Hampstead Heath London’s Oasis
On Sunday I ventured forth to Hampstead Heath to enjoy some of this nae too bad spring weather that we have been having lately. I must admit that once I stepped outside it wasn’t as warm as it seemed. The sun was beaming in my front window and it had fooled me into thinking it was a beautiful day, which was a hell of lot warmer than it really was.
As soon we stepped outside, I hastily retreated back indoors to change into my jeans, it wasn’t hot enough for shorts. My legs would have to stay pale white for a wee while longer. DAM I was looking forward to getting a bit of colour on them.
For a change things ran smoothly with London Transport and we arrived at the Heath in less than 30 minutes after leaving our flat. Which is a fucking minor miracle. I find it truly amazing that one minute I’m standing waiting for a bus on Kilburn High Road surrounded by masses of people, cars and police sirens blaring and in such a short space of time I’m in what could almost be described as an oasis of peace and clam at Hampstead Heath.
It was been around 6 months since I was last at “The Heath”. I cant understand why its been so long since I last visited the place. I use to love heading out into the countryside back home in the North East of Scotland during the colder winter months to escape city life for few hours, with my Staffie Mable. Oh boy does that dog of mine just love to chase squirrels, cats, dogs or anything else that likes to be chased! The weird thing is if she walks past a cat and it doesn’t run she will just walk past it. I swear one day we walked past a cat that was lying dead at the side of the road, more than likely run over by a car and Mable had a tear in her eye.
Hampstead Heath has got it all, open green spaces, trees galore, ponds, wildlife, and stunning views of London, yet this place is so easy to get to and so close to central London. I find it a bit of a strange feeling standing on top of parliament Hill, where it almost feels like you are hours away from civilisation, but there you are looking at masses of buildings all over London, which in reality aren’t that far away.
What I love about The Heath is that this place is massive, it is around 792 acres in size and it never gets as packed as those tourist trap Royal Parks. It is so easy to get lost and believe me every-time I go there I love nothing better than getting totally lost. Even though there are usually plenty of people wandering around at the weekend and even more so when the sun is shining it is still possible to find fairly quiet spots to lay down your tartan travel rug to get a wee bit of rest and recuperation.
I had almost forgotten how good a place Hampstead Heath is for escaping the madness that is London. As much as I love life in London, it is still good to get a wee break from it for a few hours and the best thing of all I don’t have to travel for endless hours on a train to do it. After a few hours at The Heath I love nothing better than searching for bullet holes on the wall of the Magdala pub, well that’s my excuse for nipping in their for a couple of pints of cold lager.
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