Ephemeral London

20/03/2026

20/03/2026

Well this lovely little pop up photography exhibition was still there yesterday, so last chance to catch it. Soho Square .org

20/03/2026

Come and see Adrian Lee's performance featuring interference and disruption on Saturday 28th at the Museum of Soho.

26/01/2026

Delighted to be invited along to Shaun Wallace's wonderful exhibition on the Q***r Black club scene at the Great Pulteney Street Gallery.

REUNION 79:21 was everything London promises and rarely delivers all at once: poignant, joyful, sweaty, political, beautiful — and absolutely rammed to the gunnels. For five short days, Black q***r clubland returned to Soho, reminding us that London’s culture is built in basements, on dancefloors, and in communities that refuse to be erased.

This was living fleeting memory. Images, faces and stories that prove nightlife isn’t just about hedonism; it’s about survival, kinship and claiming space in a city that’s constantly rebuilding over itself. Blink and you miss it. That’s London. That’s the point.

Huge respect to the artists, archivists, curators and the crowd who showed up and showed out. Ephemeral? Yes. Forgettable? Never.

Find out more about the gallery and programme here:
👉 https://www.greatpulteneystreetgallery.org

26/01/2026

Today, I was lucky enough to be invited to raise a glass to a moment that changed the world forever. On 26 January 1926, in a humble attic laboratory above what’s now Bar Italia at 22 Frith Street in Soho, London, Scottish inventor John Logie Baird gave the first public demonstration of a working television system — a century ago today.

Baird’s contraption — made with rotating discs, bright lights and the spirit of pure ingenuity — transmitted moving images to an audience of scientists from the Royal Institution and a reporter from The Times. Early viewers saw flickering, rudimentary forms, including the head of a ventriloquist’s dummy, proving that live pictures could be sent electrically.

To put that in context: what started in that Soho loft has since become an anchor of global culture — telling stories, sparking sport passions, shaping politics, and breaking news.

Had a lovely chat with Mike Read, who may be best known as a DJ, but is also the author of fifty history books. Also present were comedy legends Sue Pollard, Vicky Michelle, Mervyn Hayes and John Altman, best know for portraying Nasty Nick Cotton in Eastenders.

Logie Baird's grandson was there to unveil a plaque to commemorate the day and open a new Baird Room above the world famous coffee shop. Antonio the current proprietor of Bar Italia gave a poignant shout out to his grandparents who took over the lease many moons ago, and made it a must visit Soho venue in the 1960s and through to today.

So here’s to Baird — an inventor who turned what once seemed like magic into the screens that fill our homes today.

20/01/2026

Lovely behind the scenes tour of the Lyceum Theatre.