Regent's Park et Plus

Let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start…Well it’s the first page of our AA London: Street by Street map. The area we covered stretches from St John’s Wood to Baker Street station. The sky promised gloomy weather as we set out on the train – in mid-October, London has only just realised it’s autumn. A light drizzle followed us around for the most part of the day, but like true Northerners, we did not let the rain dampen our spirits.

Setting out from St John’s Wood station along Grove End road, we did not expect to encounter much in this mostly residential area, populated by towering blocks of flats – albeit some very stunning. Though much to our surprise, we stumbled across Abbey Road and the iconic Beatles crossing. We almost missed it, but were drawn to the strange behaviour of the people around it. They walked backwards and forwards across it, sometimes in slow motion while posing for photographs. Not one horn was blown, despite multiple tourists standing in the middle of the road taking pictures of their friends. The chauffeur of one very expensive-looking car merely chuckled and shook his head as a man with a beaming smile crossed at snail’s pace for the fifth, maybe sixth, time. Of course I posed for the mandatory photo. Apart from the crossing, there is nothing else to see – I believe the Abbey Road Studios does not do tours (they did do a one-off tour in March 2012, £75 per ticket – ouch!). Don’t miss it out though; I felt a strange childlike excitement while walking across that road, next time I’ll do it barefoot!

Continuing down Grove End road, we passed a number of large, expensive-looking flats with intimidating gates and security systems. It is a pleasant walk; although classed as central London, this area did not feel too Londony. Turing left onto St John’s Wood Road, we walked along the side of Middlesex CCC (a.k.a. Lord’s Cricket Ground), home of The Ashes. You can pay £15 to go on a guided tour of the stadium or a nicely reduced £9 for concessions (yes people, that means students). We passed on this opportunity, but promised ourselves we would return.

Just before the roundabout connecting St John’s Wood Road, Wellington Road, Prince Albert Road and Park Road lies St John’s Wood Church and its gardens. The gardens, although dwarfed by its neighbour Regent’s Park, offers its own personality to visitors. Trees crowd around the snaking paths, providing a sense of cosiness and peace. With water fountains, grave stones and an awesome-looking playground, these gardens have it all. The church is beautiful and simple yet eerie. Like all churches, the inside is oddly quiet. Even sounds from right outside the front door cannot be heard. Peaceful for some, creepy for others. I expect the room provides the perfect acoustics for choirs and musical instruments.

London Central Mosque can be seen on the left of Park road as you walk towards central London. We did not go in, but I understand it is open to visitors and contains a bookshop, café and Exhibition Islam which depicts the journey of the Islamic faith.

Further along, Regent’s Park covers 0.64 square miles. Apart from offering a place to stretch your legs, the park contains an abundance of features, including London Zoo, Queen Mary’s Gardens, Open Air Theatre, a sprawling lake with boat hire, sports fields, cafés, Regent’s College and children’s play areas. London Zoo will set you back anything from back £23 (£21 for students) in peak season to £20 (£18.50 for students). We only walked past it on our grand tour, but intend to visit sometime in the future. The Open Air Theatre was of particular interest to me. Unfortunately we couldn’t see much from the outside, but having just visited their website, I can see they have a showing of The Sound of Music starting summer 2013 which I WILL be going to, much to my partner’s despair (The Sound of Music was my all-time favourite film as a child). Ticket prices range from £25 to £55 but they have plenty of offers and discounts, including something called BREEZE for eighteen to twenty-five year olds which is free (don’t mind if I do) and allows its members access to £10 tickets on preview shows.

Before heading to Baker Street station, we passed the Sherlock Holmes Museum. You have to pay (£6 adults, £4 children) to ascend the steps to that famous 221b apartment, but the shop below is free to nosey around and well worth it. It is unlike any shop I have seen before, in that it is set out in Victorian fashion, with trinkets displayed in old cabinets and on antique dressers. It is more like a museum itself than a shop, even the assistants are in period dress. Next door you will find a store selling Beatles memorabilia. Though not as striking as its neighbouring, it is chocka full of old records, t shirts and posters.

So there we have it, Regent’s Park et plus. With the weather against us, and not spending a dime, we had a fantastic day exploring north central London and found more interesting places than we expected.