The kissing Season at the Elven Garden: One of London's Best Kept Secrets....

Hampstead Heath and Kenwood House are well- known but the Hill Gardens and Hampstead Pergola are one of best kept secrets of London. Adjacent to Golders Hill Park, they have an oddly appealing sense of gentle abandonment and decay balanced with a precise restoration and conservation programme that displays a lovely attention to detail, especially in terms of plantings.
There is also an almost fantasy feel to the location, reminiscent of an Elven garden overlooking the Wildwood of the Heath. It was a beautiful day and we almost had the place to ourselves. Well worth a visit:
http://www.hampsteadheath.net/introduction-2.html
And the kissing season....? They say that when the gorse is in flower it is the kissing season...which is a relief as it can be found flowering in every month of the year. With the clue in its name, Hampstead Heath does still possess remnant areas of gorse, especially in the more open areas, and despite the -5 temperatures of the night before, there were still large clumps in full bloom.