Donkey ride for you too?

It's a direct guessing game - it's just for fun - there are no prizes - but which of these is 1908 and which is a current day snap...? :-)

http://www.london2012.com/get-involved/cultural-olympiad/events/807.php

For those that don't know Whitestone Pond is at the top of Hampstead High Street / Heath Street.

It's claimed to be the highest point of London - it's certainly high - but there is some argument over the claim...

But the Whitestone Pond site is a really pretty, very significant local feature. It has bags of historical significance - it was the site of one of the 1588 armada beacons, it was the location of visits to the area from Dickens, Thackeray, Crabbe and Constable often sat here to paint.

http://474towin.blogspot.com/2008/02/blue-plaque-for-george-crabbe-in.html

http://474towin.blogspot.com/2008/09/high-on-bleak-hampsteads-swarthy-moor.html

The sepia photograph is one of the postcards from my personal collection of the local area and you can see the horse carts going through the water in the background. The pond had two effects - the first was to water and refresh the horses that had come up/down the hill and second it cleaned the wheels of mud to stop slippage esp. if going down the hill.

There is much much more to follow on this topic and I am especially keen to ensure that the forthcoming refurbishment of the area - much needed and supported by both Camden, the City of London and funded partially by the section 106 money of Heath House - ensure that it is heritage refurbishment than another traffic improvement scheme.

It's great living round here with stuff like this in the vicinity...

Ed