CAPITAL WATCH ISSUE 1 2018

THE POSTAL MUSEUM AND RAIL MUSEUM Once home to The Monastic Order of the Knights Hospitallers of St John of Jerusalem – and more recently the infamous Turnmills nightclub – Clerkenwell has some of London’s most beautiful period buildings and is a hotspot for food, drink and design that caters to Londoners and visitors alike. A path less trodden than the heaving Borough and Broadway markets, Exmouth Market is home to some great cafés and restaurants. Get your hair and beard trimmed at the Barber Streisand hair salon, and hit the world- famous Family Tattoo Business to get a permanent mark that will let everyone know you love your mum / dog / pet rabbit (delete as appropriate). Probably London’s coolest cycling shop, café and workshop. This is the place to check out the latest bling fixies and road bikes, or get some needed repairs. Enjoy an espresso in the morning or a bottle of Vedett in the evening; rub up against like-minded Mamils and watch reruns of famous cycling tours on the big screen. For a city break or debauched weekend there are few better places than this 13-bedroom Georgian mansion that’s been turned into a cracking boutique hotel. Make sure you try one of their powerful cocktails (Bee Pollen Rum Old Fashioned?... so hipster it hurts!) and you might find yourself talking to a stuffed fox until the early hours of the morning. EXMOUTH MARKET LOOK MUM NO HANDS ZETTER TOWNHOUSE An iconic venue since 1683 for those who like music, dancing and prancing. This year you can attend the Flamenco Festival London to get back to your gypsy roots, or watch Akram Khan Company’s production XENOS, described as “a triumph of energy, empathy and intelligence”. A bit like my Monday mornings at work, then. Apparently “Coffee Culture” is now something that people are actually “into”, rather than just a means of ingesting caffeine. If this is your thing, Clerkenwell is the place to be: you can choose from Workshop Coffee Co, J&A Café, Dose, Caravan, Black Opium, Timberyard, Fix and the legendary Prufrock. There is also a Starbucks and a Caffé Nero for the less adventurous. COFFEE SADLER’S WELLS THEATRE VILLAGE LIFE Each edition we take you into one of London’s villages. This time our mystery man- about-town showcases the best of Clerkenwell Clerkenwell Not just for stamp collectors, the Postal Museum also provides access to Mail Rail, a set of clandestine tunnels originally opened for the transportation of condiments from the marmite mines of Hammersmith to Whitehall during the war. The conspiracy theory is that the tunnels were used to ferry post around London, but that would be plainly absurd. CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD 39 VILLAGE LIFE