Rotherhithe Picture Library

Avoiding the mainstream, London's quirky, quiet crevices have good elements of surprise to them, perfect for photographs. The latest, as I wander around South London, is this library owned by Sands Films Studio. Not just any library. It's a giant visual reference mecca, giant scrapbooks filled with old photographs, patterns, adverts and costumes from every era you can think of. A visual junkie's version of bliss. What makes it even more magical is that this is where costumes, sets and props are made too. I was lucky to get a tour of the building, rooms filled with costumes from Pride and Prejudice, The Young Victoria and A Passage to India, hand-painted book props, rows of bonnets and button drawers, smiling seamstresses, ship-timber ceilings, a paper paradise. They even have a tiny cinema filled with comfie couches for their tuesday film club. I mean really. What could be lovelier.