Showing 1-10 of 10 results
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Chelsea Physic Garden
Aa secret garden in the midst of an urban jungle, established by the Apothecaries' Society in 1673 for students working on medicinal plants and healing. One of the oldest of its kind in Europe, Londoners are relatively ignorant of its existence, which means that the many rare trees, shrubs and plants are yours for quiet exploration.
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Green Park
Less manicured than the adjoining St James's, this park has trees and open space, sunshine and shade, though no flower beds - hence the name. It was once a duelling ground and served as a vegetable garden during WWII. In 1763, fireworks were held in the Green Park to celebrate peace; Handel wrote the music that accompanied them.
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Highgate Wood
With more than 28 hectares of ancient woodland, this park is a wonderful spot for a walk any time of the year. It's also teeming with life, some 70 different bird species have been recorded here, five types of bat, 12 of butterfly and 80 different kinds of spider. It also has a huge clearing in the centre for sports, a popular playground and nature trail for kids and a range of activities - from falconry to bat-watching - throughout the year.
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Hyde Park
London's legendary park spreads itself over a whopping 145 hectares of neatly manicured gardens and wild, deserted expanses of overgrown grass. Spring prompts the gorgeous Rose Gardens into vivacious bloom, and summers are full of sunbathers, picnickers, Frisbee-throwers and general London populace who drape themselves across the green.
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Kennington Park
This unprepossessing space of green has a great rabble-rousing tradition. Originally a common, where all were permitted entry, it acted as a speakers' corner for South London. After the great Chartist rally on 10 April 1848, where millions of working-class people turned out to demand the same voting rights as the middle classes, the royal family promptly fenced off and patrolled the common as a park.
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Kew Gardens
Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew is one of the most popular visitors' attractions in London, which means it can get very crowded during summer, especially at weekends. Spring is probably the best time to visit, but at any time of year this 120-hectare expanse of lawns, formal gardens and greenhouses has delights to offer.
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Regent's Park
The most elaborate and ordered of London's many parks, Regent's was created around 1820 by John Nash, who planned to use it as an estate upon which he could build palaces for the aristocracy. Although the plan never quite came off - like so many at the time - you can get some idea of what Nash might have achieved from the buildings along the Outer Circle, and in particular from the stuccoed Palladian mansions he built on Cumberland Tce.
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St James's Park
This is one of the smallest but most gorgeous of London's parks. It has brilliant views of the London Eye, Westminster, St James's Palace, Carlton Terrace and Horse Guards Parade, and the view of Buckingham Palace from the footbridge spanning St James's Park Lake is the best you'll find (get those cameras out).
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Wandsworth Common
Wilder and more overgrown than the nearby common in Clapham, Wandsworth Common is full of couples pushing prams on a sunny day. On the common's western side is a pleasant collection of streets known as the toast rack, because of their alignment. Baskerville, Dorlcote, Henderson, Nicosia, Patten and Routh Rds are lined with Georgian houses. There's a blue plaque at 3 Routh Rd, home to the former British prime minister David Lloyd George.
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Wimbledon Common
Running on into Putney Heath, Wimbledon Common covers 460 hectares of South London and is a wonderful expanse of open space for walking, nature trailing and picnicking. On the southern side of the common, the misnamed Caesar's Camp is what's left of a roughly circular earthen fort built in the 5th century BC, which proves that Wimbledon was settled before Roman times.
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