Hampstead Heath

Hampstead Heath is one of London's most popular open spaces, situated just four miles at the closest point from Trafalgar Square. More rural than the countryside, the magic of Hampstead Heath lies not only with its mosaic of flora and fauna or its extensive recreational facilities, but also with its proximity and accessibility to millions of people. The views south across London are spectacular, encompassing the whole meander of the Thames from Greenwich to west London against a backdrop of Blackheath and the Surrey Hills. To the north-west the panorama takes in the high spot of Harrow and sweeps across the Totteridge hills towards Enfield. From the heights that afford the vantage spots to take in these views, the ground drops away into a series of folds that contain a wonderful variety of spaces; some are intimate enough to enjoy on your own and to achieve a sense of being in the countryside, in others you can enjoy an informal game of frisbee or five-a-side football without intruding on adjacent quiet spaces. Overlying the natural topography is a landscape that contains a record of centuries of man's intervention from the mesolithic through industrial (brick making, sand quarrying, etc.) a managed agricultural landscape to the glorious moment when local people recognised that this unique piece of open space was being threatened by development and rose up in opposition to save it and ensure that it would for evermore remain a publicly accessible open space for people of London.