London Attractions Unfamiliar Attractions Highgate CemeteryHighgate Cemetery - Hampstead shopping - Hampstead Heath - ££
Opened in the early Victorian era in what was then the outer edges of London, Highgate Cemetery is best known as the place of interment of Karl Marx.
The space is deliberately left to develop in a wild fashion, with no organised planting or nurturing of wildlife. As a result it has a unique and still atmosphere, with many grand tombs and vaults overgrown with bushes, but still easily traversable by winding pathways.
Other notables buried at Highgate Cemetery include: Douglas Adams (author), George Eliot (novelist), Charles Cruft (dog show founder), Michael Faraday (physicist), William Rossetti (artist), Sir Ralph Richardson (actor) and recently, Alexander Litvinenko - the Russian dissident who was poisoned by the ingestion of polonium at a sushi restaurant in 2006.
If you're a British Hammer Horror fan, then you might recognise the scenery. Highgate Cemetery was popular as a location shoot for classics such as 'Taste the Blood of Dracula' (no, me neither), its overgrown Gothic architecture will cause a horror location manager's eyelids to flutter. I used to live near here as a student in halls, back when the suggestion 'let's watch the sun come up from Parliament Hill' after an all nighter, was met with instant interest, rather than middle-age excuses. We'd go via the cemetery for a creepy prelude and also the nearby 'Holly Village' - a mini-Gothic Barrett home estate. If you're a photographer, then it's a certain visit - every few yards there's something of interest and the limited light will force you to make atmospheric choices. I thought I saw a ghost here once, but I was very tired at the time. If I was a ghost - it's where I'd hang out.
Continuing to Hampstead which is an attractive 'village' with well-heeled shops and restaurants - and the nearby Hampstead Heath. The area has more millionaires than any other in the UK and the larger houses regularly sell for £20 million. A who's who list past and present would be too long to be interesting, suffice to say it's probably 'the' place to live in London - it has the urban advantage of proximity, but none of the dirt and grime of inner city living.
One of the best views across London is from Parliament Hill, within the heath. The Hampstead Bathing Ponds are also worth taking in, as they're popular with hardy swimmers year round.
A walk through Highgate Cemetery in the half-light, with creepy music.
Highgate Cemetery, Swain's Lane, Highgate, N6 6PJ.
Archway Tube.
Call: 020 8340 1834
Parliament Hill, NW3 2QD (approximate).
Hampstead Heath Rail or Hampstead Tube.
Hampstead High Street, NW3 1QG (approximate).
Hampstead Tube.
