WHAT were you doing 10 years ago today? If you were walking across Hampstead Heath you may well have had your first meeting with a little bit of local history in the form of a giant 30-foot table and chair.

This week marks the 10th anniversary of the start of construction work on The Writer – an extraordinary piece of art which captured the imagination of everybody whom it towered above in its plot close to Parliament Hill, a space ironically now closed off for the pond dams work.

Yesterday (Wednesday), the artist who created it said he would love to bring a new piece of work to London, but that the table and chair, which remains in the affection of everybody who picnicked beneath it or tried to use it as football goalposts, would never return to the Heath as it had been sold to a private buyer in Milan.

Giancarlo Neri, a former footballer who played for the New York Apollos before turning to the world of sculpture and art, told the New Journal: “The reception for The Writer was incredible. I think I can sum it up with something the retiring head of maintenance at the Heath told me on the last day of my stay in London. ‘I have been working here for 40 years,’ he said, ‘and I shall retire this year with two great memories: the Pink Floyd concert in 1969 and your Writer in 2005. I have never seen anything like it’.”

The Writer caused some local debate among conservationists as to whether the Heath was an appropriate place for art – and art of such size.

But after it had been unveiled by Mr Neri to an audience of star writers, such as Deborah Moggach, Zadie Smith and Salman Rushdie, an even bigger discussion began over what it all meant. Some said it was meant to demonstrate the loneliness of writing by yourself, but given the crowds who flocked to enjoy it, the explanation never seemed to ring true, especially when a couple were said to have climbed to the summit using ropes for an intimate evening under the stars.

Mr Neri said yesterday: “The first thing that comes to mind when I look back on the time I spent in Hampstead 10 years ago is that when I got back to Rome people thought I’d been to Jamaica. There had been a heatwave that summer and I was so tanned they couldn’t believe I had been working in a London park.”

Giancarlo Neri unveils The Writer in 2005 at a launch event attended by Zadie Smith and Salman Rushdie

He added: “I have nothing but fond memories of the time I spent in London that summer. I had chosen Hampstead Heath as my location without even knowing of its very old association with writers so I felt lucky and privileged to be working in such a beautiful and historic place.

“My English crew were fantastic and, aside from some initial minor skirmishes about their frequent ‘tea breaks’, we had a great time working together. Quite simply, I just love Hampstead Heath, and I love London too.”

Although so fondly remembered, Mr Neri said there was no chance of the work returning, adding: “After being exhibited in London The Writer found a permanent home in the Villa Reale of Monza, a beautiful park near Milan.

“Every once in a while I get requests about taking it somewhere again but, honestly, I am glad I have to politely decline since I was lucky enough to sell it.

“Obviously, I was very proud of compliments I received from people of all ages and walks of life, especially from residents whose opinion I was most interested in. I am also very proud of having been described by BBC’s Front Row interviewer as a ‘remarkably unpretentious artist’.”

He has not ruled out returning to the capital with a different piece of art, however. Mr Neri said, with an open-ended question to New Journal readers: “I would love to do another project in London, perhaps one of my large-scale installations with lights. Any suggestions?”