Background to Heath Campaign

Map extracted from the TfL cycle maps showing the Location of paths on Hampstead Heath.

The existing shared-use (pedestrian and cycle) paths are marked with a solid green line. They are:

• A. Nassington Road to Highgate Road;
• B. Millfield Lane - junction with path C
• C. Spaniards Road – East Heath Road (via Viaduct Pond)
• D. West Heath Road – North End Way (Sandy Road)

Official plan of the Heath

The dotted green lines show where you would need to walk if you want to go that way. CCC recommends that these be studied as candidates for becoming shared use paths:

• 1. Gordon House Road past the Lido to link with path A
• 2. Short link on edge of the Heath between Parliament Hill and path C. This would provide a link between paths A and C via Tanza Road.
• 3. Via Lime Avenue from East Heath Road to the junction with path C
• 4. On the continuation of Millfield Lane up to Hampstead Road (inside the English Heritage boundary north of Millfield Gate)
• 5. Along Rotten Row to link Spaniards End to North End
• 6. Links path C to South End Green

The dotted brown lines show potential shared-use path adjacent to the Heath

• i. Path along the footway between Jack Straw's Castle and Spaniards End.
• ii. Path above North End Road between Sandy Road and Inverforth Close – particularly for those riding (slowly) up the hill as it's so narrow and busy.
• iii. West Heath Road could have a gravel surfaced hard verge on the Heath side to ride along as the traffic in the road is usually heavy.

The solid brown shading indicates some locations on the fringe of the Heath where improvements would enhance the use of the links on the Heath

• Tanza Road is an essential link between Cycleway A and Link 2.
• The junction of Well Walk, East Heath Road and Lime Avenue.

Bridge Link:

• the bridge from Savernake Road is an essential link to Cycleway A. The links between the bridge and the cycleway should be formalised for cycle access.

General point

One of our paths is on the edge of the Heath and the all the others apart from 5, link the cycleways to the edge of the Heath.

Our proposals require a 60% increase in the total length of the cycle paths on the Heath

Calculations of path lengths

Issues of policing cyclists on the Heath

For cyclists who ride on the non-designated paths, CCC would like the City of London to consider the use of Fixed Penalty Notices with fines comparable to those applied to people who cycle on pavements. In addition, the speed limit of 8 mph should be enforced, particularly when the paths are busy.

Report on the Potential of the Heath for safer routes to school

We have taken catchment data from ten schools that are situated near to the Heath and plotted it on a series of maps. On each map we've drawn in desire lines for journeys between home and school. From the desire lines we have inferred how a safe route to each school might be tailored from the existing cycleways and a small number of new links on the Heath.

The Potential of the Heath for Safer Routes to School (version 4) (11 January 2007)

Report on Cycle Counts

In mid October, CCC carried out cycle counts at five locations on Hampstead Heath on a weekday at school travel times and on a Saturday afternoon.

Report on Cycle Counts carried out in October 2006

Other information

Heath Campaign News File

Campaign Summary (pdf file)