London Life: Summer Edition
After a spring full of colour, the transition into summer was particularly exciting. While the weather during British summertime can be temperamental at best, when you get those days of uninterrupted sunshine, lighter nights and all-day warmth, London is magical. This summer we strayed off the beaten track, visiting several of London’s obscure heritage sites, including Marble Hill in Richmond and Kenwood House in Hampstead Heath. We also explored London’s Regent’s Canal, a peaceful oasis in the bustle of the city.
On a sunny Sunday in late-May, we headed to Marble Hill, a Palladian-style Georgian house situated on the Twickenham side of the River Thames. It was built in the 1720s for Henrietta Howard, a remarkable woman of the eighteenth century. She was the mistress of King George II when he was Prince of Wales and overcame a difficult childhood and disastrous first marriage to become a notable figure in Georgian society. The symmetrical white house is an important and quite rare example of a house built for and by a woman in Georgian England. She drew on a wide network of friends and acquaintances to help build her home and it became a magnet for London’s cultural and political elite.
We enjoyed savoury pastries in their Stable Courtyard Café before visiting the house. After a tour, in which the volunteers helped us gain further insight into the property’s history and its special collections, we headed to Orleans House Gallery, a short walk from Marble Hill.
Situated in a woodland which was full of fluffy cow parsley, Orleans House is a contemporary art gallery with a lavish Baroque Octagon Room. This room was designed by the Scottish architect James Gibbs and built in 1720 to gain favour with the royal family. In this respect it was a resounding success, as both George I and George II visited, and Queen Caroline (wife of George II) and her children dined here in 1729. Unfortunately, we did not get to see the Octagon Room’s interior during our visit due to a private function but its grandeur was easy to see.
In need of a sweet treat, we decided to head over the river to one of our favourite cafés. To get there we took the Hammertons Ferry which links the northern bank of the river to the southern bank. For £2 per adult (dogs travel free), from Marble Hill you can get to the Ham side of the river, right by Ham House, a wonderful seventeenth century property that is also well worth a visit. The short route is one of only four remaining ferry journeys in London not to be replaced by a bridge or tunnel. Once we disembarked we enjoyed a walk by the river to one of our favourite places in Richmond: Petersham Nurseries. On this route you get a fabulous view of Marble Hill framed perfectly by green foliage. The white house is also a spectacular backdrop to the river’s busy activity. We saw the Yarmouth Belle festooned with bunting. The Yarmouth Belle was originally a passenger steamer built in 1892 to service the route along the River Yare between Yarmouth and Norwich. Whilst the boat’s paddle wheels and funnel are no longer original, she is one of the few remaining coastal passenger boats still working on the inland waterways and is always a charming sight along this stretch of the River Thames.
Petersham Nurseries is an utterly gorgeous garden centre full of artisan objects, beautiful flowers, and delicious food. Their teahouse is just delightful. White and purple wisteria are draped from pergolas, casting delicate shadows on the tangerine-tinted parasols. A fountain provides a gentle soundtrack of trickling water and terracotta pots filled with geraniums decorate the tables. After a lengthy wait (their café is very popular and does not take reservations), we enjoyed scones topped with strawberry jam and cream, a slice of lemon drizzle, a ginger beer and rose and lychee loose leaf tea. We’d also recommend their afternoon tea, which we experienced last August, where finger sandwiches and petite cakes and pastries are exquisitely served on hand-blown glass cake stands, of which the top is a vase overflowing with seasonal flowers.
After tea and cake, we wandered through their shop, admiring all the handmade art, pottery, furniture, and glass they stock. Their garden centre is also stocked with beautiful varieties of summer-blooming plants and variegated house plants.
Not long after our trip to Richmond, we ventured to another quaint part of the city to explore another hidden gem: Hampstead. We wandered the charming streets, passing the red letterbox at Elm Row, its cherry red complementing the green of overhanging foliage. We passed the eighteenth century Burgh House, browsed the antique shops and florists of Flask Walk, enjoyed the colourful homes of Back Lane and did some blue plaque spotting on Well Walk and Keats Grove, finding the former homes of painter John Constable and poet John Keats.
We then took a slight detour down Ellerdale Road and spotted a niche landmark of Hampstead: an enormous, rusting sculpture of a Roman-esque head. This is a former stage prop and has been living on the street for more than twenty years. It was quite the unexpected sight. The final leg of our Hampstead walking tour took us along Holly Walk, a quiet path that provides a good view of St-John-At-Hampstead’s famous graveyard. With Hampstead’s cultural heritage, the cemetery is packed with some interesting figures. Most intriguingly, it is the final resting place of Captain Hook and Peter Pan. The grave of the Llewelyn-Davies family holds the connection. The family were friends with J M Barrie, the future author of Peter Pan and they became his inspiration for the Darling family. Barrie’s story began as a play, first performed in 1904 at the Duke of York’s theatre in the West End. George du Maurier played the villainous Captain Hook, and you will find him buried right by the Llewelyn-Davies family. Other famous graves include painter John Constable, Labour Party leader Hugh Gaitskell and Eliza Acton, who produced one of Britain’s first domestic cookbooks. At the end of Holly Walk you arrive at one of Hampstead’s most famous pubs: The Holly Bush.
