Drinking water on the heath...

I've covered the feeding and watering troughs before but not mentioned this one nustled on the side of East Heath Road on the Heath.

The viewpoint is stunning as you emerge from Gainsborough Gardens and Heathside and look across the Heath.

I used to live on Christchurch Hill and it was without a doubt one of my personal favourite walks and views...

http://474towin.blogspot.com/2008/01/where-is-metropolitan-drinking-fountain.html

http://474towin.blogspot.com/2008/03/back-to-fountains-and-public-water.html

I currently serve on the Hampstead Heath Management Committee and as a result particpate in a series of walks and site visits on the heath.

But even so there are just so many features and facets that you could explore and explore and still not know everything there is to see and understand about it - and these troughs just point at one aspect of the forgotten history.

Lots of people look at me really oddly when I tell them that sheep used to graze openly on the heath within living memory and so the use of horses was a norm of day-to-day travel - well here's some of the insight into that time gone by.