This Is The Wick

The Lord Napier 1977, by David Jones As a developer proposes building new flats right next door to his historic pub, The Lord Napier Star’s landlord (and a local resident himself), Rob Star, has taken to the socials to raise the alarm. He knows that having people suddenly living right up against the Napier’s popular back garden and rooftop terrace would pose a direct threat to the future of the pub.

I arrived in London from Brazil aged 19, not knowing any English, and got a job cleaning toilets in a nightclub. I’ve been working in and around clubs ever since, setting up Half Baked Records and co-founding the venues at No.90, at Main Yard in Hackney Wick. In nightlife, I’ve seen a lot of people who become addicted to alcohol or other substances as they try to find ways to repress trauma or anxiety on the dancefloor.

🍂 Today marks the autumn equinox, meaning summer is officially over - but we’ve got a little something to help you make the most of the changing season… After last week’s London Cycling Festival, we’ve teamed up with event sponsor Lime to offer The Wick Community members 30 minutes of free riding credit, which you can use over the next month via your Lime app.

A glamorous-sounding digital invite landed in our inbox the other day, promising an evening filled with ‘bold flavours, handcrafted cocktails, and elevated hospitality’. I was suitably intrigued. The grand occasion? A launch party for the second UK outpost of American casual dining chain, P F Chang’s, out here in East London (the first being in Leicester Square).

Tell us a bit about your work, and how you first came to be based here? I specialise in portraits and commercial photography, and I've been based at Mainyard Studios for almost 10 years – so a long time! I first realised I needed a space like this only about a month into working in my tiny editing den at home, alone, where I found I was feeling pretty down, to be honest.

Barge East opened in 2018 after its founders brought a Dutch barge across the North Sea and converted it from a grain-carrying vessel into a restaurant. We chat to Tommo about the wider group’s boating ventures, local suppliers and use of artificial intelligence. Tell us a bit about yourself then Tommo! I turned 40 this year, so that was a bit of a scary milestone.

Verity Jones @veritea_ one of the artists featuring in Hackney Bloom 🌸 Yes, summer’s undeniably ending, and while we’re all a little sad to see it go - stifling heatwaves and all - why not see it out in style with Hackney Bloom, a new community-led exhibition bringing together flowers, textiles and heaps of local creativity?

Give us a snapshot of who you are and what your business does. I'm Jeremy Lively, and Australian-born DJ and producer. I started playing records over 20 years ago, moved into production and then started this business a few years back. I run Studio A08, a production facility that specialises in mixing and mastering.

Amid a surge of public interest in Greek myths comes a theatrical reimagining of one of its most famed figures – with a major twist. ‘Bloodsport: After Helen of Troy’ follows the return of Helen after her capture, but makes the bold leap of exchanging Ancient Greece for modern day Essex, the Trojan War for an English civil war, a grand palace for an all-white living room, libations for pink gin.

Throughout the summer, the first four-weekend-long East Bank Festival series has been a big hit, drawing crowds to Olympic Park for a cool and varied programme of free-to-enjoy music, dancing and culture-led encounters. The theme of this first year tied in with the inaugural exhibition at the V&A East, with four different takes on the concept of The Music is Black.