private view on October 19 from 6pm-8pm. The exhibition will feature work by eight contemporary artists including Carolina herself.

“This is not a collective – for that, the people involved would need to have something in common,” she said. “For the fair, every artist’s work has to be different from what’s ne t to it.

“I hope it brings people into The Forge and that we amaze

| Colour Candle Making Workshop

STAGE | Alex And Maggie Go Ghost Hunting

| Poplar Poetry Evening

how the Forge Art Fair aims to ll the Isle Of Dogs venue with contemporary, vibrant works a celebration

Days the Forge Art Fair will take over Craft Central’s Westferry Road venue on the Isle Of Dogs

Gucci Style from Carolina Kollmann’s Looking Up series

From top left, work by Jairo And Nicola, Arturo Terraquio, Leah Ibrahim Sams, Pierre Benjamin and Tammy Walters will all feature at the Forge Art Fair

them with what’s on display here in east London. There aren’t many places where you will find a beautiful gallery with fantastic artists all together, showing you their art, that’s also free to visit.”

Visitors to the fair will find work by painter, sculptor and NFT artist Pierre Benjamin, silkscreen printmakers and collage artists Jairo And Nicola and sculptor and designer Arturo Soto. Also on show will be paintings by Jasmine Honor Mercer, work by painter and illustrator Tammy Walters, photographic abstraction from Het and pieces from digital artist Leah Ibrahim Sams.

Carolina herself works in a range of media, often blending painting with 3D printing to create pieces that literally burst off the canvas.

“The Forge is a wonderful building but it’s not ready for art – it doesn’t have enough wall space, so we’ll be using display boards for the pieces,” said the Isle Of Dogs resident, who created digital collages from images of Mudchute Park And Farm during the pandemic and sold them to help raise money to feed the animals. “I really hope that people will be able to see what I saw when I came to The Forge – that it’s a beautiful place.

“My work is inspired by my own life. For example, there’s breast cancer – a horrible thing like this where you lose friends, so I wondered how I could make it beautiful?

“I mixed in fashion – Gucci, Alexander McQueen and Versace – for a series called Looking Up that’s about cancer and death. There are also pieces to do with the menopause, age and health. It’s all the same thing – it has to be about my life.

“When I was growing up in Argentina we had a military government. People were disappearing – there were so many horrible things all around us.

“When I was little I didn’t know what an artist was. My parents definitely never mentioned that should study drawing or anything like that.

“But my grandma, who travelled a lot and loved art, said that I should be allowed to study, so I went to art school when I was 14.

“That was an amazing time in my life, when I was studying art – it was like an explosion of creativity as the military government was coming to an end.

“I met amazing artists, including Philippe Noyer, who is still alive and influenced me a lot. He showed me how to express my ideas.

“It was while I was in Asia that I had the idea of bringing my pieces more to life in relief, but I couldn’t think how. I couldn’t use papier mache or anything like

that, because it would have been damaged by the humidity. Then a friend of mine – a very bright and creative person – who was one of the first people to have a 3D printer, suggested I could try using one.

“He said he’d heard there was someone in Japan doing it. But I thought it wasn’t very artistic and so I said no. This is always me – I say no at first.

“It took a while but then I had an idea and started designing what I wanted to create. The technology does have its limits but you work with it.

“First I paint on the canvas, then I put the 3D element where I want it and paint over the top in acrylic to make the finished piece.

While the forthcoming fair is primarily about showcasing the work of the exhibitors involved, visitors are also invited to participate in various events over the course of the week.

Animal illustrator Tammy Walters will be running live drawing class I Love Dogs on October 21 at 3pm, with NFTs: Empowerment Through Art scheduled for 6pm on October 23.

Carolina will be hosting 3D Artist Exhibition Tour, covering her work and a printing demonstration on October 25 at 5.30pm and visual artists Jairo and Nicola will lead Fairytale And Surrealist Screen Printing on October 26 at 5.30pm. The latter costs £5 with participants taking home a finished screen print.

