September Listings for Gunnersbury Park & Museum


Free exhibitions, talks and tours and the return of Little Flamingos

Little Flamingos returns to Gunnersbury Park
Little Flamingos returns to Gunnersbury Park

There’s plenty to enjoy in and around Gunnersbury Park as we head towards autumn. September sees the opening of a new photography exhibition which celebrates South Asian heritage, you can also explore the local area with tours, learn Tai Chi and Qigong and much more.

Free Special Exhibitions

Being South Asian
Thursday 26 August – Thursday 30 September 2021
Free entry.

A new photography exhibition explores and celebrates South Asian heritage.

Showcasing the work of eight contemporary artists, the exhibition will feature a diverse collection of historical and contemporary imagery, poetry, traditional prints and installations.

Visitors can explore the exhibition Thursday - Sundays between 12 – 4.30pm. Plus late night opening on Fridays until 8pm.

Workshops for Adults

Movement and Still Meditations – Introduction to Tai Chi (and Qigong)
Every Tuesday in September & October, 11am – 12pm
£10 or £70 for the full course.

Join Faeeza Keshavjee from Chimoves to learn the healing energy arts of Tai Chi and Qigong through some simple practices which will include movement, breathwork, mindfulness and energy awareness.

These gentle holistic exercises are often referred to as moving meditations. You will also practice still forms of Qigong, to cultivate standing meditation as a route to inner calm, health and wellbeing.

For Children & Families

Little Flamingos
Wednesday 8 September, 11am – 12pm
£5 per child, adults go free

This summer sees the return of our Little Flamingos club for under 5s. Come and have fun making music, playing games and getting active outside. Each of the sessions will have a chance to explore outdoors in the grounds of Gunnersbury Park.

Talks & Tours

Vibrant Southall - A Walk Through Time
Saturday 4 September, 11am – 12.30pm
£12.

Join a walk delivered by Ealing and West London Tour Guides.

Starting at the old Southall Town Hall, it makes its way down to Havelock Road where the walk eventually ends.

Along the way you can learn about the industrial past of Southall - from soap to buses and pottery - and the people of bygone times who called Southall home, as well as the vibrancy and bustle that is modern Southall.

Meet in front of the former Southall Town Hall Junction of Lady Margaret Road and High Street. The walk will end on Havelock Road.

Community Orchard and Kitchen Garden Tour
Friday 10 September, 11am – 12pm
Free but booking essential.

Join Gunnersbury Gardener Monika Barry on a tour of our Community Orchard and Kitchen Garden.

You will explore the heritage varieties grown in the park and have the opportunity to ask expert food grower Monika questions about your own crops

Community Orchard and Kitchen Garden

Gunnersbury - The Place and the People
Thursday 16 September, 6.30 – 7.30pm
£10, Online

Join James Wisdom and Val Bott, authors of Gunnersbury - The Place and the People for an online talk exploring Gunnersbury.

An important estate from the middle ages, Gunnersbury has been transformed by successive owners. A 17th-century Palladian mansion for the lawyer Sir John Maynard, refurbished and transformed in the mid-18th century by MP Henry Furnese, the home of Princess Amelia, and a home to the Rothschilds before it opened as a public park in 1926 - Gunnersbury has gone through many changes over the years. Come along to find out more!

This is a joint event between Gunnersbury Estate (2026) CIC and the Friends of Gunnersbury.

The Story of the Brentham Garden Estate, Ealing
Saturday 18 September, 11am – 12.30pm
£12.

Join a virtual walk delivered by Ealing and West London Tour Guides.

Discover the distinctive architecture of the Brentham Garden Estate and learn about the Brentham Club where two eminent international sportsmen began their illustrious careers.

The 650 cottages and houses provide interesting and varied elevations starting in 1901 with traditional terraced properties and developing through the next few years into a more romantic, Arts and Crafts style.

Meet outside The Bentham Club at 38a Meadvale Road, Ealing, W5 1NP. The walk will end at The Brentham Club.

Free Special Exhibitions from October to December

Above & Beyond

Friday 1 October – Sunday 31 October, 12 - 4.30pm with late opening until 8pm on Fridays

Free entry

See faces from England's football team by artist Matt Small.