After a walk around the village, we headed to another jewel in English Heritage’s crown: Kenwood. This former stately home is situated at one edge of Hampstead Heath. To get there, we walked through the Heath’s woodlands and meadows, passing Viaduct Pond. Even in the May mizzle, the walk was beautiful and incredibly peaceful, the only sound was provided by chirping birds and the melodic tune of raindrops forming concentric circles on water.
This neoclassical villa was remodelled by architect Robert Adam in the second half of the eighteenth-century for William Murray, the 1st Earl of Mansfield. It stayed as a residence for the Earls of Mansfield until 1925 when the sixth earl sold it to brewing magnate Edward Guinness. Two years later it was donated to the nation, along with its internationally renowned art collection. Kenwood’s art collection is good enough to rival any major national gallery and the house boasts a spectacular interior full of famous paintings from artists such as Romney, Gainsborough, Turner, Reynolds, Francesco Guardi, and Van Dyck. Kenwood is also home to two of the art world’s most illustrious painters: Rembrandt and Vermeer. Rembrandt’s Self-Portrait with Two Circles is a masterclass on painting moody portraits with a sensitive appreciation of light and The Guitar Player is a quintessential Vermeer, an ode to his love for painting intimate domestic scenes. The latter is quite a coup given that there are only 34 verified Vermeer’s in the world.
Other, more unusual objects on display include one of inventor John Joseph Merlin’s (who popularised roller skates) wheelchairs and, on the second floor, a display of The Suffolk Collection, which comprises nine masterpieces by Jacobean artist William Larkin. As a result of Larkin’s attention to detail for carpets and curtains he was, until recently, identified only as ‘The Curtain Master’. However, the collection of full-length portraits of aristocracy, royalty and nobility are breathtaking, and exquisitely capture the dress, interiors and fashions of the day. Another particularly interesting story that Kenwood holds is that of William Murray, the 1st Earl of Mansfield and his great niece Dido Belle. She was the illegitimate daughter of a young, enslaved woman named Maria Bell and Royal Naval officer, Sir John Lindsay but lived with her father’s uncle, William Murray, at Kenwood. Murray was Lord Chief Justice and presided over a number of court cases that examined the legality of the slave trade. Dido Belle was raised not as a servant but as part of an aristocratic family and was brought up – as a genteel lady – alongside her cousin Elizabeth Murray. Eighteenth-century Scottish artist David Martin painted a beautifully sensitive portrait of cousins Dido Belle and Elizabeth Murray, the original of which hangs in Scone Palace, Perthshire but a mock-up is available for visitors to see on the tour of the house. After taking in the wonders of the property, we headed for brunch in their café. We were able to sit outside as the sun was shining but we did have to watch for scavenging pigeons and jackdaws who showed a keen interest in our food.
After Hampstead, we ventured back into central London, taking refuge from the rain at Clifton Nurseries in Maida Vale. Inspiring gardeners since 1851, Clifton Nurseries is London’s oldest garden centre, an elegant gardening emporium with a rich history and an even more delightful café. You can sit in the café’s glasshouse or terrace to enjoy a range of delicious food and drink. Their brunch menu is particularly tasty but on this occasion we enjoyed warming chai lattes and jam-laden pastries.
After perusing the garden centre, we headed to the canal for a walk. The weather might have been against us, but walking the Regent’s Canal is like stepping into a hidden world, an area of pure tranquillity and quirkiness in the centre of London. First opened in 1820 and spanning 8.6 miles, the walk offers unusual views of London’s rich history. Begin at Little Venice, a quaint part of the canal full of colourful narrowboats, and you will soon hit Regent’s Park. As the canal ventures through the park, one of London Zoo’s enclosures overhangs the footpath. If you’re lucky you can see eastern black and white colobus monkeys swing between branches and ropes. Their white tufted tails and black fringed fur provides quite the unexpected sight on your jaunt along the water. We also saw a mandarin duck and several herons who call the waterway their home. If you continue along the towpath, you will eventually reach Camden Market and King’s Cross. If the weather had been a little kinder to us, we would have continued, maybe even making it to the end of the towpath at Limehouse Basin in east London. We will save that for another day.
Our summer in London was bookended by trips to Richmond. The riverside is alive with activity in warmer months. All sorts of watercrafts fill the water, and people sit for hours by the river soaking up the atmosphere, possibly with a beverage in hand. On this occasion, we first headed for breakfast at Richmond Hill Bakery, enjoying people watching and dog spotting with buttery pasties and hot chai lattes. We then headed down to the river, meandering through the Terrace Gardens whose borders were full of dahlias and late-summer flowers. We made a mental note to return to Hollyhock Café next time we visit Richmond. Nestled in the centre of the Terrace Gardens, the café looks like it has been plucked straight from The Wind in the Willows, a magical place to sit with a coffee and slice of cake. We then walked along the river, watching rowers, paddleboarders and waterfowl enjoy the water. We eventually made it back to Richmond’s town centre where we wandered the quaint lanes which were draped in colourful bunting and festoon lights. Richmond is also the place to be if you’re a Ted Lasso fan as many of the show’s locations were filmed here!
While we have a busy autumn and winter of travel lined up, we look forward to watching London transition through the colder seasons, from welcoming the warm shades of autumn to beckoning the start of the Christmas season with shopfronts and streets bedecked with twinkling lights and cheer.