Ham & High

The Ham & High is a local newspaper but has one of the best literary sections in the country - no doubt because its region, Hampstead and Highgate, has just about the highest remit in the world of top quality authors. It's striking how many writers interviewed take their daily constitutional around Hampstead Heath.
Deborah Moggach in a recent interview spoke of her daily swim in the ladies' pond at Hampstead. She felt the ladies were graceful, the men more like racing demons. I opted for decorum myself in my own gentle circuit of Hampstead men's pond last week. It was a surprising expanse of water once in it, chilly to the head in a backstroke, yet a wonderfully free space. This whole principle of open air bathing is a 19th century relic still going strong despite health and safety measures to stop it.
I was pleased to be interviewed by David Crozier for the Ham & High the other week ... and have just spotted the interview online - so here it is.