London Walking: Holland Park
Someone had gifted me City Walks: London, a pack of 50 cards containing bespoke neighborhood walks as a way to get to know London by foot. It sat unopened on my bookshelf until now.
First up was #38 Holland Park, only because it was close to my flat and I had never really explored the area before. (You might know it as Mark Darcy’s neighborhood, if you read Bridget Jones’s Diary.)
Now, while I was supposed to shelter in place at my flat during the quarantine period, I was allowed to leave and go to a testing center if a mail-in kit was unavailable. I wasn’t sure how reliable the mail, ahem post, would be here, so I scheduled in-person testing. And it is one of the exceptions in which one was allowed to leave their place of quarantine provided one does not take public transportation and avoid contact with other people if can be helped.
The nearest testing site was 1.5 miles away, in Notting Hill, so I thought it was an opportunity to get my 10,000 steps in and do some light but safe sightseeing. Notting Hill borders my Kensington neighborhood to the North, but west of both is the tony Holland Park area.
Getting to the testing centre meant a trek up Kensington Church Street where you’ll find the lovely St. Mary Abbotts church worth checking out and my favorite London pub: the Churchill Arms. Back in the day when I first discovered it, it was known for serving Thai food which was a novelty at the time, but now everyone seems to be doing it. (The pub next door to my flat does.) There’s no shortage of cafes along the way either, whether you’re in the mood for chain stores or mom-and-pops.
After my test was done, I set about taking the longer way home by taking the half-mile detour through Holland Park.
I made my way down Portobello Road (that’s a post for another day) until I reached the Notting Hill Gate tube station then wound my way east through stately brick manses until I reached the park. By the north entrance is a statue of Lord Holland sitting in his favorite chair.
Making my way down, I reached the Kyoto Garden, with ponds of koi fish, pagoda sculptures and a babbling waterfall.
Among the critters to be found here are ducks, geese, birds, aggressive squirrels and peacocks.
I managed to spot a peacock during my second walk through the park and was lucky enough to see it spread its feathers. Well, I’m not sure if that had as much to do with luck as it did with perseverance. I hung around for 40 minutes waiting for it, and that patience was rewarded: to see a peacock flaunt his plumage in full display is a glorious sight. (I was told by a local that his name was Paul, and that there used to be more.)
Continuing the walk through the formal gardens, I reached the orangery. Just a few remains are left of the actual Holland House, which was bombed during WWII, and now serves as backdrop for the open-air theatre for Holland Park Opera. As luck would have it, rehearsals were going on at the time of my visit.
The rest of the park is occupied by playing fields (soccer pitches and tennis courts) and you can head straight down south towards the entrance on Kensington High Street, or exit through one of the side walkways and meander through the neighborhood — which I did.
As is customary in London, homes that were occupied by notable people are marked by a telltale blue circle placard. The house at #18 Melbury Road was the home of painter William Holman Hunt.
I reached High Street, passed the Design Museum which I never knew existed and vowed to visit later, and took a detour on Phillimore Gardens (as instructed by the card) to stop at Sticky Fingers, the restaurant owned by former Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman. I wasn’t going in, on account of still being technically on self-isolation, but wanted to check out their menu for later. Sadly, I would find that it was one of the pandemic’s many casualties and had closed permanently.
The walking tour directed me to walk down to High Street Kensington tube station, but I just ducked into one of the side streets leading home.
All told, the loop going up Kensington Church Street, through Portobello Road and Ladbroke Grove, then through Holland Park, clocked in at around two hours and roughly 3.7 miles. You can expect to spend more time (and money) if you want to do some shopping at any of the quaint stores along the way. (And there are plenty! I’ll talk about my shopping exploits in a later post.)
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