Bethany's Year in London: July 2007

Camden Town

Saturday, I went on a tour of Camden Town and Camden Lock Market. Camden is in north London and has always been known for its alternative music scene- lots of punk and goth type people around. A ton of musicians have gotten their first start in Camden and it's still known for its music scene. It's kind of known as a seedy part of London- but now it's more trendy than anything else. We spent a lot of the time in the market which has 100s of independent shops- I would have bought a ton of stuff but was low on cash.

The famous Camden Lock on the Regent's Canal

Another view of the canal with the converted warehouses of the market in view

The Roundhouse Theater- a major music and theatrical venue- the Doors played their only UK concert here

The Barfly pub- a major venue for new musicians and groups to play- they receive at least 500 demos a week

Statue of a man on the top of a building (there are hundreds of these statues all over London- there are a bunch on the South Bank near Waterloo)

Graffiti on a wall- done in 15 minutes or so

Islington

Over the weekend, I went on a walking tour of Islington-another borough of London. It has a mixed reputation- it's actually really trendy but still has some council estates mixed in. Tony Blair lived here before becoming Prime Minister.

Part of the Regent's Canal which runs from Paddington to Limehouse in the Docklands of the East End

Part of the New River- actually an aqueduct built in the 1600s to bring clean water to London- it starts in Hertfordshire and runs through Islington

A typical street

The King's Head Pub Theatre- a famous "fringe" theater- many famous actors/actresses have performed here- Hugh Grant got his start here

St Mary's church- the main parish church of Islington- yet another church that John Wesley preached in- (The Methodists keep finding me!!)

Hampstead Village

Over the weekend, I did a tour of Hampstead Village- a rather posh area of North London. It is located on the highest point and has views over the entire city- all the way past Greenwich. Many celebrities past and present have lived here.

Views lookin over part of the Hampstead- hard to see in this photo, but beyond is Central London-I saw the whole city

A typical street in Hampstead

The Admiral's house in Mary Poppins

A former Victorian hospital- now luxury flats- two of the Spice Girls live here

The former home of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton

A crooked chimney

Side view of Fenton House- dating from the late 1600s

Lily- a very wealthy dog!! She lives in one of the houses in Hampstead

The former home of Sarah Siddons- a famous 19th century actress

The former home of both H.G. Wells and Peter Cook (he was comic partners with Dudley Moore). Wells and Cook obviously didn't live there at the same time!!

Doctors' London

Last weekend wa really sunny-a rare occurrence lately!! I did a walking tour of Doctors' London- took you around parts of the City of London associated with the medical profession from ancient to about Victorian times- really interesting. I also saw the opening time trials for the Tour de France- the first two days of the race were in the UK this year-they even brought their own French gendarmes over!!

Royal Apothcaries' Hall- from the 1700s

Statue of King Henry the VIII on St. Barts' Hospital

Holy Sepulcre Church- during the crusades this would be where the knights would take their last communion before leaving

Old Bailey- aka the Central Criminal Court- the main courthouse in London

St. Michael's Church- remains of a mummified cat were discovered in the foundation

The dome of St. Stephen's Walbeck- another Wren church- ordinarily buildings block the dome from sight but there is a building site beside it at the moment allowing it to be seen

Some of the Tour de France

More of the race

Old Jewish Quarter

Last weekend I took the old Jewish Quarter walk- which started at Tower Hill and went through Whitechapel and Spitalfields. We went inside the Bevis Marks Synagogue- it's been there since the early 1700s. They were setting up for a wedding, but no pictures were allowed inside.