88c Fordwych Road in West Hampstead was Douglas Adams’ home during the late 1970s, when he was writing the first *Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy* radio scripts. It’s one of the most important real-world addresses in *Hitchhiker’s* lore — the place where the universe began with a towel, a pint, and a deadline.
SEARCH 51.5512858, -0.2065051 88c Fordwych Road, Kilburn, London Borough of Camden, London, Greater London, England, NW2 3NL, United Kingdom
Adams was sharing the flat with friends while struggling to make a living as a comedy writer. Legend has it that he wrote much of the original series here in bursts of inspired panic, often working through the night. His famous story of lying in the bath “with a typewriter balanced on his knees” is usually associated with this address or nearby 42 Redcliffe Square.
Fans sometimes make quiet pilgrimages to Fordwych Road, imagining the moment when Adams first realized that Earth could be demolished simply to make way for a hyperspace bypass. The number 88c has since become a kind of secret coordinate in the *Hitchhiker’s* map of London.
