It has rained nearly every day for the past week, and the forecast today appeared to promise on-and-off drizzle. At best. Nonetheless, I was determined not to break my streak… and go hiking for this 20th consecutive weekend. I chose to walk end-to-end across the three Royal Parks in London’s West End: Hyde Park, Green Park, and St James Park, on my return from Saturday-morning coffee with colleagues to my home near Victoria Station. It was a surprisingly pleasant five-mile walk, and it seemed half of London was out to enjoy these parks today as well.
Hyde Park is the largest, by far, and I chose to follow the shoreline of Round Pond, the Long Water, and the Serpentine. Waterfowl are plentiful, including some exotic species (like Egyptian Geese, possibly wintering here from their home range in north Africa). At several points there is a café alongside the shore, to which I will surely return when sunny spring weather arrives. Rows of blooming daffodils give me hope, as it did to a woman I saw filming the flowers for a friend.
Hyde Park Corner.
I crossed from Hyde Park to Green Park at the busy Hyde Park Corner. As walked under the Wellington Arch, in the middle of the traffic island, I noticed it was open for visitors. As a member of English Heritage, which manages this historic site, I enjoyed free entry and was soon climbing to the top of this war memorial for a broader view of the landscape. Along the way I was interested to read more about the history of this famous arch, once quite controversial. This arch, and several monuments nearby, acknowledge the sacrifice of tens of thousands of British and Commonwealth troops in the First World War.
In Green Park I started to encounter throngs of tourists, the density increasing as I approached closer to Buckingham Palace. Just yesterday I tried to walk across the front of the palace gates, on my way to the office, and the crowd was so dense I could barely pass through. Just the changing of the guards, said one bobby when I asked. Gosh, if this is a winter crowd I don’t want to return in summer. Today I steered clear of the Palace and headed into St James Park.
St James Park is especially nice, as I looped around the pond. A small crowd gathered to watch the white pelicans – descendants of those “introduced to St James’s Park in 1664 as a gift from the Russian Ambassador to King Charles II.” These pelicans, which can live to 50 years old, are huge – as tall as my waist – and are fed seafood daily by park staff. Unusual and interesting, to be sure, for an inland park with freshwater ponds. But it’s remarkable how many tourists stop to photograph squirrels! I have to remember that some of them come from far-away places and may never have encountered this common critter.
As I headed back home along Buckingham Palace Road I was tempted to stop in at Gail’s Bread, a delightful bakery with (IMHO) the best hot chocolate in London. (Dartmouth tidbit: Gail’s Bread was co-founded and is still led by a Dartmouth ’88 alum.) I’ll be back!
Check out the gallery for more photos.
Hike stats:
Distance: 5.13 miles (8.26 km)
Time: 1h49m (including museum)
Gain: 13 feet (hah!)
Track on GaiaGPS
David Kotz 