Question for London experts

[Lady Whistledown]

Question for those with a decent knowledge of the big smoke:

In loads of movies and TV programmes, they use a shot of London- I'm guessing it's taken from the north side of the city looking south. It seems to be up on a hill, looks like it's in a big park or green space, and offers a view towards the City, St Pauls cathedral etc.

The cliched film/TV shot typically involves someone (usually Hugh Grant or Colin Firth) sitting on a park bench at the top of the hill, looking down towards the City, probably whilst debating whether to sleep with Kristin Scott Thomas or Emma Thompson.

Can anyone tell me where in London this view is from? Somewhere like Hampstead maybe?

 

[Bry Nylon]

Hamstead Heath, officer.

 

[Tooting Gull]

Highgate also has a great view back across the city.

 

[The Clown of Pevensey Bay]

It's Parliament Hill, NW3, probably

This sort of view?

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Hampstead Heath, that makes sense.

With views like that, no wonder some chaps spend so much time there, especially at night

 

[Gully]

...I thought that it was Clapham Common where all the chaps liked to hang out, figuratively speaking...officer!

 

[Lady Whistledown]

I reckon it's this sort of shot I was thinking of. Which is apparently Parliament Hill, somewhere around Hampstead Heath.



PS Gully, I could be wrong, but I believe Hampstead Heath is equally renowned for its, er, night-time economy. I think I've heard George Michael mention it once or twice

 

[The Clown of Pevensey Bay]

That's exactly the same snap, just not on such a clear day. And THAT part of Hampstead Heath is totally free of cottaging. They're scared off by all the three wheeled buggies and personal trainers.

 

[tedebear]

Hampstead Heath could well be it - but also the view from Primose Hill has been in many a movie as well...
Sorry this one is a little large - but it shows you can see most things, and there is a park bench up the top which I can reliably inform was the beginning of the end for a previous relationship - so good for movies

 

[Lady Whistledown]

And film crews following Hugh Grant around


Hampstead Heath covers 3.2 km² (320 ha; 791 acres). It has 25 main ponds and areas of ancient woodland, bog, hedgerows, and grassland. A part of the Heath has been designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest by English Nature, the smallest one in Hampstead Heath was featured on the television programme Seven Natural Wonders as one of the wonders of the London area, with a focus on Parliament Hill. The episode was presented by Bill Oddie, who lives nearby and watches birds there regularly.

Public transport near the Heath include National Rail and the London Underground, with National Rail stations at Gospel Oak and Hampstead Heath and London Underground "Tube" stations at Hampstead and Belsize Park to the west, Golders Green to the north, and Highgate and Archway to the east. Bus routes surround most of the heath.

The Vale of Health. This small hamlet (named "Hatchett's Bottom" until 1801), accessed via a small lane off East Heath Road, is surrounded entirely by the heath. It is now one of the most expensive residential areas in the world. In the background can be seen the Millennium Dome and the Canary Wharf complex of skyscrapers to the left, and the City of London to the right, with the North Downs visible in the background.There are no signposts to, or on, Hampstead Heath. Tourist handbooks usually advise visitors to bring a map with them. At the southern tip of the park is the Lido open air swimming pool. Farther north, near the Highgate side, are two ponds in which swimming is allowed, both single-sex (that is, one is for males only, while the other one is for females only). To the west of these is the 'mixed pond', where members of either sex (male or female) may swim.

Part of the area (the West Heath) has long been well-known for its use by gay men as a cruising ground at night. There have been incidental attacks carried out on people cruising, and indecency prosecutions, perhaps the most famous being R v Thompson (1918), 13 Cr App R 80, known to law students throughout the common law world for its description of the accused "carrying powder puffs" deemed sufficiently inculpating to be admissible in evidence under the similar facts rule. Adjoining the West Heath, not part of Hampstead Heath proper but still run by the Corporation of London, is Golders Hill Park.

 

[dougdeep]

I was in Hampstead on Friday, in the line of business of course.

 

[Buffalo Seagull]

I was in Hampstead on Friday, in the line of business of course.

How much did you make and how sore were you on Saturday?

 

[Deleted User X18H]

Finsbury Circus

 

[Springal]

Its where i live, nice change from Worthing where i spent 21 years of my life!

 

[Simster]

There are actually views to St Pauls Cathedral from all directions in London. For example, you can actually see St Pauls from Richmond Park - which is a long way away. This is why London is fairly low-rise - I think certain views to St Pauls are protected by law which restricts the height of buildings.

 

[Stinky Kat]

my wife was a nanny in Hampstead in the 80ies and I gotto live there when the family were away- splendid area, but the heath is full of of dinner mashers

 

[Norman Baker suck my lozenge]

Do you think if I sit there long enough I'll get to throw one up Kristin Scott Thomas.

 

[bhaexpress]

Probably Hampstead Heath but Greenwich has a good view too.

 

[London Calling]

Primrose Hill is also the classic view, often mistaken for Hampstead Heath. Used in many Hugh Grant.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Finsbury Circus

Mornington Crescent.