Thursday, August 28, 2003
Famous places within 15 minutes walk of my house
Number 8 - Victoria Park
Victoria Park is the green lung of East London, nearly 300 acres of pleasure sandwiched between Bow, Hackney and Bethnal Green. Laid out in the 1840s and named after the new queen, the park is split into two halves. To the west the ornamental gardens complete with boating lake, all encircled by a lamplit carriage drive. Rather gorgeous. To the east the larger half with bandstand, memorial fountain (pictured) and tons of space to run around in. You can find an excellent interactive map of Victoria Park (then and now) here.
The park was conceived as a healthy open space for the unhealthy residents of Victorian East London. Not that the poor actually needed somewhere to drive a horse-drawn carriage, neither did the rich who owned carriages want to live anywhere near the slums of the East End either. It took 150 years for the middle classes to move in beside the park, attracted by the canalside location and the recent gentrification of glamorous South Hackney. Better late than never. Recent murders don't appear to have put people off, so expect Vicky Park to remain a much-loved destination for many generations of East Enders (and EastEnders) to come.
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