A building in Hampstead, on the corner of Heath Street and the High Street:

You have two choices.

If you take the road on the left, which slopes downhill, you’ll end up at Waterstones bookshop, assuming that you aren’t previously lured into (say) Gail’s Bakery or the Vencchi ice cream shop.

If you don’t stop at any of those places and keep walking down the hill you’ll pass Belsize Park, Chalk Farm, Camden Town, Euston, the River Thames, Sussex, the English Channel, France, Africa etc etc.

And at this point you’ll probably need a new pair of shoes.

Alternatively: take the road on the right.

This will take you past Hampstead’s only shoe shop (alas, only children’s shoes), Louis’s Bakery, the Everyman cinema, Tesco, and eventually:

You’ll arrive at Church Row.

Next Saturday, I’ll be taking this picture¹ and others with a Hampstead theme to show at the

Craft Fair at Hampstead Parish Church
Church Row, London NW3 6UU.
10 May, 11am and 4pm

I will be selling prints of this and other pictures.

If time allows, I’ll also be making some quick portraits.

I hope to see you there.

-

Or, if you are based approximately a million miles away, I will be glad to know that you have seen the picture here, taken this little virtual stroll around Hampstead, and all points south, and wished me well.

Thank you.

¹ . This picture was going to go into my book Psalms for the City. Alas, I couldn’t find the right space for it, but only for a picture of another building nearby, which I drew on the same day. Interesting fact!