Bits and bobs worth knowing.

🚲 Mayor wants one set of rules for dockless bikes across all of London: Yes that includes those Lime bikes you've probably seen left on pavements everywhere. Currently every borough has its own rules for them which is why it's such a mess. Mayor wants TfL to take over with one London-wide set of rules instead. The goal is better parking, safety standards, consistent enforcement. Still needs to be signed off.

📚 A tiny bookshop has opened inside a kiosk on Exmouth Market: Market Bookshop has been selling secondhand books at London car boot sales for years. Now they've found a permanent home. A small street kiosk outside 70 Exmouth Market, next to Coin Laundry bar. Renamed Kiosk Bookshop.

💼 A new recruitment hub has opened at Brent Cross Town: Brent Cross Town Connect is now open, providing local residents with face-to-face support to find jobs, training, apprenticeships, volunteering opportunities and new career paths.Alongside the new hub, £50,000 is available through the Brent Cross Town Community Fund, with grants of £3,000 to £10,000 for projects supporting education, employment, skills and training across Barnet. Applications close 26 October.

Did you know Alexandra Palace was once home to the BBC's first television broadcasts?

On this day in 1936, the BBC tested Picture Page, an early TV programme featuring interviews with interesting people and familiar faces of the time. Back then, television was still brand new, and hardly anyone had a set at home.

Just a few weeks later, the BBC launched its regular television service from Ally Pally, helping to kick-start television as we know it today.

Open Studios Muswell Hill and Alexandra Park | 📍Muswell Hill & Alexandra Park | 10 - 11 October | Free
Seventy local artists open their front rooms, garden sheds and cafés this weekend so you can wander in, look at their work, talk to them and buy directly. Paintings, ceramics, prints and handmade jewellery across 40 venues. New this year: start at Ally Pally's East Court where every artist has one piece on show before you follow the trail. Free, 11am to 5pm both days.



Welsh Autumn Market | 📍London Welsh Centre, WC1X | 10 October | (£)
Over 50 Welsh traders in the London Welsh Centre for a day: handmade gifts, food, drink, jewellery, homeware and artwork. The market is also raising money to install a lift and improve accessibility in a building that's been here since 1937. Suggested donation £5 when booking, dogs welcome. 10am to 5.30pm.

Local London Guiding Day | 📍King's Cross & Old Street | 10 October | Free
Every year London's guiding associations put on free walks, and this year's theme is how yesterday's London became today's. King's Cross traces its journey from industrial wasteland to creative hub, meeting under the station clock tower. Old Street goes from Roman origins through Silicon Roundabout, meeting at Old Street station. Just turn up, or book ahead.

North London Curated: Home | 📍Floral Hall, N8 | 11 October | Free
Homeware market at Floral Hall in Crouch End for anyone who's particular about what goes in their home. Vintage ceramics, art, textiles, candles and one-off furniture pieces. Curated, not crowded. Free, 10am to 5pm.

Apple Day Festival | 📍Kentish Town City Farm, NW5 | 11 October | (£)
Kentish Town City Farm throws open its gates for Apple Day: handle the animals, taste apples, eat from the BBQ and make things in the crafts area. £1 adults, 50p children. 12pm to 4pm.

London Barndance | 📍Cecil Sharp House, NW1 | 10 October | (£)
Someone calls out the moves as you go, so you can walk in knowing nothing and be dancing within minutes. Live music, contras, square sets and couple dances at Cecil Sharp House on Regent's Park Road. Also you may get hot, bring a water bottle. £17, under 18s £5. 8pm to 11pm

Our Stokey Market | 📍Church Street, N16 | 10 - 11 October | Free
Vintage and makers market on Church Street in Stoke Newington, started by locals who wanted a market they'd actually want to visit. Fashion, homeware, ceramics, art and jewellery. Coffee on site, dogs welcome. 11am to 5pm both days.

Classically Black | 📍King's Place, N1 | 10 October | (£)
Classical music has always had Black composers and musicians. This day at King's Place celebrates them: live performances, a panel on race and representation, a youth showcase and Down with the Patribachy, a live podcast touring the history of Western classical music through its overlooked names. Full and half day passes. 10 October.

Knit + Stitch | 📍Alexandra Palace, N22 | 8 - 11 October | (£)
The UK's biggest textile craft show comes to Ally Pally: 300 specialist suppliers under one roof selling yarn, fabric, thread and every tool you could need, plus workshops, demos and galleries of textile art. From £15.50, under 5s free.

