Good location for food and drink. The menu while on the face of it looks like a typical bar menu is inventive. You'll find things like rabbit burgers and pheasant on the menu that you wouldn't normally find in a bar. The food is very much moving towards 'gastropub' territory.
On Saturday nights the bar is packed as they have live music. Even when it is quieter it is nice to sit down with a nice pint.
Family friendly.

www.noblesbarleith.co.uk/
44a Constitution street, Edinburgh EH6 6RS
+44(0)131 629 7215
Google map: bit.ly/z8TeR1

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This is a lovely pub, just out of the way of all the tourists. The staff are great, the food is terrific and the price very good indeed.

www.stagsheadinnexmoor.co.uk/
10 West Street, Dunster, Exmoor, TA24 6SN +44(0)1643 821229
Google map: bit.ly/v1GYCL

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If you really want to understand London at war you need to visit the Churchill War Rooms. Seeing the intricate labyrinth of underground bedrooms and offices, and the maps marked with strategic plans really brings home how real the threat of invasion was. You feel the tension in the air. A large part of the museum also details the life of Winston Churchill and political life during the war. While this is interesting the best aspect of the museum is in sharing a space with one of the most iconic men of recent history.

www.iwm.org.uk/visits/churchill-war-rooms
Clive Steps, King Charles Street, London SW1A 2AQ
Google map: bit.ly/rThsFi

* Sophie is our Been there local for London. You can view her profile here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/articles/london-local-sophie-mitchell-intro.jsp and follow her tips here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/travellers/SophieMItchell

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London Walks is by far the best way to get to know the dramatic history of London. The informative and lively guides reveal dark secrets and hidden gems in a city you think you know. I’ve been on a number of walks and my favourites have been Jack the Ripper (go in the winter months for maximum spook factor), Little Venice and The Blitz – London at War. Depending on your particular interests there’s a walk to suit all tastes. End your walk with a hearty pub meal or a pint of British ale and you’re experiencing England at its best.

www.walks.com

* Sophie is our Been there local for London. You can view her profile here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/articles/london-local-sophie-mitchell-intro.jsp and follow her tips here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/travellers/SophieMItchell

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We've had a lot of fun looking for the best chai in many places in India and have tasted some exceptional brews. But the biggest surprise has been to find one of the best chai places ever on London's Goswell Road, between Old Street and Angel. Chaiwala's is an unusual combination of gourmet Indian tea and coffee house and student cafe, located between the City University and the VFS Indian Visa Centre (so it's ideal for a rewarding cup of chai if you're getting a visa). Anyone who likes chai will find it worth a special trip. This is chai taken to a new level by dedicated enthusiasts who carefully spice your freshly-made chai to order (cardomom, ginger, mint, masala or however you like it) in Nanu, Motu and Jadu sizes. There are exotic blends such as pink Kashmiri Chai (cinnamon, cardomom, saffron and honey topped with almonds and pistachios), excellent coffee, lassis and milkshakes, epic Indian street snacks (monster samosas and good roti wraps at student-friendly prices) and shisha pipes on the terrace. The local business community eats there too. The only drawback is limited weekend opening hours (until 3pm on Saturday, closed Sunday).

www.chaiwalas.com
135 Goswell Rd, London Borough of Islington, London EC1V 7JY
+44(0)20 7253 6446
Google map: bit.ly/ub42Yz

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Superb restaurant in the centre of Matlock by the river.
We have dined here twice and have never failed to be impressed by the quality of the locally sourced menu, the excellent service, the wine list and the restaurant's intimacy.

www.stones-restaurant.co.uk/
1 Dale Road Matlock, Derbyshire DE4 3LT
+44(0)1629 56061
Google map: bit.ly/su2Hp2

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Luxury B&B, superb breakfasts inc. choice of vegan and vegetarian. Kate and Alan were superbly witty and entertaining hosts and also cater for restricted diets.
Excellent base for The Peaks, with lots of information on what to do and where to eat.

www.sherifflodge.co.uk/
51 Dimple Road Matlock, Derbyshire DE4 3JX
+44(0)1629 760760

