Anyone who still makes jokes about Peckham being a mediocre London neighbourhood needs to wake up and smell the enticing thyme, orange peel and cucumber-infused cocktails they’re serving there.
The new Time Out guide to London includes a ‘Top 20’ list of attractions – and ‘a night out in Peckham’ comes 19th, thanks to its tropical-themed cocktail bars and streets that ‘buzz almost every night of the week’.
The #1 spot on the list goes to the Victoria & Albert Museum, with ‘street food’ and the Houses of Parliament coming second and third.
In an explanation about what makes the V&A so special, Time Out says that it ‘has become one of the world’s most magnificent museums’, with ‘grand galleries over seven floors’ that ‘contain countless pieces of furniture, ceramics, sculpture, paintings, posters, jewellery, metalwork, glass, textiles and dress, spanning several centuries’.
As for the No2 spot, Time Out argues that ‘you can barely swing a tote bag without hitting an artisanal street food stall or provenance-first farmers’ market in London these days… which is great news for foodies on a budget’.
Third-place Houses of Parliament is lauded for its ‘wonderful mish-mash of styles, dominated by Gothic buttresses, towers and arches’.
Visitors, the guide notes, can tour the palace buildings and observe debates in the House of Commons and House of Lords.
The Shard comes fourth in Time Out’s list, being ‘the undisputed kingpin’ of the recent sprouting of skyscrapers across the capital.
‘It’s so tall,’ the guide says, ‘you almost feel you’re on a different plane to the ant city below.’
The British Museum comes fifth, being a ‘compendium of key artefacts from most of the significant cultures of the world, from Egyptian mummies and the Rosetta Stone to monumental Mesopotamian sculpture and even an Easter Island head’.
Shakespeare’s Globe occupies the No6 slot, partly because you can see an authentically staged play for just £5 if you stand as a ‘groundling’.
In seventh place is St Paul’s Cathedral, with Time Out waxing lyrical about its breathtakingly grand interior.
‘Afternoon tea’ percolates into the No8 berth on the list.
These can be experienced at most of London’s grand hotels.
The National Theatre comes next, at No9, being ‘the country’s leading drama showcase’.
The guide adds: ‘Don’t miss the chance to see UK theatre at its very best in a building that’s a masterpiece of 20th-century architecture.’
At the third-place is Houses of Parliament which is lauded for its wonderful mish-mash of styles, dominated by Gothic buttresses, towers and arches
At No10 is the Tower of London – ‘a fabulous showcase for the Crown Jewels’.
The rest of the list comprises the Notting Hill Carnival (11th), the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (12th), Westminster Abbey (13th), Maritime Greenwich (14th), Redchurch Street (15th), Tate Britain (16th), Liberty (17th), St James’s Park (18th) and the London Transport Museum (20th).
Much of the top 20 is world-famous, so Peckham’s nightlife is in exalted company.
Is it really that good? Indisputably, according to Time Out.
It adds: ‘Peckham is an incredibly vibrant and exciting nightlife destination, a place where the streets are buzzing almost every night of the week.
‘Hipsters and culture vultures come for everything from theatre to film, and live music to cutting-edge clubbing. Peckham is undeniably trendy, but it’s open, fun and friendly, with something for everybody out looking for a good time.’
The guide recommends Peckham’s Bussey Building and its ‘rolling programme of cultural events’, the Rye Wax record shop, Peckham Levels – a former car park now transformed into a ‘multi-storey creative hub’ that houses tropical-themed cocktail bar Near & Far and Frank’s Café – Four Quarters South for cocktails and arcade games and Copeland Social for its ‘bangin sound system’.
The Victoria and Albert Museum in London is the world’s largest museum of applied and decorative arts and design, as well as sculpture, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects.
It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.
The V&A is located in the Brompton district of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, in an area that has become known as “Albertopolis” because of its association with Prince Albert, the Albert Memorial and the major cultural institutions with which he was associated. These include the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum, the Royal Albert Hall and Imperial College London. The museum is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. As with other national British museums, entrance is free.
The V&A covers 12.5 acres (5.1 ha) and 145 galleries. Its collection spans 5,000 years of art, from ancient times to the present day, from the cultures of Europe, North America, Asia and North Africa. However, the art of antiquity in most areas is not collected. The holdings of ceramics, glass, textiles, costumes, silver, ironwork, jewellery, furniture, medieval objects, sculpture, prints and printmaking, drawings and photographs are among the largest and most comprehensive in the world.
The museum owns the world’s largest collection of post-classical sculpture, with the holdings of Italian Renaissance items being the largest outside Italy. The departments of Asia include art from South Asia, China, Japan, Korea and the Islamic world. The East Asian collections are among the best in Europe, with particular strengths in ceramics and metalwork, while the Islamic collection is amongst the largest in the Western world. Overall, it is one of the largest museums in the world.
Since 2001 the museum has embarked on a major £150m renovation programme. New 17th- and 18th-century European galleries were opened on 9 December 2015. These restored the original Aston Webb interiors and host the European collections 1600-1815.
The V&A Museum of Childhood in East London is a branch of the museum, and a new branch in London is being planned.