THE annual Open House London Festival taking place across the city allows people free access to venues usually closed to the public.

The events will take place from 4 – 12 September with central Ealing featuring two destinations to explore along with several guided tours.

The Questors Theatre will be opening its doors, with a building tour on Saturday 11 September where visitors can see behind the scenes at the theatre that was the first to be opened after the war, in 1964.

There will be free entry to the Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery from 10am - 5pm this weekend, and free tickets should be booked in advance on their website.

An exterior building tour of the gallery can also be booked in advance, from 11:30am – 12:15pm both days.

The gallery was designed by Sir John Soane as a family home and country residence and the tour will recount how Soane designed the building to be an expression of his own life and work.

Guided walks

The Ealing Civic Society will lead two guided walks this Saturday (4 September) for the Open House event.

One walk will be led by Ann Chapman, Chair of Ealing Civic Society from 10:30am – 1pm.

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This walk will pass through Ealing south of Uxbridge Road, past the Pitzhanger Manor, Ealing Studios and down the Georgian and early Victorian streets of Ealing's early development.

The other walk will cover Ealing north of Uxbridge Road, led by history experts Jenny Gadsby and Josette Bishop.

This walk even features a tea stop in the garden of one of the walk leaders.

You can also find a self-guided walking itinerary, created by the Open House team.

This guide offers site-seeing information, a route and directions, starting from Ealing Town Hall and ending at St Mary's Church.

There are further destinations to discover around Ealing, including in Acton and Hanwell, find them on the Open House website, Here.