Jazz's Barber

Eel Brook Common

Walham Green · 1.9 miles

Eel Brook Common is common land in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, close to Fulham Broadway, with its south-eastern boundary along New King's Road. According to the Fulham Society, the name actually is a derivative of 'hill brook common' - which relates to Musgrave Crescent, which is raised much higher than the surrounding land. It is believed that this is artificial and it probably was originally a Bronze Age mound - either a raised piece of ground to defend against attackers, or as a burial mound. When you leave Eel Brook Common from the north side, you go up a steep ramp - up onto Musgrave Crescent. It is within the Hammersmith and Fulham Conservation Area of Parsons Green.

College Garden

Millbank · 2.5 miles

A private garden attached to Westminster Abbey provides a quiet green enclave within the capital. The site, listed as College Garden on OpenStreetMap and classified as a park near Millbank, welcomes visitors Monday to Friday between 10:00 and 16:00, with no admission charge. Entrance is separate from the abbey, allowing a brief visit without attending the main church. The garden traces its origins to the infirmary of the medieval monastery that occupied Thorney Island a thousand years ago, and it is claimed to be the oldest continuously cultivated garden in England. Although its original purpose of feeding monks has ceased, the layout retains a tranquil atmosphere. In 2010 a new herb garden was installed to echo the historic herbarium once tended by the monks. The north boundary abuts the great hall of Westminster School, originally the monks’ dormitory, while the east and south sides are defined by a medieval wall and a watergate that formerly opened onto the River Thames, now about 50 metres away beyond the House of Lords. Visitors can also explore the adjacent Little Cloister Garden, which contains a fountain within the cloisters, and St Catherine’s Garden situated among the ruins of the old monastic infirmary. Just outside the watergate, College Green frequently appears in televised political interviews, adding a contemporary cultural reference to the historic setting.

Little Dean's Yard

Millbank · 2.5 miles

A private, gated courtyard lies at the centre of Westminster School, positioned on the historic Thorney Island that now straddles the grounds of Westminster Abbey and the Palace of Westminster. The yard is situated near Millbank and forms part of the former monastic precincts, linking the school’s interior with the surrounding ecclesiastical complex. To its east lies College Garden, recognised as England’s oldest cultivated garden and once the infirmary garden of the medieval monastery. The entrance to the school is marked by a stone arch attributed to Lord Burlington, replacing the monks’ former reredorter. A historic stone path traces the original route before the remainder of the area was paved, and a low stone tunnel runs beneath a row of monastic buildings to connect with Dean’s Yard. On the northern side stands Ashburnham House, a structure credited to Inigo Jones or his pupil John Webb, erected on the site of the medieval Prior’s House; its bricks still bear the imprints of schoolchildren’s coins left while waiting for the tuck-shop. A broad archway opens through the Dark Cloister toward the Abbey and the school gym. The southern side contains three Georgian houses that serve as Rigaud’s and Grant’s residences and the home of the Master of the Queen’s Scholars. Access is restricted to school members and authorised visitors, with no public admission facilities noted.

Flanders Fields Memorial Garden

Green Park · 2.5 miles

A tribute to the soldiers of the First World War stands beside the Guards Chapel and close to the statue of Harold Alexander at Wellington Barracks in central London. The memorial garden, listed as a monument on the OpenStreetMap database, lies within walking distance of Green Park and is freely accessible to the public. Designed by Belgian architect Piet Blanckaert, the layout centres on a circular grass bed that contains soil brought from Flanders, the region of many Western Front battles. The soil, gathered by schoolchildren from seventy cemeteries and battlefields, arrived in London after a naval hand-over aboard the Belgian frigate Louisa Marie and a subsequent transfer from HMS Belfast to the British Army. It was then conveyed through the city on the historic gun carriage of the King’s Troop before being placed in the garden. Native Flemish trees fringe the bed, and the surface bears an inscription of John McCrae’s poem “In Flanders Fields”. A stone bench of Flemish bluestone provides a place to reflect, while the overall design has been described by the garden’s curator, Andrew Wallis, as a blend of Belgo-Anglo craftsmanship. The site was formally opened on 6 November 2014 by King Philippe of the Belgians and Queen Elizabeth II, with Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and members of the Household Division in attendance.

Queen's Tower

Queen's Gate · 2.5 miles

Remnant of Imperial Institute buildings, demolished in 1957

Commonwealth Memorial Gates

City of Westminster · 2.5 miles

Situated at the Hyde Park Corner end of Constitution Hill, the Commonwealth Memorial Gates form a stone monument on the edge of the City of Westminster. The structure honours the volunteers from the Indian sub-continent, Africa and the Caribbean who served Britain in both World Wars, a dedication recorded on the main inscription that mentions five million such volunteers. A shorter dedication, quoting Nigerian poet Ben Okri, reads “Our Future is Greater Than Our Past”. Two stone slabs flank the pavilion on the Green Park side, each listing the principal campaigns in which Imperial forces fought, from West Africa and Gallipoli in the First World War to Burma, Malaya and the Dutch East Indies in the Second. The memorial’s pillars are cut from Portland stone and surmounted by a bronze urn fitted with gas flames, which are ignited on occasions such as Remembrance Sunday, Armistice Day and Commonwealth Day. A modest domed pavilion houses a ceiling bearing the names of 74 individuals from the commemorated regions who received the George Cross or Victoria Cross, divided between the two conflicts. Planning was overseen by the Memorial Gates Trust, with Prince Charles as inaugural patron and a board that included Lord Inge and Baroness Flather. Construction began on 1 August 2001, the first stone laid by the Queen Mother, and the gates were formally opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 6 November 2002, noted as the Golden Jubilee year of her reign. The site is a listed historic feature and can be approached from Constitution Hill, adjacent to the entrance of Hyde Park.