Belsize Park

 

This is the 23rd station on the Northern line and the 213th station on the Underground system that I have visited so far. I have never been to this part of London before so I was interested to see what I might find. Apparently the name is derived from the French bel assis (beautifully situated). The station opened in 1907  to serve a developing residential area from what used to be farmland.

Being built prior to the iconic roundel sign with the station's name at its centre, the name of the station is included in the wall tiles. 

Belsize Park is a deep level underground station and there are lifts taking you up and down to the platforms. 

The lifts were replaced in the late 1980s.

If you are feeling energetic there are steps you can take.

The station was designed by Leslie Green. The familiar green ceramic tiles are the same design as in some of his other stations on this line.

The distinctive ox-blood red tiles and semi circular windows  are indicative of Green's underground stations. During the Blitz the stations deep tunnels were used as air raid shelters. By 1944 it had space for up to 8000 people. Belsize Park is one of just 8 London Underground stations that house deep level air raid shelters which were built in the early years of the war by London Transport. The entrances can be seen close by.

The tunnels are now used for data storage and are not accessible to the public.

I exited the station onto a wide tree lined road, Haverstock Hill, with lots of cafes, bars and restaurants.

The community notice board advertised lots of forthcoming events.

The post box topper greatly improved the look of the pillar box.

In amongst the bars and cafes on the Haverstock Hill is the Everyman Cinema. The Screen on the Hill was built on part of the site of the former Odeon which had a central entrance in the centre of a parade of shops and flats. It opened in 1977 and was the first of the luxury style Everyman cinemas. 

Further along the Haverstock Hill is the Old Town Hall. The Old Town Hall was built as a Vestry Hall in 1876 used for local government functions. Apparently the interior still has many of the original Victorian details including the elaborate staircase and Victorian floor tiles. the hall's first function was to host the Cambridge local examination for Women and the first parish council meeting took place a few months after it opened. At the beginning of the 20th century there was an increase in the work of local government and the Borough of Hampstead was established. The Vestry Hall became a Town Hall and was extended in 1910. In the 1960s Hampstead was amalgamated into the London Borough of Camden and although the Town Hall here carried out certain civic duties by the 1990s it had fallen into disrepair. When it became a listed building in 1994 there was a campaign to save it run by 'The friends of Hampstead Old Town Hall'. Largely due to their efforts the Old Town Hall is now an arts centre

I left the Hill to have a look at some of the houses down the side roads.

In the 19th cent the area attracted the middle classes. Many roads had very large houses but I noticed that a large number of them have been converted into flats now.

Then in the 1930s avant garde British artists such as Ben Nicholson, Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore moved into the area, I found the house where Moore had lived and worked.

  

 

Continental artists fleeing Nazi Germany also moved into the area.

Round about the same time in 1934, the Isokon was built, a landmark in modernist architecture. The idea behind it was the minimalist approach to living. The living space was carefully calculated to be the least needed by a 'rational, modern person'. Each flat consisted of a bedsitting area, bathroom, dressing room and all electric kitchenette decorated with Isokon's company furniture. Isokon attracted the writers and artists fleeing Nazi Germany such as Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius and sculptor Laszlo Moholy-Nagy as well as home grown writers such as Agatha Christie. The building also had communal facilities such as a bar, clubhouse and a canteen with a resident cook, Philip Harben, who later became one of the first TV chefs. The building's international and transient nature also made it a base for some Soviet agents including Arnold Deutsch, who recruited the Cambridge Five.

 

I crossed back over Haverstock Hill and walked down Lyndhurst Road and found a large property with lots of flags outside. It turned out to be the World Centre for the Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts. There have been three world centres in London. One in 1939 (Our Ark), Olave House in 1959 and this one, Pax Lodge in 1991. It was decided in the 1930s that as more than one million girls and young women had already joined the Girl Guiding group with many of them visiting London, they needed a place to stay and that was the start of the World Centres. 

This centre was named 'Pax Lodge' as a tribute to the Baden-Powells. The Latin word for peace, pax, was included in the name for their homes both in London and Paxtu in Kenya. Since opening, hundreds of thousands of guides have visited from around the world. 

I crossed back over Haverstock Hill and walked down Pond Street. The badge above the door and the shape of this building required further research.  

Although now a community gym this building began as two houses built around 1760 but was altered around 1811. In the 1900s it was converted  to become the headquarters for the First Cadet battalion of the Royal Fusiliers. It was a drill hall and military store for the cadets and that's when it got the name The Armoury. When it ceased being the Cadets' Headquarters it was converted into offices for civilian use. A partnership deal was achieved in 2013 between the Jubilee Hall Trust and The Royal Free Charity:

We are delighted that the Royal Free Charity has stepped in to help us to secure the future of The Armoury as a community gym, which enables more than 2,000 Camden residents – many of them disadvantaged – to be more active. The uncertainty over the last few months has made things very difficult for us, and we are grateful for the outstanding support of our gym members, our staff and many other local people. We look forward to working in partnership with the Royal Free Charity, to continue to build a healthier community in Camden for the foreseeable future.”

