My Secret Black Book: conceptual wallpaper artist Angela Groundwater
The Holly Bush pub, Hampstead - Credit: Archant
Angela Groundwater designs bespoke wallpapers featuring insects, aliens and pensioners from her studio in Bethnal Green, so where does the illustrator find her inspiration?
Henry Moore statue at Kenwood estate - Credit: Archant
Best for soul searching
After a break-up I found salvation in Hampstead with my friend. We do all the slow romantic things together reaffirming that life is fulfilling even if you don’t currently have a one and only!
Best for a late night stroll
Highgate Cemetery - Credit: Archant
I love walking around the area at night. There is the Holly Bush walk and of course the Holy Bush Pub. The streets are so dreamy – the crevasses with all the old buildings in street lights, casting long shadows.
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Best for house hunting
That building that looks over the Highgate Cemetery on Swains Lane is brutalist gorgeousness. I’d love to live there to experience the many conflicting histories. And I love the Rowley Way Estates, all those high ideals just after the war.
Sir John Soane's Museum - Credit: Archant
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Best for culture
My favourite museum is the John Soane’s Museum. He converted 3 houses into an absolute warren of interest with everything from Egyptian artefacts to a Turner. There is a gorgeous drawing cabinet that has to be unlocked and presented by gloved hands. It’s a total experience.
Alexandra & Ainsworth Estate (Rowley Way) in South Hampstead - Credit: Archant
Best for a work out
These days I like running the entire length of the canal past Kings Cross to bring me back to the future to watch how London is changing - awesome and terrifying.
Best for a stroll
The Snowdon Aviary at London Zoo - Credit: Archant
I love the Pergola at Hampstead Heath, that Henry Moore Sculpture and swimming in the Heath ponds where I picture myself in another century, with a cold splash that is good for the heart. It’s good to be able to go somewhere so green, feeling you can hide from the machine of London.
Best for history
All of north London’s cemeteries are great, particularly Highgate and Stoke Newington. Really beautiful, antique burials in Highgate’s ancient catacombs, all totally overgrown. It stretches out forever. So Victorian and spooky.
Hampstead Heath - Credit: Nigel Sutton
Best for a view
I used to live on a boat with my ex before children so another favourite was motoring it past the zoo there in Regent’s Park with the large Snowdon Aviary enclosure of what looked like a forbidden forest of the unknown.
Angela Groundwater with her bespoke wallpaper designs at her studio in Bethnal Green - Credit: Archant
