Walking with friends: Finsbury Park to Highgate... and beyond

Sunday July 26, 2026.

Partly cloudy with a high of 24°C (75°F) with the chance of light rain in the morning.

I had arranged to meet up with my friend Steve for a walk in London, so I was up, ready and out of the house by 08:30, making the short walk to Watford Underground station. Steve had arrived just before me, so there was no waiting around. We headed through the ticket barriers, down the stairs and boarded the Baker Street bound train that was preparing to leave from Platform 2.

Soon we were speeding through the Hertfordshire countryside towards London. Approaching Northwood a few spots of rain began to pepper the windows of the train, but it didn't last. As we pulled into Harrow-on-the-Hill station, the heritage railway locomotive 'Sarah Siddons' was waiting to take passengers to Amersham. Unfortunately, because of where we were seated, and the fact that another train was at the next platform, I was unable to take a photo. 

Arriving at Finchley Road we exited the train and waited 6-minutes for an Aldgate train. When it arrived it was almost full to capacity, filled with foreign students and teachers. Fortunately, we were only going as far as King's Cross St Pancras, so we were happy to stand. At King's Cross St Pancras we left the train and headed along the platform, following the signs for the Victoria line. Up countless stairs, along corridors, down escalators we travelled, until we finally reached the Northbound platform, where the train pulled away right after we boarded. The train whisked us north-eastwards below the streets of Highbury & Islington, before turning north beneath Canonbury and Highbury, before we arrived at our starting location of Finsbury Park.

Our first stop was at the 'Portrait Bench', which consists of three silhouettes. DJ, record producer and founder of Soul II Soul, Jazzy B. Florence Keen, who founded the North Islington Welfare Centre and School for Mothers, in 1913. At that time over 10% of local children died before their 5th birthday. Her work reduced that death rate considerably. Edith Margaret Garrud, who was born in 1872. She was a member of the Suffragette movement and taught the women martial arts, specifically Ju Jitsu, so that they could fight off police officers. She was the first British teacher in the art of Ju Jitsu and the first female martial arts instructor in the western world. She died in 1971. It was the latter statue that I was most interested in, having studied Ju Jitsu myself.

From here we walked along Stroud Green Road and meandered our way to Oxford Road, where we joined the Parkland Walk (south). The route was busy with dog walkers, joggers and families all enjoying the sunny morning. The Parkland Walk follows the route of the old Great Northern Railway, which opened in 1872, but closed in 1954. Unbelievably, this 1.7 mile (2.75 km) stretch boasted 13 stations, with a mere 25 metres (82 ft) between two of the stations. The largest gap between stations was 370 metres (1,213 ft). 

We stopped for a coffee at 'Merro', which is housed in the old Crouch End station building, before continuing along the Parkland Walk to its end at Highgate. Eventually we reached the now closed Highgate tunnels and made our way up onto Archway Road.

We followed Archway Road, passing beneath the Archway Arch, before heading west along Waterlow Road. We then headed up Highgate Hill and entered Waterlow Park, where we took a seat in the shade and waited for the time to reach noon. We then headed back out to Highgate Hill and had a drink in the beautiful architectural marvel that is the 'Brendan the Navigator' pub.

Suitably refreshed we headed back to Waterlow Park to continue our walk. We exited the park and turned south along Swain's Lane, passing the world famous Highgate Cemetery. Swain's Lane brought us to the architectural wonder that is Holly Village. This small residential estate consists of twelve cottages, surrounding a private garden. It is a Grade II* listed. We then continued along Swain's Lane until we reached Highgate Road, where we entered Hampstead Heath.

With no true route in mind we simply followed our feet, stopping every now and again to take in the spectacular views that this part of Hampstead Heath offers. We could see the top of the Emirates Stadium and the Caledonian Clock Tower. Canary Wharf, the City of London, The Shard, the transmitters at Crystal Palace, the London Eye and Battersea Power Station were some of the other landmarks that were clearly visible, before we moved deeper into the heath.

With the paths twisting and turning and the dense foliage scattering the sunlight, we continued to follow our feet.  To our right we could see a metal boundary fence with an English Heritage board behind it. We were at the southern end of the grounds of Kenwood House. Eventually, after nearly an hour, we left the heath and found ourselves on Spaniards Road, which we decided to follow, soon finding ourselves at 'The Spaniards Inn'. So, in we went.

