CSF

Woodberry Wetlands

Woodberry Down · 0.6 miles

Woodberry Wetlands occupies the former East Reservoir in the Manor House area of the London Borough of Hackney, close to Woodberry Down and the Lee Valley. Designated as a Site of Metropolitan Importance, the 4.5 ha (11 acre) reserve opened to visitors on 1 May 2016 after a redevelopment that made the area freely accessible. Management is provided by the London Wildlife Trust on land owned by Thames Water, and dogs are not permitted. Facilities include a boardwalk that traverses the water-edge, a visitors’ centre housing a café, toilet amenities and a classroom, while the northern perimeter is bordered by the New River Path, forming part of the Wetlands to Wetlands Greenway cycle route that links to Walthamstow Wetlands. Opening times are published on the Trust’s listing. The site’s origins lie in the early 17th-century water-supply scheme authorised by King James I in 1604, when the New River was constructed to bring clean water from Hertfordshire and Middlesex to London. The reservoirs themselves were created in 1833, their banks once lined with stone salvaged from the demolition of London Bridge. Today the East Reservoir temporarily stores water before it is processed at the Walthamstow Reservoirs, while the adjacent west reservoir functions as a water-sports centre. Ecologically, the wetlands serve as a resting point for migratory waterfowl such as pochard, shoveler and gadwall, and support resident species including grey heron, reed bunting, kingfisher, damselflies, dragonflies, amphibians and bats. An expansion of reed beds, undertaken by the Trust, aims to enhance habitat for reed bunting, reed warbler and overwintering bittern.

Downhills Park

Duckett's Green · 0.6 miles

Spanning roughly 12 hectares (about 30 acres), the green space on the edge of Wood Green and Tottenham provides a mix of open fields and a cultivated garden. The managed area includes a rose garden, alongside facilities for tennis and basketball, while the broader recreation ground accommodates informal sport and leisure. In 2006 the site earned the Green Flag Award, recognising its standards of maintenance and community value. Since July 2015 the park has also acted as a base for several local clubs, notably the Finsbury Park Rugby Football Club, the Og GAA and the Holloway Ladies Gaelic Football Team. The land’s history reaches back to a house called Downhills that existed before 1728. After being purchased by a private developer in 1881, building work only began at the turn of the century. Following a resident-led campaign, the Tottenham Urban District Council acquired the estate and its surrounding fields in 1901, retaining many original features while adding new amenities. Wartime bombing after 1939 led to the loss of several structures, and new children’s play equipment was installed by Haringey Council during the 1980s. The park lies nearest to Duckett’s Green and is freely accessible to the public, offering a blend of historic landscape and contemporary sport facilities.

Monument to Samuel Rogers and Family

Hornsey · 1.2 miles

Chest tomb of the nonconformist Roger’s family of Stoke Newington. Samuel Roger’s was a celebrated Victorian poet who died in 1855 aged 92. Grade II listed.

Warwick Reservoir West

Stamford Hill · 1.2 miles

West Warwick Reservoir is located in the London Borough of Waltham Forest at Walthamstow. The storage reservoir is part of the Lee Valley Reservoir Chain, which supplies drinking water to London. It is owned by Thames Water.

Warwick Reservoir East

Waltham Forest · 1.2 miles

East Warwick Reservoir is located in the London Borough of Waltham Forest at Walthamstow. The storage reservoir is part of the Lee Valley Reservoir Chain and supplies drinking water to London. The reservoir is owned by Thames Water.

Walthamstow Marshes

Waltham Forest · 1.9 miles

Covering 36.7 hectares (91 acres), the marshes constitute a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. The River Lea marks the western edge, separating the area from the London Borough of Hackney, and the site sits inside the wider Lee Valley Park. To the south lie Leyton Marshes; to the north the remnants of Tottenham Marshes and a series of reservoirs, including Lockwood, High Maynard and others. The land escaped both urban development and gravel extraction, remaining a relatively untouched wetland crossed only by railway lines laid in the 19th century. The habitat supports a mosaic of plant communities typical of a former flood-plain, such as neutral grassland, sedge marsh, reed swamp, sallow scrub and tall-herb zones. This diversity underpins several insect species with limited London distribution, including the Essex skipper butterfly, the parasite fly *Ligeria angusticornis*, a pyralid moth and occasional breeding of the nationally endangered marsh warbler. Breeding birds such as reed bunting and various warblers are recorded, while wintering birds and autumn finch flocks use the adjoining reservoirs. A blue plaque on the railway arch commemorates Alliott Verdon Roe’s 1909 flight across the marsh, and the sculpture ‘Split Leaf’ by Jon Mills, created in 2003 with local primary-school pupils, marks the formal entrance.