Carolina is also a qualified fine art teacher and runs regular classes at The Forge – so for those unable to visit the fair, there are other ways to get involved in art.

he is currently offering Ladies Night sessions – which run over the course of a month with participants producing a finished artwork over four classes. The next begins on October 10.

“I’d taught in Hong Kong and one of the classes which was very popular there was this concept for women,” she said.

“We open some wine, but we learn about art too. Each month we do a different project – we

might look at acrylics or watercolour, for example. We’re all busy working on our pieces but it’s also an opportunity to chat.

“We look at painters and take inspiration from them – especially English artists as we are in London.”

The sessions cost £100, which covers four 90-minute classes over the course of a month. In October these take place on Tuesday evenings from 6pm.

You can find out more information or book the classes online at carolinakollmannartdesign.com

The Forge Art Fair runs from October 20-26 at the Craft Central venue. It will be open from 11am8pm Friday-Sunday and from 4pm-8pm Monday-Thursday.

Entry is free. ou can also find links to all the artists featured via the website below.

For more information about The Forge Art Fair or to book any of the events taking place during its run go to forgeartfair.com

The main idea I had was that it should be at The Forge – it’s a great place and it needs to be known as creative and artistic

Carolina Kollmann, Forge Art Fair

Carolina Kollmann has created the Forge Art Fair on the Isle Of Dogs to celebrate and showcase the work of artists

by Jon Massey

The passenger craft

Sean Collins has been running on London’s great river have always had a futuristic edge to them. Starting with three Hydrocats in 1999 – each able to carry 62 people from Greenland Pier in Rotherhithe into the City – the zippy little twin-hulled craft helped carve out an image of Docklands’ modernisation that boosted the area’s ongoing regeneration.

As Canary Wharf, east and south-east London have grown and developed – so too has the river bus service. Today, the vessels in Uber Boat By Thames Clippers’ fleet are larger – long slender craft that hug the water as their engines blast them rapidly along.

While to the untrained eye, the sleek lines of the 220-passenger vessels might appear similar, don’t be fooled. There’s change afoot – a journey that started with the arrival of Venus Clipper in 2019 as the service targeted green improvement.

The next step on that path, somewhat delayed by the pandemic, was the recent launch of Earth Clipper – a vessel that is aesthetically similar to the rest of the fleet, but is also completely different. Firstly, at 40 metres long, she can carry an extra 10 passengers.

But this is a mere tweak in comparison to the main difference – the way she is propelled. Earth Clipper uses a hybrid combination of electric power and biofuel power to slice through the brown

90%

waters of the Thames. In central London, she uses only an electric motor with a biofuel engine kicking in out east to recharge her batteries and push water through her jets.

“Earth Clipper has been just under three years in the making. We started working on the specification in 2019,” said Sean, CEO of Uber Boat By Thames Clippers.

“We needed extra capacity, to be able to serve our routes with the expansion down to Barking – the increasing volumes that were there and those in the pipeline, such as Battersea.

“We’d just commissioned their predecessor – Venus Clipper – and we were already focused on reducing weight and therefore power in that vessel. That was already a 20% emissions improvement on the core boats in our fleet for the same carrying capacity.

“With that one, we were asking how we could make the boat lighter while providing an enhanced level of comfort and all the facilities our passengers expected.

“We worked on that whole design with 123 Naval Architects and came up with Venus. From that, we decided we had to move it on to the next level.”

The drive to do that came from the company’s goal to cut carbon emissions by 50% by 2030 and to achieve net zero for the overall business by 2040.

Sean said: “Boats have to last 25-30 years – they haven’t got a similar shelf life to most other above ground vehicles.

“With that in mind, to reach our sustainability goals, we realised we had to have a significant step forward.

“We looked at the options, took a lot of data from the operating profile of Venus and used it to establish what might be achieved by using a hybrid model.

“From that, we realised we were not going to be able to achieve 100% battery power at high speeds, but that we could when going more slowly, as we do in central London.

“We formulated a specification and went to the shipyard that had built our previous five vessels and signed contracts to move on with building Earth Clipper.

