Highgate
Highgate is a district of North London, not far from Hampstead, which was developed as a hilltop suburb in the Victorian period.
The original village is very pretty, and was the place to where London`s richer inhabitants fled, escaping the Plague of 1665.
Waterlow Park contains 17th century Lauderdale House.
Traditionally, the Whittington Stone at the foot of Highgate Hill, now complete with a statue of a cat, is where Dick Whittington turned back to become Mayor of London.
Highgate Cemetery holds the graves of many prominent people, most famously Karl Marx. Others include Charles Dickens, George Eliot, Michael Faraday, Christina Rossetti and Mrs Henry Wood.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Andrew Marvell lived at Highgate. So did Sir Francis Bacon, who died here of a chill, caused by a scientific experiment during which he stuffed a chicken with snow.
Among those born in Highgate are Sir John Betjeman, Poet Laureate and tireless campaigner; Edward Lear, painter and nonsense poet; and John Lydon (Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols).
Blue Badge Guide Colin Crosby is available to lead Guided Walks around Highgate for groups.