"Hilly Hampstead" a Hampstead Travel Page by uglyscot

Hampstead is a hilly area in north west London. It is now a district with nice houses, good restaurants and within a reasonable distance of Hampstead Heath. Today it has some interesting restaurants, charming little side streets, and is within reach of central London by underground and bus.. It used to be a village, and haunt of artists, writers and actors, like Constable, R.L.Stevenson and Gerald du Maurier

Off the main streets are some charming little streets or alleys. There are some expensive shops, crafts shops and an area with antique shops, as well as a Book shop where you squeeze between racks of books, climb over piles of books, a veritable cavern of books.

On Church Row in Hampstead there is a small cemetery, but in it are buried some famous persons.It is opposite St John's, where the older graves are found. Graves include those of the politician Hugh Gaitskell; actors like Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree and George du Maurier; and actress Kay Kendall who died young and was married to Rex Harrison.
It is a quiet place and there is a plaque with directions to some of the better known people buried there,

The red pillar box for posting letters in dates to Victorian times when the use of postage stamps , which made sending letters easier ,was introduced.
The size and shape may have changed since then, but not the characteristic 'pillar box red' colour.
In some places the old Victorian pillar boxes ,which were hexagonal and not round or oblong like they are today, still exist although only as memories of the past. One such relic is in Hampstead High Street opposite the post office.