“It does exactly what we wanted it to do. The model has resulted in a 90% reduction in our CO2 emissions and a 65% drop in oxides of nitrogen and sulphur. Those are figures based on measurements we’ve taken during actual running on the Thames.

“There are two more in build – Celestial and Mars – which will both have joined the fleet by spring 2024. We all have a duty of care and a duty to deliver on improving the environment.”

There are other benefits too.

To reach our sustainability goals, we realised we had to have a signi cant step forward. Earth Clipper does exactly what we wanted it to do

Sean Collins, Uber Boat By Thames Clippers

Earth and its two sister ships hail from the Wight Shipyard Co on at East Cowes on the Isle Of Wight – a boost to the local economy with 65 people involved in their construction, including 14 apprentices.

There are also other operational benefits closer to home – welcome news as passenger numbers are already exceeding levels seen in 2019.

“Earth is significantly quieter and smoother on battery and that’s even the case when the engine is running,” said Sean.

Earth Clipper operates purely on battery power with zero emissions between Battersea and Tower piers

Reduction in CO2 emissions for Earth Clipper using its hybrid system compared with operating purely on marine diesel

how Earth Clipper is the latest step in a journey as Uber Boat By Thames Clippers works to lower its emissions

less is more

Thames Clippers started with just one route from Greenland Pier in Rotherhithe to Savoy Pier in central London. It now serves 24 piers from Putney in the west to Barking Riverside in the east

CEO of Uber Boat By Thames Clippers, Sean Collins, stands beside Earth Clipper at the company’s Trinity Buoy Wharf base

“From a noise perspective, it’s a significant improvement and there’s absolutely no compromise at all from the customer’s point of view. The seating is also an upgrade in design – we’ve managed to make all 2 0 lighter, improving the e ciency of the vessel.

“We had to add nearly nine tonnes of additional weight with cabling, batteries and the motor to enable us to use this method of powering the boat. So that’s a process we’ve been through with every component.

“When stepping on Earth Clipper, we feel a sense of achievement. We’re really inspired by feedback from the public and also the crews that are working on the boat. They really love it – the technical advances and the sense of having taken that step forward.

The use of battery-only power in central ondon equates to an e tra 1 . reduction in emissions in comparison to using the biofuel engine alone. In the future, Sean said hydrogen would likely provide further cuts in emissions as electrical power was currently impractical as a way to deliver high speed services on the river, given the charging times needed.

However, Uber Boat By Thames Clippers is also pressing ahead with plans for an all-electric cross-river service for pedestrians and cyclists. The aim is to have this up and running on the company’s Rotherhithe-to-Canary Wharf route by spring 202 and then use it as a template for similar services elsewhere.

ean said “We’re committed to delivering that as part of our plans to invest 0million in new boats up to 20 0. There are also opportunities between Silvertown and Charlton as well as Thame smead and arking in the east.

“We’re also aiming to add more stops including a pier that has planning permission at lackwall ard, which the developer will hopefully build over the ne t few years. One of the things that happened over the pandemic is that more people discovered the river and we’ve had three record days this year.

“ ur figures for 2022 were higher than 201 and Canary Wharf, for example, is thriving. The footfall at that pier is e ceeding pre Covid levels. Go to thamesclippers.com for more information

Rotherhithe - Deptford - Bermondsey

what’s on things to do, places to go, people to see

Where? The Albany Deptford

GIG | Music Is A Social Space

Sound activist and musician Charles Hayward presents an evening of music that promises to push at the edges of what’s possible. Oct 28, 7.30pm, £12, thealbany.org.uk

Where? Sands Films Studio Rotherhithe

STAGE | The Mistake

Michael Mears (who also stars) presents a play about the dangers that arise when humans unlock the awesome and terrible power of nature. Oct 26-27, 7.30pm, donations, sandsmusic.eventive.org

Where? Deptford Lounge Deptford

GIG | O The Chest’s Fourth Birthday

Ella Dorman-Gajic and Iftikhar Latif lead a special edition of the poetry evening, including open mic spots of four minutes for performers.

