Simla House Community Hall, London, 29 October 2025

13 Nov 2025

Tanner Street life drawing is dead. Long live London Bridge life drawing! Following the permanent closure of its much-used venue at 47/49 Tanner Street, the group has found a new base 500m west, near London Bridge station, in the community room of Simla House on Weston Street (entrance on Dunsterville Way).

With any change of setting, the primary concern for a life model is probably: will I still be kept warm? On this chilly, damp, miserable, mid-autumn evening, the answer was ‘yes’. Also, the space is well-lit and has ample seating for artists around all four walls, plus tea-making facilities for the group’s use in a connecting room. All boxes ticked.

Notwithstanding a pizza delivery rider who mistakenly knocked at the door just as we were starting, the main area is private; we remained undisturbed throughout. Beyond that, much is the same: poses in the round, pose lengths largely unchanged, Cliff still our genial host, familiar faces among the artists. Long may it thrive. 🙂