Up the Archway and across the Heath

My friend Jen, who is a professional walking tour guide with Footprints of London, offered to take me on a bespoke version of her Archway and Highgate walk this morning. I met up with her half way up Dartmouth Park Hill; we continued walking upward to the Archway to see where the former gyratory has been converted to a pedestrianized plaza of sorts, called Navigator Square, with a disused pub in the middle that was where the cover for The Kinks album Muswell Hillbillies was photographed. We walked past a derelict Methodist hall, various new office towers, a former almshouse, a Mercers' Maiden (the Mercers owned property in Islington and founded the almshouse), up to — and then up over — Archway Bridge. We visited the Whittington Stone and the statue of Dick Whittington's cat, placed where it's said he heard the bells of St Mary-le-Bow calling him back to London when he and the cat set out to leave town. The bells seemed to say, "Turn again, Whittington, thrice Mayor of London." In fact, he was mayor four times. 

We walked through the incredibly lovely Waterlow Park, dubbed the "garden for the gardenless," and decided to stop at the caff in the park for a cuppa just as the skies opened up. The downpour gave us an opportunity to take a look at an exhibition of local artists' work, which was impressive. The rain soon stopped and we pushed on to explore some housing developments tucked up against Waterlow Park and Highgate Cemetery. Jen showed me were some scenes of The Bodyguard (the recent tv series, not the Whitney Houston movie) were filmed in Highgate New Town. I'm going to have to rewatch the series now. She ended our tour right next to a bus stop where I could get a bus over to Highgate Road and an entrance to Hampstead Heath. 

The weather was still looking fine as I started the uphill climb on the east side of the Heath. I debated whether to go left to Parliament Hill or follow the path to the right that would take me past the ponds and up to Kenwood House. Quickly, clouds rolled in and things began to look iffy again. I decided to go for the Parliament Hill route, hoping it would take me to the Viaduct Bridge, which I'd never seen, and out to Spaniards Road. The heath is a wild place and there are scores of paths that crisscross all over it. My phone was not able to figure out where I was, but that was ok because I had my trusty copy of Michael Middleditch's The London Mapguide with me. It's never let me down and even pointed me to the cute little toilet block/cottage in the woods. 

So there I was, in Spaniards Road just feet from the entrance to the Hill Garden and Pergola, when it began sprinkling again. Undeterred, I walked in the garden as the rain started chucking down. Since the structure I was there to see is a pergola, it wasn't going to offer me much in the way of shelter from the storm. I hightailed it to the cupola (a brolly for the brolly-less) and waited out the rain there, wondering if I should make a dash for the nearest bus stop. I was still mulling over my strategy when the skies cleared and the most beautiful late afternoon light bathed the gardens. (The photos below were taken when it was still raining, but I'll post the brighter ones on my photo site in due time.)

My spirits lifted by the sunshine, I reckoned I could get one more destination in before heading back to my gaff. I hopped a bus to Hampstead station, got the tube to Warren Street, and walked over to Regent's Park to see the Frieze sculpture. I'm no judge of sculpture but I know what I like. I liked the Emily Young. 

You be the judge of the rest. 

I've been trying to take different bus routes to and from my gaff. I hadn't yet taken the 134 to Tufnell Park, so I walked a few blocks east of Regent's Park to where it stopped on Hampstead Road. And I waited. And waited. When it finally arrived, the journey to Tufnell Park was short, but not fast enough to avoid the next onslaught of torrential rain that started just minutes before my stop and ended just minutes after I walked in my door. 

I'm off to Bath tomorrow. Fingers crossed I have some decent weather for my day out. 

Stats:

£3.60 for bread from the local baker

£4.85 for tea and coffee for Jen and me 

26,553 steps

11.2 miles

According to my Fitbit, I climbed 94 flights of stairs today. In reality, that was mostly uphill slogging.