Above and Beyond features Matt Small’s painted portraits of footballers Raheem Sterling, Marcus Rashford and Ealing’s own Bukayo Saka alongside their England manager Gareth Southgate.

These four altruistic individuals have inspired many with their kindness, bravery, and generosity. This is an exhibit that seeks to show how we can all be mindful and considerate, to go above and beyond the call of duty to make our society a more beautiful place to be.

Wild

Thursday 7 October – Sunday 12 December , 12-4.30pm with late opening until 8pm on Fridays

Free entry

This autumn at Gunnersbury experience Britain’s wildlife as never before in our fun, family-friendly exhibition Wild.

Get up close to a gannet in full dive as it plummets towards the sea to catch fish, catch a glimpse of the elusive red squirrel and discover more about the lives of the animals on our doorstep and beyond.

Escaping Reality

Monday 25 October – Sunday 28 November, 7am - dusk

Free entry

Public parks were created to offer healthy recreation for all, and Gunnersbury is no different. When the then-Minister for Health, Neville Chamberlain opened the park in 1926 it was as a place of wellbeing, a green lung for west London's communities.

Gunnersbury has been a lifeline for many during the Coronavirus pandemic, and in this photography exhibition local people share what this park has meant to them during these unprecedented times.

Citizen UK: Ealing Rises Up

Monday 29 November – Thursday 31 March 2022, 7am - dusk

Free entry

Hear the stories of those who stood up and resisted racism

Citizen UK: Ealing Rises Up is an exhibition by The National Portrait Gallery in partnership with Ealing Local History Centre Archives, artists Asia Ahmed and Narvir Singh, and local volunteer Citizen Researchers.

This exhibition investigates stories of people who stood up and resisted racism and recognises some of the lesser-known figures involved. Using archive material, spoken word and film, we'll tell the stories of Ealing activists and the movements they were part of.

Visit the outdoor exhibition to see portraits, photographs and research, access interviews from Gunnersbury Park Museum’s Archive and watch the newly commissioned films.

Adult Workshops

Diwali Masterclass Demonstration and Food Tasting

Monday 1 November, 6:30-8pm

£15

Join Manju Malhi (TV Chef and cookbook author) for some traditional festive delights.

Manju will show you how to prepare easy snacks, answer culinary queries and solve your curry conundrums while sipping chai.

You’ll be able to sample the vegetarian dishes and have a fun 90 minutes in the Historic Kitchens steeped in Victorian history.

Mindful Gong Baths

Every Saturday in November, 11am – 12pm

£10

Relax with Patricia Ehtemam every Saturday morning in November for a gong bath session.

Looking to destress and inject more calm and peace into your life? Then join us for our gong bath sessions.

Gong baths are an immersive sound healing experience. It is known as a ‘bath’ as the sounds ‘wash’ over you to help you feel calm, relaxed, and happy.

Patricia will guide you into a deep relaxation, followed by playing the gong, crystal bowl, chimes and drums creating a soundscape. All you need to do is to make sure that you are comfortable and allow the sound of the instruments to wash over you.

Whether you are new or experienced to gong baths, these sessions are open to everyone.

Perfume Workshop

Wednesday 10 November, 6:30pm – 8pm

£15

Join artisan perfumer Sarah McCartney as she explores the roots of a perfume inspired by the Fred Goodwin Rose.

The Fred Goodwin Rose is a rare blue-pink variety bred by a skilled gardener who worked at Gunnersbury during the 1930s.

Participants will smell traditional and modern materials to construct the aroma of a blue-pink rose and will take a 15ml bottle away with them.

Movement and Meditations

Tuesdays 7, 14, 21, 28 September and 5, 12, 19, 26 October, 11am – 12pm

£10 per session or £70 for the full course

Every Tuesday in September and October to learn Tai Chi and Qigong.

Join Faeeza Keshavjee from Chimoves to learn the healing energy arts of Tai Chi and Qigong through some simple practices which will include movement, breathwork, mindfulness and energy awareness.

They will also practice still forms of Qigong, to cultivate standing meditation as a route to inner calm, health and wellbeing.

