The Time Out London blog team

Founded in 1170, Kingston’s Ancient Market is indeed ancient. One of the oldest markets in London, it’s currently home to nearly 30 local traders including a fishmongers, bakery and various street food stands. Neighbouring it is the equally historic Kingston Market Square, which boasts not one but two Grade II-listed buildings: a monument and a house from 1840. It’s even got a gilded statue of Queen Anne.  Plans were submitted a few months ago to give the long-lived square a revamp. Now, the architects and events company hoping to transform Kingston’s Ancient Market into a bustling, ultra-modern community space have added new details to the designs. Here’s what they’re hoping to do.  The new plans, submitted last week, show that operators Between the Bridges – an events company that was handed a long-term lease to reorganise the market last year – and designers Zap Architecture hope to shift things around a bit. One of the ideas is to turn the square into a revitalised ‘piazza’ that’s ‘vibrant’ and ‘sustainable’. Within it, they’d hope to build 45 modern, Borough Market-esque stalls with sustainable materials, solar panels on top, and storage tanks that turn rain into reusable drinking water. Designed to host pop-ups, farmers markets and weekend events, the piazza will also apparently be able to put on concerts. Photograph: Zap Architecture If green-lit, the listed Market House would get a refurb too. The designers hope to flip the ground floor of the building into a...

Last April (a year ago today – April 7 – in fact), the Silvertown tunnel opened in east London. The controversial road tunnel between Silvertown and the Greenwich Peninsula cost £2.2 billion and was London’s first sub-Thames crossing in 30 years. As part of the opening of the new tunnel, several perks were launched for those looking to cross the Thames in east London. It was announced that two sections of the DLR and three bus routes would be free to ride for at least 12 months – and now, in good news for the Londoners that made the most of those freebies, the free travel period is being extended. You’ll now be able to ride the DLR and buses across the Thames for free until Tuesday May 26. RECOMMENDED: ❓ Why was the Silvertown Tunnel controversial? 💰 How much is the tunnel’s toll charge – and who is exempt? Which buses can you ride for free in east London? The buses that are free to use as a result of the opening of the Silvertown tunnel are: 108 129 SL4 Which DLR routes are free? On the Docklands Light Railway – which has new trains coming into service this summer – you’ll be able to ride the following two sections for free. Between Greenwich or Cutty Sark (recently reopened) and Island Gardens Between Woolwich Arsenal and George V To get the free ride, you’ll still need to tap in (and out, on the DLR) with an Oyster or contactless payment card. TfL will then refund your journey. Photograph: chrisdorney / Shutterstock.com The ‘bike bus’ that carries cyclists...

Hackney’s Rio Cinema is celebrating 50 years as a community-run cinema this month with a series of celebrations, screenings and parties. The six-month-long season, Rio Forever, will be showcasing ‘what the Rio does best’ with ‘bold, eclectic programming; archival gems; and gatherings that bring people together’. It all kicks off with a party co-hosted with Jeremy Deller, Sports Banger and Doc’n Roll Films, three luminaries of DIY culture who will be taking over the Rio for a celebration of ‘radical creativity, outsider art, music and film’ on Friday, April 17. Movies are a big part of Rio Forever, of course, with 35mm screenings doubling up as fundraisers for this beloved venue.Legendary Londoner Sally Potter will be swinging by for a screening (and Q&A) of her epoch-hopping feminist masterpiece Orlando on Friday, April 24, with Hackney’s own Asif Kapadia (Amy, Diego Maradona) intro’ing a 35mm screening of The Godfather: Part II on May 8. Punch-Drunk Love lovers can book in for a screening of Paul Thomas Anderson’s romantic-comedy presented by Molly Manning Walker (How to Have Sex) on May 19.Pretty Red Dress writer-director Dionne Edwards, meanwhile, is introducing the Wachowskis’ cult neo-noir thriller Bound on May 22.There’ll also be a tribute to Rio Cinema OG Clara Ludski, the Jewish Prussian immigrant who turned her family’s auctioneers into a cinema on Kingsland High Street – one of London’s first – in 1909.  A plaque in her honour will be unveiled as part of The...