Ye olde sat nav... on Haverstock Hill

We're on Haverstock Hill for this one with the early form of Sat Nav

The old milestone just down from the Sir Richard Steele
http://474towin.blogspot.com/2009/01/pub-in-which-to-put-pen-to-paper.html

It marks the spot "4 miles from the post office ____north"

I think that this is the Post Office in St Martin le Grand (Street's of Belsize 1991).

It's incredibly charming and i think important as historical feature. Interesting is the lack of net wear considering that this is prob mid/late Victorian (I would guess it's c. 1860/1870) and climate change has seen more erosion in the last ten years than over the previous hundred!

If you are out for a walk then take this in on your travels... it's to be appreciated.

A pub in which to put pen to paper?

The next pub in my sightline is the Sir Richard Steele on Haverstock Hill - I reckon this is one of the most fashionable Belsize pubs and has real charm and character.

But I haven't gone down the route yet of working out what he wrote and reading and appreciating so whilst this a pub that thrives on the atmosphere of the bohemian and the writer I'm not sure the allusion to Sir Richard Steele was intended.

Richard Steele himself was quite a character and has extensive records available on him:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Steele

I have previously written on the Kit Cat Club http://474towin.blogspot.com/2008/06/come-on-down-to-kit-cat-club.html which Sir Richard Steele was a leading member of...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kit-Kat_Club

But this pub location is largely rooted in the former house that stood nearby that Richard Steele lived in - it is described as a cottage but I have a sense that that is cottage in the sense of pretty grand place for 18th century england...

This was demolished in 1867 and now we have Steele's Road, Steele's Mews and Steele's Studios.

Time Out is pretty colourful on the pub today:

Sir Richard Steele

"This old boozer oozes battered character: hand-painted Sistine-esque friezes, dripping candles and weird papier-mâché oddities hanging from the ceiling. Suffice to say it's the antithesis of the Hill (see above) across the road. There's real ale - Flowers IPA, Spitfire et al - on tap and a great Sunday roast, as well as the now standard pub Thai food. And since some of the less salubrious locals have been turfed out, the vibe has improved no end. Expect everyone from quietly loaded Belsize Parkers cosying up in the snugs to pint-downing students in the beer garden preparing for a night out in Camden. "
Time Out Bars, Pubs & Clubs Guide 2008/9

Murals to stand and admire

Here we are on Haverstock Hill - in fact just outside the Hampstead and Kilburn constituency boundaries but well within the remit of this blog.

The Haverstock Arms
http://thehaverstockarms.com/
Should I be slightly aghast at the reinventions as 'The Havers'?

The mural is pretty famous and much admired - it was painted in 1983 (1984?) by John Murray. John is a pretty famous character all of his own and there is a really fond, interesting and full website dedicated to him, his life and work:
http://www.johnmurrayartist.co.uk/index.htm

This site also details the book Pub Signs by Paul Corballis which features this mural as one of the finest pub signs in the country.

The sign alludes to the old delivery of barrels on the old horse and cart. Things have moved on a shade since then and the CAMRA website is pretty generous in its' praise:

"Glorious in summer with its roof terrace (facing onto the side road), large open picture doors, a large number of outside tables and a veritable panoply of hanging, flowering baskets. Down to earth corner pub, very much a community local. Bare boarded with upholstered settles and a large collection of photos of thespians. See if you can find the “T Heath Improved beer engines and cellar fittings” prints. Food is served seven days a week from 11.00 - 21.00 (19.00 Sun). For those with overseas tastes in beers, there’s a good selection. Live music most Friday and Saturdays excluding the summer months. In addition the pub also features bed and breakfast accommodation, nine rooms all en-suite with TV. Underground: Belsize Park. Bus: C11, 168.
previously Haverstock Arms "
http://www.camranorthlondon.org.uk/nlpg/nw3.html

The blog as somewhere that captures the moment

One of the merits of blogs as I understand it is the ability to capture the current thought, the reaction, the precise event almost coterminus.

So it seems with this little quirky local community blog...

I take pictures all the time as I am out and about on the patch and it is scary just how quickly those pictures become the record.

Often I pop back to get a better picture and find that a building has gone, a tree been pruned, the cars almost certainly have changed and so you can't actually recreate the moment... and so now also with the Screen on the Hill.

I took these pictures a little while back meaning to do a posting about it and of course now time has overtaken me with the advent of Everyman II.

I'm not regretting the change in this instance, just observing it. I didn't go to Screen on the Hill but can confess to being a devotee of the Everyoman in Holly Hill for pure relaxing luxury... I just hope this one on Haverstock Hill (opposite Belsize Tube) achieves the same standards and appreciation.

Another underground WWII tube bunker on the Northern Line

I had done any earlier (much earlier) post last year about the war storage capacity on the Northern Line.

Indeed the deep bunker is still visible from the road-side on Haverstock Hill.
http://474towin.blogspot.com/2007/11/its-hard-to-appreciate-that-tube-lines.html

What I hadn't appreciated is that there are in fact two and it was only when I was in Russell Nurseries that I spotted this second bunker visible. Wandering down the path next to Belsize Tube station there, bold as brass, is the entrance to the second bunker.

Now I really do have to do some serious research to understand the architecture and useage. And probably chase up the whole upkeep and graffiti etc here.

It's good weather now...

After the wet bank-holiday Sunday...

These two pics both reflect the weather we seem to be now enjoying - carpets of pink blossom and a field of blue bells - one in Russell Nurseries (Belsize tube/Haverstock Hill) and the other just behind the wharrie shelter on Rosslyn Hill by St Stephen's church.