Hampstead Heath has always been a holiday spot for Londoners. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries grander folk built large houses in rolling estates to which to retire in the summer months while poorer folk made the hour’s walk up from the city to picnic on the open heath. Entertainers abounded, as did complaints about …
Postponed………
For the last ten days tents have been popping up all over the Kenwood Lawns, blue pipes snaking their way along every path and teams of high viz jacketed workers swarming all over the park – in preparation for last weekened’s Heritage Live concert – 10,000 expected….. Rag N Bone Man, Boy George and the …
Welcome to a plantswoman’s garden in Faversham
As you walk up the street towards Sarah Langton-Lockton’s house in Faversham your eye is caught by a blood red cloud of dahlias and rose blossoms clustered around the gate to her house – a foretaste of the plantsman’s feast that will greet you in her garden. (For those who want to know, the rose …
Shepherd’s Cottage once more under threat
Shepherd’s Cottage dates from the early 17th century and is probably the oldest building in Highgate – a relic of the days when sheep along with the other animals designed to be sold at London’s busy markets, were driven, on foot, from as far away as Scotland. The journey could take six to eight weeks …
Elderly lady goes for a swim
And as an antidote to all of those slightly depressing weeds, a short video of an elderly lady who arrived in her sedan chair for her swim just as I was crossing between the ponds. As you will hear, she lost one of her front legs about five years ago and is now very arthritic …
Wild flowers – and weeds – part 2
Let us start with Common Yarrow, both because it is so pretty and because PictureThis does not really have anything bad to say about it. A wildflower that is considered to be good luck in China and to have magical powers in Scotland. It can be brewed into beer, tea and liquor although PictureThis suggests …