Forget Selfridges or Liberty! Fenwicks Contemporary Womenswear department has the biggest selection of Sonia Rykiel this side of Paris, amongst other great labels such as Thomsen, Dagmar, Les-Prairies-de-Paris and See by Chloe. But the best thing about it – it's quiet!

A perfect place for any occasion - or no occasion at all - every table feels like the best one.

The second coffee shop has to be Kaffeine. Having only recently come across this one, I was certainly impressed and they may even have the best coffee I've had, since a short stay in Portland, Oregon.

At first a memory of an old relationship, it quickly became my favourite market. Major highlight for the gin tasting with rosemary on a sunny Sunday afternoon. 

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.