Close-Up's film programmes present a series of films that shaped the art of cinema and its history. The programmes also include regular special events with filmmakers present to discuss their work. Close-Up is committed to supporting and developing the exhibition of independent and experimental cinema, focusing on the cross over between the arts and film culture.

Quiet outdoor garden with bar and pizza meters away from the busy and vibrant Dalston main roads.

My favourite record shop in London. Old-school record store stocks eclectic blues, dance, soul, reggae and global music on vinyl and CD.

Full of fine books, nice owner and his beautiful mellow dog. If you like digging for books on most subjects you can strike lucky here.

Sometimes when I wake up it feels like I am at sea watching a big ocean liner pass by. It is the view from my home in one of the two stepped concrete apartment blocks that make up the Brunswick Centre in Bloomsbury. When you visit skip the chain stores of the shopping centre below (except for the excellent Renoir Cinema) and instead get an invitation to one of the small but gorgeous flats with their winter gardens or just wander through the spectacular concrete A frames and across the vast sun drenched terraces on podium level.