Explore the world’s largest urban forest with author Paul Wood

Join Paul Wood, author of ‘London is a Forest’ and ‘London’s Street Trees’ on an urban forest exploration from Spitalfields to Shoreditch.


Starting at The Brokedown Palace, Spitalfields, Paul will lead us on a fascinating tour through the local streets and parklets looking at the remarkable diversity of trees found en route. We’ll finish at The Brokedown Palace, Shoreditch, where Paul will sign copies of his books – which come with a special discount for those joining the trail of just £10 each!

Expect to discover rare trees from all corners of the word, and learn about some of our familiar arboreal companions like the iconic London Plane. Reading Paul’s books will make you see the city in a whole new way, so why not join the author to get a first hand insight into London’s urban nature.

Sunday 22nd September

Meet 11am at The Brokedown Palace⁠, Spitalfields
8 Market Street, E1 6AA

Finish 1pm at The Brokedown Palace⁠, Shoreditch
178 Shoreditch High Street, E1 6DT

Tickets are £5 and all proceeds will go to the 2020 Urban Tree Festival.

Book tickets on EventBrite here.

 

 


The Fjällräven Waxing Tour 2019 is coming to the Palace!

 

Bring your G-1000 gear to be waxed while-you-wait by Fjällräven’s resident expert, Don. Watch waxing demos live, and most importantly, learn how to look after your beloved jacket, trousers or backpack so they’re ready for a lifetime of adventures.

Legendary mountaineer and Fjällräven ambassador, Alan Hinkes, will be joining Don in-store to chat to you while your gear is being waxed, and regale you with stories. Alan is the only British person to have climbed all 14 Himalayan mountains above 8,000m, so he has some tales to tell!

We will also have some copies of Alan’s beautiful coffee table book ‘8000m: Climbing the World’s Highest Mountains’ which he will be happy to sign for you.

This Thursday, 27th June 11:3-5:30

Find more info and RSVP on the Facebook event page. 

Alan Hinkes photo by Terry Abraham

Please note waxing at the event will be free of charge for all items, and done on a first come, first served basis. If it gets busy we’ll have to restrict it to one item per person, but don’t worry – Don will be able to show you how to wax yourself at home.

Waxing is only suitable for products made from Fjällräven’s G-1000 fabric – the original Vinylon F Kånken and Re-Kånken don’t require waxing.

If you can’t make it to the tour, you can still make use of our usual waxing service which is done on a drop and collect basis, it’s free for items bought at The Brokedown Palace and chargeable for items bought elsewhere (£30 charge for jackets and £20 for bags).


Save the Blue Heart of Europe

May 24th we’ll be screening the documentary ‘Blue Heart’ in-store. The documentary, presented by Patagonia, is part of the ongoing campaign to protect the last free flowing rivers in Europe. If you want a much more detailed account, you should check out Patagonia’s latest blog post ‘The Dam Truth’ but the devastation of dams is well documented across multiple sites. Signing the petition stands with them, as well as the endangered species that cannot stand up for themselves. Ultimately, it puts immense pressure on banks and investors and stops them from commissioning the construction of more dams.

There are already over 6000 dams in Europe; Save the Blue Heart just wants to prevent a further 1500 dams being built on exhausted landscapes. Many reservoirs become unsafe for drinking water through contamination and the landscape around them, the capillaries of the earth, are left with nothing to feed it. Nothing to carry. In the UK alone, there are over 400 dams built and hydro-power has always been sold to us as a clean, renewable form of energy. The reality is the destruction of habitat and environment, as well as the displacement of people, have always been conveniently left out.

We stand behind the campaign because of the cause, and because of the dedication of those on the front lines and those bringing attention to it. It’s important to have a constant assessment of what’s good for us and the land we live on- it’s important to debate. In the search for alternatives there will always be good and bad; but dams aren’t anything new and have become rapidly popular since the 18th century. The issue is that they’ve been sold as clean energy when they’re far from it.

We hope the screening will enlighten us to people’s struggles, as well as inform us on the situation. Is there an alternative? If you take away one form of energy, surely there should be another? A quick search will show that both wind and solar power set-ups create more jobs, are less destructive to the environment and produce much less carbon contributing to climate change. Personally, I’d go with what’s better for the economy and for the air I have to breathe.

