London Guide
Hampstead
Perched on a hill to the west of Hampstead Heath, Hampstead developed into a fashionable spa in the eighteenth century, and was not much altered thereafter. Its sloping site, which deterred Victorian property speculators and put off the railway companies, saved much of the Georgian village from destruction. Later, it became one of the city's most celebrated literary quartiers and even now it retains its reputation as a bolt hole of the high-profile intelligentsia and discerning pop stars. You can get some idea of its tone from the fact that the local Labour MP is currently the actor-turned-politician Glenda Jackson.
The steeply inclined High Street, lined with trendy clothes shops and arty cafés, flaunts the area's ever-increasing wealth without completely losing its charm, though the most appealing area is the precipitous network of alleyways, steps and streets north of the tube and west of Heath Street. Proximity to the Heath is, of course, the real joy of Hampstead, for this mixture of woodland, smooth pasture and landscaped garden is quite simply the most exhilarating patch of greenery in London.