Sir Menzies drops in

LIBERAL Democrat Leader Sir Menzies Campbell visited the Ham&High today to put the case for his party ahead of the May 4 elections.Among the issues Sir Menzies ventured his opinion on was the NHS black hole and the likely job losses as a result.He

EXCLUSIVE: No one murdered on Hampstead Heath

THE HAM&HIGH went on to red alert this morning after hearing of a major police incident on the Heath.Large numbers of police had cordoned off a vast area and were carrying out investigations after a body had been seen in a pond.While various calls

Definition: C.R.A.F.T.

Reporter Marc Mullen's just been on the phone to Hamsptead poet Al Alvarez:"He told me he was suffering from an old people's disease called CRAFT. Naively asking what that was he told me it's, 'Can't remember a f**king thing'".Enjoy your day.

The greatest hump of all?

I have a new favourite speed hump. To find it, simply turn into Dartmouth Park Avenue from Dartmouth Park Hill and there it is, a masterpiece of modern traffic-calming creativity. Never mind the regulations governing the permissible dimensions of humps

Police keep us abreast of developments

Is this is Freudian slip from Marylebone's top cop in a written response to a Wood&Vale question about burglary? Superintendent Jon Morgan said: "Inevitably we have had a busty year in respect of the priority of the fight against terrorism and I

Hold very tight please: the C11 bus test

It was in the spirit of Anne Robinson that I ventured on to the C11 bus earlier this week, to test out the alleged 'misery' for myself, and see if it was all as bad as the Ham&High's letters page suggests. I'm familiar with colourful language, and while the bus driver didn't add anything to my vocabulary...

We know who Julia Roberts' "mystery man" is

It's not often we get Hollywood exclusives at the Ham&High - why would we need to when our own patch is so full of fascinating characters? - but here's one for you. Superstar Julia Roberts has a nickname for Hampstead novelist Tony Parsons. The

Lessons in preventing anti-social behaviour: part 1

Students from across the borough flocked to the mock court at Hampstead police station last Friday and police officers spoke proudly about how busy it was. However, on the way out a crime-prevention officer handed the teenagers a variety of souvenirs,

Lost: One shed.

We are keen to find the owner of a lost shed that has found its way to the front of our office. The small shed appears to be empty and has been pushed against a tree so it is impossible to open its door (not that I tried, of course).

Net Notes: Hampstead and Highgate online this week

It won't have passed you by, but Hampstead is under the Heathrow flightpath. According to John Stewart of the UK Noise Association, quoted in this Telegraph article, "The biggest recent increase in complaints has been from north London." Hampstead residents

I'm afraid Cllr Mills is out of the office at the moment...

I've just called Camden's finance chief John Mills and guess where he is... Las Vegas. But he's not putting our council tax on pocket sevens, apparently: he's at a conference. [pic: www.camden.gov.uk]

That crucial sporting result... the Donkey Derby

The first race of the day at the Muswell Hill Festival and the pressure was on. Each of us were given our donkey and a hard hat and took the long, nerve-racking, walk to the start of the race. Then I got in the cart, took the reins and

Please Mr Murdoch, take this torture away from us

With the cricket going on it is proving very difficult to concentrate on the important job of writing for the Ham&High. Half of me reckons it only being available to Sky subscribers next summer is a good thing. If I’m not pacing up and down craning

Bad light prompts play in Regent's Park

The summer's second outing for big screen cricket in Regent's Park tested crowd dynamics to their limits yesterday, prompting some bizarre demonstrations of what people will do in large groups when they're bored and have supped a little too much ale.

Time to usher in some new opinions

We’ve lost two great columnists for very different reasons. Mark Seddon, former editor of Tribune, is moving to the USA. As Cllr Gerry Harrison says in a letter this week, his independent view continued a long tradition of radical debate in the Ham&High.