please empty your brain below

An interesting post. Some snoozing brain cells sparked into life to suggest there might be a helipad at Winfield House in Hampstead, the US Ambassador's residence.No first-hand knowledge, but I seem to remember that years ago visiting senior American politicians would be dropped off there, before the days of "the Beast" being flown over with them.
Although there isn’t a marked pad at Biggin Hill, helicopters certainly use the airport, to link up with the private jets. We seem to be on a main heli flightpath here, with the traffic increasing on “big” occasions, Ascot, Derby Royal events etc.
Believe there’s one in the grounds of Buckingham Palace gardens; remember being told some years back that the ’H’ was marked by the judicious sowing of slightly different grass seeds, meaning the landing spot is subtle to see from the ground but clearer from the air.
Interesting blog. Alas the swanky Royal Chase Hotel in Enfield has now been closed. The site is being redeveloped into an old folks home and housing.

dg writes: deleted, thanks.

I believe there is a helipad within Tottenham Hotspurs Football Training Accademy, Whitewebbs Lane, Enfield.
Air ambulances wouldn't be much use unless they could put down wherever they needed to (I've seen them landing on the grass next to the BBC White City buildings, outside the Bakers' Almshouses in Leyton, and on Weavers Fields, where they were just making way for another service's air ambulance on the Royal London helipad). I've also seen a military helicopter do a touch-and-go landing in Victoria Park.

But can any helicopter land anywhere, provided the pilot deems it to be safe?
The current aeronautical chart for Biggin Hill shows its helipad on the F taxiway at about 51.323033, 0.030056
Was parenting in the Victoria Park playground one Sunday morning when an air ambulance swooped down on an empty section of grass next door. They’d been on the Royal London helipad and an emergency was inbound so had scarpered. The park provides the easiest plan B option.
Pilots and paramedic were super happy to answer questions and take innumerable photos as the entire playground emptied out for a nose around.
A great service and always surprising it’s a charitable endeavour.
I've never seen helicopters at Hotspur Way, and I'm quite close - Google satellite shows no sign of anything permanent (there are places where a heli could land, but no 'H' markings).

De Beers used to have a rooftop helipad in Charterhouse St, but Google shows the building being redeveloped - no idea if the helipad will be re-instated.
The Grove Hotel in Watford say that they've got a helipad.
Robert Maxwell had a helipad on top of the Daily Mirror building.
On Twitter, Peter Snow says...

The Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital’s Helipad has now been removed. Hadn’t been used in years but they are building extra operating theatres on the land. My office used to look out on the helipad. We have even had to change our fire assembly point too due to the removal.

So I'm deleting that one too.
I used to work in a building on Hatton Garden and the De Beers helicopters were a regular sight. I assume they were a more secure way of transporting diamonds than by road.

Any open ground can be used by a small helicopter - school playing fields are often used, but much smaller spaces can be used in extremis. I saw an air ambulance land in Oxford Circus once.
There may be a disused helipad in Beckton, as a big H appeared on the short spur road to the unbuilt East London River Crossing - next to the Beckton DLR depot.

The H appeared in 2011 and is now rather faded, so I might hazard a guess that it was a London Olympics idea, but I've never been able to find out who provided it.
Really interesting post.

When I was at uni in Birmingham twenty years ago, the Children's Hospital helipad was in a small public square right in the city centre. 5-10 minutes before a landing the area would swarm with police, who would have to close off the roads nearby (including the busy Queensway) and try to dissuade those pedestrians who were intent on walking across the square, in some cases even as the helicopter could be seen hovering above. Presumably Queen's Hospital has some similar protocol.

Steve - I heard that De Beers won't be moving back in to Charterhouse Street. It seemed accepted as fact in the area that the helipad was used by the chairman and to move the huge quantities of diamonds that used to be stored there.
I worked at Corams Fields playground (in WC1) in the 70s, and we occasionally had helicopters landing on the hard tennis court, ferrying sick children to Great Ormond Street hospital. It was a thrilling experience for the children in our Play Centre, as the landings were preceded by fire engines spraying the ground with water to lay the dust, and an ambulance arrived to complete the short journey to hospital.
Ah, the lemon soaked paper napkins. Let's hope they are not hanging around too long waiting for those.

