Love sci fi, comics, video games and manga? Have a working knowledge of the geology of Planet Dune? Speak a little Klingon and know how to make a saving throw? Well done Sir or Madam. You, like me are a geek or nerd. And really awesome. And there are plenty of places in London for you to shop, hang out and get your geek on.

Forbidden Planet - London’s largest and best know geekery superstore is your one stop shop for pretty much everything nerdy. From comics to dice to figurines to books to trading cards to plushies FP has you covered. The staff have the requisite level of surliness which I believe is a requirement in comic book store workers, but might put others off.

Orcs Nest – Painting tiny figures, rolling dice, tapping cards and hanging out with a dude who calls himself ‘Dungeon Master’ are all things you’ll find the patrons and staff of the Orcs Nest doing. If you like gaming of the card, board and tabletop variety – go here. You won’t be disappointed.

Science Museum / Natural History Museum – One of the main facets of geekery is a desire to acquire knowledge. And where better to do this than in two of Londons (and the worlds) best museums. Life size blue whales, dinosaur skeletons, a difference engine and rockets – it’s every small boy’s (and fully grown geek’s) dream come true.

The Trocadero –  all neon lights, blasting music and surly teenagers – the Trocadero is like a cyberpunk cityscape done on the very cheap. And that’s it’s charm. It’s generally a bit rubbish, but there is plenty going on, so you only get small burst of rubbish so at least it’s not boring rubbish. The main thing here are the arcade games and LAN center, so if you feel like venturing into the past to blast some zombies or assault a sumo wrestler in as Japanese bathhouse – it’s the place to be. There is also a cinema, shopping (including a specialist Manga store) and a bar.

The Apple Store – You may be an Apple hater, a devout follower of open source and PCs but c’mon, even you love the shiny, user friendly stuff the Apple Store provides. It’s a chapel to smooth lines and titanium. Always fun to go and visit the night before a product launch so you can see who is a hardcore fanboy.

Greenwich Observatory – A history of time. The chance to straddle the meridian. A Planetarium And in the evening, a giant green laser being shot into the sky. Awesome.

TechHub – Kind of like an informal social club for those working in tech and start up internet businesses, and located in the heart of the Silicon Roundabout, TechHub offers a geek friendly work space and meeting area for our answer to Zuckerberg and Gates. We hope…

Pic from Flickr user misteraich

This week, Transport for London will be funding an event aiming to get us Londoners putting down our oyster cards and picking up our walking boots (well not literally but you catch my drift!).  It’s called Walk for Life and over the Bank Holiday, there are dozens of  scheduled walks going on all over the capital from 26 mile marathons to 15 minute meanderings.  So if you feel like getting up off the sofa and doing something more active this weekend, why not give one of these a try?

Old Camden Town

The walk takes you on a tour of Camden from the rock n’ roll chic of Camden market to the leafy terraces and crescents of Primrose Hill.  The tour is hosted by a local artist and you can even take a narrow boat up to the Zoo or Little Venice at the end of the tour.

Rich & Famous

Royal Kensington is famous for all the right reasons – this tour will take you everywhere from the largest roof garden in Europe to the town house of one of the most famous Londoner’s of the 20th century.  Expect glitz and glamour..

Olympic Walk

Travel the route that is currently in development to help encourage cycling and walking to the Olympic Games through London

River Walk

Passing both MI5 and MI6 buildings, palaces and the Tate Gallery, this walk takes you along the river revealing the history of building such as Milbank Prison, Lambeth Palace and the flood of 1928.

Hidden London

This walk takes you on a route through London through old monasteries, secret alleyways and hidden courtyards exploring the parts of the city no longer used by the public.

In the first of our alternative area guides, we asked Putney local Gary Andrews to give us the inside track on the South West London district best known for boat racing and riverside walks.

Sitting neatly along the Thames, a mere 20 minutes from central London, Putney is a great place to explore, especially during the summer. The area is about as middle class as you can get (Simon Le Bon and Nick Clegg are residents), but has a good mixture of young families, young professionals, Antipodeans, and students (from nearby Roehampton University), and means the area has an excellent mix of shops, pubs and restaurants with something to suit every taste and is well worth stopping off at, especially if the sun’s shining.

