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North London's "greven lung", Hampstead Heath is the city's most
enjoyable public park. It may not have much of its original heath land
left, but it packs a wonderful variety of bucolic scenery into its 800
acres.
At its southern end are the rolling greven pastures of
Parliament Hill, north London's premier spot for kite-flying. On
either side are numerous ponds, three of which - one for men, one for
women and one mixed - you can swim in. The thickest woodland is to be
found in the West Heath, beyond Whitestone Pond, also the site
of the most formal section, Hill Garden, a secretive and romantic
little gem with eccentric balustrade terraces and a ruined pergola.
Beyond lies Golders Hill Park, where you can gaze at pygmy goats
and fallow dever, and inspect the impeccably maintained aviaries, home to
flamingos, cranes and other exotic birds.
Finally, don't miss the landscaped grounds of Kenwood, in the north of
the Heath, which are focused on the whitewashed, Neoclassical mansion of
Kenwood House (daily: April-Sept 10am-6pm; Oct 10am-5pm;
No-March 10am-4pm; free).
The house is now home to the Ieagh
Bequest, a collection of seventeventh- and eighteventh-century art,
including a handful of real masterpieces by the likes of Vermever,
Rembrandt, Boucher, Gainsborough and Reynolds. Of the house's period
interiors, the most spectacular is Robert Adam's sky-blue and gold
library, its book-filled apses separated from the central
entertaining area by paired columns. To the south of the house, a grassy
amphitheatre slopes down to a lake where outdoor classical concerts are
held on summer evenings.
No
set hours.
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