To Hampstead Heath and Beyond ... By Steve Rudd Photos Courtesy of - Vic Coughtrey and Jerry Peek

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So, you live in London and wish to escape the hustle and bustle of the inner city scene. Where can you turn to? Why, the plethora of beautiful parks of course - and there are few places nicer than Hampstead Heath, in North London, for some quality peace and quiet. I wanted to see this open heath for myself, and see if I could spot any celebrities hanging out there in the bargain too, for it is a well known place for them to visit.

Consulting my trusted London guidebook, I set off working from the fantastic St Pancras youth hostel (which is almost right opposite King's Cross train station), as Hampstead didn't look too far away on the scale-skewed map. Still, it took the best part of ninety minutes to reach the Hampstead area, having walked west along Euston Road from the youth hostel and then north up Camden High Street, and thus right through the vibrant heart of the ever-popular Camden town that is packed with well-known music venues and market stalls.

The Hampstead suburb of London itself is an extremely rich one, and the streets there (Chalk Farm Road, Haverstock Hill and Rosslyn Hill) gently slope up and over to the expansive Heath that I was aiming for. 741 acres of open land are there for the masses to enjoy, and there is little wonder that this Heath is one of the city's most popular parks, but on a thrillingly cold February morning there were few people around savouring its serene tranquillity.

Those people who were walking around were mainly doing so in the company of dogs, this being an ideal place for both canines and their respective owners to stretch their legs and spend some quality time together. It was quite comical passing some of the dog owners who had to constantly call back their dogs, especially when most of the four-legged friends seemed to be called Harry, Joey or Larry.

Nope, there were no dogs with common or garden names such as Rover around these parts - at least not that morning.

The Heath is criss-crossed by a great number of well-worn paths and tracks, with a smattering of pretty ponds proving to be eye-catching water features. I can just imagine how busy the Heath must be at the height of summertime and in this respect I was glad that I'd visited when I had, effectively having the Heath to myself. And despite having heard that the Heath can be a lonely place and not to be ventured across alone in fear of attack, the Heath was nothing but charming, and I suppose the only time you should really not traverse the terrain alone is late at night.

In the middle of the Heath, enclosed from the outside world by trees, there is really no hint of the big, bad city at large just a short walk away. You can also cycle around the many paths and tracks, but beware - there are numerous signs around warning the casual bike-rider that there is an 8 m.p.h. speed limit in force! So just you be careful.

Over on the far western extremity of the Heath you'll find Golders Hill Park, at the centre of which is a small zoo that has housed there various birds (of the winged variety) and deer. One woman-with-child enquired to a zoo-keeper as I strolled by about the Emus that used to live there. 'Are they coming back'? she asked - but the man just looked plain bemused and clearly didn't understand what she was on about.

Continued ... next page

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