There are very few better places to be on a summer's day than the massive beer garden at People’s Park Tavern on Victoria Park

If you like some nice cool beer, portuguese sweets (the once with yellow custard inside) tasty and affordable sandwiches, good strong coffee and football, at all hours. Max Snack Bar is worth checking out.

Quinto sells second-hand books. I spend a lot of time here and have found some inspiring books over the years, both at Quinto and the other shops on this road. Koenig Books on the corner is good for art books, too.

As preposterous as this sounds I think there are few ills that can’t be cured by sitting lazily on a stack of rugs in Liberty and allowing the patterns to wash over you in a warm, and slightly itchy, haze. If you don’t believe me try it. The second you step off the main shopping area the sound and lights dim, the rugs beg to be touched, and all your worries seem to disappear.

London has plenty of beautiful cemeteries. Brompton is one of the ‘Magnificent Seven’ and has many interesting tombs. It was also an inspiration of names for Beatrix Potter and the resting place of Emmeline Pankhurst.