Round The World and other travel

Spring 2014: London

This brief photo report has been compiled from pictures taken during two separate weekends in London, at the end of March 2014 and again three weeks later.

Highgate

Once a separate village lying outside the UK capital, Highgate is now a well-to-do part of North London with an impressive hilltop location. The area's best-known feature is Highgate Cemetery, actually two properties separated by a public road, which together form the final resting place of a number of prominent historical figures and former celebrities. Once a fashionable burial place for aspiring Victorians, the cemetery fell into a state of severe disrepair during the 1980s. It is currently being managed (in a somewhat overgrown condition) by a charitable trust and is unlikely ever to return to its original, manicured state.

Tate Britain

Tate Britain, as it has become known in the 21st century, is a renowned art gallery situated by the Thames, a 10-15 minute walk upriver from the Palace of Westminster. Surprisingly, given that short breaks in London have been a regular feature of my life for well over 30 years, this was my first visit. The gallery specialises in British art - the clue is in the current name! - and it is one of a small network of 'Tates' scattered around England.