Lots of traditional charming country pubs around the area, but it can a bit hit and miss. A really friendly one with amazing food (and a unusually large veggie selection…) is the Beehive in Epping Green; close to the Great Wood. It's friendly enough you dare going there by yourself with the paper and are not at the mercy of local rubbernecks ("the rubberneck" = person who stares at strangers without any sign of guilt)

This is the stuff nightmares are made of. Good nightmares. A perverse Aladdin's cave of treasure and artefacts.

Bowling always reminds me of the film The Big Lebowski. And maybe that’s why it doesn’t really matter how skilled anyone is at bowling. With or without professional trainers, it is great fun to boost the aiming skills.

In terms of materials and form, these galleries offer so much. On an abstract and typographic level, so useful. This is a section of an altar frieze, from the Eye Temple at Tell Brak (N.E. Syria), dated 3300–3000BC. The Egyptian rooms take the tourist weight; these spaces are much quieter and amenable time spent drawing and thinking.

Nice old trees, lots of space, good for walking, running, hanging out with your kids and most of all, the perfect place to lie in the grass and chill out.