Gizmodo UK’s editor Kat Hannaford has interests outside of the internet, honest. She likes baking, knitting, cats, looking at cats, watching cat videos on YouTube…oh.
Sandwiched between edgy Brixton and Dulwich’s infestation of yummy mummies is the little-known Herne Hill. An idyllic village where shopkeepers wave at passers by, even if they’re a butcher and you’re a vegetarian who’s never poked her vegan shoe inside his smelly meat-emporium before. It’s that friendly.
Playing host to a variety of funfairs and festivals (including the Cannabis Festival, until 2004), Brockwell Park (originally owned by a family that sold it to the council in the 19th century) is the feather in Herne Hill’s cap. Now a cafe, the park’s Grade II-listed manor house sells ice cream to young families and cider-happy summer picnickers.
Utterly deserving of its own paragraph, the open-air Brockwell Lido’s art deco buildings (now housing a state-of-the-art gym and homely Lido Café) are understandably popular on a summer’s day. But don’t let that put you off – part of Herne Hill’s appeal is its community-minded spirit – you’re always bound to bump into someone you know while doing 50m-long laps.
Understandly, the Lido’s pretty popular in the sunshine…
Speaking of community spirit, if any local business is to be named the heart and soul of Herne Hill, it would have to be Pullen’s café/restaurant, located on the pedestrian-friendly Railton Road. Here, locals gather almost religiously over Alan’s infamous fish pie and glasses of vino, or sate hangovers over Sunday papers and poached eggs.
My favourite place for ‘remote office working’ would be The Florence pub which, like Pullen’s, offers free wi-fi but also has a sun-drenched conservatory where even office work doesn’t feel too taxing. The vintage mismatched furniture, friendly staff with a talent for choosing appropriate playlists, and posh pub grub (oh, the Sunday roasts!) lure the younger, trendier crowd in.
Normally I wouldn’t dream of following up a recommendation for a pub with an endorsement for a wool shop, but here in creative Herne Hill, that’s just how we roll. Or stitch. Sharp Works, run by a mother-and-daughter team, is one of the best wool shops in London. It hosts the annual “Woollen Crufts” which is enough to make anyone want to pick up and use knitting needles – which you can learn to do, coincidentally, at Sharp Works.
Just Williams: loved by both adults and kids
There’s no two ways about it: Herne Hill is very family-friendly. Toy shop Just Williams has a wide enough range of toys to make even 40-year-old kids chuck a wobbly about. Across the road is Tales on Half Moon Lane, which regularly sweeps up independent children’s bookshop awards for a reason.
If it’s books without pictures that you’re after, Herne Hill Books has quite a decent range of both fiction and non-fiction in its tiny book belly. In addition to books, they also stock zines and gifts devoted to all-things Herne Hill, which make lovely presents for any resident. Or propaganda for potential residents – not that they need much convincing.
Just next door to Herne Hill Books (and Pullen’s), Myla and Davis is a hairdressing salon with a penchant for beautiful wallpapers, but men usually tend to favour Boki’s Hair on Norwood Road, where haircuts are under a tenner. Walk a little closer to Brixton, and you have Our Little Secret, where Juan is indeed London’s best-kept secret.
Myla and Davis: beautiful wallpaper *and* beautiful hair
One cornerstone of Herne Hill which is definitely no secret is Olley’s Fish Experience (which unfairly conjures up images of battered unmentionables, but trust me on this one) – Voted one of the top five fish and chips shops in the whole of Britain, it may be the better part of a tenner for a cod ‘n’ chips, but you won’t go anywhere else after trying their batter. Promise.
Just around the corner, Mimosa is Herne Hill’s busiest deli. Loved by cheese-hungry locals (and even celebrity-resident James Nesbitt, who I once had the good fortune to ogle from behind), it’s also a great spot for people-watching sneakily behind a massive cup of coffee.
Once you’ve expired all these top tips and need to walk off all that ice-cream and fish ‘n’ chips, stretch your legs by wandering around the Poets’ Corner, a huddle of four streets that were used by leading architects to display their varied skills for 1851’s Great Exhibition. You can easily spend a couple of hours arguing over which out of Chaucer, Shakespeare, Milton and Spenser roads you like best – and mentally moving in, of course.
Is there something missing? Add the places you love in Herne Hill here!
