St John’s Wood is posh, no question. But when you get to know it, you realise it’s worth it.
You’ve got Regents Park and Primrose Hill. You’re close to the West End and yet easy to get out of town (so long as you’re going north). You’re half way between Oxford Street and Hampstead village, with all its charms and wonderful Heath.
As you wander about, it’s very clean and tidy and has an air of quiet affluence. It’s kinda the antithesis of Camden High Street, which looks like a scene from Bladerunner (street level).
Interesting to note that it’s popular with both Jewish and Arab communities… there are synagogues (St John’s Wood United Synagogue, New London Synagogue, Liberal Jewish Synagogue) and there is also, of course, the enormous London Central Mosque). Bear in mind that Edgware Road nearby is very much an Arab enclave and Hampstead to the north is Jewish, so you realise that St John’s Wood is where they all meet up, very happily I have to say.
Before we go up the High Street we have to mention the most important feature of the neighbourhood (if you happen to like cricket), namely Lord’s, which attracts vast numbers of attendees when matches are on, including the members of MCC, Middlesex Cricket Club, who can be spotted easily because they wear their famous club colours, red and yellow, as well as, very often, their straw hats. You get red and yellow ties, blazers, hat ribands and usually picnic baskets – yes, you are allowed to take in plenty of your own refreshments if you wish. If you’re not a member of MCC you can buy tickets on the Lord’s website.
So let’s set off up north, up the High Street. First stop, characterful French bistro, Maison Soutine, very authentic and nice for a spot of lunch – you can go for the Prix Fixe if you don’t want to go mad.
We have The Good Life Eatery, a popular café, opposite, and a Lebanese place, Sahara for ‘healthy cuisine’. Shops? Plenty of high end shops. Even the St John’s Hospice and Shelter charity shops look posh.
If you fancy spending rather a lot and rather a little, Rigby & Peller, the lingerie shop, might be for you (or your partner).
A shop with a strange name, ba&sh, caught my eye – nice frocks and exotic patterns, reminiscent of Emilio Pucci.
There’s a large Ivy restaurant – looks like the Ivy brand has been stretching all over town, in fact, all over the country. Looks pretty good and has some very nice, attractive outside seating.
Two very upmarket dry cleaners, including American Dry Cleaning Company. I wonder if that is the original branch because the American School is just up the road. Yes, we get plenty of Americans in St John’s Wood and Hampstead – they tend to live in this part of north London or go for Kensington and Notting Hill. Often they will go with the north London option if they have kids and/or dogs.
I don’t image the Nicolas wine store has difficulty shifting its pricey Bordeaux wines.
You don’t really get down and dirty pubs; in fact there aren’t a lot of pubs, but there is the Duke of York, Crocker’s Folly and Lord’s Tavern, if you want to take in some Lord’s vibes.
You can tell when a neighbourhood is a bit upmarket and has quite a few wealthy transients when you see a ‘SAFE DEPOSIT’ centre doing roaring business. It’s next to Tesco, should you need it. And by the way, how many Tescos in London have Bentleys parked outside?
Opposite Tesco is the wonderful deli, Panzer, well worth a browse even if you don’t want to blow your weekly food budget on a couple of pomegranates.
If you need the tube, St John’s Wood is a stunning example of Art Deco design and a listed building.
Have you ever crossed the Abbey Road zebra crossing by EMI Studios nearby? It is a very popular tourist site, where people stage photos and hold up the traffic. I think Paul McCartney still has a nice Georgian house in one of the quieter streets of St John’s Wood.
As it’s St John’s Wood, the two hospitals are private so you need health insurance or you’ll be into big bills. Otherwise it’s NHS at Royal Free, Hampstead or UCH.
