The Charles Dickens Museum, the author’s former Bloomsbury home and only surviving London residence, re-opened today following a major refurbishment. The building has been transformed and is now double the size, in celebration of Dickens’s bicentenary year.

As well as restoring the house at 48 Doughty Street – Dickens’s home at the start of his career and the place where he wrote classics Oliver Twist and Nicholas Nickleby – and opening the house’s attic and kitchen for the first time, the museum has expanded into neighbouring 49 Doughty Street.

The adjacent building has been converted into a state-of-the-art Visitor and Learning Centre with rooms available for events, study and reading facilities, as well as facilities for exploring the Dickens museum’s digitised collection. The new extension to the building and a lift in No 49 now mean the museum has hugely improved step-free access to the original house at No 48, opening it up through hidden access doors on the basement, ground, first and second floors.

Pop into the new museum, and you’ll be able to walk around rooms decorated as Dickens would have known them. Each room reflects a different part of Dickens’s world; his reading desk can be seen in the drawing room, where he would have entertained guests with readings from his work, whilst the master bedroom will display personal items that have never been on display before. The second bedroom, where his sister-in-law Mary died aged 17, reflects on Dickens’s relationship with mortality and will feature the museum’s latest acquisition, an extremely rare set of photographic prints showing the 1865 rail crash which Dickens himself was involved in.

In the attic, visitors can learn more about Dickens’s difficult childhood and his literary and social legacy, before moving next door into the new wing at No 49 to explore further collections of Dickensiana.

Visit dickensmuseum.com to find out more.

If you’ve always longed to learn the polka or fancy a bit of umbrella jousting, the event line-up in London this weekend is looking peachy.

The Chap Olympiad
If you’d rather be stroking your pipe and adjusting your moustache than running the 100 metres, Bedford Square in Bloomsbury is the place to be this weekend. Gentleman’s magazine The Chap invites well-mannered men (and ladies) to its seriously silly event, The Chap Olympiad. The “celebration of athletic ineptitude and immaculate trouser creases” will see contestants throwing cucumber sandwiches instead of the discus and battling in Ironing Board Surfing, Umbrella Jousting and the Pipathlon. 7 – 8 Jul

Hampton Court Flower Show
Look out for energetic scarecrows at the annual flower show at the majestic Hampton Court Palace. The well-loved scarecrow competition has adopted a ‘porting Champions theme this year to reflect – what else? – the Olympic Games. Green-fingered experts will be on hand, along with displays like this year’s central feature which is focused on community gardening. A topical addition to the line-up is the ‘low cost/high impact’ gardens, showing how a much you can do with a limited budget. Until 8 Jul

The London Open at The Whitechapel Gallery
Spot the art stars of the future at The Whitechapel Gallery‘s open submissions exhibition which showcases current London art trends. The 35 contributors were chosen by a panel of experts and their pieces range from a directory of fictitious telephone numbers by conceptual artist Martin John Callanan to a print of Saddam Hussein’s gold bath taps on an imitation Versace silk scarf by Pio Abad. Until 14 Sept

Soane Museum’s new spaces
This little-known museum is a hoard of treasures kept by architect Sir John Soane at Lincoln’s Inn Fields in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The first phase of the £7 million restoration of his neoclassical townhouse is now complete, and this weekend is the first chance to poke around parts of the building never seen before such as the geometric staircase painted to look like the walls of a Roman catacomb. There’s also a brand new gallery with an exhibition exploring the design of Olympic venues. Exhibition until 22 Sept

The Kensington Palace Party
All abilities are welcome at these free outdoor dancing lessons and demonstrations in the gardens of Kensington Palace. This year’s workshops pay tribute to the two Queens who have celebrated a diamond jubilee: polka and Morris dancing reflect trends in Victoria’s reign, while a rock and roll class led by the London Swing Dance Society will honour us “new Elizabethans” and today’s queen. Head to the Gold Gates to find a spot – it’s first come, first served. 7-8 July

The Foundling Museum has embraced heartache and hope in their latest exhibition, Threads of Feeling. The show displays some of the tiny tokens that mothers left with their babies when they gave them up to London’s Foundling Hospital in the 1700s.

The hospital was founded by Thomas Coram who wanted to give abandoned children a decent life. Children were accepted anonymously so women were not publicly shamed into abandoning their babies elsewhere, but mothers were encouraged to leave a small token which was then added to the admission books with the details of the child.

The tokens on display include ribbons, fabric scraps and baby clothes. The scraps range from plain rough worsted to the occasional piece of fancy silk brocade, indicating the mothers came from all levels of society. It’s a fascinating glimpse into the fashions of the period.

Although there are about 5000 textile tokens in the archives, there is only room to display a small number of them in this exhibition and it really left me wanting to see more.

One of the most touching pieces is a crudely embroidered felt heart which indicates how reluctant the mother was to give up her child. The exhibition and the museum are both incredibly moving. I felt quite emotional on the train home, and will be reflecting on my visit for a long time.

When you’ve seen Threads of Feeling, head upstairs and explore the main collection to find out what life was like in the hospital, and what happened to the children after they left. You’ll also find out about the work of the Coram charity who still support and bring hope to disadvantaged children today.

To link the theme of threads throughout the building, VV Rouleaux‘s Annabel Lewis has created a waterfall of ribbons and bows which cascades down through the stairwell of the grand staircase and looks absolutely stunning.

Threads of Feeling at the Foundling Museum 14 October – 6 March. Adults £7.50, concessions £5, under 16s free. www.foundlingmuseum.org.uk

I would definitely count the Foundling Museum in Bloomsbury as one of London’s hidden treasures.

The Foundling Museum is worth visiting for its splendid interior, fascinating collections, changing exhibitions - and it’s an absolute must see for Hogarth enthusiasts.

The philanthropic sea captain Thomas Coram founded the hospital in 1739 for the “education and maintenance of exposed and deserted babies and young children”. Bear in mind that then the word “hospital” was not used in the sense it is today; then, it indicated an institution for those less fortunate.

The first stone was laid in 1742. At the time, the hospital was described as “the most imposing single monument erected by 18th century benevolence” and became London’s most popular charity. Estimations suggest Thomas Coram’s good work benefitted more than 27,000 youngsters.

The museum, now housed in the only remaining hospital building (the administration building) tells the story of Thomas Coram’s amazing work and really does appeal to all ages.  In addition, the glorious Rococo interior houses works donated by artists including Louis-Francois Roubiliac, Joshua Reynolds and Thomas Gainsborough.

The museum also explores the work of the composer George Frideric Handel and artist William Hogarth, both governors and major benefactors of the institution. The works donated by the artists made the Foundling Hospital the nation’s first art gallery open to the general public.