Love this! It’s sad to realise I don’t know of many more free places to just be. The Dalston Curve garden is one… it does have a cafe/bar but also plenty of people just eating packed lunches and meeting up, or on their own. During Covid they ran lots of events for older people. It’s open from 1pm. Near Dalston Junction.
I love how these not particularly attractive and frustratingly labyrinthine buildings (to my mind) are such lovely places to hang out. We’re so lucky to have them. Some months ago I went to the cinema in Enfield and needed to wait for a lift with my kids late one evening. It has a really large lobby area with a small amount of seating for a closed cafe and we weren’t even allowed to sit down!
Lovely post, thanks. These are my favourite spaces in London - never more so than when I was on maternity leave, desperate to explore more and show bubs the world, but often needing a break and somewhere to let him crawl around. These spaces are invaluable. Shout out to the lovely poetry library in the royal festival hall and it's comfy kids reading nook.
This is wonderful. I’ve been missing the State Library in Victoria and the Art Library at the AGNSW (both in Australia) since moving, so this newsletter is incredibly welcome. While it is a cafe, I do love the Foyles Cafe on Charing Cross Road, half the time I don’t buy anything and just sit there reading. I’ve been going since I was 16 on trips to London with my dad! Thanks for this :)
Wonderful article Isaac, something I’d never considered before .
Thank you Andrew!
An excellent piece. You’ve identified such an important aspect of living in a busy city.
Love this! It’s sad to realise I don’t know of many more free places to just be. The Dalston Curve garden is one… it does have a cafe/bar but also plenty of people just eating packed lunches and meeting up, or on their own. During Covid they ran lots of events for older people. It’s open from 1pm. Near Dalston Junction.
Thank you! Oh nice – I haven't been for ages and didn't quite realise it fulfilled that purpose too – that's really lovely. Thanks so much!
I’ve been to a few but the list has only grown! Thank you for this, I can’t be bothered bringing lunch back to my desk either!
Excellent!
I love how these not particularly attractive and frustratingly labyrinthine buildings (to my mind) are such lovely places to hang out. We’re so lucky to have them. Some months ago I went to the cinema in Enfield and needed to wait for a lift with my kids late one evening. It has a really large lobby area with a small amount of seating for a closed cafe and we weren’t even allowed to sit down!
I agree – love the nooks and crannies! Ah what a shame – I've had some good cinema lobby sit-downs over the years!
Thank you for this fabulously useful article! I’ll be putting some of the suggestions into practice tomorrow!
My pleasure – ah excellent!
Lovely post, thanks. These are my favourite spaces in London - never more so than when I was on maternity leave, desperate to explore more and show bubs the world, but often needing a break and somewhere to let him crawl around. These spaces are invaluable. Shout out to the lovely poetry library in the royal festival hall and it's comfy kids reading nook.
This is wonderful. I’ve been missing the State Library in Victoria and the Art Library at the AGNSW (both in Australia) since moving, so this newsletter is incredibly welcome. While it is a cafe, I do love the Foyles Cafe on Charing Cross Road, half the time I don’t buy anything and just sit there reading. I’ve been going since I was 16 on trips to London with my dad! Thanks for this :)
Ah that's great to hear, thank you. Ah yeah I love Foyles – great that they allow this. I think these are the good kind of pseudo-public spaces!