Walking with Keilyn: Kensal Green to Holland Park... and beyond

Sunday March 22, 2026.

Cloudy skies with light winds, brightening in the late morning to hazy sunshine, 13°C (55°F).

It was a cool 4°C (39.2°F), with light mist, as we left our house and began our gentle walk to Watford High Street station, where we boarded a Lioness train, that took us to Kensal Green. Keilyn and I sent a selfie to Dyan, who responded with a photo of Harrow & Wealdstone station. We informed her that we would be passing through in a few minutes and Dyan managed to take a photo of our train approaching, while she waited for the train that would take her to work.  

On leaving Kensal Green station we crossed Harrow Road and entered Kensal Green Cemetery, via its main entrance. Keilyn, always the inquisitive one, wanted to find the graves of Isambard and Marc Brunel, while I was interested in seeing Harold Pinter's grave. So, off we went in search of the graves. 

Kensal Green Cemetery was the first of London's eight garden cemeteries to open, which was back in 1833. It covers an area of 72 acres and has many famous people buried within the grounds. These include Isambard Kingdom Brunel and his son Sir Marc Isambard Brunel, Harold Pinter, Steve Peregrin Took, Wilkie Collins, Prince Augustus Frederick The Duke of Sussex, Erich Fried, Medi Oliver Mehra, Marigold Churchill, Charles Babbage, William Makepeace Thackeray, among countless others.

It didn't take us long to find the grave of Isambard Kingdom and his son Sir Marc Isambard Brunel, before we continued our search for other graves of interest. Peculiarly, the grave of Steven Ross Porter, better known as Steve Peregrin Took (member of the band Tyrannosaurus Rex), was fairly easy to find, while that of Harold Pinter took some searching.

After a good exploration we made our way out onto Ladbroke Grove, heading south. We crossed the Grand Union Canal and continued following Ladbroke Grove, buying hot drinks at an independent coffee shop, called Mowgli Coffee. 

We then continued along Ladbroke Grove until we reached Holland Park Avenue, which we followed onto Holland Park Road where we entered Holland Park itself. We wandered along the paths, thankful for the shade of the high tree canopy, until we reached the Holland Park Adventure Playgrounds. It was here that we found a bench, in the shade, and ate our packed lunches, while all around us families were watching their children splashing in the water slides or generally running around and enjoying themselves.

Once we had eaten, and disposed of the rubbish, Keilyn went for a little exploration of the park, before returning to me saying that she was ready to continue our walk. So, we continued on passing the Kyoto and Fukushima Gardens, before spotting some peacocks sitting in the sun. We then made our way to the Dutch Garden, before heading around to the front of Holland House.

After using the facilities, and Keilyn had refilled her water bottle from the drinking fountain, we made our way out onto Ilchester Place, so that we could see what was happening at the Gnome Garden. This small garden is updated every few months, showing the gnomes in various seasons.

From here followed Melbury Road to Kensington High Street, which we crossed and headed east along until we turned south along Earl's Court Road. We continued south, along Earl's Court Road, until we reached the Police Box outside Earl's Court station, where Keilyn posed for a photo. We then continued south until we reached Old Brompton Road, which brought us to Brompton Cemetery. This was the fifth of London's eight garden cemeteries, opening in 1840. Again, there were a number of people that Keilyn was looking to find, including Emmeline Pankhurst, William Howard Russell and John Snow. 

So off we set. The grave of John Snow, the physician who linked contaminated water with the cholera epidemics, was the first grave we saw. From here we followed the paths, every now and again, checking the map on our phone for the correct direction, before deciding to just explore this amazing place. 

We found the grave of William Howard Russell, considered to be one of the first modern war correspondents, before walking along the colonnades, looking at the giant mausoleums, finding obscure graves and generally enjoying the entire place.

Heading back towards the main entrance, Keilyn almost missed Emmeline Pankhurst's memorial, so busy was she looking on the other side of the wide avenue. With photos taken we returned to the main gate, where we sat for a few minutes, while Keilyn decided on where we were going to go head to next.

With a decision made we left the cemetery and headed east, along Old Brompton Road, before turning south along Finborough Road. This brought us to Gunter Grove, then Ashburnham Road and then Cremorne Road. It was here that we stopped at Cremorne Gardens, taking in the view along the River Thames and sitting for a few minutes.

We then rejoined Cremorne Road, which brought us into Cheyne Walk and the Chelsea Embankment. Reaching the Albert Bridge, we could see across to Battersea Park, with the London Peace Pagoda shining brilliantly in the afternoon sun. So, across the bridge we walked, before dropping down onto the Terrace Walk along the river. Joggers, dog walkers, families and tourists were all enjoying the warm spring weather as we made our way eastwards towards Battersea Power Station.

On reaching the power station we sat on one of the unoccupied benches and relaxed for a short while, taking in the sights and sounds of the area. Eventually we got up and headed into Battersea Power Station. Inside it was busier than I had ever seen it, with people hurrying in every direction, full shopping bags hanging from their arms, while others pressed already lit buttons on the lift panels, while yet more carried their pushchairs up or down staircases, while the children tottered behind them. It was something to avoid, so we headed out into the sunshine and made our way to the station, ready to begin our journey home.

The Northern line train whisked us through the tunnels, northward, with many people alighting at Waterloo, while we proceeded to our destination of Euston. On exiting Euston station we went for a short wander, before heading to Euston Square station, where we boarded a Metropolitan line train to Baker Street.

Our timing couldn't have been more wrong, as all of the trains were full of Arsenal and Manchester City fans heading to the Carabao Cup Final at Wembley. So, Keilyn took herself to Treats, to buy some Marble Cake, while I went to Starbucks to get us some drinks. With drinks in hand we sat on one of the benches that was unoccupied and waited for our train. To our annoyance the information board kept changing the Watford-bound platform, from Platform 1, where we were, to Platform 4, which meant climbing the stairs to the ticket  level and then down again. 

We decided to sit tight and wait for the tannoy announcement. Sure enough the announcement soon came across the public address system, informing us that the Watford-bound train would be leaving from Platform 4. Up we got. Climbed the stairs. Walked across the ticket hall. Descended more stairs and boarded the train, thankful to finally be on our way home.

Once at Watford Keilyn ran up the stairs, thus ensuring that she would be first through the ticket barrier, while I was third out of the station. Our walk home was leisurely, until Keilyn, still full of energy, decided to run ahead, leaving me in her dust. Although never out of sight, for more than a few moments, she beat me home by nearly five minutes.

It was another great day out seeing new places and discovering new things, while taking in some familiar sights. Plus, we managed to mark another two of London's magnificent eight cemeteries from our list, leaving us with just West Norwood and Nunhead cemeteries left to visit.

Distance travelled:

• Bus - 0.0 miles (0.0 kms)
• Cable Car - 0.0 miles (0.0 kms)
• Car - 0.0 miles (0.0 kms)
• DLR - 0.0 miles (0.0 kms)
• Ferry - 0.0 miles (0.0 kms)
• Overground - 12 miles (19.3 kms)
• River Boat - 0.0 miles (0.0 kms)
• Taxi - 0.0 miles (0.0 kms)
• Train - 0.0 miles (0.0 kms)
• Tram - 0.0 miles (0.0 kms)
• Underground - 25.3 miles (40.72 kms)
• Walking - 12.2 miles (19.6 kms)