Le Nail

Swan Lane Open Space

Woodside Park · 1.2 miles

The park offers a compact green space within Whetstone, part of the London Borough of Barnet, and is listed as the smallest of the borough’s sixteen Premier Parks. It combines open, mown lawns with a collection of mature trees, notably giant redwoods and a Cedar of Lebanon, alongside more natural zones that are actively managed for wildlife. Visitors can use the children’s playground, stop at the on-site café, or follow the pond’s edge, where reeds and water plants now fringe a spring-fed water body that once hosted model boating. Laid out around the 1930s, the site was reclaimed from former gravel pits that bordered a nineteenth-century estate. Locally dubbed “The Pits” from at least the 1960s, the area bears a somber memory of a 1925 tragedy in which three schoolchildren drowned while exploring the disused workings. The park’s upper section appeared in the early 1970s during filming of a Monty Python “Hells Grannies” sketch, with the period Wendy House visible in the background. Rose beds beside the café have been planted to commemorate two local residents, adding a personal touch to the landscape. Access points are provided from Swan Lane, Whetstone High Road and Woodside Lane, situating the open space close to the Woodside Park neighbourhood. As a public amenity, the park does not charge admission and offers basic facilities such as the playground and café for casual visits.

Oak Hill Park

East Barnet · 1.9 miles

Oak Hill Park occupies a sizeable stretch of green space in East Barnet, within the London Borough of Barnet, and is maintained by Barnet Council. The site carries a Green Flag Award for the 2009–10 period, reflecting its quality as a public amenity. Visitors can make use of an outdoor gym, a dedicated bowls green, several football pitches, a golf course, three tennis courts, a multi-sports court and a toddler-friendly play area, offering a variety of activities for different ages and interests. A portion of the grounds was designated Oak Hill Wood as a Local Nature Reserve in 1997, and the watercourse Pymme’s Brook, together with the Pymmes Brook Trail, run through the park, providing opportunities for walking and wildlife observation. Since August 2011 the park has hosted a weekly Parkrun, adding a regular community fitness element. Access points are situated on Church Hill Road, Parkside Gardens, Daneland and Vernon Crescent, allowing entry from several surrounding streets. The area traces its origins back to at least the 11th century as part of the Monkenfrith estate held by the church. Following the dissolution of the monasteries the land was sold in the 1530s and stayed in private hands until the late 1920s, when the death of Charles Edward Baring Young led to the council’s purchase in 1930. Oak Hill House subsequently became the home of Oak Hill College, while the remaining estate was laid out as a public park in 1933. A monument to early-18th-century owner Sir Simon Haughton Clarke can be seen in the cemetery of St Mary’s Church opposite the park.

Long Lane Pasture

Church End · 1.9 miles

A small green space of roughly 1.1 hectares lies within Finchley, in the London Borough of Barnet, and is recorded on maps as a nature reserve. The site, known as Long Lane Pasture, falls under the ownership of Barnet Council while day-to-day stewardship is provided by the Long Lane Pasture Trust, a body that receives no direct funding from the council. The nearest settlement identified on OpenStreetMap is Church End, and visitors reach the reserve via a footpath that joins Long Lane just north of the North Circular Road. The pasture’s origins date back to 1912 when the Municipal Borough of Finchley purchased the land for public recreation. In the 1920s, the construction of the North Circular Road removed about half of the original area. Administrative control shifted in 1965 when Finchley merged into the larger London Borough of Barnet. For many years the ground remained open to the public and served as grazing for horses until roadworks in the 1980s prompted a temporary closure. A proposal to sell the land for housing emerged in 1999, but a local campaign succeeded in overturning the decision in 2006. A 25-year lease was granted to the Trust in 2009, and a management plan now guides efforts to protect the site’s wildlife and to enhance its biodiversity. The reserve offers a quiet setting for walking and observing local flora and fauna, with no admission charge mentioned. Apart from the footpath entry, no additional visitor facilities are recorded, making the pasture a straightforward, low-key destination for nature-focused outings.

Monument to Samuel Rogers and Family

Hornsey · 2.5 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.

Darland's Lake Nature Reserve

Totteridge · 2.5 miles

I've mapped the Nature Reserve to cover the whole area based on previous visits there, and the attached map

Trent Park

Oakwood · 3.1 miles

The expanse of Trent Park stretches across roughly 320 hectares of green within the Metropolitan Green Belt, positioned near the Oakwood district of north London. The landscape forms part of a conservation area and holds a Grade II entry on the Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England. Central to the grounds stands the former country house, itself a Grade II listed building together with several statues, an orangery and other ancillary structures that survive from the original estate. Historically the site originated in the fourteenth-century hunting grounds of Enfield Chase and later hosted a succession of private owners before becoming a secret World War II prisoner-of-war centre where covert recordings of German officers were made. After the war the house formed the Trent Park campus of Middlesex University until the campus was vacated in October 2012. The surrounding parkland has been known as Trent Country Park since 1973 and currently accommodates the Southgate Hockey Centre, a sports ground, and a building that formerly housed an indoor tennis court for royalty before being converted into a sports hall. A developer’s 2017 permission allows 262 new homes to be built on the former university site, with plans to retain the historic house and to house a museum on its lower floors. Visitors to the park can observe the listed mansion, its ornamental gardens and the Orangery, while the open fields support organised sport at the hockey centre. The nearest settlement is Oakwood, and the park’s status within the green belt and conservation area ensures its landscape remains largely unchanged despite recent redevelopment proposals.