Ed Gillespie (pictured), Director at communications agency Futerra will talk about his journey around the world without planes for his ‘Slow Traveller’ series for The Guardian, and discuss the philosophy of slow travel.

Hayley Cull, co-author of Slow London, will run a Slow Writing workshop and will also share ideas to help you live more and fret less.

Youth Food Movement UK, a network of young people committed to food that is good, clean and fair will be exploring the importance of family recipes and recipe writing in a session called ‘Recipes for Remembering’.

Surprisingly, London, one of the most frantic cities in the world is also one that offers amazing opportunities to slow down and enjoy a re-discovery of the senses. This rediscovery is the basis of the ‘Slow’ movement.

This movement is spreading and reaching many different areas that celebrate the idea of stepping back and taking the time to look around. This event will introduce ‘slow’ travel, writing and cooking. The speakers will share examples of their own experiences of slowing down and tips to enjoy a differently paced London lifestyle.

Image: Ed Gillespie

Forget the hustle and bustle of travelling high speed around the Capital. It’s only when you take the time to wander round an area that you start to notice all the places that you usually rush past in a hurry.

Golders Green was London’s first Tube-created suburb and these walks are part of London Transport Museum’s exploration of the myth and identity of London’s suburbs.

During March 2010 London Transport Museum is inviting you to slow down and explore Golders Green on foot.

Local residents will guide you around and let you in on the suburb’s secrets.

There are three walks to choose from, allowing you to take time out to taste local delights, ramble in luscious green spaces or reflect in spiritual places.

The walks are free but tickets need to be pre-booked online via this link.

You can also see the exhibition Suburbia at our Covent Garden-based museum until 31 March 2010 - for further details visit London Transport Museum

Jane Audas / London Transport Museum

What was the idea behind the trip?
It was based on the notion that the journey can be the reason for going somewhere in the first place. These days, there’s no real travel, it’s only movement. People jump in a wormhole at an airport and then appear on the other side of the world. If you travel somewhere slowly, you acclimatise to your destination.

Did it change your perspective on how we live in the modern world?

On a personal level, the trip changed my life in many ways. When you go in a car after being on a float, you realise how fast we have become accustomed to living; it feels like going on a rollercoaster. Deliberately slowing down has a very profound effect on you if you do it for long enough. You begin to wonder if the slow world is the real world.

Another aspect of the trip was to discover whether community spirit is still alive in this country. Charging the float was a big demand of people, but out of everyone we asked, only 2 refused. It gave us back that sense that this country is full of amiable people and not the terrifying crap that you see in the headlines.

How does this all relate to Slow Down London?

It relates to everyone that lives in a western democracy. Here, everything is about making things bigger and faster, but there is a different way of living.
I think everyone is slow at heart, but they’ve all been railroaded into this insane chaotic way of life. We’ve been told that free trade and capitalism is the way forward and everything has to grow and improve. It’s never been more obvious that that is complete nonsense. Maybe if we got all our policymakers to drive around the country in a milk float for a month they might get some depth of what this country is really like.

You currently live in Chichester. Do you find that a rural lifestyle is more conducive to slow living than the big city?
I love London and still go there quite a lot. But the problem with living in a city is that you feel like that is where everything is happening and if you’re not there, you’re missing out in some way. Moving here has made me realise that it is possible to just relax. But the city is magical too. I think there is a way to have both.

Dan Kieran gives a free talk about his experiences at Foyles bookshop on 28 April 2009.

Alex Rankin

The Lady M

I cannot too highly recommend the use of a narrow boat. I was lucky enough to own one for about 18 years; The Lady M she was called and she took me, my wife, my 3 children and their partners, my 7 grandchildren and countless friends (though not all at once) over most of the 2000 or so miles of rivers and canals.

Perhaps our very best journey was up the tidal Thames from Limehouse to Teddington. If you are not lucky enough to own a narrow boat, you can easily hire one as did my younger daughter and friends, and they motored the round trip along the Grand Union Canal to Limehouse, up the river to Brentford, back on to the Grand Union and so to base.

The Lady M took us on a particularly sunny day, and to motor slowly through the City of London, under all those wonderful bridges, past the West End on the north bank and the South Bank on the other side of the river, the Houses of Parliament and all those beautiful London buildings is one of the most lovely and relaxing ways to spend a day.

The Lady M was a slowish boat too, though you are never allowed to motor on canals at more than 4 knots, a bit more on the rivers. Once going through the Limehouse Lock accompanied by about 6 other boats, we were left far behind in no time at all.

We broke our journey, without mooring up, at Hammersmith Bridge where we embarked a friend who hopped on board as we held the boat into the tide before turning round and heading back on our journey. But a slow journey is what it’s all about. You have to leave Limehouse on the turning tide which then takes you comfortably up the river, for us, just in time to catch the tide turning round again as we entered the lock at Teddington, the end of the tidal reach.

When you have sampled the tidal Thames, try all the other canals and spread Slow Down London to the rest of the country and to your holidays. You don’t need foreign currency or a passport, there are countless wonderful pubs all the way along the canals and if it does pour with rain, just moor up, shut the doors, light the wood-burning stove, get out a book and a bottle, and the day is as happy as you know how to make it. If you prefer walking, you are travelling through the most wonderful countryside and some people take a bicycle on board so that they can extend their travels.

“There is nothing, but nothing like messing about in boats” as Ratty said to Mole, so slow down and take to the water in a narrow boat; you will never regret it.

Norman Nash

Cycling courtesy of micamica

Sustrans Fresh Air Miles rides, organized by Sustrans Volunteers across the UK, are sponsored rides aimed at encouraging people to get out on their bike, whilst also promoting the work of Sustrans and local cycle routes.

An organised ride will be taking place on 4th May 2009 between Gatwick and Greenwich, divided into 4 stages. The final stage in south London will be approximately 9 miles along National Cycle Route 21: ‘flat-ish urban’ and 40:60 on road:off road.

The rides are family friendly events aimed at all ages and abilities. However, children under 16 will need to be supervised by an adult.

For more information, and to obtain a participant pack, please email freshairmiles@sustrans.org.uk and mention the Mayday Ride.

Image courtesy of MicaMica

The Mighty One

As pioneers in the art of slow travel, Dan Kieran, Ian Vince and Prasanth Visweswaran embarked on an unconventional 680-mile road trip across the UK. Their mode of transport? A 1958 electric milkfloat.

The float was christened ‘The Mighty One’ (after Che Guevera’s motorcycle), and required eight hours charging time for every 20 miles. Dan and Ian talk us through their remarkable adventure.

The event on Tuesday 28th April 2009 begins with a chance to meet Bruno Contigiani, director of the Italian organisation the ‘Art of Slow Living’ who will talk about his vision of slow living as a route to happiness.

To reserve your free ticket to this event, email events@foyles.co.uk

Harry Eyres (FT Slow Lane columnist) joins Ed Gillespie (Guardian ‘slow traveller’) on 29th April 2009 to discuss Slow Travel in a speeded-up society, from commuting to global sunseeking. What effects will be caused by the credit crunch and the desire to stay closer to home?

Image: Ed Gillespie