Already high in my estimation, you have risen further :-)

Steve
With Henry's help I've located the Biggin Hill helipad, which is so recent it only appears on Bing aerial maps, not yet Google.

Post updated, thanks.
Fascinating. The description of the London Heliport seems odd. How can all landings be on the river if craft are stored on land? AFAIK helicopters don't do taxiing.
I have seen the Army using the Honourable Artillery Club playing fields as a landing pad, including Chinooks.
For Docklands heliport, if you go across the creek, there's an H at 51.512354,0.161530

dg writes: updated, thanks.
Malcolm - helicopters do taxi. In ATC phraseology, they usually *hover-taxi* (fly just above ground level), or less commonly *taxi* like fixed wing aircraft, if fitted with wheels.
Fascinating post. I live on the river in Hammersmith, and get helicopters going by multiple times a day, as the route that helicopters must follow is along the river from Central London to Brentford (for those heading north) or Putney (for those heading south) (excluding, of course, the Met Police and Air Ambulance). I used to live in both Battersea and the Isle of Dogs near to both heliports there.

Regarding the taxi-ing of helicopters, they can also hook them up to a tow-bar and pull them off the helipad.
Peter of London - I worked on the construction of the new helipad atop Birmingham Children's Hospital in around 2004.
Reminds me of the time when the rescue helicopter landed in the pocket park right outside my bedroom window, pilot facing me directly when going down and up. Made for impressive photos, fortunately my injured neighbour recovered.

And I’ve witnessed two occasions in the countryside when punters arrived at a pub/hotel by helicopter for a pint/afternoon tea before coppering off an hour later. I much prefer an eco-friendly hike.
The north side of the Royal Docks was an "airport" during the Olympics and had a helipad.
London City airport has use of helicopters specifically excluded in their initial planning application, although the Queen Mother once did an emergency landing there.
There was also a G-something conference at ExCel around 2012ish and although police would not say how President Obama was leaving two flagpoles at the Jet Centre with UK and US flags gave the game away in the morning, and he choppered from there to Stansted to catch Air Force One.
As Martin P says, military Chinooks regularly (or repeatedly) land and take off at the Honourable Artillery Company in the City, on City Road, the oldest regiment in the British Army. During lockdown when I was home all the time, I came to think it was a regular thing, but now I'm not home all the time any more, I'm not sure. They weren't on the ground long, so either they were delivering fresh croissants for the Officers' Mess, or they were just practicing how to deliver the SAS into the city, through all the taller towers.

HAC is described as the Army Reserve’s Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Regiment, and Armoury House has a museum, which is apparently open to the public, by appointment.
It used to be the case that the open grass area just north of Kensington Palace was used as an occasional helipad when Charles and Diana (and others) lived there; I think I remember warning signs on the surrounding paths, but I don’t imagine it ever had an “H” marking on the ground.
Outside of London, Bath's Royal United Hospital helipad is the adjacent cricket pitch. The Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle used to use Castle Leazes moor, sometimes a huge Sea King helicopter would land at 2 in the morning. The police had to chase the cows away before take off...
Really interesting - both post and comments.
My local hospital is a major trauma centre and has its own helipad, and yet a couple of times I've seen the police stopping a football match on local playing fields so a coastguard helicopter can land and be met by an ambulance. I've been told that the hospital helipad can't cope with the largest helicopters, but I'm not sure if that's true.
I concur with Martin P and his unnamed seconder. I work next to the river so regularly see them head up the Thames and then float down into the City, as this youtube video shows.
I’m currently standing on the Alexandra Palace helipad and it’s a disappointment- a scrappy patch of grass with 19 paving slabs in the shape of an H.
I wonder which helicopter pilot has been to the most of them?

5 at heli/airports
5 on hospitals
7 others

Air ambulance pilots would tick off 7, but does anyone ever use the Alexandra Palace disappointment?
Re Air ambulance landing anywhere. Used to work in the office above the Bureau de Change at Oxford Circus.

