Hampstead in Winter

The street up to the heath

We had a bit of snow in London this winter, it's hard to decide if there is more than last year, it seemed to melt faster than last year, but perhaps it was deeper.  It's always nice to have a snow weekend, it was just the perfect amount, not too much to cause complete shutdown in London, but enough that you could build snowmen and throw snowballs.

The day after it had snowed all night we headed up to the Heath.  I was excited because it meant we could try out our microspikes for the first time since I'd bought them at Christmas.  They are like mini-crampons that you put over your boots, very easy to get on and off, it's basically just a rubber band you stretch over the boots.

They were really good, I'm so glad I got them, we were walking all over the place, and it was as if there wasn't even any snow, like you were just walking on dry dirt.

A red-robin, posing for me

In fact they were so good that I had to take them off to check that the snow was in fact slippery, because it was impossible to tell with the spikes on.  They did get a bit clogged every now and again, which was a funny feeling as you were then walking on basically a big ice ball, so that reduced the stability, but a quick bang and you were right to go again.  I was impressed at the runners I saw out, since they didn't seem to be wearing any spikes, they were obviously a lot more sure footed then me.

Don't worry, this tree had already fallen over before the snow

A winter wonderland

One thing I really like about the British is that they are great hobbyists, and nobody looks twice at you for practising your hobby, so we were out with our spikes, other people were out skiing, some had their nordic walking poles out, and there was no agro to be seen.  Everyone was just enjoying the snow in their own way.

Even the ponds were frozen in the heath, and the birds were enjoying standing on the water.  I'm not sure how they manage it, as they would stand right on the edge with the water, and I really don't know how the ice was thick enough to support them.

I was hoping to see a few dogs swimming, but for once it was even too cold for them.

It was total chaos up on Parliament Hill, this is obviously the place to toboggan in London, it is a pretty perfect place for it.  So it seemed that the kids had come from far and wide to partake.

The snowy expanses of the heath

Living here I have wondered why it feels warmer when it snows, you would think it only snows when it's really cold.  But I have since learnt that warm air can hold more moisture than cold air, so when warm, moist air hits cold, dry air, the excess moisture has to be released, which it does through snowing.  So the snow doesn't cause the warm air, the warm air causes the snow.  I'm sure this is something school kids learn here in primary school, but growing up in the tropics, I never really needed to learn about what caused snow.

Pandemonium on Parliament Hill