Art in Public Spaces

It was the last walk of the Art in Public Spaces course on Tuesday. We met at Hampstead tube station and our first stop was to see where the artist Ford Madox Brown painted his picture Work. As soon as I saw it I got quite excited! I kind of recognised the place and of course the painting it is a brilliant picture.

Our walk was mainly about painters and buildings but we also passed lots of different plaques to writers and others. These included John Galsworthy and Robert Louis Stevenson as well as Kate Greenaway (children's book illustrator) and the grandfather of Daphne DuMaurier who was also an illustrator. Hampstead is teeming with plaques. It's the first time I've been there and I will be returning. I took very few photos this time but next time I'll have time to stop and explore more.

We stopped outside three places I will be back to visit - Burgh House & Hampstead Museum, Fenton House and 2 Willow Road. The latter two were closed for the season anyway (Fenton House I think opens on some weekends before Christmas - do check if you are thinking of going). We also saw some 1930's modern houses, one estate was designed by Sigmund Freud's son (who also made the renovations for the Freud Museum which I visited recently and wrote about). The modern designs aren't to my liking. I much prefer the victorian style houses which seem to have far more character.

The end of the walk brought us to Hampstead Heath station. I nearly dived into Daunt Book (where I might never have been seen again) and that will be a stop for me next time.

We all went to have lunch in The Garden Gate. The food and service was brilliant - recommended. I had a delicious vegan lasagna.

Here are a few photos: