Gay hampstead heath
Hampstead Heath's notorious gay cruising notice recreated for London exhibition
Like many of us, the artist Trevor Yeung spent his time during the Covid lockdowns in London taking long walks. And, perhaps like a smaller number of us, some of those walks turned into gay cruising excursions in the city’s sprawling Hampstead Heath park. But Yeung, it turns out, was using these trips not for pleasure, but research.
The fruits of his labour are now on illustrate across the river at Gasworks. For his solo exhibition Soft Ground (until 17 December) he has placed a replica of a tree trunk from the heath, made from soap, horizontally on the floor in the dimly lit main gallery. After adjusting their eyes to the darkness, north London dog walkers and doggers alike might recognise this as resembling the notorious “fuck tree”, the roots of which grow at an angle that positions its trunk very low to the ground, making it highly advantageous for one, two—or even five—people to recline on top of it. Human intervention has moulded the vegetation, too: so regularly do amorous heath-goers rub up and down ag
We're not homophobic, we just don't want Hampstead Heath used like Grindr! Dogwalkers hit back at activists after campaign to interrupt gay cruising at local beauty spot
Dogwalkers who don't want gay men cruising for sex on Hampstead Heath have hit support activists who say that their campaign against them is homophobic.
Signs put up on the western side of the north London park read 'Cruising for sex? Homosexuality is legal. Use a hook up app like Grindr or Sniffies and get a room'.
The area of the park has been a well-known cruising spot, where gay men meet for anonymous sex since the 19th century when homosexuality was illegal.
Gay right activists say they the signs are discriminatory against same-sex attracted men – and maintain the campaign to cease cruising 'emboldens homophobes.'
But pup walkers on the heath today insisted that they were not homophobic at all but could not understand why cruising still exists on the West Heath.
Isa Geblescu, 25 a professional dog walker who was out with a Django, a Huskey said: 'I believe in exist and let live but I just don't get the interest in men wa
Cruising on Hampstead Heath
This is an extended version of an former post which seemed to go down well. Bit more detail in this version.
Those of you who follow me on Twitter understand I love to walk over Hampstead Heath. It’s such a beautiful place, an oasis of green in the middle of a massive city. But as well as its wholesome side – the dog-walkers, joggers and families having fun – the Heath also has a more seedy reputation.
Tucked away behind Jack Straws Castle – once a pub, now luxury apartments – is the same-sex attracted cruising area. I’ve only ever been once, many years ago when I was in my mid-twenties. I went on impulse with a guy I knew from a bar in Camden Town.
The guy was the chef at the bar, which I frequented regularly. I was free at the second and living in a bedsit some twenty-minute walk away. The bar and its assortment of eccentric staff and punters offered more of a sketch than my dingy room with its leaking shower.
I’d heard about The Heath, and I was curious. As he drove me there, my companion for the trip suggested that we earn each other warned up once we arr
From “Cruising” to Calm: A Queer History of the Hampstead Ponds
Hampstead ponds have a more invigorating history than you might expect
In amongst the chaos of city life lies a sleepy pocket of green called Hampstead Heath: in a little deeper and you can detect Hampstead Ponds. Hampstead Ponds are usually frequented by elderly men and women who come to float in the cold waters. For decades, no matter the weather, many hold found the ponds a sanctuary, an oasis of calm and clarity in a hectic world. But for one community, the ponds have a more fruitful history.
“The heath” — as locals call it — is a collection of thirty bodies of water within the immense open woodland of North London. Originally the main ponds were dug out in the 17th and 18th centuries to cope with London’s growing fluid demands. But over the past century, the ponds have been frequented by Londoners looking for a leisurely swim and a wholesome chat.
What’s unique about the ponds is they are separated by gender: something relished in the past but divisive in the present. In May , the City of London, who administer