Drinking

Putney has very few genuinely bad pubs, so it’s really a question of picking out the exceptional from the very good. It you’re after outdoor drinking, then the area boasts beer gardens a-plenty. Take a short bus ride, or walk up the hill, from the centre and you’ll be rewarded with two of the best places for an outdoor pint. The Telegraph sits in the middle of Putney Heath, by a village cricket pitch no less, and is more akin to a Cornish countryside pub than something befitting an SW15 postcode. The Sunday roasts are excellent, although it can fill up with young children at weekends.

On the edge of the heath, the unassuming Green Man has probably one of the best beer gardens in London. Whoever designed it clearly had an eclectic mind, but it includes giant jenga, chess, and pool. Nearer the river, the excellent Bricklayers Arms has a small but pleasant beer garden and, as befitting a former CAMRA Pub Of The Year, has up to 12 real ales on tap at any given time, often from small microbreweries.

The Boathouse

The Boathouse may not have a beer garden but the outdoor patio and roof terrace overlook the Thames, and is a perfect location for a lazy Sunday afternoon, while just off the high street, The Coat and Badge has a spacious beer garden and is probably the best place to watch sport in Putney.

Finally, for those wet and cold days, the Spotted Horse on the High Street is probably the area’s best indoor pub, serves fantastic roasts, and has a Wednesday night quiz so popular, you need to book a table beforehand.

Eating

If you so desired, you could eat food from a different country every night for a fortnight in Putney, such is the variety of the cuisine. One restaurant worth a visit is the Popeseye Steak House, about seven minutes walk from the centre. This curious and compact little place only serves steak and doesn’t take cards, but is worth every penny. Jay Rayner is a fan, and one friend recently proclaimed the venue to have served the best steak he’d ever tasted.

Another unassuming restaurant is the Destino tapas bar, just round the corner from the overground station. It may not look enticing, but the staff are friendly, the tapas delicious, and you can have a very decent meal for less than £20.

Ma Goa sits on the same road and is even more of a bargain, with a constant offer of two courses for £10, with the cooking of a very high standard given the price, while Talad Thai, a few doors down, is also reasonably priced and very tasty.

Finally, if you’re prepared to make an effort to head away from the centre towards Barnes, Al Forno on Upper Richmond Road is a cracking little local Italian restaurant that serves some of the biggest pizzas possible to fit on a plate, and is good value for parties or more intimate evenings. Be warned, this place does get very busy, so booking ahead is advisable.

Shopping

Residents of Putney can find anything they want without as much as hopping on the District Line. Most major stores can be found on the High Street, with Oliver Bonas, Jigsaw and Monsoon some of the familiar names on display.

Budding chefs should check out Whisk on the High Street for a thorough selection of kitchen implements and casserole dishes. And if you need something to cook in your newly-acquired pots and pans, the South African chain of butchers, Snoggy’s, have one of their biggest branches on Upper Richmond Road for all your meat needs, plus will produce special skewers for the barbeque season.

And for those special occasions, or even a spontaneous piece of romance, The Flower Yard, next door to Putney Station, has friendly, knowledgeable staff and a great selection of blooms, should you wish to brighten up the day of a special someone.

Richmond Park

Out and About

The best leisure activity in Putney is absolutely free – walking. As it sits between parkland and the river, there’s a fine selection of short walks complete with beautiful scenery.

The towpath by the river to Hammersmith Bridge is a popular route with cyclists and runners, while walking from the top of Putney Heath to the bottom of Wimbledon Common is a flat, pretty and healthy way to spend an afternoon. Alternatively, catch the 430 bus to the end of the route in Roehampton and, hurrying past the slightly menacing council estates, you’re soon at the Roehampton Gate entrance to the breathtaking Richmond Park.

For the cultured, Putney Arts Theatre often runs a selection of classic and experimental plays, as well as art exhibitions and community theatres, while the legendary Half Moon pub on Lower Richmond Road is the place for live music in the area. And for T-Rex fans, or the more morbidly inclined, the shrine to Marc Bolan’s death place on the edge of Barnes and Putney is curiously compelling.

Flickr images taken from jeeheon‘s, brighton‘s and lamoney‘s photostreams.

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