KENTISH TOWN Northern Line (High Barnet)
and TUFNELL PARK















Somehow this area is not as interesting as you might think. However, if you are wandering round here there are a few things to look out for. Turn right out of the station and go into Leighton Road. It has a massive public house on the corner, The Assembly Rooms, built in late Victorian times. Its name is a reminder that until the mid nineteenth century Kentish Town was still sufficiently rural for Londoners to come to enjoy much-needed fresh air and pleasant fields. Indeed, the name of Fortess Road (on the left of the pub) refers to the forty small parcels of land (‘The Forties’) through which this road was cut.

Leighton Road has many attractive terraced houses with some interesting doors and windows, but don’t miss the Edwardian (1903) Postmen’s Office at no. 30. It is now a fashion business - hence the logo on the lantern. This replaces the original and is a bit out of scale, but the building remains a delight. If you cross over the road you will see Lady Margaret Road. At the top of this turn left. Brecknock Road will bring you to Tufnell Park Tube station – like Kentish Town, fronted with deep red glazed tiles. Nearby is another monster pub whose architectural detail is of the omnium- gatherum style.


Now turn left into Fortess Road to get back to Kentish Town station. After a few minutes you will see on the corner of Lady Somerset Road a splendily ornate pub. The Junction Tavern is painted black and is of unusual design, having pilasters and three pedimented entrances with gilded balls on the top as if to remind customers that if they spent too much time and money drinking, their next stop would be the pawnbroker’s! Fortess Road has lots of tall terraced housing (c 1825) and a little Nonconformist chapel, now business premises, can be found about half way down on the right hand side of the road.

Near the bottom of the hill, and back in Kentish Town is the neat terrace where (no. 56) the artist Ford Madox Brown lived. One of his most famous pictures ‘Work’ is a depiction of ‘real’ labourers and shows navvies laying a sewer in nearby Hampstead. At the end of this run is a block of flats. After seeing this you may need to cheer yourself up by a quick glance down Fortess Grove, a pretty little cul-de-sac immediately adjacent.

Your spirits will be lifted even more by Falkland Road, a turning to the left, where it would seem someone has been handing out free colour wash in all shades. The result is that the houses remind one of an icecream kiosk– each box laid out to display a different colour. You can now return to Fortess Road or continue walking straight ahead. Lady Margaret Road is on the right and going down this will bring you back to Leighton Road. Turn right and you will soon be back at Kentish Town Tube.



MAP




Kentish Town is just one walk from the many to be found at London Tube Rambles. There are architectural gems, beautiful country views, historic places and whacky buildings to be found, even in the most unpromising areas covered by the Greater London Underground stations. Usually the places listed are within a mile of the Tube - often only five minutes walk away. If you reached this as an individual page via a search engine, you might like to go to www.londontuberambles.co.uk to see the other destinations explored . You'll be amazed at what's out there!

© DR2007