22 December 2008
Postcard collection reveals bygone age of Hampstead Heath
Toboganning, donkey rides or just an afternoon stroll, Hampstead
Heath has been enjoyed by all since the mid-Victorian era, and now
we have photographic documentation which reveals Edwardians
spending leisure time on the Heath, much as many people of all ages
do nowadays.
Local historian and member of Hampstead Heath Consultative
Committee, Michael Hammerson has kindly made available his historic
picture postcard collection of Hampstead Heath and its environs for
digital copying by the City of London Corporation, which owns and
manages Hampstead Heath.
The collection is an invaluable resource which will be of great
value in managing the Heath and interpreting its historic,
ecological and cultural heritage.
Bob Hall, Chairman of the Hampstead Heath Committee said: “We
are very grateful to Michael Hammerson for making these pictures
available. It is fascinating to see how the landsape has changed
over the years. The photographs constitute an important record of
part of the history of the Heath and will be a valuable resource
for everyone involved with or interested in the Heath."
Local historian Michael Hammerson said: “These pictures are a
unique record of how the Heath has been a rural retreat for
Londoners for over a century; but they also show people today, who
think of the Heath as never-changing countryside, how dramatically
it has in fact changed in the past 100 years. Anyone with an
interest in the Heath and its management should visit these places,
with the pictures, and experience it for themselves.”
For further information please contact:
Susanna Howard
Press Office
City of London Corporation
Email
susanna.howard@cityoflondon.gov.uk
Tel 020 7332 3450 / 07956 660 802
Notes to editors:
With Mr Hammerson’s permission, the postcards were scanned at high
resolution and saved onto the City’s IS servers.
Credit for reproducing these picture postcards should be
acknowledged: Pictures Courtesy Michael Hammerson.
About the City of London Corporation:
The City of London Corporation, which provides local government
services for the Square Mile, the financial and commercial heart of
Britain, works nationally and internationally to maintain and
enhance the City as a world-leading international financial and
business centre. Its other special responsibilities and services to
London and the wider UK include the Barbican Arts Centre, the
Central Criminal Court at the Old Bailey, 10,000 acres of open
space including Hampstead Heath and Epping Forest, three wholesale
food markets, two inner-London City Academies, the City Bridge
Trust, economic regeneration programmes in neighbouring boroughs
and acting as London’s Port Health Authority. The Lord Mayor of the
City of London (currently Ian Luder, an eminent tax accountant)
works extensively at home and abroad to promote the City.