Founded in 1828 the museum houses around 67,000 specimens many of which are now extinct or endangered. My favorite is the skull of a Bottlenose Whale from 1860.

It's a beautiful place and the food is amazing.

The best thing about any charity shop is that you never know what you are going to find. I have a well tested route around London that includes all of my favourite charity shops. This Oxfam has a great selection of books and often turns up some interesting clothes too.

This painted of the shopping centre by my brother, Leo Verhoeven, shows a rather idyllic vision of the shopping centre we both share. Its pretty rough, full of budget shops and funny cafes and framed by a shanty town style open air market. I have a real soft spot for it as the classic under dog, thats so often slated and condemned but lives on.

Whipps Cross boating lake is a true hidden East end gem. Located on Whipps Cross flats midway between Walthamstow and Wanstead.