Watched the air ambulance land on the junction ... had a heck of a job with the downdraft coming back up again due to the surrounding buildings.
In Forest Gate they have landed the London Air ambulance in Forest Lane Park, St James School playground, Odessa Road Open Space & of course Wanstead Flats. I have great respect for the flying skills of the helicopter pilots
I enjoyed watching several old episodes of 'Treasure Hunt' during the lockdowns. Judging by the London episode from 1983, there used to be a floating helipad on the river around where the Millennium Bridge is now.
I remember as a child arriving off many a Dan-Air flight at Gatwick in the 80s and being intrigued by the signs and posters pointing to the (British Caledonian?) helicopter shuttle to Heathrow. The stuff of James Bond, Dynasty or perhaps Howard’s Way.

In more recent years I’ve also spotted both the London Air Ambulance and Essex & Herts Air Ambulance land in Vicky Park. The latter was to pick up a crew of medics, whereas the former was to despatch medics to an incident.
I don't know if it is an actual helipad, or just part of the parade ground but helicopters often use Wellington Barracks by Buckingham Palace.
A colleague of mine remembers being packed off to Gatwick for a flight to France for an exchange trip some years ago. Upon arriving at the airport, it became apparent that the flight was from Heathrow. He says the highlight of the entire trip was the helicopter shuttle to other airport.
I live near Ally Pally and was intrigued that there was a marked helipad - I'd never noticed it. After scouring the area on Google Maps satellite view I finally spotted it. I'm honoured that you're in my vicinity.
I've seen the Herts Helimed landed at Cassiobury Park - apparently it's the closest possible site to Watford General Hospital. I don't think the hallowed turf at The Hornets (WFC) was in use at the time - that would seem the closest!
Pooleys flight guide should give you a list of all helipads
Michael Jackson was allowed to helicopter in to Haggerston Park to visit the old Queen Elizabeth Hospital for Children on Hackney Road back in the nineties.
Pooleys only includes five London Helicopter Landing Sites.

Ⓗ BARNET (West Lodge Park Hotel
Ⓗ ENFIELD (Royal Chace Hotel)
Ⓗ LONDON AIRPORT (Crowne Plaza Heathrow)
Ⓗ LONDON (RAF Museum)
Ⓗ RAINHAM (Coldharbour Point)

I can't find the 'H' at the RAF Museum, but I have found it at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, thanks.
I once saw a helicopter land in Gordon square next to tavistock square.... It was impressive as there was only a couple of feet either side of the rotor.
I have twice witnessed a helicopter arriving and/or departing the Queen's hospital site at Romford. On both occasions, security staff appeared beforehand at either side of the landing pad and prevented access by members of the public whilst the helicopter was present.
You probably noticed that, although the official path around the helipad is semi-circular, a more direct path has been eroded over time by people taking a short cut.
In my youth I was told that a local builder had a helipad in the car park next to his office on the Baldwin's Lane/Watford Road roundabout opposite the Harvester in Croxley Green. Of course it might just be that we thought in the 60s any one with money travelled by helicopter to and from work!
Interesting! On our offshore Island, medical airlifts used to take place from a local park - I was never aware of any particular tarmac or concrete being involved, so took it the helicopters parked on the grass. Now there's a pad at the local hospital, though; an altogether more elaborate affair.
I built a long wide 'grasscrete' road for lorries in Victoria Park about 10 years ago, it runs from Grove Road car park down towards the Old Ford Road gate. I was told that the Air Ambulance used to land on it when a patient needed to be taken to the London Chest Hospital outside the park. An ambulance would be waiting to drive the last part. The hospital closed a few years ago and is about to be redeveloped.
There was a sad case in March. BBC News report: Derriford Hospital: Plymouth woman blown over by helicopter before death
There is a helipad next to Kensington Palace, similar to Buckingham Palace where the grass is different and trimmed shorter.

I have never seen a helicopter take off from Harrods, I wonder if its still in use, after extensive searching I can't find anything related.

Denham Aerodrome can land and accommodate 10 helicopters on the northern boundary.
I have had it confirmed that there is a helipad in Hotspur Way, Football Training Academy, Enfield.
The number of landings is limited by condition in the planning application.
Hurlingham Club say that their cricket pitch is often used as it's a convinient place for the local hospital.
Nice










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