Meadow Wattret

With one or two very welcoming staff members around and everything else sortable via your phone, The Drey is a pristine place to stay with a high-tech concept that actually works. Logistically, you should know everything operates a bit differently here. There’s no traditional lobby, bar or restaurant – instead, the hotel partners with local cafes like Elixis, where you can get a posh brekky at a 10 percent discount. Nor will you get your complimentary amenities – you can order those full-size from a vending machine (or bring your own, of course) via a high-tech app that doubles as a door key and concierge. But even with all this techiness, the period interiors and exteriors here do manage to preserve the place’s old-fashioned charm. The real reason to stay here, though, is the location – right in the thick of it all in Kensington, it’s a pretty perfect situation for those wanting to see the sights, experience London’s luxurious side, but not splash out on accomodation. Just remember to bring those amenities, and you’ll be in for a good night’s sleep.  What are the rooms like at The Drey?  The hotel’s 125 rooms can accommodate groups of two, four and six. Housed within grand Kensington mansions, many of the rooms have rather nice tall sash windows, including the room I stayed in. Fittingly named The Snug, it was snug, certainly, but was clean, cosy and had a ton of natural light, thanks to the huge windows, and looked out over the quaint Courtfield Gardens, which felt quite e

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 rest

Back for its seventh year, Queer East Festival has announced its 2026 line-up – and whether you’re into mesmerising docs or eye-opening features, the programme has something for everyone. Running from May 1 to June 6, this celebration of East and Southeast Asian LGBTQ+ cinema has loads on offer. Feature films, shorts and documentaries will be showing at the Barbican and BFI Southbank, as well as cult venues like Chats Palace. All the carefully curated picks explore East and Southeast Asia’s colourful, bustling and long under-appreciated queer culture. Highlights include a 4k restoration of Taiwanese queer classic The Outsiders, to be screened on the big opening night in the Barbican; 3670, a groundbreaking picture exploring Seoul’s gay scenes; and Johanna d’Arc of Mongolia, Ulrike Ottinger’s 1989 modern classic about an all-female gang of South Asian warriors last screened in the MoMA. There’s a Sundance winner, Cactus Pears, on the line-up too. There’s plenty of UK premieres at the festival as well. Between Goodbyes, a documentary about Korea’s overseas adoption programme told from the perspective of queer parents, will get its UK premiere on May 24. If you’re into campy comedy, A Good Child, a funny and moving Singaporean film about a drag queen coming home to take care of their mother, premieres on May 9. Founded by film curator Yi Wang to tackle the lack of Asian representation on the big screen, Queer East now also offers talks and workshops at Battersea Arts Centre and

Calling all fashionistas: a London-based womenswear brand loved by influencers and A-listers alike has opened its second store in the capital. Famous for its edgy and feminine 00s and 90s ‘brit-girl’ designs, Peachy Den is one of those labels that’s particularly massive ont’ internet, and from today (April 2), fans of the cult-favourite brand can shop in its very central new location. Entrepreneur Isabella Weatherby founded Peachy Den roughly six years ago, and since then the business has gone from strength to strength. It’s taken London’s Y2K clothes warriors by storm, and has even accumulated a star-studded fanbase (Dua Lipa, Olivia Dean, Zoe Kravitz, and Chicken Shop Date’s Amelia Dimoldenberg are just a few of the many celebs who’ve been pictured wearing the brand).  Plus, Peachy Den has been making giant amounts of sales. Its first permanent location in Shoreditch, which opened in July 2024, raked in seven-figure revenues in the last year alone. The label’s new flagship is on Brewer Street in Soho.  Photograph: Genevieve Lutkin   Anyone familiar with the brand will know that its extremely chic clobber, which includes anything from checkered capris to funky blouses, is pretty high in price, in exchange for high quality. Tops cost around £80 while trousers can set you back more than £100.  Lots of Peachy Den collections, including the super-duper low-waisted collection that immediately went viral after dropping in February, are limited to a one-time release. Most of the

When you think of Cornwall, surfing, pasties and picturesque coastal paths probably come to mind. But what you might not know is that the southwestern county is also famous for its charming hedges. Made using stone and grass, ‘Cornish hedging’ is an ancient craft that dates back 4,000 years. Now a huge labyrinth made entirely of the stuff has finally been completed, and as well as boasting great views of a famous lake, it’s free to access. The labyrinth is called Kerdroya, a Cornish word which translates to ‘castle of turnings’, and it measures in at a vast 56 metres wide. Commissioned to celebrate the county’s 60 years as a protected Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, creator Will Coleman wanted to pay tribute to one of Cornwall’s many traditions - and it was quite the labour of love. The 750m long spiral of hand-laid hedging took a whopping seven years and 140,000 locally sourced stones to finish.  Built just in front of Colliford Lake (the largest in Cornwall) and the AONB Bodmin Moor, the labyrinth boasts panoramic views which visitors can see from a viewing platform in the centre.  Photograph: Jack Roberts One thousands volunteers and 5,000 schoolchildren lent a hand in building Kerdroya, which is being hailed as a masterpiece. The project has preserved an important bit of history, too, having trained 150 people in the ‘endangered’ craft of hedge-making.  If, for some reason, Kerdroya seems like an ideal place to walk a dog, you’ll be pleased to know that the attract

Walthamstow’s one of those east London spots that has a bit of everything: wetlands, a bustling street market, a criminally underrated library. But if you’re partial to an exhibition you might’ve noticed that, for a few years now, the town has been without one of its greatest museums: Vestry House.  Luckily that won’t be the case for too much longer. After shutting its doors years ago for a revamp, the museum celebrating all things ‘Stow will reopen later this year. The Grade II-listed Walthamstow Village museum will begin welcoming visitors again in autumn 2026.  The museum, which displays Waltham Forest's colourful cultural history – not to mention Britain's first ever petrol-fuelled car – closed for renovation in December 2023. The refurb has been funded by £4.5 million’s worth of government investment.  Soon the facelift will be complete – and the revamped house has various new bells and whistles. Of these are five new exhibition rooms, which will host various never-before-seen displays on anything from the borough’s contributions to theatre, music, cinema, and sport, to its connections to the transatlantic slave trade. Award-winning architects Studio Weave are behind the overall revamp, which also includes a brand-new room for temporary exhibitions conceived by exhibition designers GuM studio. Photograph: Vestry House, GuM And if you’re not too museum-fatigued after seeing all that, visitors can peer at the house’s very own police cell from when it was a 19th century j