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Cosmopolitan? Yes. Funky? Yes. Atmospheric? Definitely.
Tucked under the Victorian Arches, on Brighton beach, the ‘Fortune of War’ bar is the place to go.
Hip at any time – but give it a whirl on the longest night of the year, the winter solstice, and you will not regret it.
Buy a good hot mulled wine or two to get into the festive spirit and then walk down to Madeira Drive to watch Brighton’s annual ‘Burning the Clocks’. Amazing and unique, paper and willow lanterns, in all shapes and sizes, are carried in a parade through the city, illuminating the spectators, and then burnt on the beach. Tradition has it that all the hopes and dreams of the lantern makers are passed into the fire.
Followed by a great firework display over the sea, the festive mood has been set, so back inside for another mulled wine or two. Happy Christmas!

157 Kings Road Arches
Brighton and Hove BN1 1NB
+44(0)1273 205065
Google map: bit.ly/vEzlSw

Burning the Clocks
www.visitbrighton.com/whats-on/burning-the-clocks-p372371

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The windows of this tiny vintage shop are filled with embroidered silk blouses and strings of pearls. Inside is a labyrinth of small rooms crammed full with antique and retro clothing, from lacy wedding dresses strung along Elizabethan beams to rows of military and fur coats.

64 High Street, Town Centre, Totnes, TQ9 5SQ
Google map: bit.ly/shSRCX

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In a suburb just outside staid and stuffy Solihull there is a surprise lurking - Akamba an African art and craft shop, garden centre and cafe, with Caribbean food and added music - reggae, soul and funk. You never know what you are going to find: hand-made pots, Fairtrade African art, exotic African prints and posters, all overlooked by giant metal animals - zebras, giraffes, chimpanzees. Magical

www.akamba.co.uk
Tythe Barn Lane, Dickens Heath, Solihull, B90 1PH
+44(0)121 733 3111
Google map: bit.ly/thl5y0

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Not that there's already enough reasons to visit north-west Sutherland - stunning beaches, great cycling roads, mountains galore - one to add to the list is Cocoa Mountain in Durness. Faced with an endless choice of hand-made chocolate treats, what will you not take home. And those surfers and cyclists can replace lost calories by enjoying the best hot chocolate ever!

www.cocoamountain.co.uk
8 Balnakeil, Durness, Lairg, Sutherland, Scotland, IV27 4PT
+44(0)1971 511233
Google map: bit.ly/slK4wP

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I love Hobos. It's the only place I've ever been where I can buy vintage clothes, a retro bag, the wrapping paper and a card all at once. It's perfect for little off-the-wall gifts and is a hippy's paradise. The 60s theme decor works excellently and is very inviting. They also do a 10% student discount, which is great for us lot on budgets! If I need to get something unique and a little crazy, this is the only place to go.

hobosswansea.blogspot.com/
214 Oxford street, Swansea, SA1 3BG
+44(0)1792 654586
Google map: bit.ly/sNmpOw

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On an unassuming road in Hackney, tucked between hip coffee shops and scruffy auto repairs, you will find Viktor Wynd's Little Shop of Horrors.
Upon entering you will be greeted by a party of giant taxidermied antelope heads and African voodoo masks. Tomes of mythology and the occult line the bookshelves while armies of butterflies and beatles roam any left over spaces on the walls.
The resulting experience is a bit like falling down Alice's rabbit hole and re-emerging in a world that is part 17th century curiosity cabinet, part 70s sci-fi movie gone wrong.
As well as being toted as a museum of the weird and wonderful, the shop also holds regular art exhibitions. Framed works by the likes of Mervyn Peake and the Mexican surrealist Leonora Carrington have recently been displayed. There are also regular lectures (on subjects you never knew existed), workshops, puppet shows and films.
The shop is part of the wider 'Last Tuesday Society', who are also known for holding some of the most decadent masked balls and afternoon tea dances in London.

viktorwyndofhackney.co.uk/
11 Mare Street, London E8 4RP
+44 207 998 3617
Google map: bit.ly/v1XqfH

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A strange little shop, filled to bursting point with fairy, gnome, imp and pixie figurines. The whole place is like entering the underworld. The shop itself is definitely on the cosy side, and with fairies hanging from the ceiling and surrounding you it seems positively minuscule. The fairies and pixies definitely rule this shop, humans can only visit for as long as you can stand the powerful incense that fills whatever room is left.

