Map and Directions (Download PDF)
Introduction
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| Queen's Wood Cafe |
Getting There
Start:
Finsbury Park (Victoria and Piccadilly Line)
Transport along the way:
Stations: Haringey, Crouch End and Highgate
Bus W3 from Alexandra Palace and W7 from Muswell Hill
End:
Finsbury Park (Victoria and Piccadilly Line)
The
walk starts at the New River Path in Finsbury Park. The New River Path follows
the 400 year old aqueduct that supplies water from Hertfordshire to North
London. Nowadays, the water reservoirs are located in Stoke Newington, but
originally the reservoir was located at the New River Head, where we find the
headquarters of the Metropolitan Water Board. The new river path is a 45km or
28mi path.
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| New River Path near Crouch End |
Following Wightman Road for about one mile, don’t forget to look on your left for some magnificent views. When arriving at the end of the New River, near the mosque, turn left and walk across the foot bridge of Hornsey Station to get a first glimpse of Alexandra Palace.
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| Alexandra Palace, ready to climb the hill |
Get ready for the rewarding climb up to Alexandra Palace
with the most beautiful panoramic view across East and Central London. Alexandra Palace
opened in 1873 and burnt down 16 days
later. Sounds familiar? Crystal Palace, the opponent of Alexandra Palace in
South London, burnt down twice and today only remnants are left. Alexandra
Palace served as a Belgian refugee camp during both World Wars and hosted the
first high definition public broadcast in the BBC Studios. Alexandra Palace
hosts many events and concerts and also has an ice rink, a playground, a lake
and skate park. At the front left of the building there’s a pub and toilet
facilities and also the bus stop for the W3 towards Finsbury Park. For food, I
would suggest to wait for Muswell Hill which has many nice restaurants and
cafes.
When arriving at Muswell Hill walk into the foot tunnel
to continue your walk via Parkland Walk or turn right on the main road towards
the roundabout and Muswell Hill Road for a lunch break or the W7 bus towards
Finsbury Park. There are many nice cafes, shops and restaurants around Muswell
Hill. When looking down, you might find some interesting personalised, painted
chewing gums by the artist Ben Wilson.
If you fancy a classic pub lunch, definitely head down to
O’Neill’s Irish pub also
knows as the church pub, this pub is definitely worth a look from the inside. Continue
onto Parkland Walk, a beautiful nature
reserve which used to be a railway track that goes all the way down to Finsbury
Park.
From Highgate Wood onwards you can follow the Capital
Ring Walk trail back to Finsbury Park. When arriving in Queen’s Wood and you
fancy a nice cup of tea or a heart warming soup, I would really recommend to
have a stop at the Queen’s Wood café.
It’s a charming non-profit community café/chalet in the middle of the woods.
Links and Drinks
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I'd love to hear your suggestions on the walks you've done or the usability of the blog. Thanks!