Daily Essentials

Mile End Park

Mile End · 0.6 miles

A linear green corridor of roughly 32 hectares runs through former industrial land that was heavily bombed during the Second World War, linking the Regent’s Canal to the east with the Hertford Union Canal in the north. The site, now known as Mile End Park, lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets and is operated by Tower Hamlets Council. Open 24 hours a day, the park is split by Mile End Road; a pedestrian bridge designed by Piers Gough and opened in July 1999 provides a crossing near Mile End underground station. The park is divided into several themed zones. The Play Arena and Children’s Park cater to younger visitors, while the Ecology Park contains a lake, an ecology building, a wind turbine and a climbing wall. An Arts Park, a Green Bridge, a Terraced Garden, an Adventure Park and a South Park offer additional open-space activities. Sports facilities are concentrated at the southern end, where Mile End Stadium and the adjacent Mile End Park Leisure Centre, opened in 2006, house a four-court sports hall, two swimming pools (including a competition-standard pool), fitness studios, a health suite and a sauna. Nearby, an extreme-sports centre and an electric go-kart track expand the range of pursuits. The Ragged School Museum, occupying former warehouses on Copperfield Road, faces the park’s western edge. The site has received several recognitions, including the London First Award and an Institution of Civil Engineers Award of Merit for the Green Bridge, and is supported by an active Friends group.

Altab Ali Park

Whitechapel · 1.2 miles

A small green space set back from Whitechapel Road, Altab Ali Park occupies the historic footprint of the 14th-century parish church of St Mary Matfelon, the building that gave Whitechapel its name. The former St Mary’s Park retains the outline of the demolished church, which suffered extensive damage during the Blitz in 1940 and was later removed. Within the remaining layout visitors can see the original floor plan and a number of graves, among them those of Richard Parker, Richard Brandon, Sir John Cass and the self-styled “Sir” Jeffrey Dunstan, once mayor of Garratt. The park was renamed in 1998 to commemorate Altab Ali, a 24-year-old British Bangladeshi leather-worker who was killed on Adler Street in May 1978. An entrance arch, designed by David Petersen, serves as a memorial to Ali and other victims of racist attacks; its interlaced Bengali and European pattern symbolises the cultural mix of East London. In the southwest corner stands the Shaheed Minar, a reduced replica of the monument in Dhaka that marks the Bengali language movement. Unveiled in February 1999 by Bangladesh’s parliamentary speaker Humayun Rashid Choudhury, the structure represents a mother and her martyred sons. A former path once displayed letters forming a fragment of a Rabindranath Tagore poem, though that feature is no longer present. The nearest Underground access is Aldgate East station on the District and Hammersmith & City lines. As a public park, entry is unrestricted and no admission charge is recorded. The site offers a combination of historic remnants, commemorative art and open space within the Whitechapel neighbourhood.

Old Ford Island

Fish Island · 1.2 miles

Old Ford Island is a nature reserve within the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in the London Borough of Newham.

King Edward Memorial Park Foreshore

Ratcliffe · 1.2 miles

Set on the northern bank of the River Thames in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, the foreshore of King Edward Memorial Park lies close to Ratcliffe and is managed by Thames Water. Covering 3.3 hectares, the site ranks among the larger parks in the borough and carries a Green Flag Award for its standards and biodiversity. Visitors can follow the Thames Path as it runs through the park, use the wheelchair-accessible paths and public toilets, and enjoy a range of facilities including a bandstand, waterfront benches, a children’s play area, a bowling green, an all-weather football pitch and tennis courts. The ground has historic links to the early 16th century, when Sir Hugh Willoughby launched an expedition for the Northeast Passage from the present location; a stone and plaque near the former Rotherhithe Rotunda mark that event. Later, the area hosted the Shadwell Fish Market from 1885 before being converted into a public space. After a planning committee reported on the scheme in 1911, the park was formally opened on 24 June 1922 by King George V and Queen Mary as a memorial to King Edward VII. It now serves the surrounding districts of Shadwell, Wapping, Stepney, Ratcliff and Limehouse, providing a venue for school sports days, religious festivals and everyday recreation.

Sutton House

Dalston Junction · 1.2 miles

A rare example of red-brick Tudor architecture stands on Homerton High Street in the London Borough of Hackney. Built in 1535 for Sir Ralph Sadler, Principal Secretary of State to Henry VIII, the three-storey H-plan house is the oldest residential building in the area and holds a Grade II* listing. Originally called Bryck Place, it passed through a succession of owners – cloth merchant John Machell, members of the Drapers’ and Vintners’ Companies, and various private tenants – before being divided and altered in the eighteenth century, when sash windows and Georgian features were added to an expanded east wing. By the nineteenth century the property served as a boys’ and later a girls’ school, and after a series of legal disputes the western half was formally defined as Sutton House. The National Trust acquired the manor in the 1930s and, after periods of neglect and use as a wartime fire-wardens’ centre, the building was restored in the early 1990s and opened as a public museum. Today the house operates under the National Trust and includes a museum, a café, an art gallery and a book-and-gift shop, together with education and community programmes and a licence for civil marriages. Wheelchair access is limited. The site is reachable on foot from Hackney Central and Homerton stations on the London Overground’s North London Line, and several bus routes serve the surrounding streets. The nearest town centre is Dalston Junction. As a listed landmark, Sutton House remains a focal point for local heritage within the Hackney area.

Finsbury Square

Cheapside · 1.9 miles

A public green of about 0.7 hectare lies on the east side of City Road, opposite Bunhill Fields, and is managed by Islington Council. The square incorporates a six-rink grass bowling green and an underground NCP car park, with two former petrol-station sites now used for surface parking. It is served by bus routes 21, 43, 141 and 214 and sits roughly 200 m north of Moorgate station, 300 m north-west of Liverpool Street station and 400 m south of Old Street station, making it easily reachable on foot or by public transport. An occasional farmers’ market is held on the site, and entry to the green is free. Originally laid out in 1777 as a planned quadrangle of terraced town houses surrounding a central garden, the area was previously part of the open Finsbury Fields in the parish of St Luke’s. From the late-19th century the residential buildings were replaced by larger commercial premises. Throughout its history the square has hosted a range of occupants, including the Temple of the Muses, James Lackington’s bookshop and the early home of the rabbinical seminary that later became the London School of Jewish Studies (1855–81). In the early 20th century the City of London Yeomanry were based at 39 Finsbury Square, a site now occupied by City Gate House. Today the western side contains a 150 000 sq ft office block used by the London Metal Exchange, while the north side is dominated by Triton Court and Royal London House, the latter now operating as The Montcalm Hotel. The east side houses the University of Liverpool’s London campus and Grant Thornton’s offices. The square continues to function as an open space within a dense commercial district, offering both recreational facilities and easy access to surrounding transport links.