57 Cockburn Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1BS
+44(0)131 225 8207
Google map: bit.ly/tbEBIL

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Alex sources spices, chocolate, garlic and olives mostly from the Mediterranean; what he doesn't know about which hillside which olive came from isn't worth knowing. His stall is stunning, the colours rich and the smells irresistible. Pinch yourself - you're in a Pennine town - but take home Spanish saffron, Tuscan olive oil, figs, pasta and chorizo. All this, and he's a real gent.

Brook Street, Todmorden OL14 5AJ
+44(0)1706 819 731
Google map: bit.ly/sGDJXM

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When I want to be a mermaid I step inside Pewsey Wool Shop. Pewsey Carnival fortnight sees the shop full of fraught fancy dressers, such as would-be eskimos, looking for a Mr Benn fix for the procession. And proprietor Ruth Cope is always full of tips on simplifying elaborate transformations. Knitting patterns muddle along with sequins, ribbons, beads, buttons, faux fur, fabric glue and safety pins. But, amongst a clutter of curios, you might also find a melodeon, old-fashioned coffee grinder or antique clock. A wonderful place where you can forget time, lose yourself and transcend the everyday.

45-47 North Street, Pewsey, Wiltshire, SN9 5ES
+44(0)1672 564 585
Google map: bit.ly/svHmZ3

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If you like customising everything under the sun with quirky buttons, buckles, ribbons and trim, then this is the place for you. The first shop opened in Harrogate in 1956, and there is another in Ilkley, and a third in a wonderful medieval building in York. Drusilla White, the daughter of Duttons founder, travels the world in search of fabulous buttons, and offers the largest selection in the UK - over 12,000 to be precise. They range from sparkly diamante to vintage glass, shell, wood and ceramic. Unusual designs include buttons in the shape of hats, lighthouses, owls and fish. They sell a great hessian bag for you to customise, and every other haberdashery item you could ever need. Buttons from Duttons can even be spotted in films such as Pirates of the Caribbean and Evita!

www.duttonsforbuttons.co.uk
Oxford Street, Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England, HG1 1QE
+44(0)1423 502 092
Google map: bit.ly/rtptkh

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Let’s be honest you thought they were pretty weird as a child, small furry animals, dressed in clothes? But still, stumble on Sylvanian Families tucked away in residential Islington and you’ll start to develop a nostalgia you never knew you had. Selling solely the little critters and their paraphernalia – the Moss Reindeer Family now available on Christmas Cracker Deals – it’s a great opportunity to drag the kids away from the computer and show them exactly what fun Mum had when she was young. The bars of Stoke Newington’s fashionable Church Street are just minutes away to help take your mind of all those glass eyes, and your misspent youth.

www.sylvanianfamilies.com
68 Mountgrove Road, London N5 2LT
020 7226 1329
Google map: bit.ly/u8FFjQ

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A shop selling specialist teas, delicious home made light bites and offering a range of holistic therapies. I only popped in for a free cuppa on opening day and booked myself in for a treatment the next!

www.teaandtranquility.co.uk
21 Market Place, Cockermouth Cumbria CA13 9NH
+44(0)1900 827752
Google map: bit.ly/sIH2P6

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With the chaos and cars of Kingsland Road, Dalston’s busy high street just around the corner, the Farm Shop on Dalston Lane makes a welcome escape. Slightly bizarre stark white décor greets you on arrival in their first room with ‘aquaponic’ fish tanks and a wall of plants. There are signs explaining that the water is circulated between the fish tanks and the plants and this is all harvested off the roof, which incidentally is where they keep their chickens! Wandering through the shop is more like a science museum with gems of sustainable inspiration and you can even hire out the polytunnels for parties complete with a disco ball! Once you’ve finished exploring the shop sells a range of delicious foodstuffs – from London honey to today’s eggs to fish to fairtrade organic coffee. There’s also often art on the walls up for grabs and the café serves the best bacon sandwich in London! Much loved and recommended for an intriguing shopping experience – who knows, you could come away with a chicken!

farmlondon.weebly.com/index.html
20 Dalston Lane, London, E83AZ
+44(0)7736 002006
Google map: bit.ly/vsWMvb

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