Oct 26, 7.30pm, donations, thealbany.org.uk

ash back

Historian, tour guide and author Sheldon K Goodman is set to launch his book, An Opinionated Guide To Historic London, at the Brunel Museum with a talk on Oct 19 at 6.30pm. The tome costs £10.95 thebrunelmuseum.com

Scan this code to nd out more about Sheldon’s talk and his recently published book

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Image by Jon Massey

tried and tested

The venue for Mamma Mia! The Party in The O2 is unrecognisable from its days as a nightclub and events space. Tables with checked tablecloths are crammed in on every level – there’s a fountain, owers, bright light.

These elements, teamed with the welcome drink as you walk in and the friendliness of the sta , all come together to create the feeling you’ve arrived at the wedding of one of your more well-to-do friends.

After being seated and taking in the surroundings we’re presented with mezze – generous portions of dips and bread, shortly followed by a Greek salad, naturally. We are on Skopelos, after all.

The show begins and Antony from Blue in the role of Nikos welcomes everyone to the taverna, further cementing the wedding vibes.

The storyline isn’t overly complicated –you probably wouldn’t want it to be with so much going on around you and ABBA favourites performed at every possible opportunity –but what a show it is.

Taking advantage of the di erent levels, the fountain and the lights, the taverna is transformed into di erent backdrops for the songs.

The main cast belt out the old favourites and around the tables the supporting musicians play their instruments. Is that a bouzouki?

Standing up and dancing is very much encouraged. Dinner is announced on stage marking the start of the interval when lamb is served to the audience. Quickly, we realise this is no gimmick to accompany the performance – it’s actually an impressive spread, the lamb beautifully cooked and the rich sauce a perfect accompaniment.

The whole party is a delight from start to nish from the attention to detail in the set to the quality of the performers and the entire atmosphere – singing and dancing with 500 strangers. No wonder we all appear as joyful as each other to be there.

Following a blockbuster nale, Mama Mia! The Party slips seamlessly into ABBAthemed disco for those who want to stay –reader, I did. It was the perfect way to end the night – when we get the chance, we are all dancing queens.

Jess Maddison

how Mamma

Starting price for a ticket to the show, which includes booking fee and dinner in the taverna as standard

Antony Costa, left, and Björn Ulvaeus pose on the set of Mamma Mia! The Party at The O2

films

by Jon Massey

Björn Ulvaeus is in a jovial, reflective mood –surprising, perhaps, for a global megastar who’s already spent much of his morning being interviewed by a merry go round of journalists at The 2 before get to him. e’s at the reenwich eninsula venue to mark the arrival of ntony Costa – best known as one quarter of boy band lue, who has just joined the cast of Mamma Mia! The Party, which has been playing in its own dedicated space within the giant tent since 201 .

There’s a feeling of serendipity about the whole thing. –namely j rn, enny ndersson, gnetha F ltskog and nni Frid yngstad – reportedly gave their first impromptu performance on a beach while on holiday in Cyprus.

ntony has reek Cypriot heritage and is the first person in the ondon run directly connected with the culture to take on the role of taverna owner ikos, whose establishment is the setting for the immersive show.

at in the vast space, completely transformed into a restaurant on kopelos with hundreds of seats, it’s impossible not to wonder what moments of fresh seren dipity might take place under the lights as ntony and co dance, sing and entertain the e pectant crowds. Who might be inspired What might they do “Everything with was so organic, it happened by chance, said j rn. “ enny and happened to meet each other, then we happened to meet those ladies and they happened to be singers. They could easily have been something else.

“We never thought about forming a group until two or three years into our relationships – we were just two couples. Then, again by chance, gnetha is a true soprano, and Frida is a me o –it’s when she strives to get up to where gnetha is and they sing in unison, there’s a strange kind of metallic, longing sound which you can hear from miles away.

