London
West Hampstead
West Hampstead is an area in northwest London, England,
situated between Childs Hill to the north, Frognal and
Hampstead to the north-east, Swiss Cottage to the east,
and Kilburn to the south. Until the late 19th century,
the area was a small village called West End. Modern
West Hampstead emerged with the arrival of the railways,
and the transformation of the area from farm land to
housing estates. In 1879, the Metropolitan Railway adopted
the name West Hampstead for their station on West End
Lane, the main road through the area. Their motivation
seemed to be to avoid confusion with the main retail
area in central London, also known as the West End.
A few hundred yards south, toward central London, West
End Lane joins Abbey Road, of Beatles fame. The road
leads to St John's Wood. West Hampstead's proximity
to the Metropolitan line at Finchley Road and its own
Jubilee line stop (West Hampstead), together with a
high concentration of fashionable bars and restaurants,
means that the area is a popular destination for a night
out for people who live in the northwestern suburbs
of London. West End Lane itself is home to a number
of cafes, bakeries and small shops, a regular haunt
for the local population, which adds to the area a distinct
village atmosphere during the day. Both the West Hampstead
Thameslink and West Hampstead Overground have stations
on West End Lane making the area one of the best served
by public transport in London.
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