I guess it should have been a sign to give up and go home early on, when I got off the tube at Hampstead and found myself walking back and forth down the same three roads trying to find my way to the park for about 15 minutes. Eventually I found my way there, of course taking the longest possible route and finding myself at a completely different entrance than I expected to be at.
The park was gorgeous though, and very crowded considering its massive size. There were tons of families, dog walkers, and joggers.
I wandered around for about an hour, weaving in and out of forest and field, up and down huge rolling hills that offered sweeping views of the foggy city in the distance. It wasn't raining today, but it was about 48 degrees and rather damp outside, and on the hills in the meadows there was a stiff, frigid breeze.
Eventually I decided to head back even though I knew I had only seen a fraction of the park. Speaker's Corner is only active on Sundays starting at 12pm, and seeing as this is my last weekend here I didn't want to miss it. The only problem? I had no idea where I was at this point. Hampstead Heath has a terrible lack of signage, and by a lack of signage, I mean it has no signage whatsoever, despite the fact that it has dozens and dozens of criss-crossing trails that wind around for miles.
At last I found a playground with a restroom and a map on the side of the building. I was shocked to realize that I was on the complete opposite side of the park I wanted to be on, and pretty much as far away from the tube station as you could get! I mentally kicked myself.
At this point, I should have done the boring thing and gone back the way I came, but NO, I had to go down what looked like a parallel trail to check out this strange white monument thing in the middle of a field. The map had said it was "The Stone of Free Speech" or something, but when I got up to it I was sorely disappointed. All it was was a crumbling, white-washed concrete pillar without any sort of markings. If that's the best tribute we can give to free speech... how sad!
But alas, I did not turn back and go the way I had come -- instead I followed the trail up into the forest, taking in the splended views, watching the birds, and ignoring how late it was getting.
The birdlife at the Heath was quite impressive I must say, and had I planned on being there longer I would have enjoyed some very fruitful birding. I saw several Eurasian Jays, Grey Tits, Rooks, and even a Great Spotted Woodpecker along the way.
But I still couldn't find my way out of the darned park. I could swear I was heading back south west towards the Hampstead tube station, but about 40 minutes later I found myself at an iron gate in the woods marking the entrance to Kenwood House, a place I had not even planned on visiting because it was so far north!
Scrutinizing the barely-adequate map, I decided that I could head back down another trail (obviously I didn't learn my lesson from the first time I chose not to retrace my steps!). Well, the next thing I knew, I was in a totally different place that I had never seen before. A young woman coming towards me stopped and asked if I knew where Kenwood House was, and after telling her I had just passed it I asked if she knew to get out of the park (note to self: never ask for directions from someone who just asked YOU for directions! Lesson learned). She vaguely said it was back where she had come from so I followed the trail, but soon got lost again when it branched out in half a dozen new directions.
I walked on and on, completely disoriented, always thinking I had finally found the right path and then realizing I had gotten nowhere. It was extremely frustrating looking back on it, but surprisingly I managed to keep my cool the entire time, even when I found myself right back at Kenwood House 30-40 minutes later.
By now it had been over 2 hours, my legs were aching from climbing up and down hills, and my shoes were soaked through from the cold dew on the grass. Eventually I found my way out to some fields and finally stopped and asked an older couple how to get out. They said they had just come from the Highgate entrance, straight down the path and turn right after the pond. Thank goodness! I didn't even care that it was the wrong entrance, I was just tired of walking in circles. I knew once I got out on the street I could use my own map to get back.
And so I did. It fel like the longest walk ever (halfway around the outside of the park), but at least there were street signs! At last I made it down to the Belsize Park tube station and collapsed exhausted onto the train. It would be after 2pm by the time I got back, so, tired and slightly annoyed, I rode it straight home.
To be completely honest, I am really disappointed I didn't get to see Speaker's Corner, although at the same time I'm glad I got to see Hampstead Heath. I'm not sure it was worth all that hassle but I guess it was just another adventure in the long run (and on the upside, I got to see almost the ENTIRE 300 acres of the park)!
1 comment:
Sounds like the rambling tour I led Ellie on while you were at the Audubon camp a few years ago -- lost for an hour and a half in the Maine woods, complete with the criss crossing trails, no signage, and disorienting but beautiful scenery. Likewise, we never saw whatever it was we had originally set out to see (don't remember at the moment), and we were very glad to finally become *un*lost and find our way back to familiar ground! Still, nothing like getting lost for a good story, and some definitely off the beaten path views! Glad you got back to write about it!
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