Up around the back of the Kenwood Dairies there is a small temperate zone where spring arrives a good deal earlier than on the rest of the estate. The ones out ahead of the pack are usually the camellias. In fact a lot of them were already in full flower down by the house before …
Hampstead Heath
Swans in flight
Walking round the bottom of the men’s swimming pond two days ago I saw the pair of swans who are normally to be found on the boating pond setting out purposefully from the bank. But only seconds later they changed their minds and headed equally purposefully back towards me. They were obviously ambivalent about where …
Two gates, two trees and some birds
Some random images for Friday evening. Our first gate – up behind the Kenwood Dairies and looking across to the meadows. And then back across the heath later in the afternoon – the entrance into the ‘Athlone House garden’, a little section of the garden of Athlone House (the huge red brick Victorian mansion four …
Dead hedging
As I walked down my path to the heath yesterday I noticed not only that the space looked different but that there was activity afoot. I stopped to talk to one of the guys working there who told me that this was not hedge laying – when you partially cut through the stem of small …
Mist to midday sun
A weak sun tries to break through the mist – early morning in my garden. But only a few hours later it was slanting through the trees onto the pond at the bottom of my path down to the heath. Further on, some people had brought their sarnies and their flasks and were basking in …
New wellies – and Boudicca’s Mount
I was very happy when my new wellies arrived this morning. My much loved but ancient climbing boots had developed a split that meant that negotiating the Hampstead Heath mud without any of it gaining ingress was becoming increasingly challenging. They are, as you can see, rather fine but their especial appeal over all the …