Parks & Gardens in London, the UK & abroad
Southend Park in SE London hides away behind housing in Lewisham where it is another of the surprising green spaces. It could be truly magical if the River Pool is opened up again, and the water feature restored. And perhaps the wild south east corner could be incorporated into the park too?
Home Park in Sydenham is a grassy park on a busy main road which still manages to offer a calming open area with exercise facilities for adults and children. Add to that some magnificent trees and you have another lovely green space in South East London.
Blythe Hill Fields in SE London is a large grassy park on top of a steep hill in Brockley. There are wide views towards the City, One Tree Hill (!), and over leafy suburbs between Brockley and the River Thames. These are perhaps surprising views to those who regard London as consisting of streets of dull houses and tall office blocks!
Ravensbourne Park in SE London is a small green space in Lewisham which isn’t actually on the Ravensbourne River! The Ravensbourne Park Estate os high-class housing started developing in the early 19C. At the same time land for a park was set aside on the development. Today the park continues to provide an open space for the surrounding homes. With parking restrictions all round the park it certainly maintains a feeling of exclusivity for the neighbourhood!
The Horniman Museum & Gardens in south east London is an interesting and popular small museum. It stands on a hill with good views over London. The Museum and its cafe are surrounded by parklands and gardens, and are very popular and well-used by local people. A visit to the the Horniman Museum & Gardens offers many varied experiences to the curious visitor.
You can easily pass by St Bartholomew’s Churchyard in Sydenham. It looks like another church on another busy road. But do visit, and linger. As soon as you step inside the walls, or pass through the Lych Gate you are in another world – quiet, somewhat derelict, but peaceful. Yet again the churchyard walls seem to create and protect another level of being.
St Mary’s Churchyard in Lewisham lies on the busy main road between Lewisham and Catford and it is easy to ignore the site. But this is an interesting churchyard, and a very old one which today covers 0.9 hectares. It is one of several interesting churchyards in Lewisham, more accessible and ‘complete’ than Christ Church in Forest Hill, and smaller than St Paul’s in Deptford.
The Green Chain Walk runs through the Hillcrest Estate Woodland in Upper Sydenham on a path which is easy to follow. The path is in two sections, on either side of the blocks of flats in the middle of the woodlands. This is ancient woodland, a small part of what was once The Great North Wood.
Continue reading ➞ Hillcrest Estate Woodland in Upper Sydenham
Cox’s Walk in SE London is a former 18C public path which used to link a public house in Dulwich, The Green Man, with the spa at Sydenham Wells. It was a ‘path with a purpose’, a practical path. The path delivered you to the spa, or perhaps offered something stronger to those who had already recovered in the spa. Today it is a pleasant and well-used stroll in ancient woodland, between Dulwich and Sydenham Hill. It is interesting to see the continuity of purposes as it seems to enjoy a similar practical aim, only now it delivers people into the woods for exercise and enjoyment.
The Lewisham War Memorial Garden stands in a narrow strip of land alongside Lewisham High Street. Three tall blocks of flats separate the Garden from neighbouring Lewisham Park. I have driven past this little garden for years and not really paid any attention to it, which was a big mistake!