The London 2012 Olympic Flame will travel through six London boroughs next year before reaching the Olympic Stadium.

The Torch Relay will visit:

• Waltham Forest (21 July)
• Bexley (22 July)
• Wandsworth (23 July)
• Ealing (24 July)
• Haringey (25 July)
• Westminster (26 July)

The Flame will arrive at the Olympic Stadium on 27 July for the lighting of the cauldron at the Opening Ceremony, signifying the start of the London 2012 Olympic Games.

The nationwide tour will begin at Land’s End in Cornwall on the morning of 19 May 2012 and will take 70 days to travel 8,000 miles around the UK.

During this time, the Flame will be carried by 8,000 torchbearers including sports people, celebrities and members of the public.

The Relay will travel for approximately 12 hours every day, culminating in evening celebrations when it arrives at each destination.

For more information visit www.london2012.com/olympictorchrelay

Last Sunday, I went for dinner at the recently-refurbished County Arms pub in Wandsworth.

The pub is huge and just a few minutes’ walk from Wandsworth Common – great for a Sunday lunch if you’ve just been for a stroll.

The County Arms is a pub at the front, a restaurant at the back and also has a conservatory, comfy lounge and a beer garden. Our waiter told us there is even an upstairs section of the restaurant should they need it.

Like the pub, the menu was extensive! The mains were divided into lighter options, Sunday roasts, and the regular menu. There really was a great variety – from risotto to burgers to guinea fowl.

To start, we had rustic tomato soup and organic pearl wen brie, pear and hazelnut salad with apple and honey vinaigrette. The soup was thick and tasty and the salad was refreshing. I thought the balance of cheese, pear and dressing was just right.

As it was a Sunday, we both opted for roast dinners. I ordered the vegetarian option of a root vegetable parcel: a puff pastry parcel served with green vegetables and roast potatoes. My dining partner had roast chicken.

The root vegetable parcel was a perfect autumnal meal – warming and full of seasonal orange and red veggies. The only thing missing for me was a Yorkshire pudding – although perhaps it would’ve been too heavy alongside the pastry.

Although I was full, I did manage a dessert – pecan pie with ice cream. Again, a nice winter treat, the pie was very sweet and I had to go home before the post-sugar slump hit!

The County Arms would be a great place to meet up with friends for a Sunday lunch – due to its size you’d have a good chance of getting a table for a group and the pub does take reservations. Plus, you can work it all off with a brisk walk on Wandsworth Common afterwards…

 The County Arms, 345 Trinity Road, SW18 3SH

Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, today opened the new Wandsworth Museum in South London, which houses a fascinating array of exhibits and artefacts from the local area.

The new museum replaces the previous one which was closed in 2007, and it provides a detailed insight into life in Wandsworth from the Stone Age to the modern day.

Along with an impressive collection of objects, there is also a timeline of events telling the story of the cultural and natural landscape of the borough.

Among the exhibits on show is a woolly rhinoceros skull dated to 25,000BC, a telephone exchange, and a diagram of the local Young’s brewery site.

There is also a collection of art depicting John Burns, the former local Member of Parliament and one of the leaders of the London Dock Strike in 1889.

Mr. Johnson told Visit London:

“I think it’s fantastically important to have museums such as this because we live in an age where people are both forgetful of their history but also incredibly excited when they discover about it.

“It’s frightfully important that local kids are able to come here and open a window into the lives of previous generations and inhabitants of Wandsworth.

“This was a very important place in the life of London and the life of the nation as a whole and we’ve now got great exhibits here to tell that story.”

The new Wandsworth Museum opens to the public on 3 Sep (website coming soon).

What’s your favourite local museum in London?