Supergrows

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.

King Edward Memorial Park Foreshore

Ratcliffe · 0.6 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.

Victoria Park

Homerton · 1.2 miles

Covering 86.18 hectares, Victoria Park ranks as the largest green space in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets and attracts around nine million visitors annually. Situated on the north-eastern fringe of the borough, it lies between Bethnal Green to the west, Bow to the south, Hackney Wick to the east and the borough of Hackney to the north, with Homerton identified as the nearest town. The A1205 Grove Road bisects the park, and a network of gates provides access for pedestrians, cyclists and motor vehicles on all sides. The layout, commissioned after a 1841 Act of Parliament and executed by Sir James Pennethorne between 1842 and 1846, reflects the design principles of Regent’s Park. Waterways frame the site: the Regent’s Canal runs along its western edge and the former Hertford Union Canal borders the south. Notable features include replica Dogs of Alcibiades statues at the Sewardstone Road entrance, and two Grade II-listed pedestrian alcoves at the eastern end that incorporate stone fragments from the 1760 refurbishment of Old London Bridge. A former bathing pond gave way to a lido opened in 1936, which after wartime damage reopened in 1952, closed in 1986 and was demolished in 1990. The park has also served as a venue for public speech, political rallies and, during the Second World War, as an anti-aircraft site. The London Borough of Tower Hamlets manages the park and publishes its opening times. Visitors can enter through multiple gates, and the park contains canals, statues and listed alcoves. Facilities such as the historic lido site and the open lawns are available for recreational use, while the park’s heritage status is reflected in the listed structures within its boundaries.

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.

Westferry Circus

South Quay · 1.2 miles

Westferry Circus is a road interchange and public space in Canary Wharf estate in London, and contains a two-level road interchange. There are two roundabouts, one above the other. It was designed by Laurie Olin. In this context, a circus, from the Latin word meaning "circle", is a round open space at a street junction.

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.