Do you know the difference between an ancient tree and a veteran tree? No, nor did I until enlightened by Heath Hands Jo on a veteran tree walk around the heath last Friday. Sadly, because we had a Salon Music concert that evening, I had to peel off before we were even half way through …
Claygate beds
Sandy Heath
These days Sandy Heath seems a total misnomer for the precipitous, shadowy woodland, scattered with giant trees, that runs from Spaniards Road down to the Heath Extension. But this is the ridge of Bagshot Sands which runs east to west across the heath. ‘The Bagshot Sands’, says Helen Lawrence in How Hampstead Heath Was Saved, …
More on clay ponds and the Bagshot Sands
One of the first things that I read in Helen Lawrence’s fascinating How Hampstead Heath was Saved, was about the unusual geology that has created the heath’s rolling hills: a layer of clay covered with sand. (This map comes from her book – with thanks.) I was reminded of the sands when I walked passed …