“That is the sound of . t has a quality that, when the song is a bit sad, in a minor key and the

London is where all the infrastructure and talent is, so it was a no-brainer to bring Mamma Mia! The Party here in 2019 after Stockholm

Björn Ulvaeus, ABBA

lyrics are dark, the voices seem to be jubilant, so happy and sad at the same time. t’s very ordic and it was probably very e otic to the rest of the world. Then, at the same time, enny and were determined to become very good songwriters and to record our music as well as we could.

“ was the most wonderful vehicle to communicate those songs though, so it was a combi nation of all of those things that led to our success.

ne of the best selling groups in the history of popular music, ne t came Mamma Mia! the

Mia! The Party offers immersion in ABBA’s music, spun off from the hit

Mamma Mia! The Party at The O2

The action takes place in and around the tables at Mamma Mia! The Party

knowing me, knowing

Greenwich - Peninsula - Woolwich

Antony, who hails from Barnet in north London, said: “The idea is that people leave their troubles at the door, they just enjoy the vibe, the music and the story. Nikos and his wife Kate (Gemma Maclean) have had this idea that they will make some money off the back of the movies. ABBA is popular, so they decide to use the songs.

“They trade off the taverna as a location and that’s how the story begins. It’s my second immersive show and it’s amazing. You have to be in character but you can go up to the tables and ask the guests how their food is. They’re always sending their compliments to the chef, they love it.

“My dad’s family are all Greek-Cypriot, so when I lived in Cyprus as a kid, I used to see it all the time – gran peeling the potatoes, dad smoking and cooking the barbecue – and that makes it real. I was actually a bit emotional that someone had taken the trouble to write something set in the motherland. It really brought me back to living in Cyprus as a kid and going to the taverna with the whole family.

“I feel very honoured to be performing these songs and to have Björn watching and for him to say: ‘Well done’ – I can die happy. I saw his face light up and that was better than any applause.”

Following the establishment of Mamma Mia! The Party, the eastern half of the capital is busy with the band’s footprint thanks to ABBA Voyage – a holographic concert venue featuring avatars of the four members – that opened in 2022, not far away in Stratford.

what’s on things to do, places to go, people to see

Where?

The O2 Arena Peninsula

GIG

Rumour has it that there ain’t no party like an S Club party and the gang are all set for three shows over two days in memory of the late Paul Cattermole. Oct 27-28, times vary, from £31, theo2.co.uk

Where?

GIG

Just one look and you can barely tell the di erence, it might be a while o but early booking is advised to catch this Australian ABBA tribute at The O2. Dec 15, 7pm, from £41, theo2.co.uk

Where? Greenwich Theatre Greenwich

jukebo musical, a film adaptation – then a second – each adding fresh waves of popularity and further cementing the presence of hits such as Dancing Queen, Super Trouper, The Winner Takes It All and Waterloo in the public consciousness.

Mamma Mia! The Party, however is different. Conceived after a visit to kopelos to see the film set, Björn set about creating an immersive experience that would serve as a sequel to the movies – initially opening in Stockholm – before bringing the show to London.

“That’s the thing about this –it’s so real,” he said. “It’s a real restaurant. The audience are eating, it has an owner, he’s called Nikos and the family are working here. The movies are fiction, but this is real and that’s what people feel when they come.

“People would stand up, sing and dance at the end of the stage musical and I wondered how we could make this immersive. It feels great because you can see people enjoying the music, singing all the words and it’s real.”

“London is where all the infrastructure and talent is, so it was a no-brainer to bring the party here in 2019 after Stockholm,” said Björn. “There’s a huge audience here, all prepared to try something new – an experiment, which this is, in essence.

“From here, we’re going to take it to other places around the world – perhaps New York and Sydney. Seeing Antony as Nikos was very special because he gives his own interpretation of the role. s the first person to play the role in London who comes from a Greek background, he completely understands who Nikos is and that is great – I loved seeing it.”

