Specialising in photography & fashion books and magazines, this independent shop can be a goldmine for rare and out of print books. Also if you’re lucky you’ll meet Otis, the lovely pug-cross resident.

My favourite local beer garden.

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)

London is so vast I end up spending hours travelling on trains. They are by far the best way to travel around on and are always full of weird and wonderful characters.

It's a members-only library but you might be granted access with a research request. The writer's room is great but there's a few special, hidden corners among the bookshelves to tuck yourself away in.