Скачать или смотреть Archway London Dick Whittington, His Cat & Europe’s First Cable Trams

Archway sits where London flattens out after climbing up Highgate Hill. It’s a meeting point—between north and central, old and new, movement and stillness.
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The name comes from the 19th-century stone viaduct that once carried traffic over the cutting of the new turnpike road. The bridge was later replaced by today’s cast-iron Archway Bridge, known locally as Suicide Bridge, connecting Highgate and Hornsey Lane. Beneath it, a busy swirl of buses, bikes, and pedestrians echoes centuries of movement. This route was once so steep that Europe’s first cable tram ran here, hauling passengers up and down between Highgate and Archway.

On the slope below, St John’s Church stands solidly at the heart of Archway, surrounded by green space and social housing. Nearby lies Whittington Park, named for Dick Whittington—medieval merchant, Lord Mayor, and legendary cat owner—who supposedly heard the Bow Bells here, urging him to “turn again.” A stone commemorating the tale still sits by the roadside, a few steps from the old Smallpox and Vaccination Hospital, where pioneering public health work took place in the 19th century.

Archway has always had a strong sense of purpose. In the 1970s, it was shaped by modernist ambition—look at the Whittington Estate and Highgate New Town, both striking examples of social housing with community in mind. These are homes that try to make space for people, not just pack them in.

Just uphill is Lauderdale House, a 16th-century timber-framed mansion turned arts centre. It’s seen everything from royal visitors—Charles II and Nell Gwynn—to Victorian reformers and is now a hub for exhibitions, concerts, and classes.

Across the road, Waterlow Park rolls down towards the city, gifted by Sir Sydney Waterlow as “a garden for the gardenless.” Overlooking it is Cromwell House, a fine 17th-century building that once hosted dignitaries and, later, functioned as a hospital for smallpox patients. Its name recalls Oliver Cromwell, though he never lived there—it was named in honour of his legacy during the Interregnum.

Tucked nearby is Channing School, founded in 1885 by progressive Unitarians. The school perches on the hillside with views over London, still guided by the values of education, equality, and independence.

Culturally, Archway remains lively. The Archway Tavern, once a haunt for bikers and musicians, appeared on the cover of The Kinks’ Muswell Hillbillies. Round the corner, The Toy Project repairs and redistributes toys, combining sustainability with community joy. Music lingers too—Marc Bolan once lived on nearby Hillcrest, and local studios have hosted everyone from punk bands to TV composers.

Archway is layered—history, rebellion, housing policy, folklore. Not quite Highgate, not quite Holloway, it has its own rhythm. You can hear it in the clatter of a bus pulling into the hub, in a child’s laugh in the park, in the echo beneath the bridge. This is a place where stories pass through and sometimes stay.

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