Date: Tuesday 26th April 2011

Coach leaves North Harbour at: 8.00am

Organiser:Ann Reid com4@shrets.co.uk

Booking Form: Download

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London's richnessand variety results from its growth as a tapestry of villages, each with its own character and history. Once a place of highwaymen, swinging gibbets and savage beasts, today Hampstead is select, opulent and full of stories, This popular day trip now includes morning coffee and lunch.

We meet the guide in Hampstead at 10.30am for morning coffee and biscuits. We pop back on the coach to see Hampstead Garden Suburb - an experiment in building for the whole community regardless of age,class or income Bishop's Avenue by contrast claims no such idealism. Once an embassy district, today the Avenue is a millionaires row and one time home to Billy Butlin, Gracie Fields and the unfortunately named Rolf Schild, once kidnapped in error by a hapless gang who mistook him for a Rothschild.

At Whitestone Pond, the highest point in London, we leave the coach for a gentle stroll down through the lanes of old Hampstead. It's a pleasant anf easy walk that brings us back to the pub for a tasty lunch of fish and chips (fresh from the fishmongers next door and done in the house speciality cracked batter) or roast of the day. At lunchtime individuals can pay for any bar drinks, hot drinks or desserts as required. In the afternoon we present an entertaining guided tour of Kenwood, the superb country house gifted to the nation by the Guinness family. The house, remodelled by Robert Adams in the 18th century, is stunning and holds works by Rembrandt, Gainsborough, Vermeer and Turner. There are wonderful views across London and an attractively appointed cafe in the former coach house where you can buy tea before returning to the coach to drive home at 4.45pm.