My Adventures 3: Highgate Village

Firstly let me apologise for the poor quality of photos my hands were freezing even in my gloves and were shaking and I had trouble using the camera with my gloves on. (please click on the hyperlinks for more information on certain subjects).

I left home on Saturday the 11th February 2017 to make my way to Archway Tube Station to meet the group from Walking For Pleasure for a walk. The London Liverpool Street was closed for the weekend for Cross-rail works, so a long journey involving buses and tubes were the order of the day.

I arrived at Archway at 0930 hours, a good half hour early so I stopped off in McDonald's to grab a coffee. I then made my way to the Station where I saw Sharon and Paul in a coffee shop, shortly afterwards the rest arrived.

We set off towards Highgate passing the Whittington Stone. The Whittington Stone is a monumental stone at the foot of Highgate Hill which marks the spot where Dick Whittington is said to have heard Bow Bells prophesying his good fortune: "Turn again Whittington, thrice Lord Mayor of London!".

{Carved into the stone facing the road:}

Whittington Stone

Richard Whittington

Thrice Lord Mayor of London

1397 - Richard II

1406 - Henry IV

1420 - Henry V

Sheriff - in 1393

This stone was restored by W. Hillier 1935

{Carved into the stone facing the pavement - too weatherworn to be legible.}

The stone was first erected in 1821 at which time memorials, other than statues, were rare. It was restored in 1935 and the cat was added in 1964.

We made our way up Highgate Hill, not many hills in London but this is quite steep( well for London anyway). At the top to our left was St Josephs Roman Catholic Church.

St. Joseph’s was established in the mid-1850’s, at a time when the relaxation of legal control over Catholicism was taking place. The Catholic community was expanding because of the railroads, but there was still considerable suspicion, resentment and open prejudice from the largely Protestant population of London, and indeed Highgate.

When Father Ignatius Spencer was seeking a home for the Passionists in London, the Old Black Dog Inn at Highgate seemed suitable, but could only be inspected by subterfuge. The Priests visited the property in disguise so they would be unrecognised – less than 10 years previously the owner had refused to sell the property as he dreamed that it would be bought by Papists, and at this time there had been an anti-Catholic riot in Highgate High Street.

Buying the property at auction was only the first of the problems to be overcome, as the acquisition and construction needed to be funded, and at that time the funds did not exist!

Father Ignatius approached his nephew, the fifth Earl Spencer, to seek funds. He recommenced an annuity of £300 pa, which had been with-held by the family when the Honourable and Reverend George Spencer had converted to Catholicism.

Although Father Ignatius died in 1864 and did not see his work come to fruition, the local Catholic community grew rapidly, and a chapel attached to the old pub was replaced by a purpose built church in 1861, but even this became to small and so the work of building the current St. Joseph’s commenced on 24th May 1888. The construction was overseen by the enthusiastic Brother Alphonsus Zeegers, working in habit and stonemason’s apron.

On the evening of 21st November 1889 the new church building was blessed by the Bishop of Liverpool, but this triumph for the community was matched by a burden of debt that would not be repaid for a further 43 years. On 28th April 1932, the debt having been finally cleared by the efforts of the community the church was finally consecrated.

A Church Opposite St Josephs

We made our way into Waterlow Park next to St Josephs.

After Highgate was ‘discovered’ in the 16th century the rich, the famous and the infamous started to arrive. Many of them built homes, with fine gardens, some in what is today Waterlow Park. They were attracted by the clean air and views over London.

The plentiful water supply was another factor. Waterlow Park’s three historic ponds are still fed by natural springs.

We reach Swains Lane and one of the Grade II-listed Victorian lodges at Waterlow Park built by Sir Sydney Waterlow.

While this desirable location is normally reserved for millionaires, the chance to live in such a spot is due to be available for all, after the Town Hall decided last week that the Grade II-listed Victorian parkkeepers’ homes at the gates of Waterlow Park should be refurbished and rented on the private market.

Under plans seen by the New Journal, the two Victorian, Gothic-style houses – built by Sir Sydney Waterlow, who gave his garden to the public in 1889 – will be renovated and then put up for rent.

They were originally built for park grounds staff but have had a chequered history in recent years.

We entered the Highgate Cemetery reception only to find it wasn't open for another half hour, it was £4 to enter one half or £12 for both with a guide. We decided it was too cold to wait till it opens and set off up Swains Lane towards Highgate village.

Up the hill at 85 Swains Lane is The Grey House. The Grey House at 85 Swains Lane is set over four floors with balconies, terraces and a sizable sliding glass rooflight enabling the top floor to become (almost) an open-air space. It sits high on Highgate Hill, facing South (and with views of London in the winter). It is encased on three sides by Highgate cemetery, arguably London's greatest and most beautiful Victorian cemetery, and the burial place of Karl Marx, Michael Faraday and the late, great Douglas Adams.

The house is energy efficient. The heat response characteristics of the concrete slow heat gain in summer and limit heat loss in winter, whilst the South-facing situation means that passive solar gain is maximised during winter months, keeping energy use down as far as possible. The green sedum roof reduces energy loss and flowers in the summer, attracting bees and butterflies.

The house is used for filming and photoshoots by arrangement with its agents. It featured recently in the BBC’s ‘Silent Witness’.


Highgate Cemetery

At the top of the hill we turned left onto South Grove.

At the Junction of Highgate W Hill is a green where there is a shrine to the late George Michael who passed away on Christmas Day 2016.

The singer - whose real name was Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou - sold more than 100 million albums throughout a career spanning almost four decades.

Michael formed Wham! with Ridgeley in 1981, and went on to massive success, releasing a string of hit singles including Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do), Club Tropicana and Wake Me Up Before You Go Go.

