Set amongst one of my favourite housing estates in London – the Brunswick, Renoir cinema shows art-house films in it's two small but comfortable screens. I come here at least twice a month, and always on my own.

Half a mile from Markfield Park down the River Lee is Springfield Park. The park rises steeply up from the river and has an amazing array of tree species making it beautiful in all seasons. At the brim of the hill there is a line of park benches each one surrounded by box hedge offering a private view across the Lee Valley, Walthamstow and beyond. The park warden was nice enough to give me a chestnut log a couple of years ago from which I carved a bench and two stools.

The best live jazz band I ever heard was at a packed out night in Brilliant Corners. I was happy to be squashed.

Hidden away in the backstreets of Finsbury Park, I used to share a house opposite this pub, where it assumed the role as our second living room. A real north London gem, I still go there these days for the tree-house-like, leafy terraced beer garden, which is perfect for summer evenings.

A gift from Kyoto - a beautiful hidden Japanese garden in Holland Park