Marc Mullen

WALKERS were celebrating this week after taking another step towards seeing cycling curbed on Hampstead Heath.

Heath bosses have put the brakes on proposals for further cycle paths on the Heath after top level talks on Monday.

The Hampstead Heath Management Committee voted on Camden Cycling Campaign's proposals for eight new shared pedestrian and cycle paths. It completely ruled out six of the shared paths, and gave no guarantee the other two would be approved after further investigations.

Members of the Heath for Feet group, set up two years ago to fight the proposals, are celebrating."I am very pleased that the majority of Heath users is being heard," said founding member Maureen Clark Darby.

"I love to think that children can run wild on the Heath, without fear. That is sacrosanct. People can walk and meander and get lost in conversation on the Heath and that would change with more cycling. One member of the Heath management said, 'It's a heath and that is at the very heart of th

An artist's impression reveals how the new building would look  

Marc Mullen

PLANS for a huge, controversial development on the fringes of Hampstead Heath were revealed to the public last week.

Athlone House Limited, which bought the Victorian house from Dwyer Investments two years ago, is set to apply for planning permission to raze the former nursing home to the ground and replace it with a neo-classical pile more than twice the size.

Last Thursday and Friday, the public were shown designs for the new house at the Holly Lodge Community Centre ahead of the planning application.

The new house, which amenity groups fear will dominate the views from Hampstead Heath, will have underground parking for 18 cars, an underground swimming pool, cinema and gym, a ballroom as well as huge drawing and dining rooms, six bedrooms, two 'belvederes' and staff and guest quarters around an ornate fountain.

Tony Ghilchik, chairman of the Heath sub-committee of the Heath and Hampstead Society, was one of the fi

A Japanese symbol of fidelity has taken up residence in Hampstead, writes Bob Gilbert



To walk in Kenwood and hear the parakeets shrieking, or to see their distinctive long-tailed silhouettes gliding overhead, or to catch a glimpse of their brilliant emerald green, is a bit like walking into a dream.

In summer, when the foliage is dense, it is like entering one of those lush jungle paintings by Rousseau. On a dark winter's day, it is the strangeness of their presence among the stark, bare trees that breeds a sense of unreality.

In our recent family walks, this feeling of dislocation has been heightened by the increased presence of another piece of seemingly misplaced exotica.

The mandarin must be among the most ornamental of ducks. In addition to a bewildering variety of shimmering colours and a chestnut-orange crest, the male carries its wing feathers upwards like a Japanese fan or the sails of a junk.

They have been present in this country since first imported as an aesthetic addition to t

I am delighted that we have the full support of the Ham&High (Comment, January 25) which described the proposed Whitestone Pond facelift as one of the "most satisfactory and enduring outlays imaginable".

Working on this project I have been amazed by the strength of feeling and irritation aroused by the desperate state of the Pond and its environs. Ironically, I have also noticed how frequently, (understandably), the Ham&High features photos of this landmark location.

The Tour of Britain, a national cycling event which took place in September 2006, attracted huge crowds to the area and particularly to the pond. We can safely anticipate that when the Olympic cycle events pass through the Whitestone Pond area, it will not only be a major congregating area for spectators, but that the world's cameras will take advantage of its spectacular views of London.

Whilst we all agree with the Ham&High that it would be wonderful if this project could be completed well ahead of 2012, we are delighted that the Ol

23 February 1907: Gibbet tree blown down in gale

During the great gale last week the "gibbet tree" on Hampstead Heath near North End was blown down. This large elm tree was very old - about the same age as the celebrated eared elm until recently standing on the footpath near Heath House. Between the two trees was suspended the body of Jackson, a highwayman, for murdering Henry Miller near this spot in 1673. The gibbet post was later used as a mantle-tree over the kitchen fireplace in Jack Straw's Castle Hotel and the gibbet chains are still kept there.

In court, a factory girl of 16 spoke about losing an eye when she was on a roundabout and a shot went astray from the shooting range at a Hampstead Heath fair. The owner said there hadn't been an accident during the last 21 years. She is awarded £65 damages against the proprietor.

The benefits of working outdoors are many - as volunteers on the Heath have found over the years



The whole point of Heath Hands is to provide volunteer support staff to enhance the workforce on Hampstead Heath. But the spin-off benefit for the volunteers themselves almost eclipses the benefits to the Heath. At least that is the way it looks to us sometimes.

