If you're stuck for something to do on New Year's Day why not join in a walk across Hampstead Heath that unearths some ghostly tales? CHRISTOPHER SPARROW reports.

Ever since the Middle Ages, Londoners have journeyed to Hampstead to enjoy the fresh air and escape the bustle of the city below.

A walk over Hampstead Heath does give you a sense of being well above the rest of London.

On New Year's Day, as part of a nationwide Festival of Winter Walks, the Ramblers' Association is organising a walk from Golders Green via Kenwood House and Hampstead village, taking in some well-known haunted sites in the area.

Even today the heath can be a lonely and desolate place, but just 200 years ago a journey here would have been undertaken only by the brave or the foolhardy.

Records show dozens of attacks on travellers, many ending in murder.

The Spaniards Inn was once said to be the haunt of highwayman Dick Turpin who stabled his mount, Black Bess, here.

Her ghostly hoof beats are still heard galloping across the car park in the dead of night. Inside the pub a shadowy figure has been known to stride towards the bar before disappearing into the wall.

In Hampstead village itself, The Flask Tavern, off the High Street, is named after the flasks sold in the 18th Century to those taking the waters at nearby springs. Holly Bush Inn at the top of Holly Mount is haunted by a waitress wearing a crisp white linen apron. The pub does not offer waitress service yet on more than one occasion irate customers have demanded to know why their lunch is taking so long. It appears the phantom never delivers the orders to the kitchen.

You might well be in need of a drink after visiting the Parish Church of St John. The churchyard is reputed to be the setting for a scene in Bram Stoker's Dracula. The location is eerie and sinister but it also contains the tomb of the artist John Constable who lived in Hampstead from 1827. On this walk you will pass many former homes of artists and statesmen and there's no shortage of blue plaques commemorating historical figures who made their home around London's windswept heath.

This Hampstead walk is based on a route described in Walking Haunted London by Richard Jones. Readers can purchase the book for a discounted £7.99 including p&p (a saving of £2). Call 01903 828 503 or send cheques (payable to Littlehampton Book Services) to LBS, Faraday Close, Durrington, West Sussex BN13 3RB. When ordering, quote the book title as well as ISBN 1853689920 and code WHL1.

For further details of the Ramblers' Association's Festival of Winter Walks call 020 7339 8500 or see www.ramblers.org.uk

Walk details

Date: Tuesday, January 1

Start: Meet 11am Golders Green station forecourt or 1.30pm Kenwood House

Distance: 7.5 miles (four miles if joining at Kenwood House)

Contact: Jane Rosoux 020 8203 4286

December 19, 2001 15:08