They were the first Western pop act to visit China when they played there in 1985, before splitting in 1986, by which time Michael had already released a handful of solo singles.

A 1965 Volvo Amazon

They seem to love their classic cars in Highgate.

1970 Mercedes 200

We pass no 3 The Grove. This house has a double literary connection.

First in 1817, the writer Samuel Taylor Coleridge (who we came across in W14) came to live here. This was the Highgate home of Dr James Gillman who sought to address Coleridge’s opium addiction. Dr Gillman built a special wing for the poet and Coleridge lived there for the rest of his life, becoming known as the sage of Highgate. Some of his most famous poems, though written years earlier, were first published when he was living here. He died here on 25 July 1834 and is buried in the crypt of the local parish church of St Michael’s.

The writer J. B. Priestley (1894 – 1984) subsequently lived in the same house. Both are commemorated by plaques on the front of the house.

We pass no 40 Highgate West Hill where a plaque is displayed 'The site of The Old Fox and Crown'.

The Fox & Crown was situated at 40 Highgate West Hill. Closed and demolished c.1896, a tilework plaque on the replacement building indicates that the pub once occupied this site.

How it once looked

Further down the hill was a sign, just how do you go about losing you boots out walking!!

We walk along Merton Lane and reach Hampstead Heath.

Many of the Heath's springs and ponds were created in the 1500s on the back of the London Conduit Act. Later, in the 1700s, the healthy qualities of the springs' iron-rich water led to many people 'taking the water'. Sir John Soame went so far as to write a guide to Hampstead's waters. This culture grew across classes until, by 1910, 300,000 working class people were reckoned to enjoy the waters each bank holiday Monday.

Elsewhere, parts of the Heath clearly show signs of past industry. Sandy Heath, for example, is pocked with the hollows left by centuries of uncontrolled sand-digging. These innocuous dips and pits are the subtle remnants of a labour that once threatened to totally devastate the Heath.

In the 1900s, the threat of enclosure and development was also a very real one for Hampstead Heath at large as, across half the century, Sir Thomas Maryon Wilson lobbied Parliament with bills that would favour his right to build throughout the Heath, and the fight to save the Heath was on.

Many still swim daily in the lakes here, none today though, a bit cold probably!

Looking back towards Highgate across The Heath.

We climb up to Parliament Hill. Famous for its iconic views over London, landmarks such as (The Gherkin, St Paul's) among the numerous tower blocks can be seen on a clear day.

Originally a point of defence during the English Civil War, it was named after the troops loyal to Parliament and was often referred to as Traitor's Hill. More recently, the land (occupying a south eastern spot within Hampstead Heath) was used to rear livestock for Smithfield Market (until the 1940s), as well as a sportsground for cross-country, a film location and a popular place to fly kites.

Not too much to be seen today though on this merky gloomy snowy day!

We leave the park crossing the rail tracks by bridge and through Hampstead and Belsize park before reaching Swiss Cottage.

We decided in was time for a stop here, and very welcome it was too! I was freezing. I've driven by here so many times before but had never visited. Today that was to be rectified.

Ye Olde Swiss Cottage is a Samuel Smith Pub with a great selection of beers at very reasonable prices for London!

The district is named after an inn called The Swiss Tavern that was built in 1804 in the style of a Swiss chalet on the site of a former tollgate keeper's cottage, and later renamed Swiss Cottage.

This does not appear to be strictly true, however. There was certainly an old building which was a dairy and a farmhouse when the area was rural in the 19th century, and this was designed like a Swiss cottage, rather than a chalet. The pub was in fact re-designed to resemble a Swiss chalet only after this old dairy/farmhouse (later a restaurant, The Cottage Grill) was demolished in the mid-1960s. Before that time the pub did not look anything like a Swiss chalet or cottage. It is therefore likely that the style of the dairy building gave the area its name, and that the name of the area inspired the name and design of the pub long afterwards.

A Swiss chalet was originally built on the site in 1840, known as the Swiss Tavern and functioning as a coaching inn when the area (to the north east of Primrose Hill) was in the countryside. Back then, there was a trend for building this style of cottage throughout the UK — anyone who's been to the Isle of Wight has probably seen Queen Victoria's very own Swiss Cottage.

There's been a tube station at Swiss Cottage since 1868. The new station, which today serves the Jubilee line between Finchley Road and St John's Wood, opened in 1939.

We made our way to Abbey Road in St Johns Wood area of London. Home to the Abbey Road Studios made famous by The Beatles.

Of course no visit is complete without the obligatory picture on the Zebra Crossing made famous by The Beatles 11th album 'Abbey Road'.

So we took it in turns to hold up the traffic, as the WFP group took on the challenge.

We walked up to the Abbey Road Studios where Max,Paul and myself decided to ignore the No Entry to Public sign so we could get a photograph.

Now further along Abbey Road where join the Regents Canal to head towards Camden Lock.

We are now passing through Regents Park and its posh homes.

We approach Blow-up Bridge. So called because a barge carrying gunpowder exploded on 2nd October 1874 at 4.55 in the morning, at Macclesfield Bridge.

Three of the crew were killed, the bridge destroyed and windows were blown out a mile away. It also destroyed the house of Alma-Tadema who almost certainly owed his life to a prior engagement.

The canal was closed for four days. Another of the barges was also damaged and sank.

Grooves from towing ropes that were attached to the barges horses.

Then we were passing through the middle of London Zoo in Regents Park.....

Feng Shang Floating Chinese Restaurant.

Then we came up to Pirate Castle where they do cheap kayaking and other activities.

We finally reach Camden Lock where the group split while some went off for food in the markets while others headed straight to The Ice Wharf a J.D Wetherspoon pub for drinks and a debrief.