Mamma Mia! The Party runs Wednesday to Sunday at 6.30pm with noon matinees at weekends. Tickets start at 10 off peak with various upgrades available. Go to mammamiatheparty.co.uk

Scan this code to nd out more about Mamma Mia! The Party

STAGE

Storyteller Niall Moorjani reimagines folk classics from Thomas The Rhymer in an evening that promises strangeness, sexy fairies and swearing. Oct 22, 7.30pm, £12.50, greenwichtheatre.org.uk

see it

All that glitters isn’t gold at Sara Shakeel’s The Great Supper – an art installation that recently returned to Now Gallery on Greenwich Peninsula. In this case, it’s a wealth of Swarowski crystals on a table nowgallery.co.uk

Scan this code to nd out more about Sara’s piece or how to view her artwork for free at the gallery

want more? @wharfwhispers

| S Club

| A Fairie Tale

| Björn Again

Image by Victor Huang

Years since Walt Disney founded his company, which has entertained the world through animation, lm and television ever since 100

what’s on things to do, places to go, people to see

Where?

Excel Royal Victoria Dock

EVENT | Musical Con

Head over to Royal Docks for the o cial West End fan convention with around 10,000 expected to mix with more than 100 stars and creatives. Oct 21-22, 10am-5pm, £43, excel.london

Where?

Excel Royal Victoria Dock

EVENT | The London Snow Show

Disney100: The Exhibition opens at Excel on October 13

making the

Get free access to this convention for skiers, snowboarders and lovers of mountain pursuits. Expect Eddie The Eagle Edwards to be there. No, really. Oct 21-22, 10am, free, excel.london

Where? Social Convention Canning Town

GIG | The Greatest Drag Show

This modest, humble show promises only the very best in drag, all overseen by ringmistress Violetta J’Adore. Fire, freedom and impossible possibilities. Oct 21, 8pm, from £6.50, socialconvention.org

still time

by Jon Massey

The Excel centre in Royal Docks is set to host Disney100: The Exhibition from October 13 as the entertainment giant celebrates a century in business.

A collection of 10 themed galleries promise to tell the story of Walt’s creations through interactive exhibits and a wealth of background information.

Visitors can expect original artworks, artefacts, costumes, props and memorabilia from

100 years of storytelling that all started with a jaunty animated mouse.

Since then, the company has been responsible for a plethora of beloved animated features – Snow White, Robin Hood, The Lion King, Aladdin, The Little Mermaid – as well as edgier works such as Fantasia and Alice In Wonderland.

Disney’s evolution has seen it acquire Star Wars and the rights to the Marvel universe to add to its stable of live action classics and, more recently, remakes of its animated back catalogue.

The company continues to change and grow as a

major player in streaming services, theme parks and live experiences – something to re ect on while enjoying the innocence of Steamboat Willie as he bobs along down the river. Tickets for the exhibition start at £21, with bookings available into January Go to disney.co.uk for more information or to book tickets

Scan this code for more about Disney100

The Thames Barrier Park Cafe is looking for a new operator following an extensive refurbishment. The Royal Docks Team is inviting expressions of interest from those keen on the idea before October 27 royaldocks.london

Scan this code to nd out more about the opportunity to operate the cafe close to Pontoon Dock DLR

want more? @wharfwhispers

how 10 galleries in Royal Docks aim to tell the story of an entertainment empire as Disney100 opens up

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CLEANING

Flea

Starting price for tickets to see The Flea at The Yard

– a 30% o deal is available with the free Yard Card, available to anyone who lives or works locally

the protection of

what’s on things to do, places to go, people to see

Where?

Lee Valley Velopark Stratford

COMPETE | Lee Valley Velopark Running Races

Test your abilities with anything between and including a 5k or a half marathon on the venue’s one-mile Moto GP style circuit. Kids run for free. Oct 28, 9am-noon, from £10, runthrough.co.uk

Where?

Stratford

Broadway Stratford

SERVICE | Dr Bike

Last chance to get access to free bike mechanics through Stratford Original’s monthly scheme. Find them by the shopping centre entrance. Oct 20, 4pm-7pm, free, stratfordoriginal.com

Where?

