We walked across the street in front of our flat where the annoying temporary bus stop has been located for the duration of the replacement of Victorian water mains in Hampstead's High Street. I will say that after reading about the collapse of infrastucture in the States, I have greater appreciation of a country that recognises work needs to be done to maintain facilities. The Long Island Rail Road fire in Jamaica apparently destroyed equipment that served my father and mother in the 1930s and 1940s and 1950s from Bellerose.
Our very local bus took us to Golders Hill Park in two stops. The park is part of Hampstead Heath, London's largest park, which was saved from development by the lord of the manor in the mid 19th century. Over the years, adjoining land has been added to the Heath. Golders Hill was once part of the landscaped gardens of great houses built in the 18th and 19th centuries for wealthy industrialists. In this case soap saved the parkland. Golders Hill House was bought by the owner of Pears Soap and donated to the city for use as a park. The House was destroyed by a bomb in 1941. An even bigger soap magnate, William Lever, Lord Leverhulme, bought The Hill and had the grounds extensively landscaped for grand parties. After Lever's death, the gardens were added to Golders Hill Park, while the house, now called Inverforth House, remained in private hands.
 |
| The Hill's garden |
 |
| The Hill's famous Pergola |
 |
| Flowers invading the colonnade |
 |
| A small field of heather |
 |
| Strange plants in the Water Garden |
After wandering through Golders Hill in the glorious sunshine today, we took a bus to Highgate for lunch at The Flask. Then we walked down the steep Highgate Hill to Waterlow Park, the grounds of Lauderdale House, which is now a local arts centre. Pepys in his diary notes hearing strange music when visiting Lord Lauderdale here. The park was donated to Highgate by its last owner Sir Sydney Waterlow in 1889.
We wandered back to the bus past Highgate Cemetery's surrounding wall. Then a few minutes on the bus, and we were back home after a very local staycation outing.
There hasn't been much time for doing anything other than our daily trips during the day and writing about them at night, but when we returned home, I finished Buddy's Quilt for Bobs's Buddy Doll. Along with the clothes for Bibs's Dolly, I feel that I have done a little bit of grandmotherly duty this month.
Tomorrow is September, always my favourite month because autumn is forever my favourite season. There is much to look forward to coming along. As a fitting part of our final staycation day, Bob received news that may mean a permanent involuntary staycation has been averted. And in less than two months another granddaughter to welcome to the world with blanket, quilt, sweater, hat, sampler. . .
No comments:
Post a Comment