Old Heath Film - HAMPSTEAD HEATH - 2012

The following links connect to British Pathe and there are some interesting clips of Hampstead Heath in the past years.
When the box pops up, just click on "play" and use the small EXPAND square, at the bottom of the panel to play full screen.

"Londoners enjoy first real holiday since the war". Hampstead Heath, London. Large crowd milling about on heath, some tents and fairground. Shot of crowd sitting on grass in park, people on swings behind them - could possibly be Parliament Hill?" 1919

"Group of people watch swimmers dive from a board in an outdoor swimming pool. Film is reversed to show the divers emerging from the water and returning to the board. Dives then seen in slow motion. Issue sheet states that the pool is at Kenwood " 1929

" "Thousand in cross-country Championship". Parliament Hill fields (Hampstead Heath), London. Athlete Mel Batty wins Cross Country Championship. Various shots competitors at start of race. M/S New Zealand team. Start of race, pan as the field runs away from camera. " 1965

"Filmed at Ken Wood" (presumably Kenwood House on Hampstead Heath, London). A story about "all-the-year-round bathers." M/S of girls in running gear jogging around the side of one of the bathing ponds on Hampstead Heath. The girls wave at the camera. "Air temperature 34 degrees - water 39 degrees - with a permanent sinking feel" 1931

"Kenwood. Hampstead, London. Various scenic shots of the park with forest, lake and garden. Various L/S's of Kenwood House, three ladies sit on the grass and sketch. M/S of a family sat in the gardens. C/U of children with their small home-made tent. Various shots of the lake with people swimming and diving in." 1943

"Filmed in a variety of locations. Various shots of traditional Romany gypsy camp with wooden caravans. Various shots early example of Romany gypsy caravan on show at Kenwood, London - very elaborately decorated with gold leaf." 1954

"Fur fashions. Kenwood, London. GV Man and woman walking beside lake at Kenwood. Woman is wearing musquash jacket and trousers, (bell-bottomed), and cap to match. Man is wearing musquash coat" 1969

One curiosity is the whine of a miniature siren belonging to one of the fariground rides.
Of particular interest is the voice of showman running a weight-guessing pitch.
Weight-guessing was recorded as a street occupation by Henry Mayhew in London Labour and the London Poor in the mid-nineteenth century, typically occurring outside major railway stations.
Weight-guessing was also an early example of the human voice becoming automated. ‘I Speak Your Weight’ machines began to be produced in the early 1930s by the British Automatic Co. Ltd. and other manufacturers.
A shellac disc inside the machine bore voice recordings, and the customer’s weight made a needle move to the start of the appropriate track and begin playing.