Apologies to all the cabbies out there. This month we’re going south of the river to Battersea – and a lovely, lovely road called Northcote. Now, now, before you start throwing your arms in the air with a Jigsaw this and a Starbucks that, there are lots of Unchained gems in Northcote Road too. There’s also a “howdy neighbour” atmosphere with a bunch of friendly people that wave and shout across the road to......

Throw on your barbour jacket and jump into your 4x4, we're heading west. Way over to leafy Chiswick, in fact. Just like the rest of the country, Chiswick High Road looks pretty much like any other. But if you mosey on past the chains and head for Devonshire Road, you'll discover a little piece of Unchained paradise. The street was blessed with a bit of a make-over a couple of years ago making it......

Put on your white-framed Wayfarers and slip into your faded skinny jeans, because this month we’re getting all ironic in London’s East End. Welcome to the first installment of Unchained’s mini-guide to London’s best independent shops - and welcome to a lovely little street called Cheshire. Cheshire Street lives not far from the top of Brick Lane (that’s the Bethnal Green Road end). While most folk already know the wonders of Spitalfields, Brick Lane......

Back in April we reported that retail sales were looking healthy early on in '08. Seems the trend has continued, with spending in central London last month up 8.7% compared to June 2007, while the national figure dropped by 0.4%. Continental visitors flush with sterling-thumping Euros, along with heavy discounting and aggressive mid-season sales from department stores, have helped retailers to healthy profit margins, though the research firm KPMG cautioned that the trend doesn't necessarily......

Credit crunch, you say? Bah, we're having none of it. Shops in the West End have punched above their weight so far this year: according to a new report from the British Retail Consortium, retail sales in London grew 10.5% in February, up from 3.8% in January, while footfall on the city's major shopping streets recorded a 4.3% year on year rise for March. All this in a climate where the national market is......

This Week In London’s History Monday – 29th October 1986: The M25 ‘London orbital’ motorway is officially opened by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, at a ceremony at the last section to be completed (junctions 22 and 23 in Hertfordshire). Tuesday – 30th October 1883: A group known as the Fenian Dynamiters detonates a bomb on the Metropolitan Railway, injuring 62 people. Wednesday – 31st October 1971: An IRA bomb explodes on the 33rd floor......

Off to see Timberlake at the new-look Dome tonight? Make sure you don’t get the wrong venue. The Greenwich attraction isn’t the only O2 in town… The O2, Greenwich Peninsula Function: Entertainment venue, including stadium, 11-screen cinema and exhibition space. Includes Justin Timberlake. Age: 7.5 years. Opened at the end of 1999 as the Millennium Dome, now recalled to life as the O2. Capacity: 20,000 in the main arena. Size: 365 m diameter and the......

The BBC has some wonderful pictures from inside Battersea Power Station, showing once and for all what a remarkable time capsule it is. The pictures include the station's Art Deco entrance hall, its futuristic (for the 1950s) control rooms, its towering spaces, and the eerie Marie Celeste feel of some of its undisturbed rooms. Battersea has been pictured before, of course - it's long been a favourite film and TV set. (Here are some......