Jubilee Hall Trust

Across the road fr.om the Armoury is The Royal Free Hospital. The hospital was founded in 1828 by William Marsden, a nearly qualified surgeon who was shocked that he could not find treatment for a penniless poor woman. He founded the hospital on the principle that it would provide free healthcare to those who could not afford medical treatment. This was the first hospital in London to provide free care. In 1837 it was given the title 'Royal' by Queen Victoria in recognition of its work with cholera patients. It was the only hospital in London to stay open during the cholera epidemics. It was also the first hospital in London to accept female medical students in 1857.

I continued to the bottom of Pond St and round the corner on South End Road, I spotted this ghost sign on one of the buildings. This is an old hand painted advertisement for the London and North Eastern Railway. The sign reads: L.N.E.R: King's Cross for Scotland: Shortest and Quickest. The LNER was formed in 1922 and existed until the nationalisation of the railways in 1948. Although now British Rail no longer exists we are back to LNER rail for trains to the North East and Scotland, so the advert is relevant once again.

I followed the road round and realised I was on the edge of Hampstead Heath and the Hampstead Ponds. Hampstead Heath is a large area of woodland and grassland and within it there are a series of ponds. The main ponds were originally dug in the 17th and 18th centuries as reservoirs. These ones are the Hampstead ones with  larger ones on the other side of the Heath. There are three main ponds here. Pond number 3 is a mixed bathing pond. Pond number 1 is a nature/wildlife pond whilst this one is pond number 2 which permits angling. The ponds over the other side of the Heath  are also used for swimming.

I returned to South End Road and followed a sign for Keats House.

The house was built in 1814-1816 as two semi detached houses. John Keats moved into one of them in !818. The following year Fanny Brawne and her family moved in next door and Keats and fanny became engaged. It was here he wrote 'Ode to a Nightingale' and 'The Eve of St Agnes'. In 1820 he was diagnosed with tuberculosis and moved to the warmer climate of Italy but died the following year aged just 25. In 1925 after a public fund raising effort the house was opened to the public as a museum.

I enjoyed my walk today and discovered some new parts of London. 

Chalk Farm

 

Here I am at the 22nd station that I've visited on the Northern Line. As with the previous stations it opened in June 1907 as the Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway as part of the Underground Electric Railways Co of London.




At platform level there are the distinctive red and cream tiles with the name of the station featured in tiles. The station was completed a year before the roundel design was adopted as the Underground brand in 1908. That is why the station name is on the platform walls. Some say the name was derived from the white farmhouses that dotted the region. Chalk was a common material used to whitewash buildings. Others think the name comes from the Old English word Caldecote meaning ' cold cottage' which would be a refuge for strangers or isolated dwelling. By the 16th century Caldecote had become Chalcott and by 1746 it was known as Chalk.

In the booking hall you can see some of the original green tiling made by W B Simpson and Sons. This pomegranate design can be found in a number of stations.

The station was designed by Leslie Green

 (1875-1908), who designed more than 40 underground stations. The wedge shaped station has the longest frontage of any of Green's stations. In the 1980s the frontage was used on the cover of 'Absolutely', an album by the band 'Madness'.

The distinctive red glazed terracotta tiling is a feature of all of Green's stations. Other features include the semi circular windows and the small round windows in between.

The word UNDERGROUND with the larger first and last letters dates back to 1908.

Chalk Farm is less than a ten minute walk from the previous station at Camden so I decided to begin my visit by walking back towards Camden and where I finished my last walk at the Stables market which is halfway between the two stations. In 1820 after the successful completion of the Regents Canal, Camden became an important transport hub which grew throughout the industrial era

Originally this market would have housed working horses, the horse master and feed.  By the end of the 1800s, Camden Good Yards housed around 800 horses across various stable blocks. All of the building now houses retail outlets. These stairs were once the backdrop for the Clash's first album in 1977. At that time their studio was part of the stable complex. 

 

As the work of these horses became more vital better living and stabling were introduced. A double level stable was built accessible by this curved ramp.

The horse tunnels provided the working horses with safe passage under the railway tracks that intersected their stables. the horses were used to collect and move goods amongst the various yards. At their most industrious time as much space was allocated to the horses as was allocated to the trains.

To avoid cutting the Regents canal in half the railway tracks had to be raised  above the canal.on brick built structures supported by arches. These arches provided areas of storage  and in the late 1800s were rented by Gilbey's, a wine and spirit importer. Nowadays they are used by various retail outlets.

