Healthy and wealthy

In London briefly again, I made my usual (sadly, dogless) stroll to Hampstead Heath which on a summer evening is about as lovely a spot as you could wish to find in a capital city.

Here is the Vale of Health, where for 200 years artists and literati have enjoyed living alongside coots and water-lilies. It was not ever thus. Before the Heath gained a reputation for its therapeutic waters this place was known as Hatchett's Bottom, a stagnant pit where a local harness-maker dumped his hides and mosquitoes spread disease among the cottagers who scratched a living selling watercress and doing laundry. But in 1777 the malarial swamp was drained and the pond created. The fortunes of the area changed along with the name. The rich and famous moved in and the poor were moved out.

Now, this must be one of the most desirable addresses in north London. Blue plaques on nearby houses name Rabindranath Tagore and D.H.Lawrence among its former inhabitants. The block of flats reflected in the water is called Spencer House in memory of the artist Stanley Spencer who had a studio in the pub that formerly stood there. His painting of the Vale of Health can be seen here.

tempus fugit!]