Theatre Royal Stratford East Stratford

by Jon Massey

The Yard Theatre in Hackney Wick is set to host the premiere of The Flea, a new play written by James Fritz. The production deals with the Cleveland Street scandal – the events that unfolded following the discovery of a homosexual male brothel in Fitzrovia by police in 1889.

With gay sex between men illegal at the time, the brothel’s clients faced possible prosecution. Rumours circulated that members of the aristocracy were visitors to the venue, including Queen Victoria’s grandson, Prince Albert Victor.

cers acquired testimonies that Lord Arthur Somerset, an equerry to the rince f Wales, was a client but he and brothel keeper Charles ammond fled the country to avoid prosecution. There was much talk of a government cover up.

In the end, no clients were brought before the courts,

although a number of telegraph messenger boys, who were also sex workers at the venue did receive prison sentences.

The play follows the story of Charlie Swinscow, one of the telegraph boys who is arrested for theft and has more cash on him than expected. Also featuring a flea, a horse, a detective, a queen, a pimp and a god, the production retells the tale of a scandal that shook the British establishment.

Playwright James Fritz said: “I’ve long had a special connection to The Yard as a place and a space, and I can’t wait to see The Flea fill those beautiful concrete floors.

“It’s the biggest, most ambitious thing I’ve ever written, and I’m buzzing to see what Jay and the team do with it.”

The production is directed by The Yard’s artistic director, Jay Miller, who added: “The Flea is a glorious depiction of Victorian England, demonstrating that although progress does take place, some things always stay the same.

“This is a vivid (and sometimes hilarious) portrait of royal Britain,

a country that is angry, deferential, unequal, patient and in awe of its past.

“I am delighted to be back directing again. After a break from it all, I can’t wait to make another show and I am delighted that James has entrusted me to bring his brilliant play to the stage.”

The cast includes Connor Finch, Scott Karim, Norah Lopez Holden, Séamus McLean Ross and Sonny Poon Tip.

The Flea is set to run at The Yard from October 11 to November 18 with performances Monday to Saturday at 7.30pm and Saturday matinees at 2.30pm. Tickets start at £10. Those living or working in the area can sign up for a free ard Card and get 0 off on this and other selected shows. Go to theyardtheatre.co.uk for more information or to make a booking

STAGE | I, Daniel Blake

This stage version of Ken Loach and Paul Laverty’s powerful lm has been adapted for the theatre by the movie’s star, Dave Johns, who played the titular role. Oct 24-28, 7.30pm, from £10, stratfordeast.com

ash back

East Village-based restaurant Bamboo Mat has launched a brunch o er, serving up a fusion of Japanese and Peruvian food called Nikkei cuisine. Expect eight dishes for £35pp and bottomless booze for £18pp bamboo-mat.co.uk

Scan this code to read Wharf Life’s interview with Bamboo Mat co-owner Denis Gobjila

want more? @wharfwhispers

how The Flea at The Yard Theatre retells the story of a sex scandal that rocked the British establishment in 1889

The

has been written by James Friz, top right, and directed by Jay Miller, below

Sudoku

Take a break from that phone

How to play

To complete Sudoku, ll the board by entering numbers one to nine such that each row, column and 3x3 box contains every number uniquely.

More to play

You can nd more Sudoku puzzles and a wide selection of other brainteasers available to download for free at puzzles.ca

Notes

crossword

Cryptic Quick Down

1. Forces on horseback? (8)

2. Confuse fashionable architectural features (5)

4. Mix up a horse’s gallop with catalepsy? (6)

5. Put Leyton’s team back in line (12)

. t’s usually off, if you want a drink (7)

7. Nothing like her! (4)

8. I see you can barely speak of an unpunctual train, we hear (12)

12. Add rants to make the rule (8)

14. Walks unsteadily, for example, to catch sight of (7)

16. Where to put the lead? (6)

18. Break a beer tankard with a small image (5)

19. Young man noticed his biblical twin brother, we hear (4)

beating the

whether you’re cryptic sleuth or synonym solver in it for quick wins, this should satisfy

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