Vale of Health

April 3, 2010 | Map

The Vale of Health. What a name! Much better than Hatch’s or Hatchett’s Bottom, the previous name of this hamlet, until some people wanted to attract visitors and opted for the fancier name in 1801. They succeeded, and the Vale became a nice, small country-esque village, completely surrounded by the Heath. It is quite special, in that the Vale of Health really feels like a country village, and the mega-city London could not be further away, was it not for some rather ugly apartment blocks. Honestly, who dared to commit such an architectural crime?

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