by London: Muswell Hill
After a long overseas flight, it’s wonderful to have family welcome us into their home and let us gradually acclimate to the new surroundings. As I mentioned before, our middle daughter, British son-in-law and their two little girls are presently living in London. They are renting a terraced flat, as I think it’s called, in the north London suburb of Muswell Hill. It’s a very old and interesting area on a hill with narrow sloping winding streets, some of which have a great view over central London. On a clear day higher up this street, we could see the tops of the highrises of Canary Wharf. It’s a very high density but pleasant neighbourhood popular with young families, close to many shops nearby. The area is not as posh as some think, for it is showing it’s age and the wear and tear by the dense population, many of whom are renters.
Like so many areas of London, Muswell Hill consists of large old homes full of interesting architectural details in the doors, trims and chimney pots, but which decades ago have been converted into flats. This one is a narrow three level unit with a small garden at the back. We were very surprised at how many cars, small ones certainly, were parked on both sides of the street pointing in both directions (something that’s illegal here in Vancouver) while barely leaving enough room for a single lane of traffic. Yet most of them are rarely driven except on weekends while the owners used the excellent bus and tube service for commuting. Sidewalks are uneven and narrow, with small trees planted on them and front yard shrubbery hanging over. It’s all quaint, pretty and historic, so different from our wide open modern suburban sprawl in North America!
It was great to spend the first day relaxing with the family and getting to know the neighbourhood and to go to nearby Highgate Park, so freshly green and serene compared to the busy streets. The girls rode bike and scooter around, including in the very nice children’s playground area. Interesting for me was to see a sign noting an area that was the site of very ancient burial mounds (below).
Another interesting observation: because there are few side yards for access to the back gardens, there were renovators and gardeners in some houses actually hauling mud THROUGH the houses to the front, sometimes via elaborate board walks through windows! One day our daughter had bags of manure delivered, which husband and son-in-law had to carry through the house to the back garden!
(By the way, I should mention two things regarding this series of posts about our trip. First, with some hesitation, I’ve made a new category called “Travel” into which to group these, the hesitation because I have older posts on some of our travels which have been shorter and closer to home but I feel it’s confusing and too laborious to go back and incorporate them into this new category. Secondly, many if not most of the photos I’m going to display have been taken by my husband, I was lazy.)
May 29th: Added the link for Highgate Park or Wood above – interesting – I keep learning more about the places we’ve been to!
May 28, 2009 in Culture, Travel by Marja-Leena
Loved reading about your first impressions of London — and am looking forward to more posts about the trip!
The cramped surroundings are indeed very noticable to those who visit from wide open spaces. We were appalled when we returned from our years of living in New England. Space is definitely at a premium here, … and yet there is still a surprising amount of green around everywhere, even in central London.
Wonderful! There’s so much going on when you’re traveling – taking everything in, interacting with family and friends – that you can’t do everything. Great that your husband took lots of photos. Looking forward to more stories from your trip.
Maria, thanks! You’ve been to London, I’m sure…
Olga, even our son-in-law got used to living in Vancouver for some years and was appalled at the way cars are parked in London. Oh, yes, lots of green, thankfully. By the way, I’m sorry we never did get together, perhaps next time!
Leslee, thanks. It’s hard to take photos and visit and really ‘see’ all at the same time. I need time alone for the serious photos, I often find.
(Rubbing my hands together with joy) so begins the journey for us … I am impressed by the size of the windows and imagine the insides of the flats as light and airy.
Rouchswalwe, I’m glad you are enjoying this. Yes, the conversions to flats did introduce large windows, including in the flat we occupied… except for one room that was below grade so it had a small window up high. I did find it strange though to have a huge (opaque) window next to the bathtub facing the street! One could look into many living rooms without drawn curtains close to the street so politeness was definitely in order. Going up and down three flights of stairs many times a day certainly gave my creaking knees a workout.
Yes, I have trouble photographing when I’m with people – the exception being other like-minded bloggers wielding their own cameras.
I agree, Muswell Hill isn’t posh but, boy, it is expensive. Once you sell your London house and move to the boonies, as we did in 1998, there’s no chance of ever moving back. In fact our house was 12 miles SW of London in Kingston-upon-Thames (posh enough) but its comparative nearness to the capital affected the price. Within five years 1930s semis along our road – Tudor Drive; how’s that for a cliché name? – were going for three times what we sold ours for.
Barrett, London is one of the world’s most expensive cities, isn’t it? Even the rent for these places is incredibly high. But you wouldn’t want to live in London as a retiree, would you? I’d want a quieter place myself. Vancouver has become expensive, too, though not as much as London.
This was your first trip to London?
I’ve never been to this neighborhood before, although I used to frequent nearby Hampstead. I sometimes dream of moving into London . . . but NOT when it is summer and my garden is in full bloom and it is blissfully quiet.
Bee, yes, this was my first trip to London and the UK, though my husband has been there on business a couple of times. Hampstead Heath was not too far, a short bus ride and walk away. Husband and the family went there while I was visiting a blogger friend nearby, more on that in a later post. Like you, I love my quiet garden in the summer.