Also located in the Stables market is this bronze statue of Amy Winehouse. It was sculpted by Scott Eaton and was unveiled in 2014, three years after her death. Amy Winehouse ( 1983-2011) was a British singer and songwriter who was strongly associated with this area until her death in 2011 at her home nearby in Camden Square. She died of alcohol poisoning. Whilst in Spain last month I met someone who had come all the way to London to see this statue. He was thrilled to have seen it. I suppose if you are a huge fan then you are willing to travel any distance to see the area where your hero used to live and perform.

Probably the most famous building in Chalk Farm is The Roundhouse. It has a fascinating history having been commissioned by Robert Stephenson, considered the greatest engineer of the 19th cent.  He designed and built 'The Rocket' in 1829. Although the Rocket was not the first steam locomotive, it was the first to bring together several innovations making it the most advanced of its day.

The Roundhouse was originally built as the Great Circular Engine House for the purpose of turning around the steam engines for the London and Birmingham railway. It opened in 1847 and consisted of 24 bays as well as the turntable. Once engines had been turned they could be rolled out to a bay for either servicing or storage. Each bay had an inspection pit to allow engineers to work underneath the engines. By 1870 it was considered too small as the trains were now far too big for the turntable and the bays.

The empty building was then purchased by Gilbey's Gin and for the next 80 years was used as their main distillery, warehouse and depot. In the 1960s the building was bought by the Greater London Council to create a cultural centre. It became one of London's leading music venues where bands such as The Rolling Stones and The Who performed. In 1996 it was bought by Torquil Norman. A Roundhouse Trust was set up to raise funds to renovate and maintain the site. The circular hub, once home to the turtable was repurposed as the auditorium space. It reopened as an arts venue in 2006. George Michael held a free concert here for the NHS nurses as a thank you for the care given to his mother who died from cancer.

The architects responsible for the renovation, John McAslan & partners,  repaired much of the original Victorian structure and timber rafters to leave them intact. The once service area for the trains was adapted to create studio space. On the rooftop is a sculpture by Anthony Gormley 'You'

On the  side wall of the Roundhouse is this Grade II late 19th cent drinking fountain. It was provided by the Metropolitan Cattle Trough and drinking Fountain Association. The association was set up to provide free clean drinking water fountains and numerous cattle troughs throughout London and other parts of the country. You can still see many of the troughs which are now often used as flower beds. The association still exists and where possible it is helping to restore the fountains so they provide drinking water once again. fountains. The future of this one has not been decided as it has been prone to damage and a litter container.

This was Joe's bar, a 1950s  rock and roll themed bar. Well known in the area but has now closed down.

Before returning home I wanted to see what was on the other side of the railway tracks. I 

turned left over bridge approach. The walls on either side were too high for me to see over but I held the camera up and just took a photo. I was surprised by the number of tracks as I thought only the Underground trains came along here but apparently not as these tracks carry mainline trains from Euston station. 

This 1930s building was originally a garage and petrol station. The Flight Petroleum co still exists, mainly in the USA, and provides marine and aviation fuel.  

The property has now been converted into an art gallery, studios and offices.

A little further on is this unusual white painted building. This was the chapel which was part of the Boys' Home Industrial School. The school existed here from 1865 until the late 1920s. The petrol station was built on land previously used by the school.

The Boys' Home, for such the institution in question is called, was originally established in 1858 in the Euston Road, for the prevention of crime, arresting the destitute THE BOYS' HOME. child in danger of falling into a criminal life, and training him, by God's blessing, to honest industry ; a work which, as experience has shown, can only be successfully done by such voluntary agency. It is, in fact, an industrial school for the training and maintenance, by their own labour, of destitute boys not convicted of crime. Owing, however, to the Midland Railway Company requiring the site of the " home " in the Euston Road for their new terminus, in 1865 new premises were secured here, consisting of three unfinished houses and a yard, which were taken on a ninety-nine years' lease from the governors of Eton College, to whom the property belongs. The applications for admission soon became so numerous—about 300 in a year— that it was determined to increase the numbers. The school and the workshops, which were subsequently built, will enable 100 boys to work, instead of fifty as at first provided for.

https://www.childrenshomes.org.uk/EustonBoysIS/

Continuing on Regents Park Road you come across Primrose Hill Village. There was certainly a lively buzz about the place as I wandered past cafes, restaurants and small independent shops

Just beyond the village shops is the hill itself where you get a wonderful view of London.

Primrose Hill was purchased from Eton College in 1841 to increase the parkland available to the poor of North London. At one time this was the place where duels and prize fights took place. Now the slopes of the hill are enjoyed by everyone. At the top of the hill is one of the six protected viewpoints in London. From here you can see St Paul's Cathedral via a protected viewing corridor which prevents new developments obscuring the view.

Primrose Hill is also known for its pastel coloured houses . Chalcot Square is particularly pleasant. These large houses would cost you a minimum of  £8m

This part of London has so much to offer from the canal to the markets; its views over London and its trendy cafes. Definitely a place to revisit at some point.