Blackheath

An area of high open ground in south east London, Blackheath is jointly managed by Lewisham and Greenwich Councils as it is bisected by the borough boundary, the A2 or Shooters Hill Road. Smart Georgian homes and a few stately pubs surround a heath on which some of the world’s earliest sports clubs started; among them is the Royal Blackheath Golf Club, said to be the oldest golf club in the world. Blackheath also has a long history of radical protest that runs back to the Peasants’ Revolt in 1381, consciously echoed by a week-long Climate Camp of 3,000 anti-capitalist and environmental protesters here in 2009. The heath features areas of grassland and ponds as well as good views over the capital and surrounding counties, and is known as the starting point for the London Marathon.