This is a blog written by Munira Ali, who has set herself the incredible and exciting challenge of visiting all of London's parks! You can follow Munira's journey at https://www.instagram.com/all_london_parks/
Visiting all of London’s Parks
I’ve started the year with an injury, which is temporarily preventing me from doing what I love to do the most: exploring green spaces. You see, in 2021, I set myself the goal of visiting every London park, during a time when there wasn’t much else you could do. This was before I discovered that there are 4,000 plus green spaces in London! Three years on, and what started off as a fun pastime has become a reliable source for discovery, mental rest and unqualified belonging.
I never grew up going to outdoor spaces, with the exception of periodic trips to the local park, but these visits have unexpectedly ignited a childlike wonder and sense of play. In some ways, I feel fortunate to be discovering such love for green spaces later in life, when societal expectations feel infinitely more pressurised.
My goal of visiting all of London’s parks hasn’t stopped me from continuing to revisit parks that I have particularly enjoyed. There’s something really special about returning to a park, when our gaze naturally lifts and lowers as seasonal cycles take shape. There’s also something special about being shown around someone’s favourite green space- noticing how parts stand out with the sheen of recaptured memories.
I’ve visited almost 200 green spaces in London so far and there are many I’d recommend for different reasons. When people ask me about the best part of doing this, the short answer is it makes me happy. The long answer goes something like this.
It’s watching the sun set over the hilly landscapes of Telegraph Hill Park, Greenwich Park, and Gladstone Park.
It’s the enchantingly colourful grasslands garden surrounding the Horniman Museum in the summer.
It’s a quiet December morning tracking icy reflections and the final remnants of autumn colour at Boston Manor Park.
It’s the unforgettable twin shades of bright blue of the ponds and sky in Waterlow Park on a sunny winter’s day.
It’s the fascinating walled gardens of Brockwell Park, West Ham Park and Golders Hill Park and the gorgeous rose covered arches of the sunken garden at Kensington Gardens.
It’s the free roaming deer of Richmond Park and Bushy Park and the purposeful longhorn cows in Wanstead Park brought to help to restore the acid-grasslands for wildlife conservation.
It’s the undeniable excitement I felt when spotting a kingfisher for the first time in Walthamstow Wetlands.
It’s the wonderful combination of beautiful parkland, gardens and ancient woodland of Beckenham Place Park and Lesnes Abbey Wood.
It’s the winding paths of Abney Park that invite exploration.
It’s the striking wisteria of Haggerston Park in May.
It’s the majestic woodlands of Epping Forest and Trent Park.
It’s more than I can fully capture.
Dear reader, I hope you get to travel to and experience as many green spaces this year as possible. Above all, I hope your trips bring you the same amount of joy I have felt since I took on this goal. I know that it will take me many, many, many years to see all of London’s green spaces, if I even manage to. As uncertain as my goal feels, I am sure that after so many years spent mostly indoors, now when given the choice, I’ll always choose to go out and explore.
