London 2024 - Day Five 9/19/24

It is hard to believe that we are at the halfway point of our trip! Day five started off, as usual, with a wonderful proper English breakfast at our hotel. Today our group split in two, one small group hopped on the train bright and early for a full day excursion in Liverpool where they took in all things Beatlemania.

The remainder of the group traveled by bus to the lovely, lush, green town of Hampstead in North London. The first stop was a visit to Kenwood House, the home of many different historical noble families since its construction in the 17th century. It is currently home to the 1st Earl of Iveagh's renowned collection of Old Master and British paintings, including works by Rembrandt and Vermeer. The artwork on display in the mansion was incredible as was the architecture of the home itself.

After wrapping up our time at Kenwood House, we had some free-time to explore downtown Hampstead. Some of us hit the shops, others hit the pub, and some decided to explore the graveyard at St John-at-Hampstead Church, which is where it can be said that Captain Hook and Peter Pan are buried next to each other...

J. M. Barrie was a close family friend of the Llewelyn-Davies family. Arthur and Sylvia Llewelyn-Davies had 5 boys: George, Jack, Peter, Michael and Nicholas, and became his inspiration for the Darling family in Peter Pan with the title character of Peter being named after Peter Llewelyn-Davies. The story of Peter Pan originated as a play and was first performed in 1904 at the Duke of York’s theatre in the West End. The villain, Captain Hook, was played by Gerald Du Maurier, who happens to be buried right next to the Llewelyn-Davies family in the churchyard. Such an interesting find in the town of Hampstead!

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Stonehill College Alumni Travel

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