The Big Draw at Broomfield Park | 📍Broomfield Park, N13 | 10 October | Free
Slow down, look at the park around you and draw what you see. The Friends of Broomfield Park are taking part in the Big Draw Festival with a drop-in drawing session by the Palmers Greenery café gazebo. Pencils, charcoal and paints all provided, all ages welcome, children with an adult. 10am to 4pm.

Grumpy Market and Friends | 📍127 Stoke Newington High Street, N16 | 10 October | Free
Small independent market on Stokey High Street with slow fashion, ceramics, art prints and handmade goods, plus Natasha Joseph painting live portraits on the day. There's also a Sylvanian Families keychain workshop if you book a spot. Free entry, 11am to 6pm.

Table 17 | 📍Kiln Theatre, NW6 | Until 24 October | (£)
Would you go to dinner with your ex? The one you were engaged to but haven't spoken to in seven years? Yeah that person! That's the premise of this sharp comedy at Kiln, already sold out in New York and LA, now making its UK debut with Olivier nominees Marisha Wallace and Jamael Westman. £15 to £55, until 24 October.

Highgate Vintage Furniture & Flea Market | 📍Lauderdale House, N6 | 11 October | (£)
Vintage furniture dealers from across the UK set up inside and outside Lauderdale House in Waterlow Park, selling mid-century furniture, homewares, ceramics, lighting, art and vintage fashion. Entry from £5 early, £2 after 2pm, free from 3pm. Dogs welcome, cafe on site. 

'a chorus above' | 📍The Writers' Room, N1 | 10 - 18 October | Free
Exhibition by Lily Lavorato and Campbell Mcconnell at The Writers' Room on Britannia Row in Islington, an arts space at the intersection of fine art and literature. Open weekends and Thursdays and Fridays, 12pm to 4pm.

Click below to see full weekend list.👇

It's harvest season, so you'll find plenty of squash, pumpkin and apples about. Instead of heading to the supermarket, why not explore your local farmers market. And if time permits, do both.

Opening or launching something? Noticed a change in your neighbourhood? Got a local story, observation or point of view worth sharing? Reply to this email. A photo, link or a few lines is plenty.

Upcoming events you should consider booking in advance or planning ahead for. In and out of North London. Events marked with (£) require a ticket in advance.

Smoky Whisky Night | 📍Duke of St Albans, NW5 | 13 October | (£)
The nights are drawing in, which for North London Whisky Club means it’s time to bring out the smoky whisky. Their annual autumn tasting takes over the Duke of St Albans for an evening of five different pours, from newer distillers experimenting with smoke to whiskies from Islay, Scotland’s famous peaty whisky island. Club founders Matt Chambers and Karen Taylor will take everyone through them together, explaining why one might taste smoky, earthy or medicinal and sharing the stories behind the distilleries as you go. You absolutely do not need to know your whisky beforehand. Come curious. 7pm to 9pm. Over 18s only.



Ocean Film Festival | 📍Union Chapel, N1 | 20 - 23 October | (£)
The Ocean Film Festival World Tour is back for autumn 2026 with a brand-new selection of ocean films. Underwater encounters with marine life, wild seafaring voyages and extreme watersports, all on the big screen at Union Chapel in Highbury. From the team behind the Banff Mountain Film Festival UK tour. Four nights, same programme each evening. 7.30pm.

Frieze London & Frieze Masters | 📍Regent's Park, NW1 | 14 - 18 October | (£)
The world's biggest art fair, in a tent in Regent's Park. Three hundred galleries from 48 countries, contemporary work alongside Old Masters. If you follow art, this is the week everything happens in London.

London Book Swap | 📍GAIL's Finsbury Park, N4 | 15 October | (£)
Bring a book you've finished and swap it for one you haven't. Upstairs at GAIL's in Finsbury Park with pastries and a drink, run by the Wholesome London Club. Tickets limited. 6.30pm to 8pm.

Horace Jones: London's Unknown Architect | 📍South Grove, N6 | 14 October | (£)
Tower Bridge. Smithfield. Billingsgate. Leadenhall Market. All designed by the same man, and almost no one knows his name. This illustrated talk in Highgate asks why Horace Jones has been forgotten when his buildings are still some of London's most visited. £7.50 with a glass of wine, or £3 on Zoom. 7.30pm.