South of the river has long been reviled by north Londoners and cab drivers. But while some of the prejudices are difficult to defend, Blackheath residents have never had cause to hard done by.

So why is it then when Blackheath is described as the "Hampstead of the south", north Londoners hoot with laughter. What can they imagine their Northern-Line heath possesses we don't have 10 minutes away from London Bridge? FIONA SALTER reports

On the face of it, both Hampstead and Blackheath have much in common. Both have a pleasant, village feel at odds with their more urban neighbours; both boast a string of European-style cafes where full-time mums rub shoulders with aspiring poets; and of course both have a splendid patch of greenery to walk on.

On the surface, however, Hampstead might, to the outsider, appear to have the edge over Blackheath. There are more tourists there, clutching guide books in search of the house where Keats wrote Ode to a Nightingale and the houses where Peter O'Toole, Victoria Wood, Alistair Campbell, Tom Baker and Boy George, among others, still live.

Blackheath's local glitterati, consisting mainly of Laurence Llewellyn Bowen and Terry Waite, admittedly don't quite measure up but how many of us are having them round for dinner?

What about the qualities of local life that really matter to the residents?

India Knight, writing in the Sunday Times, bemoans the morphing of her native Hampstead into another cloned high street: "What used to be a haberdashery in my youth is now a Vodafone shop, next to Waterstones, within striking distance of both, a Starbucks, a tasteful McDonald's, to say nothing of three further mobile phone emporia. The same ghastly homogenisation," she continues, "is happening on almost every high street in the country and the question is: is anybody at all pleased about it? Who assumes we don't want bakers or greengrocers or little bookshops which aren't part of some giant chain, or old school coffee shops?"

Estate agents bear out the steady transformation of Hampstead from home to the bohemian stars of stage and screen to what they bluntly term "corporates": American financiers and tax lawyers who pop down the Northern Line to lucrative jobs in the City. It is a common housing trend in all major cities: the bohemians discover some cheap, out-of-the-way borough, their presence makes it "trendy", coffee shops, boutiques and galleries spring up then suddenly the prices rocket and it becomes too expensive for the free spirits and they are replaced by more conventional, wealthier residents.

Blackheath has never suffered this fate and that is where its real advantage over Hampstead shines through: continuity. There is a much stronger sense of an embedded, long-term community, borne out by the existence of not one but two residents' groups, the Blackheath Village Residents' Group (BVRG) and the Blackheath Society, both of whom campaign fiercely to prevent the destruction of Blackheath's charming village character. Following concern about a flurry of applications for late licences in the village, some residents became concerned about wave of drunken fights and rowdy behaviour at closing time, which residents have described as "a culture of urination". An awareness-raising campaign resulted in the BVRG growing from eight to more than 300 in the space of a few months. The repeated denial of Starbuck's application for a sit-down cafe rather than a takeaway licence was also the result of the Blackheath Society's mettle, and its refusal to allow the erosion of the balance of shops which make a village a village.

One of those is John Charles. Old photographs show a butcher's shop on the site in 1927 and faded painted sign reading "butchers and graziers" dates from a time when animals were brought to the shop by steam train and grazed a while before meeting their fate.

Few independent butchers have weathered growing vegetarianism, the food scares of the 1990s and, of course, the rise of the giant supermarket chains.

However, on a rainy Monday morning, the windows are steaming up thanks to John Charles's constant queue of damp customers.

Ken, the owner, and his young colleague Dan are in no doubt as to why: "Our meat is better and we know exactly where it comes from. We even know what breed it is". They estimate 90 per cent of their customers are regulars, putting this down to personal service.

As Dan says: "On a Saturday I might have 20 people asking me how or even what to cook for a dinner party. "Sometimes they may be 30 years older than me and they're asking me what to cook! There aren't many supermarket youngsters who can give that advice."

In Blackheath, even the few chain stores are run like small local shops. But it is the independent shops which really give Blackheath its character, while the sort of chains which can destroy an area's integrity are kept at arm's length.

Hampstead does not seem so concerned. Its high street boasts not one, but two branches of American clothing chain Gap, as well as all the other sights familiar from every high street in the country: Carphone Warehouse, McDonald's, Tesco.

And what does a home buyer pay for the privilege of shopping in the same outlets available on Oxford Street? A two-bedroom flat in bijou Holly Walk, not far from Hampstead Heath but not exactly in view of it either, was just fifty quid shy of a million pounds.

Compare that to a two-bedder in Greenwich or Blackheath which, according to Winkworth's price guide, begins at a less eye-watering £150,000.

And what of the heaths themselves, surely the main pull for both areas? While Hampstead's is lush and wooded, with bathing ponds and Keat's "verdurous glooms and winding mossy ways", Blackheath is altogether a more open-plan, breezier prospect.

This is why it became the scene of some of the great events of history. Its strategic position on the edge of the capital provided a rallying point for the rebel armies of Wat Tyler, Jack Cade and the Cornish dissidents.

An advantage of being a smaller heath is Blackheath's events are a real community affair.

Fireworks, fun runs and fairs you can't fail to spot friends and neighbours at any one of them.

Some also argue its clean open spaces make it a safe, friendly space for children or indeed anyone in possession of a kite or go-kart.

But there is one area where Hampstead Heath knocks us into a cocked hat its reputation for "nocturnal activities".

To my mind Blackheath seems a little exposed for all but the hardiest of Lotharios, but maybe readers know different?