Love Parks Week at Hampstead Heath

Love Parks Week is an annual campaign, organised by parks charity GreenSpace. Founded in 2006, the campaign has grown steadily and is now established as a major event that is celebrated in parks across the country. Each year hundreds of events take place, attracting extensive media coverage and enabling thousands of people to get out and enjoy their parks.

Love Parks Week 2009 will take place between Saturday 25 July and Sunday 2 August. This year we are asking as many people as possible to get into parks to join our campaign for continued investment and support for these valuable assets. By holding an event in a park, or even just attending one, you will be helping to send the message that parks are an essential part of every community

There are a variety of events on the Heath,including fishing lessons, Mr Tickle and Teddy Bears picnic for the children, guided tours and if you want to learn more about butterflies (at Butterfly House, Golders Hill Park, NW11) – it’s all free.
LOVE PARKS

Parliament Hill Lido and Hampstead Heath Swimming Ponds

In all this warm weather what you need to know about Hampstead is where you can cool down. The Parliament Hill Lido on Hampstead Heath was upgraded recently with a new stainless steel lining which it is hoped will aid the retention of heat. The pool is 60 metres x 28 metres pool and from its elevated position you have the famous views over the city of London.

If you prefer a more natural(I mean nude) and sometimes less busy cool down on a hot London day try out the Hampstead Heath Swimming ponds; one for men, one for the ladies and a mixed pool. The ladies pool is the cleanest as it is at the top of the hill and the source of the natural spring which feeds the ponds. All bathing costs £2for adults and £1 for concessions.

Hampstead Heath Parking Zones

NEW parking proposals have incensed people who go to Hampstead Heath by car to walk and enjoy the facilities around Kenwood House.

Plans for a controlled parking zone (CPZ) have been branded a “stealth tax” by residents and Heath users say accessibility to the parkland will be hindered.

Haringey Council’s plan is to extend the CPZ operating around Highgate Station to include Hampstead Lane, Bishopswood Road, Sheldon Avenue and other surrounding streets. It would stop everyone except residents parking between 10am and noon, which Heath users say punishes people who come from far and wide.

Manager of the Brew House at Kenwood Simon Dodd said: “We feel very strongly about this and we are going to make a big protest as are all the regulars, who are up in arms.

“Not only is it a ridiculous idea but they put the sign up telling people about it in a side road – not on Hampstead Lane where it should be.

“We will be affected by it massively. We are very angry and upset. There are quite a number of regulars who always come during that time and they are understandably very upset.”
HAM&HIGH

Nude Male Sunbathing on Hampstead Heath

The Ham and High reports that hundreds of campaigners including Julian Clary and human rights protestor Peter Tatchell are backing a scheme to increase the area for nude male sunbathing on Hampstead Heath.

A petition with more than 1,000 signatures will be presented to the new Chairman of the Heath today (Thursday) calling for greater space for the naturists, expanding the small concrete plot they currently use next to the changing room at the men’s swimming pond.

The campaign appeared in its early days on the letters pages of the Ham&High last May, when naturist Michael Peacock complained about the lack of space.

Now, a year on, he is hoping he has enough public and celebrity support to free the nudists. A total of 1,061 people are now backing his bid, which will be presented to the new chairman of the Heath Management Committee, Michael Welbank, at the bathing enclosure this morning.

But the move is unlikely to go unopposed and looks set to pit the nudists against conservationists and more traditional swimmers who want visitors to keep covered up.

Hampstead Heath, London NW3

To the north and east of Hampstead, and separating it from Highgate, is London’s largest ancient parkland, Hampstead Heath, which includes the well-known and legally-protected view of the London skyline from Parliament Hill. The Heath, an major place for Londoners to walk and “take the air”, has three open-air public swimming ponds; one for men, one for women, and one for mixed bathing, which were originally reservoirs for drinking water.