There are libraries full of screaming children and strip lighting, and then there are libraries like The London Library. Whenever I’m there it’s hard to believe I’m not caught inside a wonderful dream, because everything about this place is so perfect as to be almost unreal.

A charming garden centre with cafe and restaurant, both located in beautiful greenhouses. Well worth a visit at any time of the year. 

This is my new local cafe. Healthy food, lovely people and great atmosphere. My favourites are the kyuri cleanse juice, the Avodon and the Joy's salad. Great place for meetings too.

A treasure trove in the The City of London. The Archive of London. Strongrooms hold kilometres of shelving; boxes of matter that has somehow been catalogued and categorised in a traceable manner by the public, for academic, genealogical and other research. This beautiful book is from a box on Epping Forest. On the same visit, I looked through photographs of Blitz singsongs in Bethnal Green Underground station, 1980s anti-Thatcher / pro-GLC gig posters and paper concertina optical models of the Crystal Palace.

Everything you expect from a neighbourhood café and more.