Hampstead

I just love the narrow pathways

 When I walk, and take as many photos as I do, it is good to wear clothes with pockets. The more, the better! The day I walked around Hampstead I ignored all my rules (true, my all my crop trousers were waiting to be ironed and it was a hot day) and wore a skirt which had no pockets. Straight away on exiting the tube it became obnvious this was going to be a juggling match. Yes, I had a backpack, but it is not easy to slip a mobile in and out of it, and I was carrying Joolz Guides, which is a heafty book of walks. I had to keep putting the book under my arm while taking photos, or putting the book down somewhere. Hmm! It was annoying to say the least, but I had no option but to juggle.

The Flask

I had not been to Hampstead since before Covid, yet it is a favourite part of London for me. It has a village feel about it and loads of little sneaky pathways leading to interesting places. It is easy to get lost. Well, for me it is, despite having a map! It helps if you start off in the right direction, but the least said about that the better.

The route takes you past The Flask public house where folk from Highgate used to come bearing flasks to fill with the healthy waters Hampstead was known for. I should say here, that Joolz does love his pubs, and some of them did look very nice. However, going in them in all would slow me down. Besides, I was walking this route on my own, and I usual opt for a cafe if I do stop. When on my own, a pub is the last resort for a) a loo and b) there's nowhere else to find a drink, though I usually carry water with me.

I love the tree lined roads of Hampstead, and soon came to The Wells and Campden Baths and Wash Houses, now private housing. The lettering is still there over the top. Quickly I then came to Burgh House where a friend and I had once stopped for a cuppa in their cafe. It had been too late to see the house then, but today it was open and the perfect time to view it. Burgh House is free (donations welcome) and was built in 1704 for a Quaker family, but in the 1720's William Gibbons, a physician, moved in and was responsible for promoting the benefits of of Hampstead's healthy waters. There is a music room, a library and a few rooms upstairs. There was a most excellent art exhibition too which was a bonus. The house was once lived in by Rudyard Kipling's daughter. I had thought about stopping to use the cafe, but it was a bit too early on in the walk. Instead, I took advantage of the very high standard loos. I do rate a place by the decor and cleanliness of loos. This one is up there.

The Wells and Campden Baths and Wash Houses

Burch House - The Music Room

Excellent art exhibition

The Library

Upstairs room

Looking down the stairs

Burgh House

The Wells Tavern looks very pretty and Joolz states he once came across the actor Robert Powell playing the fruit machine in there! Further along the road (Well Walk), is Chalybeate Well (no longer working) installed for the benefit of local poor and weary travellers back in the late 1600's. The walk offered some interesting surprises, like The Logs, the former home of Boy George. To me it looks spooky. Not a place for me, however many millions it costs. Then there is Parish Lock-up where prisoners would be held until other arrangements could be made. Not far from there is Cannon Hall where Daphne du Maurier lived and wrote Rebecca, Jamaica Inn and so on. Note the cannons here.

The Wells Tavern

Drinking Fountain

Another narrow pathway I walked through

Boy George's former house 

Cannon outside the Lock-up

Cannon everywhere! Cannon Place

From there, I eventually came to a busy road and a little walk to Whitestone Pond where horses were once watered. Further along the busy road is Jack Straw's Castle, named after one of Wat Tyler's men. Straw helped lead the Peasants' Revolt in 1381. The place later became a pub with the likes of William Thackeray and Charles Dickens frequenting. Across the road behind a war memorial is the 18th century home of Samuel Hoare, a founding member of The Society for Abolition of Slavery. Unfortunately, as Joolz says, the house has scaffolding around it and it is covered in plastic. It seems to be the subject of ongoing hard fought plans to redevelop it.

Whitestone Pond

Jack Straw's Castle (now offices)

Milestone

Hampstead Observatory

Walking back towards the pond and taking a right turning, I came across the milestone, and after a bit of towing and froing, finally found Hampstead Observatory. This hides behind what seems to be an old reservoir. 

Back into the quieter part of Hampstead again, I came across The Admiral's House. I remembered this from a previous walk. It contains two plaques, one to John Galsworthy (writer of The Forsyte Saga) and George Gilbert Scott who built the Albert Memorial and St Pancras station. He is the grandfather Giles who built Battersea Power Station. The house also has another claim to fame because it inspired the character Admiral Boom from Mary Poppins, who fired cannonballs from his roof. The real Admiral who lived there did in fact fire cannonballs from his roof on the King's birthday!

Admiral's House

Fenton House

Shortly after this I came to Fenton House which I have previously visited. It was shut today. It holds a wonderful collection of musical instruments and some rather kitsch ornaments (not my thing!). The garden is lovely. 

The Holly Bush

I must admit The Holly Bush pub (gastropub) was rather inviting and for a moment I almost weakened. It was lunch time and I was getting a little peckish. If I'd been walking with a friend this is where we might have ended up. Instead, I walked on and found the house once lived in by Robert Louis Stevenson and not far away The Watch House used by night watchmen (before the Metropolitan Police were formed). These watchmen were elected but unpaid.

St Mary's Catholic Church (not mentioned in the walking guide) was open. I'd been past it a couple of times before. Often when you are with a walking group there is no time to visit these places. This is one of the benefits of walking alone or with a friend. I took the opportunity to go and view it. The main door was open, but there were locked gates across the nave. This was fine, as I could get my mobile through the gates to take a couple of photos. It is a beautiful church.

St Mary's Church

St John-at-Hampstead churchyard was another place I had come across before, but later couldn't find again! This was one of the reasons for choosing this walk. Here is the burial place of The du Maurier's. However, I didn't find the graves of John Constable (artist) and Peter Cook (comedian/actor) who Joolz says are buried here. I took a quick look inside the church, too.

Graveyard, St John-at-Hampstead

I am almost at the end of my walk as I head down into the busy High Street. The places to eat mentioned in the book were crowded with no seats available. I eventually found a cafe/bakery where I bought the most delicious raisin bun and a pot of tea. The air-con was on, not too cold (I hate it when it blasts freezing cold air at me) and thankfully not too busy. If felt like a place to linger. But I had a walk to complete.

Regency houses, Hampstead

High Street in bright sunshine

Victorian Postbox

Stanfield House

WHAM! (see below)

Back out into the heat, I crossed over to view Stansfield House which was cut in half to make way for Prince Arthur Road. Clarkson Stanfield was a painter and friend of Charles Dickens. He moved out after the house was cut in two, complaining the house was too small for him.

A little further down the High Street is Snappy Snaps where George Michael crashed his car in 2010 and was arrested. Some clever clogs had written WHAM! underneath the broken window!

Finally, there is a horse drinking fountain installed by the Metropolitan Drinking Fountain and Cattle Trough Association around 1859. Then it is a short walk to 2 Willow Road. This house was built by architect Erno Goldfinger and his neighbour was Ian Fleming. The house is open to the public (National Trust), but closed that day. It is on my list to visit one day.

Said to be the former home of ex-footballer Jurgen Klinsmann

Horse Trough

2 Willow Road

This is where I ended my walk, though the guide takes you to a couple more pubs and Keats House. However, I have visited Keats House in the past, and decided to end my walk at 2 Willow Road. However, I've dropped a link in so you can check it out. Instead, I took a break in the sunshine on a bench opposite, before heading back to the tube station.

My thanks to Julian McDonnell (aka Joolz) for his entertaining guide, enabling me to find places I'd not otherwise know about.