£10 per session or £70 for the full course

All the exercises will be gentle and soft and suitable for all ages and levels of fitness. However, if you have any medical conditions please do seek your doctors approval before undertaking any form of physical exercise.

Please note that this is an 8 week course so be mindful when booking as a drop in, you will have missed previous sessions. Limited numbers available.

For Children & Families

Open Mic Nights

1 October, 5 November, 3 December 2021, 6pm – 8pm

£5

Bring your instruments, singing voices, or poetry and take centre stage!

Gunnersbury Park & Museum is organising monthly open mic sessions for children and families from October 2021.

Sessions are led by Edwin Addis, an experienced open mic host with a flair for making everyone feel welcome and supported.

Email learning@visitgunnersbury.org if you would like to perform. Book early to avoid disappointment because slots will be allocated on a first come first served basis.

Tickets £5 (free for children aged 5-11)

These open mic sessions are suitable for anyone with a disability.

Free Family Trail: Bedtime for Lionel

Thursday 7 October to Sunday 12 December, 12 – 4.30pm, and until 8pm on Fridays

Free

Join Lionel the baby hedgehog on a mission around the museum to find his brothers and sisters and help them prepare for their winter hibernation!

Pick up our trail from the front desk!

Make & Take: Autumn Leaf Decorations

Thursday 28 October, 12 – 4pm

Free

Create a beautiful stained glass effect Autumn leaf decoration to take home.

Suggested donation £2 per child, no booking required – just turn up

Halloween Pumpkin Carving

Friday 29 October, 10:30am – 12pm

£12

Become a pumpkin carving maestro in this spook-tacular workshop! Work with our experts to create a pumpkin with personality for Halloween.

Pumpkin included!

Suitable for children aged 4+. £12 per child, adults free

Make & Take: Monster Crowns

Saturday 30 October, 12 – 4pm

Free

Creep it real this Halloween and create a fang-tastic monster crown to top off your costume.

Suggested donation £2 per child, no booking required – just turn up

Stir-Up Sunday

Sunday, 21 November, 11am - 12pm, 12.45 – 1.45pm, 2.30 – 3.30pm

£5

Help Victorian servants prepare for the Christmas festivities.

Traditionally, Christmas preparations would begin on the last Sunday before Advent, known as Stir-Up Sunday. Help the servants pound the sugar and spices, stir the plum pudding and make a Christmas wish.

An interactive, promenade performance for all the family.

Father Christmas at Gunnersbury

Saturdays 4, 11, 18 December and Sundays 5, 12, 19 December, 10.30am – 4.30pm

£12.50

Pay a very special visit to our Victorian Father Christmas, dressed in his traditional green robes, in Gunnersbury’s Historic Kitchens.

Help the kitchen maid make decorations to take home with you and then visit Father Christmas in his festive Study. Children will receive a traditional wooden toy as a gift.

The initial ticket price secures your timeslot but is for one child only. Any additional children must be paid for on the day at a price of £10 per child. All adults are free.

Christmas Crafternoons

23, 24, 27, 28, 29, 30 December, 12.30 – 3.30pm

Free

Get crafty over the Christmas holidays. Come to Gunnersbury Park Museum for our free family drop-in activities and take something festive home.

Drop in between 12:30 – 15:30. No booking required but space will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.

Suggested donation £2 per child, adults free. Children must be accompanied by an adult at all times.

A Magic Lantern Christmas Show

Tuesday 28 December, 11.30am – 12pm

£7

A seasonal Magic Lantern entertainment for families in the magnificent drawing room of Gunnersbury Park House.

Burning ships, exploding volcanoes, spectacular fireworks and the Man who eats Rats! Presented by internationally renowned magic lantern performers Jeremy and Carolyn Brooker.

A Grand Gothic Magic Lantern Show

Tuesday 28 December, 2 – 2:45pm

£8.50

Book your ticket for a Grand Gothic Magic Lantern Show.

Christmas has always been a time for ghost stories and the supernatural. Enter the bizarre and fantastical worlds of the magic lantern with internationally renowned magic lantern performers Jeremy and Carolyn Brooker. A seasonal celebration of goblins, ghosts and the downright weird. Accompanied by the acclaimed silent film pianist Costas Fotopoulos.

The shows will feature an authentic triunial (or Triple) magic lantern combining three projectors in a single device, creating the most spectacular effects the lantern can produce.

Talks & Tours in October, November and December

Museum on the streets - The story of Ealing Common

Sunday, 10 October, 11am – 12:30pm

£12

Join a walking tour delivered by Ealing and West London Tour Guides.

From common grazing land with the consent of the Lord of the Manor, to centre of modern-day recreation and leisure, our story of Ealing Common touches upon many aspects of the lives of our local ancestors. Learn about some of the famous people who lived in the area, the great houses and estates around the Common, the role of the Common in the lives of ordinary people, in good times and bad, and some intriguing links with Colonial India.

A community of gardeners - Georgian nursery gardening families in West London

Tuesday, 12 October, 6.30 – 7.30pm

£7

Join an online talk exploring the distinct history of west London’s horticulture

Join Val Bott, owner of nurserygardeners.com as she explores the distinct history of west London’s horticulture, including the gardening families who made their mark and the changing fashion in gardening from 1650 – 1800.

Museum on the streets - Brunel, Bunnies, Locks, and Lunatics

Saturday, 23 October, 11am – 12.30pm

£12

Join a walk delivered by Ealing and West London Tour Guides. This walk will be looking at the first major engineering feat of the great Victorian engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, walk through a delightful park with a zoo and a maze, and learn about a major figure in rock and roll history.

It will also follow the Grand Union Canal and pass the Hanwell Flight of locks and a large, pioneering mental hospital.

Diwali Food and Spice Tour of Southall with Monisha Bharadwaj

Friday 29 October, 6:30pm- 8:00pm

£15

Join Monisha on this food, spice and culture journey through Southall.

Explore Southall in west London as it gets ready to celebrate the Hindu festival of light, Diwali.

Browse through specialty supermarkets and discover unusual ingredients that you can buy.

Walk through the main street, enjoy the colours, sounds and smells that mark this celebration and discover the history behind the food and the festival.

Discover a Muslim History of Acton

Saturday, 6 November, 11am – 1pm

£12

Join a circular tour exploring 300 years of Muslim connections to Acton. From early Muslim prayer places to such famous individuals as the traveller Lady Montagu, the boxer Muhammad Ali, and the Quran translator Abdullah Yusuf Ali, a convert to the Islamic faith who challenged Ealing council for recognition and won. The tour includes an optional visit to a Mosque.

St Lawrence’s Church, New Brentford, and its burial grounds

Wednesday, 10 November, 6 – 7pm

£7

Join an online talk exploring St Lawrence’s Church in New Brentford.

Records show that a religious building has stood on the site since the 12th century Local Brentford historians Jim Storrar and David Shailes will explore the history of this 15th-century church and the communities it has served.

West London Rocks! A Musical Tour of Chiswick

Sunday, 21 November, 11am – 12.30pm

£12

Join a circular tour exploring Chiswick's musical connections. On this musical history tour you ’ll pass the studios where the Rolling Stones and The Who recorded their last albums, visit the place where many a pop artist has their tracks mastered, find the headquarters of Island Records and see the home of the writer of A Hard Days Night. Not forgetting Liberace!

Museum on the streets - Discover Brentford, Old and New

Sunday, 12 December, 11am – 12.30pm

Join a walking tour delivered by Ealing and West London Tour Guides.

Explore Brentford from its medieval beginnings to the 21st century Brentford Project, one of the largest new developments in London.

Along the way, hear about Nell Gwyn’s pet Griffin, the historic Butts Estate with its 18th century houses, Brentford’s connection with the artist Turner, and see where osiers worked and ferrymen quarrelled.

The walk begins at Kew Bridge Station. Tickets cost £12.

Young People

Gunnersbury Live

Wednesday, 27 October 2021, 2 – 4pm

Free, booking essential

The Youth Forum at Gunnersbury Park Museum are hosting a music night for young people aged 14-19.

Come and sing, play an instrument or do a reading. Free to come and watch, open to anyone aged 14-19. Refreshments available.


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