Fun

Mountain Biking in the North Downs near Dorking, less than an hour by train from London

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I used to own a mountain bike and thoroughly enjoyed going on little tours off the beaten path, even though I didn’t do anywhere near as much as I had hoped I would. Then I got a bit older and for some reason I hardly every managed to go out there and enjoy nature while getting some proper exercise on two wheels. The last time I did some proper mountain-biking must have been in Queenstown, New Zealand, some 5 years ago, it’s shameful. So last week I decided to do something about this sorry state of affairs. On the spur of a moment I googled ‘mountain biking london’, checked out the routes that popped up on my screen, then booked a return train ticket (off-peak supersaver for just over £20) to Dorking, 35km south of the capital. An hour later I was on a train, and another 43 minutes later […]

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Fun, London

Racing e-karts around TeamSport’s Acton race track – I’ll never drive a petrol-kart again!

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Last week I tried out karting with an e-kart for the first time at TeamSport in Acton, West London. I had previously checked out their petrol karts with Ms B in Mitcham, which had been great fun, but not really much of a racing experience. The petrol karts hardly managed to get me up the ramps and they failed to accelerate my 105kg frame to any serious speed despite the fact that I never put my foot off the gas pedal. With e-karts, everything is very different. Electric karts have much more torque and acceleration. Even their top lap time is around one second better than that of the petrol-driven ones. For fat guys like me, or, indeed, for anyone weighing more than 75kg, this makes all the difference. While back then, it was more like a bit of light afternoon amusement, much like high tea, this time around, it […]

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Fun, London, Winter

Skylight Ice Rink, Shadwell – Close to impossible to find, but good fun once you’re there

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We’ve recently checked out the Skylight Ice Rink in East London, which is located on a roof top of the Tobacco Dock. Take the DLR from Bank (one stop) or London Overground from Whitchapel (one stop) or Canada Water (three stops) to Shadwell station. From the station, walk Cable Street westward until you get to the first major crossing, where you turn left into Cannon Street Road. Walk down Cannon Street Road until you get to The Highway. Turn left into The Highway, then immediately right into Chigwell Hill. When you reach the T-junction with Pennington Street, the Tobacco Dock parking house entrance will be on the opposite side of the street slightly to your left. The walking distance from the station is no more than five minutes. There will not be any meaningful signage, but just enter the parking house and the porter will point you towards the staircase […]

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Fun, London

From Navy SEALS to Harbour Seals: Delta Force Paintballing in Upminster, Essex

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A friend of ours used to run a B&B cum adventure holiday camp in the West Country a long time ago, and she keeps talking about how much fun the paintballing games there were. As it happened we accidentally stumbled across an online ad for the UK’s biggest paintballing provider, Delta Force Paintballing (3 sites around London, plenty across the country): £9.99 for a day pass plus £9.99 for very 100 paintballs you purchase. We booked ourselves tickets to the Upminster venue and purchased 100 paintballs each. We got up at 7am, hopped on the tube, picked up our rental car at London City Airport at 8:30am’ish, and arrived early at the venue after a 25min drive. You sign in, you are being assigned to one of several groups (with an armband signifying the group), then pick up your combat gear (helmet, goggles, battlesuit, body armour) and magazine plus the […]

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Fun, London

Crime Scene Live at the Natural History Museum – How to solve a double murder case in 4 hours

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A couple of weeks ago, Mr B & I finally made it to Crime Scene Live at the Natural History Museum, which has been successfully running for more than two years. What is Crime Scene Live? Crime Scene Live is an immersive experience at our beloved Natural History Museum, involving actors and real-life experts, where several hundred paying customers are tasked with the investigation of a double-murder and the theft of a famous gemstone, which have just taken place. This murder mystery game is in part similar to some escape rooms, in part it resembles a treasure hunt or Secret Cinema. The event is being run in collaboration with Wet Picnic, an experimental theatre group.    We had not been aware that there are fully functional forensic laboratories and research centres at the NHM which assist the police in criminal cases. For the evening, these experts volunteered their precious time, […]

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