The Pond like you have never seen it...

Whitestone Pond is something of a local legend so it's great to see the level of care and attention being lavished upon it by a joint repair venture by the City of London and Camden Council.

These snaps taken this weekend just gone are of the pond being worked upon as you will soon never see it again.

The pond and it's environs have an incredibly special place in the heart of Hampstead - once known as the cockney seaside we have at last restored the donkey rides and begun to re-create the victorian funfair atmosphere...

http://474towin.blogspot.com/2008/10/where-is-that-white-stone-hidden.html

Originally it was called the horse pond and was the place where people coming over the heath and about to go down into Hampstead would run their horse and cart through the pond to clean the mud off the hooves and wheels to stop slipping when going down the steep Heath Street.

The donkey's are a-staying...

It's taken a while but we are now in the second year of having the donkeys back at Whitestone Pond - and to considerable acclaim from local children.

I'm pictured here with Cllr Flick Rea (Culture and Tourism at Camden) and it's the repeat of last year.

http://474towin.blogspot.com/2008/10/donkey-ride-for-you-too.html

The festival on Whitestone Pond is a nice little collaboration between Camden and the City of London and part of a programme that will see the area round the pond get a whole refurbishment later this yeat (and not before time!).

Until then - it's me, Josh, Chalie and Flick
:-)

Where is that white stone hidden?

I thought I'd better elucidate more on the context of Whitestone Pond and it's significance and also show off some of the pictures I took on the open day to mark the 1908 Olympics.

Thanks to The City of London (Simon Lee and Richard Gentry esp.), to camden (good to see Cllrs Flick Rea and Linda Chung there) and also to the range of residents and local amenities groups there...

The name Whitestone Pond appears to be relatively recent and not least event overtaken by other names - until recently (turn of the 20th century it was known still as The Horse Pond).

The white stone itself is still visible to the wandering explorer - but it's over the road from the pond itself at the top of Hampstead Grove and Upper Terrace by Judges Walk. The stone is a milestone but is unmarked and doesn't seem to have been inscribed at any time.

The Pond itself is not a constant size or precise location - over time it has shuffled moved, enlarged and varied. Not least the edging has changed several times in the last century - and is to change again - and indeed until 1899 there was also another pond at Branch Hill just nearby

Part of the significance of the area was that jack Straws castle was a kety watering hole/drinking establishment and combined with the literary nature of the Hoare family at Heath House in the 18th and 19th century meant that there was a pretty steady stream of literatry figures visiting the locality.

• John Constable
• John Keats
• George Crabbe
• John Linnell
• Leigh Hunt
• Wilkie Collins
• William Makepeace Thackeray to name a few.

The other earlier crucial part of the history was the use of the site for an early warning beacon - referenced as being first built in 1576 but used in 1588 during the Armada. The site is also cited as the location of encampment for Wat Tyler's rebellious unit under Jack Straw before marching on London. The Peasant's revolt ended with the leaders being hanged.

Now of course there is a desire to realise the potential of the site and the beauty of the views with better facilities and enahnced festivals/activities. For my own part - much as I appreciate the donkeys, the organ grinder and the tug-of-war, I'm keenest on ensuring the historic illusions are captured and the open air art show is recaptured along the top of Heath Street leading to the Pond... but for the future it's a superb start for a great piece of open space in the local area.

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

"High on bleak Hampstead's swarthy moor"

Not my words but those of Macaulay describing Hampstead's Whitestone Pond - it was of course such a high spot that it was the location of one of the Armada Beacons of 1588.

There is still a white stone (though I haven't taken the time to hunt it down yet) which apparently reads "4 miles from St Giles Pound: 4.5miles from Holborn Bars".

Now the area feels curiously drab and run down - part of autumn of course, but on a wider point the signage has had some attention but needs proper repair and so it's welcome that the refurbishment application for Heath House has attracted a section 106 payment and combined with some serious investment between camden and the Corporation of London (time and money) the area is to get a serious facelift.
http://474towin.blogspot.com/2008/02/blue-plaque-for-george-crabbe-in.html

Of course it could be so much better and this now lying on the route of the Olympic cycle ride.

It was the Horse Pond whereby carriages comming from up the hill or preparing to descend the hill would pause to water and also to clean their wheels of the mud from the journey - usually these were the coal carriages.

It was also much in use during the construction of the underground as the earth from the Hampstead Tunnel was taken up to Inverforth House to build the Pergola foundations.
http://474towin.blogspot.com/2008/07/tranquil-and-idyllic-thanks-to-northern.html

For details of the Whitestone Pond development appraisal have a look via this link on Camden website:
http://www.camden.gov.uk/ccm/content/council-and-democracy/having-your-say/consultations/street-policy/whitestone-pond/whitestone-pond---development-appraisal/whitestone-pond---development-appraisal-consultation.en;jsessionid=AAE99ABE37AC44CA586B8C65AF730265.node2