FriendsOfValentines

Feeling crafty? Join @FOVM4 for our special open days with knitting, sewing, crochet and lots of fun! Free, donations welcome. Find out more & reserve your place bit.ly/47Af2Gg #redbridge #eastlondon

Why not come along for a relaxing fun afternoon to play games in the beautiful surroundings of the mansion 12.00 - 4.30? Demonstrations of #chess #Rummikub #backgammon Free entry, with a chance to book a table in advance if you’re coming with #friends #family

Your chance to meet our artists and browse their studios - a great chance to shop for unique, handmade artwork. PLUS! Our new gallery exhibition opens on this day featuring a collection of work by the studio artists vrcl.uk/4bnlQqA #openstudios #artists #art #eastlondon

Coming soon...new exhibition by our studio artists #ShadesofMeaning Find out more about our artists vrcl.uk/3LnNKpE #valentinesmansion #newexhibition #artexhibition #studioartists #eastlondon #essex #redbridge

A fascinating account full of beautiful historic photographs

Celebrating 25 years of supporting @ValMansion Valentines Mansion & Gardens

Special Sun Open Day FREE ENTRY 12-5pm Victorian Kitchen Day/ Maybe you’ll go home with recipe for potato pastry jam tarts!  Serving Victoria Sponge and lemonade! Guest musicians from 2pm. Schools Poetry Prize announcements and exhibition of shortlisted poems.

Maybe @parkrunUK post us a “NOW” picture of this spot if you’re running or walking past, for a #ThenAndNow moment. This was #Valentines in 1907 and so as it was in the Ingleby’s time just before the creation of Valentines Park @DoMoreRed

We're in for another beautiful week 🌞 Perfect weather for our #guidedtour of the historic gardens this Wednesday - there's still time to book...vrcl.uk/3F3TLZi Get lots of hints and tips for your own green space from our expert #horticulturalist! #redbridge #eastlondon

There are several unusual things about this photograph, which I took an hour ago. One is that it’s a long exposure composite - I’ve left the little ship in but left its blur trailing behind, because it’s the little ship which is the star here. That little ship is the MV Havengore of 1956. I know her as a former hydrographic survey vessel of the @LondonPortAuth - she’s a bit of a star in my eyes because it was the first survey vessel to have an onboard computer, and in a restoration a few years ago the engine rebuild reused parts of a diesel shunting locomotive, which it still utilises today. But you might know her as a carrier of Winston Churchill’s coffin during the state funeral in 1965: after all 350 million people did watch that on telly, apparently. Thats why it’s out tonight, for #veday. Also what’s unusual is @towerbridge tonight stayed open for #mvhavengore for a very long time. Perhaps the longest since its tests, or that time it got jammed (I met the bloke who was operating the bridge when it got jammed by coincidence a few months later — his colleagues still weren’t letting him forget it) but it must have been up for a good 20 minutes. And we stopped, and we watched, in silence. And tower bridge hasn’t gone those colours all together before like that, I don’t think; at least, not that I’ve seen. it just flashed up quickly as @havengore approached. But what is really odd is that there was nobody – else other than the two of us – down on this side of the Thames to see it tonight; if they were, then they were indoors at home in flats behind the path. We watched this little reminder of an age fast disappearing receive this ceremonial salute from the city we and it call home, and heard it sound its lonely horn in gratitude. It was all, unexpectedly, quite beautiful.

@Look_UpLondon Valentines Park in #Redbridge of course! Featuring the Judas tree in these pictures but there’s so much more! #WalledGardens #Victorian Gardener’s Cottage Cafe, 17th c @ValMansion 18th c garden features … to name but a few!

An interesting read and link to #LondonPictureArchive

To be sure of a seat for the talk you can book ticketsource.co.uk/friends-of-val…

#Maytime is coming! @The_RHS have you ever wondered who created the gardens @ValMansion ? Sun May11 #garden #historian Francesca Murray will get under muddy fingernails of #WilliamEarley the Ingleby’s head gardener. #19c Talks at 12.15 / 3pm #GardenTrails Free entry

Spotted this handsome creature in the park today. Enjoying the #rain. The mansion is open until 5pm today #easterholidays

A truly wonderful exhibition- don’t miss it!

If you’re enjoying the weather & tidying up the garden, please check the schedule for the free green garden waste service. Our crews have collected over 220 tonnes this week. You can help by using the correct bags, available for £2 in any library, and by not overfilling them.

@ValMansion They look beautiful!

Our lovely Holcombe Room chairs have been given a new lease of life😍 With thanks to the @FOVM4 #reupholstered

Hidden in English place names is a secret code of invasion and conquest. Vikings, Romans, Saxons, and Normans all stamped their languages onto the landscape. Here's how to decode any English place name — and instantly know who conquered that spot 1,000+ years ago... 🧵

@UkNatArchives Some of us made an impromptu #visit to this moving #memorial yesterday on our way back from a members’ outing to #CityOfLondon. Thank you for these articles

#OTD in 1943, a horrific incident at Bethnal Green Tube station resulted in the loss of 173 lives. In a two-part story, our record specialist tells the story of what was the worst civilian disaster in the UK during the Second World War. Start here: beta.nationalarchives.gov.uk/explore-the-co…