Hampstead Village and Highgate Cemetary - July 2022

 The outing was organised by the Humanities Group of Guildford U3A.   This is not a  group I participate in, but a neighbour and friend is the organiser and she had spaces on the coach.  Angie and I jumped at the chance of a trip to London with our cameras.

First stop Hampstead Village.   I grew up in Mill Hill East, which is not too far from Hampstead.  My father often took me with him on a Saturday morning when he had a job in London so  I had driven with him through Hampstead Village umpteen times, but we never stopped.    I had also been to the famous Hampstead Heath with its panoramic views of London from Primrose Hill, but never ventured into the Village.  

Interesting passageway with small antique shops

Mani's - where we had lunch

On another day I would have been tempted to hire one of these scooters!

We ventured into this greengrocery store.   It had a very old-fashioned look with wooden floorboards and brick walls. The fruit and vegetables were displayed most attractively we couldn't resist taking a few pics - with permission of course.  

Hampstead underground station - on the Northern Line.  I've travelled through this station a fair number of times as well.

Station side entrance closed during the day

Narrow cobbled side streets with quaint terraced cottages.

House on a hill

We went into this multi-denominational church whilst we were waiting for our coach

Highgate cemetery is situated at the top of Highgate Hill.  It was started when the City of London had run out of burial grounds.  Now very wooded, it was not always so.  Families would visit their dead relatives and often took picnics there.  I found it very tranquil. 

Grave of Alexander Litvinenko (Sasha).  He is buried in a radiation-proof casket,

This passageway built in the popular, at the time, Egyptian style, houses family vaults on either side. 

A colony of very rare large spiders lives in these vaults.  Apparently, they do not venture outside these vaults, their habitat being total darkness.  Just as well as they have a poisonous bite. As is often the case with insects, the female is larger than the male and wants to devour him after mating.  He is quite clever and allows her a leg.  Whilst she is devouring the leg, he runs off - clever chap!   So, if a spider is spotted outside the vaults, often they are without a leg or two.  Needless to say, we did not linger here but walked through rather quickly.

Memorial to a showman - he kept exotic animals and went on tour around the country with them. 

 

                                       

Catacombs - the place is kept locked and when we went inside with our guide, he locked the door after us.  Apparently, vandals went in a few years ago and did quite a lot of damage, so now it is kept locked.

The terrace on the top was a popular meeting place in Victorian times - families met and had picnics there,

Inside the catacombs

Highgate cemetery is in two parts, so we crossed the road to the other side to visit a famous memorial

And here it is - of course - Karl Marx

The grave was moved a few years ago from the original site in the centre of this side of the cemetery.  It was felt it should be more accessible to members of the public who wanted to visit. Interestingly, the image here of Karl Marx is not actually of Karl Marx. but a look-a-like.

I was rushing to catch the coach for home when I spotted this charming memorial

As you can imagine, the place is huge.  Much larger than I imagined.

All in all, it was a very enjoyable day, Hampstead was fascinating and Highgate cemetery was interesting.

The next outing is to Oxford next month with the same group.   But before that, I have a visit to RHS Wisley Gardens.  Photos up soon.