JerryPeek.com logo

Photo Tour: Jerry Peek's London Neighborhood

Here are some photos of Bloomsbury, the part of London where I lived for part of my time during 1997-98 -- as well as some of my favorite places around London.


London hotels are rustic and beautiful, and the city is full of stunning architecture and amazing culture. So if you are planning a visit, choosing a hotel in London will be a breeze.


Click on any photo (except the Senate House) for more information and a larger view. (To come back here, click the "go to tour" link at the bottom of the page — or your browser's "back" button.)


Russell Square tube If you were coming to visit, you'd probably have walked out from these doors: the Russell Square tube (metro, subway) station. It's about three minutes' walk from my old flat.
Brunswick Square On the way, you could walk through this interesting complex of buildings and flats (apartments): the Brunswick Centre. Each storey is set back, in a terraced design, with greenhouse-style glass on front of each flat. The ground level is a shopping centre.
Goose and Granite pub Next up the street is a pub I like: The Goose and Granite. It's part of a chain and it doesn't have a lot of character. But it's not as dreary, smoky, or loud as others I've found; it's a little classy but not snobbish. And it even (!) has a small no-smoking section.
Russell Square If you had walked to your left out of the tube, you would have passed Russell Square. It's one of many squares around this part of London: a peaceful place to get out of the traffic (sort of) and, for a lot of the year, see lovely gardens.
senate house On the other side of Russell Square is Senate House, an imposing building from the 1930's that holds the University of London administration offices. The Birkbeck College Computer Science department is a teeny little part of the first floor (which, here in the UK, is the floor above the ground floor).

By the way, this isn't my photo. It comes from the Birkbeck College Computer Science web site.

St. Pancras This is St.Pancras, part of a big railway station complex a few minutes' walk the other direction from my flat. In fact, I lived in the middle of a bunch of train stations and tube stations; it was easy to get just about anywhere in a hurry.
South Bank Walk down the busy road from St. Pancras to Euston Station, then take the tube south and cross under the Thames River. There you'll find a long complex of cultural sites and museums (like the South Bank Centre), and a beautiful walk along the South Bank of the Thames.
Houses of Parliament Farther along (you can see them in the distance in the previous photo) are the famous Houses of Parliament. By the way, that tower with the clock isn't named "Big Ben"; Big Ben is the bell inside the tower. (But I don't think anyone cares.)
Rosslyn Hill Chapel Take the tube north about ten stops to the upscale part of London called Hampstead. Walk down the hill past the trendy shops and cafes. Tucked back between the buildings is my old church: the lovely Rosslyn Hill Unitarian Chapel .
Hampstead Heath I've saved the best for last. A few minutes' walk from the chapel is a huge rural park called Hampstead Heath . It's nothing fancy: just some forests, lakes, and big open areas with a few buildings scattered around the edges. But it's a beautiful place to lose yourself, away from the city, even though you're in the middle of the city. I went here whenever I could.


(These photographs are Copyright © 2003 by Jerry Peek. Much higher-resolution versions of most images, and many other images too, are available at Jerry Peek Photography. Photos are available at reduced prices, or free, for non-commercial use.)

[Other tours]

Contact us