'The Spaniards Inn', circa 1585, has a fascinating history. It is said that Dick Turpin was a regular, as his father was the landlord. Then there are the writers that frequented the inn. The artist Joshua Reynolds was a regular, as were Byron and Keats. Allegedly Keats wrote 'Ode to a Nightingale' in the pub's garden. Charles Dickens mentioned the pub in 'The Pickwick Papers', while Bram Stoker is said to have borrowed one of the pub's resident ghost stories to finish 'Dracula'.

We took our drinks and sat outside, finding a table that offered dappled shade. The garden was busy with countless families enjoying their food which looked delicious. We chatted about our upcoming holiday other engagements that Steve has over the next few weeks, before we set about working out where we were going to head to next.

On leaving the Inn we rejoined Spaniards Road and headed south. We passed Jack Straw's Castle, which is Grade II listed former public house, before we turned onto East Heath Road. A building, Bell Moor flats, caught our attention as it had three plaques affixed to its wall. The top one stated that the conductor and impresario Sir Thomas Beecham had lived here. The second informed us that Thomas J. Barratt, the historian of Hampstead, had lived in a house on this site. The third plaque informed us that the surface of the soil here is 132,8 metres (435 feet 7 inches) above sea level. To put that into some context.  The ground level here is noted to be 4.88 metres (16 feet 7 inches) higher than the top of the cross on the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral.

East Heath Road took us around the southern edge of Hampstead Heath, while the other side of the road was populated with some remarkable buildings of varying architectural styles. As we approached Downshire Hill we spotted a large pub called the 'Freemasons Arms'. With green roof edging it had a distinct 1930s flare to it, so we went in. The 'Freemasons Arms' originally began life as a stagecoach stopover, in the 1700s, and was built above the River Fleet. It was rebuilt in the early 1930s on deep concrete foundations to stop flooding and houses a rare subterranean London skittles alley in its cellar. On leaving the 'Freemasons Arms' we joined South End Road and continued our walk southwards. Within minutes we were outside Hampstead Heath station, with the 'World Peace Garden' stretching away to its left. 

With the time approaching 16:30 we thought it might be a good idea to think about heading home. So we visited 'The Garden Gate', which was quite possibly the busiest pub that we had seen all day. We were ushered to a table by a member of staff who informed us that we could order at the bar, or scan the QR code on the table and order and pay for the drinks which would be brought to us. We opted for the latter. While we waited we thought about our options for heading home. We could walk to Finchley Road, which was about a mile away, or we could catch a bus. Belsize Park was closer, but, as it is on the Northern line, it would involve a few train changes. Then there was Hampstead Heath station, from where we could catch a Mildmay line train to Finchley Road & Frognal, which is a short walk from Finchley Road station. There were a lot of variables that needed to be looked at.

So, we finished our drinks and made our way out of the garden, with the plan of catching a bus. However, checking the timetable for a bus towards Finchley Road we realised that we would have a bit of a wait, so we popped into 'The Fleet Tavern', so that we were in the shade. Of course, refreshments were needed and subsequently ordered. Now, London buses are rarely behind, or ahead, of schedule. The same can't be said for the time it takes to drink a pint. Suffice it to say that we missed the bus. 

So we left 'The Fleet Tavern' and made our way to Hampstead Heath station, passed through the ticket barrier, descended the stairs and barely waited for more than three minutes before a train arrived. The Mildmay line train was soon carrying us beneath the streets of Frognal to Finchley Road. On exiting the station we both decided that it would be a good idea to use the conveniences of a local proprietor of ales, ciders and stouts, before we boarded a train for home. Fortunately, just across the road from Finchley Road station was just such an establishment... 'The North Star'.

We ordered drinks and made use of the facilities, before chatting with the staff about their collection of coins, which were set into the bar hatch, while banknotes from around the world were pinned behind the bar. Eventually we finished our drinks and made our way out into the cool evening air.

We crossed Finchley Road and saw, next to the station, a coffee shop called 'Perky Blenders'. Obviously the owners were hoping to cash in on the popularity of the TV series 'Peaky Blinders'... and good luck to them. We headed into the station, tapped our 'Oyster' cards and descended the stairs to the northbound Metropolitan line platform. It was only a matter of minutes before we were being rushed through the outskirts of London into Metro-land.

Arriving at Watford we bid each other "farewell", having discussed our epic walk on the train, and set about beginning our short walks home. It was a thoroughly entertaining day out, seeing places both familiar and unfamiliar, with great company.

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 - 1.1 miles (1.77 kms) Mildmay
• 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 - 35.9 miles (57.77 kms)
• Walking - 12.5 miles (20.12 kms)