Of course the benefits described by our members add up to anecdotal evidence at best. But there is such a body of it now, it seems like to a good time to explore the notions that:

o Outdoor work is therapeutic and

o Heath Hands volunteers are engaged in activity as beneficial as any other outdoor activity on Hampstead Heath - whether it is walking, swimming or team sports.

Many of our members refer to their volunteer work as a "life saver", referring to the benefits to themselves, not the Heath. Gardening has long been considered therapeutic and there are now organisations devoted to introducing gardening to help solve a range of emoti

I would like to register my support for Mike Greene's initiatives for restricting dogs, and record in verse a personal experience:

7am on Hampstead Heath.

The shapes that form through early morning fogs

Have often fooled the wariest of eyes,

So when I thought I saw a thousand dogs

I wondered - was this one of nature's lies?

They crowded like the sands upon the shore

Stretched out along some South Pacific bay,

Infinities arrived, then more, then more,

Engulfed in a sub-optimal bouquet.

What, had the human race at last withdrawn

And ushered in the kingdom of the cur?

Was this the herald of a doggy dawn?

I took no chances, mumbling "Please!" and "Sir!" -

It's better not to tangle with a pup

Whose tongue is hanging down, and stock is up.

David Crook

Hampstead Square, NW3

A new breed of furry park dwellers to rival the Wombles of Wimbledon has arrived in Hampstead, writes Bridget Galton



FIRST there were the Wombles of Wimbledon Common - now a BBC journalist has come up with the Hamster of Hampstead Heath.

Like their south London counterparts, Hamster and his friend Vole are community-spirited animals keen to save their beloved open space from the ravages of humankind.

But where Elisabeth Beresford's Wombles were assiduous litter pickers and recyclers, Hamster is more of a Swampy-style campaigner combating destructive development with guerrilla tactics.

After overhearing plans to build homes on the Heath, the intrepid rodent marshals the assistance of wily crows and a passing squirrel in the fight to save his habitat from the bulldozer.

Hamster and his friends are the invention of Martin Plaut, whose day job is Africa editor for the BBC World Service.

Perhaps inevitably, Plaut, who lives in Ryland Road, Kentish Town, came up with the idea while walking on

IN this column on March 8, a brief glance at part of the history of Hampstead Heath showed that the continual interest of the public in the Heath was crucial in the campaign to secure it in 1871 'for ever' ... 'as an open space'. That was, of course, a triumph, from which future generations have benefited enormously.

However, the paper (quoted here) prepared by the History Group (as part of the background work to Part I of the Strategic Management Plan) shows that other actions of the public were not so beneficial.

One of the rights which the public exercised over the part of the Heath that was common land of the Manor of Hampstead was the right to dig for sand and gravel. A map dated 1680 indicates the boundaries of the extent of that common land, which in effect covered what we know today as East Heath, Sandy Heath and West Heath.

Despite land use changes elsewhere, these three areas remained generally as treeless heathland and acidic grassland, except for a plantation of 'firs' and avenues on Sa

IT may be obvious why, today, Hampstead Heath is such an attraction. As countryside in the city, close to the centre of London, it provides an ideal opportunity "to get away from it all" for a while. It is a haven in a densely populated part of the UK.

Yet, why did the Heath become so popular over the centuries as a place to visit, when London was considerably less developed than it is today?

The History Group's background paper - from which, as before, this note gratefully draws - gives a clue. Part of the answer is water.

The London Conduit Act, 1544, empowered the City of London to make use of "dyvers great and plentiful sprynges at Hampstead Heath" and gave the City general powers to collect water from springs within five miles of the City.

Although it is not known when the ponds on the Heath were first made, by 1692 some of the Hampstead Ponds had been formed and were leased to a partnership called the Hampstead Water Company.

At about the same time, the water company leased a farm locat

MOST of the great local organisations were set up to prevent the erosion by one means or another of Hampstead and Highgate's most-prized environmental assets. A relative newcomer to the list, Heath For Feet, is no exception.

Its raison d'etre is to prevent any increase in the number of designated cycling paths on the Heath, and in response to the Hampstead Heath Management Plan consultation, it has submitted an impressive document in support of its case.

Heath For Feet faces a tough battle, because cyclists have influential people and a good deal of public opinion on their side. There are many who take the view that if cycling is to be encouraged for all kinds of reasons, then it is a ridiculous anomaly to prevent bicycles from traversing wide open spaces as freely and frequently as possible.

