To an outsider, it seems preposterous to call Hampstead a VILLAGE – sitting as it does just four miles from the thrum of central London. But spend any time here and it starts to make sense. The island-like isolation of its hilltop location. The way that its lanes, alley-ways and cut-throughs seem to make it more accessible on foot than by car. The proud independence and personality of its many local shops, delis, cafes and restaurants. The untamed heathland on its doorstep. The way that people are more likely to know each other, more likely to have been here for years, more likely to end up staying here for years longer. Hampstead has an identity all its own. As a thriving modern community. As London’s favourite village.