Sometimes you just want to go for a nice walk, nothing too taxing, lots of heritage, proper healthy, world-class views, water features, refreshment opportunities, copious wildlife, globally-renowned, a bit of a stroll, won't take long. So here's a circuit round an iconic Royal Park, nowhere near enough to make a day of it but a nice walk all the same.
You might think you know St James's Park because it is a bit of a tourist cliché. But there is a reason why so many international visitors flock here, over and above it being a shortcut between Big Ben and Buck House, and that's because it packs a lot to enjoy into a relatively small space. Also it has pelicans.
For my circuit I'm going to start at the northern corner (nearest Admiralty Arch) and walk clockwise, but you can mooch whichever way you prefer.
Well this is nice. Barely three minutes from the official centre of London and here we are in a historic greenspace with shady trees and an impressive lake. The park owes its existence to Henry VIII who bought a plot of marshland adjacent to his new palace at St James and walled it off for hunting. Elizabeth I added the avenue that's now The Mall, James I introduced a small menagerie and Cromwell first permitted entry to non-royals. The park's four timber refreshmentkiosks are late Elizabeth II, each with a sculptural canopy that swells out like a tree's crown and each offering ice creams, Tyrell's crisps, hot dogs and a likely lucrative range of squirty waffles.
Along the first path is the St James's Park weather station often mentioned on the weather forecast, where observations have been recorded continuously since 1903. It looks a tad close to nearby trees for the rain gauge to be entirely reliable, but the undeveloped nature of the local area means temperature trends ought to be long-term reliable. The flower borders up ahead are impeccably maintained thus still in the full flush of late summer, and also help to shield the park offices from general view. And by now you really ought to have met a local squirrel, oh wow how cute is the squirrel, see how it stands up and stares straight at you, have you got an acorn you could give it?
The central lake isn't original, it used to be an 850m long ornamental canal. This was introduced by Charles II who liked to go swimming in or skating on it, weather depending, and also spent hours feeding his collection of water birds. The first pelicans were gifted by the Russian ambassador in 1664. It was John Nash who replaced the canal with a curvaceous lake in the 1820s, now covering 20% of the park, and also turned the formal avenues into winding paths he thought should be opened to the general public. Cheers John! The two mid-lake fountains are more recent, the Tiffany Fountain beside Pelican Rock replacing a previous plume in 2011 and capable of firing eight metres upwards if the wind permits.
Duck Island Cottage is actually two pavilions linked by a tree-trunk colonnade across the water. It was built in 1840 for the Royal Ornithological Society and looks more like a village homestead with its rustic doors, lattice casements and ornamental barge-boards. Out front is a productive cottage garden with labels for Radish 'French Breakfast', Tomato 'Blush Tiger' and an impressive frame of dangling squashes. All that lets down the rural illusion is a ribbed concrete bridge providing vehicular access to the water treatment facilities and pumps concealed on the island, which is otherwise a sacrosanct avian nature reserve.
The park's walkable strip broadens considerably as we continue round the lake towards Birdcage Walk. There are a heck of a lot of wooden benches along the next stretch, each identical with no plaques or other distinguishing features, which must make it difficult for MI5 agents to identify the correct location to sit nonchalantly while awaiting a secret rendezvous. If instead you take the outer path towards Queen Anne's Gate you'll find a small marble statue of a boy, officially called the Boy Statue, atop a four-basined water fountain unveiled in 1863. One of the park's summer-only ice cream kiosks lies close by, where this year's price for a Calippo is £2.95 while a 99 costs £4.
The Blue Bridge across the centre of the lake has been here since 1957 when it replaced an iron suspension bridge erected 100 years earlier. It was designed by Eric Bedford, the Ministry of Works' chief architect who also devised the Post Office Tower, the 'blue' name coming from the colour of the paint on the railings. It's an elegant concrete span, low to the water, and provides the perfect sightline across the lake towards Buckingham Palace and the London Eye. It's also doomed, destined to be replaced by a translucent glass “Unity Bridge” designed by Sir Norman Foster as part of the upcoming Queen Elizabeth II Memorial, so expect several intermediate years of not being able to stand here to enjoy the view.
Stick to the lakeside path and you'll pass a heck of a lot of birdlife, St James's Park having long been populated by an impressive collection of waterfowl. An information board lists 21 different species from black swans to Bahama pintails, also hooded merganser and red-crested pochards. This is a great place to bring a toddler fascinated by geese and ducks, even if the chucking of bread is not allowed. Youngsters can also enjoy the rock-strewn children's playground with its sandpit and climbing frames, even an exclusive toilet block with doors labelled Girls and Boys. Tracking down the park's six pelicans is more of a lottery, but I was fortunate enough to find them on the shoreline rather than hiding away in the middle of the lake.
The lower path round the Buckingham Palace end of the park was added in 1923 following the construction of the Victoria Memorial Gardens above. The lake was shortened to squeeze the path in, which helps explain why there's an isolated fountain on the stone wall feeding what's now a small ornamental pool. More ducks, more flowers, another kiosk, more squirrels... the density of stuff to see is well above the relative sparsity of neighbouring Green Park. If you want some space to yourself walk along the low railings until you find a way round, then walk back along the grass on the other side. Alternatively try visiting on a day when the Changing of the Guard is scheduled (Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 11) when the sound of passing brass will spirit away almost every tourist, cleansing the park as if led by the Pied Piper.
Now heading back east, look out for the permeable shrubberies and the Rose Walk added in honour of the Queen Mother when she hit the relatively young age of 80. The public toilets are close by, well used by tourists in organised parties who appear to spend ten minutes of their tour nipping in and then lingering outside. It's not yet too late in the year to hire a green and white deckchair, laid out round what used to be the bandstand by a patient attendant who'll charge you £4 for an hour or £14 for a full day. For a cheaper seat try the benches facing the lakeside overlooking the Swire Fountain, this the best spot for observing full-on waddling bird action, but always remember 'Do not feed or touch the pelicans'.
If the previous six refreshment opportunities didn't tempt you, maybe the timber-clad St James's Cafe will instead. It's Benugo so hardly cheap, indeed I almost choked when I saw the fish and chips were £21, ditto the chicken pesto gnocchi, but a hot chocolate still comes in under a fiver if you don't want spray cream and syrup. And hey presto we're back again in the corner where we started, near the plane tree Nelson Mandela planted in 1996. You could walk round again, this time sticking to the perimeter to see Horseguards Parade, Buckingham Palace, St James's Palace and The Mall. But sometimes it's better to have walked round the middle of the park instead, past all the great things you may have forgotten have always been here.