Check out the trailer below and if we don’t see you in-store then be sure to grab a copy of the documentary on itunes in August. There’s a link if you want to see what’s what’s happening: here.

 

 

Adios,
Adam



Fjällräven Sample Sale

FjallSampleSale-Text-01 (1)

We are hosting a Fjällräven Sample Sale on the Green outside The Brokedown Palace, Boxpark Shoreditch this weekend – Saturday 28th 11-7, Sunday 29th 12-6. 

Prices will be between 40% and 70% off RRP.

Men’s are mainly size L and women’s size S, but there are a few Ms and XLs in there too.

There is only one of each item and it’s mainly apparel. Bags will be extremely limited – we should warn you now there are only a handful of Kånken backpacks in old colourways. Please come early to avoid disappointment.

RSVP on the Facebook event page now for more info and event updates.


Black Friday – Patagonia Worn Wear Returns to the Palace

This year we decided we wanted to do something positive and sustainable for Black Friday, so we’ve teamed up with our pals at Patagonia to bring their Worn Wear station back to the Palace. Martina will be working her magic and mending any of your outdoor garments for free, and giving advice on how to do repairs too.

See all the details and RSVP for Worn Wear at The Brokedown Palace – Black Friday 25th November.

 


Fjällräven at the Scandinavia Show

The Brokedown Palace partnered with Fjällräven to do their stand at the Scandinavia Show 2013.

The Scandinavia Show is the only UK show dedicated exclusively to showcase the best of Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland and the Faroe Islands. The show incorporates Scandinavian design, travel, lifestyle, fashion, culture and food.

This year’s venue was the stunning and historic Tobacco Dock, right on the River Thames; built in the early 19th Century as a secure bonded warehouse for the receipt and storage of tobacco from the New World.

We had a great time and met lots of lovely customers. Thank you Fjällräven for inviting us!

Ian and Dee Dee from The Brokedown Palace

Tobacco Dock

Tobacco Dock entrance

Adam from The Brokedown Palace with the colourful wall of Kånkens.

Andi from Fjällräven at his Wax Station, demonstrating how to re-wax a Greenland Jacket with Fjällräven’s unique Greenland Wax.

This customer came in with his 23 year old Kånken – looks good as new! His wife had just washed it so it’s a little crumpled. She said she always just throws it in the washing machine. They were buying more Kånkens for their young relatives.

Also in our stand were Grower’s Cup Coffee from Denmark. Here Adam from The Brokedown Palace and Andy from Fjällräven are sampling a cup.

Moomintroll

Dee Dee from The Brokedown Palace cuddling Moomintroll.

The Danes are invading Swedish Fjällräven!

Joe from Fjällräven looking super snazzy in a UN Blue Fjällräven Numbers Jacket No.68 and matching trousers. 

 



Lost in London Pop-Up: Bringing Outdoors In

We’ve just started stocking the fantastic Lost in London book, so we were excited to see they were doing a ‘bringing the outdoors in’ pop-up event at Hackney City Farm as part of Chelsea Fringe. We went along to have a look and found some wonderful stallholders and most importantly delicious cakes!

Lost in London’s own stall with all their publications

The Borough Belles WI with their amazing stall of homemade cakes. I had a luscious rhubarb crumble cup cake.

Marshmallow Bunny made by The Borough Belles WI – apparently it’s traditional in Australia!

We loved Sarah May Rogers hand made ceramics – her bone china leaves are exquisite and made using real leaves.

The lovely folks from Peachy Gardening  – an East London based business that offers friendly reliable gardening services. They were selling some gorgeous ready-planted pots at the event.

These greetings cards from Urban Ladybird  are genius – they have seeds in the card and can be planted straight into the ground.

Ian marking his favourite green space on the map – he chose Wick Woodland which is opposite The Brokedown Palace.

No trip to Hackney City Farm is complete without visiting Larry the Donkey, the only donkey we know of to have his own Twitter account. Follow him @hackneycityfarm