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| 26 Church Row |
Great to be again traversing some of the old villages that make up London, and many of the 'old crowd' have opted to join Paul Sinclair (great course leader) as he reveals some of the history of the areas we explore.
This week it was Hampstead and our first 'port of call' was 26 Church Row where Bosie (Lord Alfred Douglas) lived, his involvement with
Oscar Wilde led to Wilde's downfall (
Stop 14 on this tour).
Then on to the splendid (but subsiding) church, St John at Hampstead- with its collection of
famous graves (Like Astronomer Harrison).
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| Subsiding Church |
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| Inside the church |
On our earlier walks we saw a famous home of Dame Gracie Fields (
in Islington) here in Hampstead we saw a far grander version at 20 Frognal Way a very exclusive address.
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| Gracie's posh home in Frognal Way |
Other houses we saw included a fine example of Bauhaus architecture,
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| Bauhaus style has aged well methinks |
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| Mount Vernon Hospital |
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| Kathleen Ferrer lived here |
Hampstead is littered with Blue Plaques and their own Heat and Old Hampstead (Black) plaques showing famous former residents homes and we saw what was a
hospital during the Great war in Mount Vernon Way.
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| Fenton Hosue through the gate |
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| Constable moved here for his wife's health |
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| Jack Straw's Castle-A Pub with a story |
We went past Fenton House (a
National Trust property which I've visited before) and saw the house artist John Constable moved to for the sake of his wife's health (Hampstead air was considered health giving to those with Tuberculosis).
We then walked up to Whitestone Pond nearby is
Jack Straw's Castle, situated close to where
Jack Straw (a peasant of the revolting type) held court.
In the
Vale of Health named perhaps for connection with those seeking cures and more plaques -What's fascinates me about plaques is how they lead us to find out more about history, even though the Plaque to Indian poet
Rabindranath Tagore is obscured by foliage (and his life too is somewhat obscure) - I find he met with Einstein and was also a friend to Gandhi - a plaque to the less obscure DH Lawrence is nearby too.
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| Rabindranath -A hidden Poet |
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| DH Lived here |
In fact the nearby Vale of health Pond looks really lovely on a hot day!
And it could make a great Constable Painting...
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Pond - looks inviting?
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And then on to Brutal-ist architect Goldfinger's home (another
revisit for me) and finally
Campden Baths - we had a great walk, up a few hills and my legs still ache!
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| Another National trust property - home to the real Goldfinger |
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| Campden Baths |
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