Hampstead Heath

Gorgeous Hampstead Heath snapped by me

MY FAVOURITE. AND EVERYONE ELSE'S

I love Hampstead Heath. There, I said it. 

I know I'm supposed to be more original than that but I can't help it. The Heath is so big and diverse that you can never get bored exploring it It has everything: woodlands, fields, a bog, a pergola, hills, bathing ponds, regular ponds, playgrounds, Tennis courts, running tracks and last but not least the manor Kenwood House.

So far I've been too absorbed  with the outdoors to visit Kenwood House properly but it operates a nice café  and I'm told it hosts English Heritage Picnic Concerts in summer. Don't know if I feel the need to watch Tom Jones, Gypsy Kings or Liza Minelli in the park but live music in parks are usually a great combination.

Kenwood House, www.wikipedia.org

I don't just come for Parliament Hill and the Hampstead landscapes. The delightful (some might say 'cutesy, but whatever') Hampstead and Belsize villages also draw me back on a regular basis as well as the fact that you can always find a place to wander undisturbed, picnic or in my case get completely lost on the Heath.

Clearing so pretty I had to run to straight to it after taking this photo

 

Hampstead branches... trying to catch the red flowers.

View of London from Parliament Hill on a cloudy day - hopefully, you're encouraged to go see what it looks like up close.

Apparently there is a Parliament Hill Café in the area next to the Heath's bandstand. I have yet to visit it. 

       

Abandoned coffees (and a scone!) at the Burgh House, local history museum and café in Hampstead Village

 POLISHED NORTHERN NEIGHBOURHOODS

I usually have coffee around Hampstead High Street before going up to Parliament Hill or the opposite direction up Heath Street to the Whitestone Pond. 


Both walks are lovely and they take you past some really pretty houses before getting to the park. As corny as it is, I really enjoy the polished look and feel of the Hampstead neighbourhood. I've had some trouble catching its charm in photos though...

Sign and police officer (?) in Downtown Hampstead

Blue and Red cars in Downtown Hampstead

Hampstead side street 

KEATS, ORWELL AND FREUD

On your way to Parliament Hill you might stop by Keats House on Keats Grove. The poet lived here from 1818 to 1820 and reportedly wrote 'Ode to a Nightingale' under the plum tree in the garden. 


Fittingly, the next-door neighbour is the Heath Public Library.

On my way to Keats House...

  

Not Keats's House but I had an urge to go in and find out whose... 

   
At the very top of Parliament Hill you'll find this plaque:

www.wikipedia.org

... on this house, no. 77:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25127834@N07/3153411847/

This house is actually still a private home but like Keats House you can visit the Freud Museum at no. 20 Marsefield Gardens nearby. I've only been past once and unfortunately the museum was closed. It looks like this:

The Freud Museum in Hampstead, www.wikipedia.org 

PONDS AND WOODLANDS

This is just to try to give different impressions of the Heath, what I've photographed here is mainly open woodland at different occasions:

Around Parliament Hill

Up Heath Street to Whitestone Pond...

And into the forest...

Sun in the treetop

Not my best tree-shot 

Even the public restrooms look like something out of a German folktale.

The ladies in Hampstead Heath

The Three Graces on the Heath, Helena is photographing.

My next quest will be to find the 'secret' Pergola, it looks absolutely beautiful. It could take a while, though, since maps are rare on the Heath.... However, wandering aimlessly in parks is what this blog is all about so I'll embrace the challenge. I honestly feel more comfortable 'losing myself' in a park than any other place in London. See the 'about section' if you still fancy a map.

I'll be sure to let you know when I have some personal shots of the pergola, but until then these will have to do: 

Pergola: A raised, covered walkway, www.wikipedia.org

Another shot of the Thomas Hayton Mawson Pergola at Hampstead Heath, www.rawd.edu.net 

FIND OUT ABOUT...

Closest tube: Hampstead, Hampstead Heath

Most of Hampstead Heath is accessible 24 hours a day, see any variations under visitor information. 

Hampstead Heath

Hampstead Heath Visitor Information and Map

Kenwood House

Kenwood House Concerts

Burgh House

Keats House

Freud Museum 

Victoria Tower Gardens & Westminster Abbey Gardens Teaser

Houses of Parliament from Victoria Tower Gardens, www.urban75.org 

PRETTY GREEN IN WESTMINSTER

Trying to catch the same gorgeous view of the Victoria Tower... :

...without changing the angle at all:

Victoria Tower Gardens is a pretty little green patch next to Houses of Parliament where you can rest mind and body when out and about in central London. It makes a nice green change from the many famous tourist attractions.

Here are said famous tourist attractions at an earlier and more grey occasion, photographed  out of a bus window and from a duck bus, respectively. Decent photos and none of the claustrophobia that usually comes with a visit to Parliament Square.

Big Ben

Houses of Parliament from the Thames

RIVER + TOWER VIEWS

The side-view of The Victoria Tower from the Gardens is striking; especially when the trees are in bloom. You won’t get it to yourself, but there is certainly less crowded here than in front of the Westminster Palace.

The Lambeth Bridge from a distance...

The Gardens are located on the north bank of the Thames, so grab one of the benches facing the river and watch the traffic go past as you enjoy an ice cream or a cold drink, which is exactly what I did...

Getting closer you can make out the characteristically red paint scheme

Had I been smarter, I would have turned left after snapping the above and photographed the green Westminster Bridge as a contrast. 

The colour of each bridge corresponds to the red leather seats in the House of Lords and the green leather seats in the House of Commons. Three guesses which of the two Houses is closest to Lambeth Bridge... 

AN ECLECTIC (?) MIX OF MONUMENTS

What Victoria Tower Gardens lacks in size it makes up for in monuments - a rather odd mix of them if you ask me. 

• The Buxton Memorial: A Gothic drinking fountain commemorating the abolition of slavery in the British Empire in 1834

The colourful Buxton Memorial

A statue of the sufragette Emmeline Pankhurst (1858-1928)

Mrs. Pankhurst, founding sufragette, www.newworldencyclopedia.org 

One of the twelve existing casts of Rodin's bronze sculpture The Burghers of Calais

The Burghers of Calais, www.wikipedia.org

SOMETHING TO LOOK FORWARD TO...

Westminster Abbey, www.goeuroupe.about.com

While in Westminster I wanted to visit the the three small Abbey gardens as they are supposed to be an overlooked garden gem. However, someone's wedding or rather all of the live media caravans blocked my way in. I plan to go post-William&Kate. Stay tuned. 

FIND OUT ABOUT....

Closest tube: Westminster, Pimlico


Victoria Tower Gardens is open to the public from 6 am until nightfall.


Victoria Tower Gardens 


Westminster Abbey Gardens 


Westminster Abbey

Houses of Parliament

The Buxton Memorial


Emmeline Pankhurst


Auguste Rodin