The problem with the Heath is that over the years it has become a virtual walker's paradise simply because it is one of the few places in London where a person can walk for miles without encountering any form

The Pergola is one of the hidden delights of Hampstead Heath. It overlooks West Heath, and was the dream of William H Lever, later Lord Leverhulme, a wealthy idealist, patron of the arts, architecture and landscape gardening, and Thomas Mawson, the celebrated landscape architect.

In 1904 Lord Leverhulme purchased The Hill, a substantial house facing North End Way. He subsequently acquired adjoining land, and had the opportunity to create the Pergola, a magnificent Edwardian extravagance which would be the setting for garden parties and summer evening strolls and a striking addition to the garden of The Hill.

The mastermind was Thomas Mawson, a world-famous authority on civic design, town planning and landscape architecture. He brought architectural treatment and formality to garden design, and The Hill's Pergola and gardens were to become the best surviving examples of his work.

Construction began in 1905. Central to the project was raising the large gardens of The Hill. This required an army of wor

In 1867, Walter Bagehot, the renowned analyst of the English constitution, noted that "No great work has ever been produced except after a long interval of still and musing meditation".

Part One of the Management Plan for Hampstead Heath (as agreed by the Management Committee on November 26) would fit this observation, except that whether the process was one of "still and musing meditation" may be open to question.

The fundamental starting point is that the Heath is the product of human intervention over the centuries. To ensure that it does not become a wilderness, a strategic plan was needed.

What we now have constitutes, in effect, a covenant between the City of London and the users of Hampstead Heath, present and future. It has been arrived at after a long period of consultation. It confirms the City's commitment to maintain the Heath as "a beautiful and accessible piece of countryside in the city, a place with a rich mosaic of habitats, a diverse landscape and a wealth of historic and natural

Far from being objective, the conclusions of the report by independent consultants are based on false premises (Report deals a bitter blow to Heath cyclists, H&H January 10).

The two principal criteria for assessment are width of path and flow of walkers/ cyclists.

By its own admission, the report recognises that ''there is little guidance on appropriate measures... for shared use'' and that ''there is no major piece of work that has been done''.

This might have something to do with the enormous range of possibilities that could create or avert a collision coupled with a common sense approach.

Just as a pedestrian may step on to the grass to allow a cyclist past on a narrow path, a cyclist may have to stop dead on a wide path to allow for the meanderings of a small child or even a dog, off the lead.

Just as at times a path may be busy and cyclists have to be slow and wary, at others a path may be empty. The harmonious use of the narrow tow path by the Regent's Canal illustrates how nonsensi

Marc Mullen

CONCERTS at Kenwood House are a step closer to returning, thanks to Camden's licensing chiefs.

The council's licensing panel has given English Heritage the go-ahead for eight concerts this summer in the grounds of the Grade II-listed building on Hampstead Heath.

The approval granted at the town hall last Thursday night is the first step towards the return of the concerts, which were axed last year for the only time since they started in 1952.

IMG, which will run this year's season of events, is awaiting approval for the new location of the stage before announcing the artists who will perform.

Rebecca Kane, director of visitor operations at English Heritage, said: "The granting of a premises licence is an important and positive step in the process of restoring the concerts.

"However, we are not there yet. The planning application for the concerts is still be processed by Camden and will not be decided until early April."

The eight concerts will be held between June 28 and Augus

Hampstead Heath bosses have taken the bait and are set to open up more ponds to fishermen.

The City of London Corporation, which manages the Heath, has carried out a survey into fishing which currently takes place in six of the ponds.

Corporation bosses have recommended that the ban on anglers fishing in ponds when swans are breeding is lifted for a trial period of one year.

Botanist David Bellamy, president of The Hampstead Heath Angling Society (HHAS) which formed last year to stand up for fishing rights on the Heath, said: "Anglers are the eyes and ears of the countryside, the first point of alert when pollution strikes.

"A real angler is a caring ecologist. I am proud to be the president of the Hampstead Heath Angling Society.

"Theirs is a precious oasis of thriving ecology amidst London's urban sprawl. I charge all HHAS members to at all times protect, cherish and care for this unique habitat."

The Heath's consultative committee will vote on the proposals on Monday night.

THE body of a woman was found on Hampstead Heath this week, but police have ruled out foul play. A woman dog walker discovered the 48-year-old s body near the Bird Bridge, just above the Viaduct Pond, around 10am on Tuesday morning. Heath constabulary off