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Editorial
The Hampstead Book: The A-Z of its history and people
A school in a tree? Mohammed Ali in Belsize Park? The Hampstead Book: The A-Z of its history and people is a must for all locals, writes WeLoveHampstead.co.uk reader/reviewer, Angela Stevenson…
As a bit of a local history enthusiast I’ve got a load of books on Hampstead, and before I picked up Steven Denford’s The Hampstead Book (Historical Publications) I thought there was nothing I didn’t know about the area.
How wrong I was.
This book, set out as an A-Z street guide, was a little diamond of a read and details all sorts of historical facts about Hampstead’s streets and buildings. For instance the earliest school in Hampstead was actually in a tree, while south-west Hampstead (now St John’s Wood) was owned by the Knights Hospitallar, for hundreds of years.
A refugee from Nazi Germany paid for the Royal Free Hospital's front entrance facelift, the Belsize Boxing Club formed in 1880 is the oldest amateur boxing club in the country, and Muhammad Ali trained in the gymnasium behind the Load of Hay on Haverstock Hill.
Hampstead was once (some say it still is) a fashionable spa town and has been home to many famous artists, writers, musicians, politicians and architects.
There are lots of interesting facts to find out, and I even popped the book in my handbag to carry around and use when out walking the dog or sitting on the bus. The simple to use index and alphabetical style made the fact finding so much easier.
But don’t take my word for it – find out for yourself, get down to your local bookshop and ask them to order this book in for you if they haven’t got it…