You might find Energy Secretary and former Labour leader Ed Miliband opening the event alongside a Dad’s disco dance-off, a talk by Beatles biographer Hunter Davies, and tunes from guitar legend John Etheridge.
It was once headlined by punk band Centrist Dads, made up of ITV political pundit Robert Peston on vocals, Ed Balls on drums, and BBC presenter John Wilson on guitar.
This tranquil, community-focused enclave between Highgate Road and Dartmouth Park Hill forms a leafy buffer between Kentish Town and Highgate, where writers, film-makers and politicians have settled over the years.
The large Edwardian and Victorian homes are close to a wealth of good schools – as well as private Channing and Highgate School to the north, there’s a trio of secondary schools on Highgate Road – including the ‘outstanding’ Parliament Hill, William Ellis, and La Sainte Union Catholic girls’ school, all of which are judged to be ‘good’.
Confusingly, it’s not named after a park but for the Earl of Dartmouth, who purchased the land in the middle of the 18th century, and in the 19th Century the fifth Earl of Dartmouth started a lucrative house building scheme.
Alongside born and bred north Londoner Ed Miliband, past and present residents have included the actors Benedict Cumberbatch and Tom Hiddleston, film directors Ken Loach, Sarah Gavron and Kevin McDonald, novelists Julian Barnes and Tracy Chevalier, and TV comic Sue Perkins.
Although The Star in Chester Road is closed, the area is blessed with pubs including The Duke of St Albans, The Lord Palmerston, The Dartmouth Arms, and The Bull & Last in Highgate Road.
Name-checked as Times restaurant critic Giles Coren’s favourite local, the pub got its name from the cry of the coachmen heading up the Great North Road.
Historically the last inn before leaving the city limits they would shout ‘the bull…and last!”
Today the dog-friendly boozer is known for its Sunday roasts and Scotch eggs, among other gastronomic delights.
The cosy Dartmouth Arms is also a neighbourhood local, with its DJs spinning vinyl, relaxed vibe.
The area has a Victorian library in Chester Road, St Mary Brookfield Church, a new bookshop Funny Weather Books on Grove Terrace, and cafes like Crick’s Corner in Dartmouth Park Hill, and Truffles Deli in York Rise.
A short uphill stroll brings you Swain’s Lane where you’ll find butcher Meat N6, fishmonger and restaurant Shell and Co run by siblings Leah and Harry Lobek, gourmet grocery store Superette, bakery Sourdough Sofia and long-running cafe Kalendar.
