YMCA

Wormwood Scrubs

Old Oak Common · 6.8 miles

Covering 67 hectares, this open space in Old Oak Common lies in the north-eastern corner of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham and is the borough’s largest park. Known locally as The Scrubs, it forms one of the biggest commons in London. The area is divided by Scrubs Lane and the West London line railway, with the eastern section referred to as Little Wormwood Scrubs. The park has been publicly accessible since the Wormwood Scrubs Act of 1879, which secured its use for recreation while allowing occasional military training. Within the grounds are a range of sports facilities, including the Linford Christie Stadium, numerous football pitches and a pony centre. The southern edge abuts two notable institutions: HM Prison Wormwood Scrubs, constructed between 1875 and 1891, and the Hammersmith Hospital campus, which incorporates the relocated Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea Hospital. Historical uses have been diverse – from cavalry exercises leased to the War Office in 1812, to an airship landing ground in 1910 and a naval air station during the First World War. The park also formed part of the 1908 Olympic marathon route. Management is undertaken by the Wormwood Scrubs Charitable Trust, which funds maintenance through leases of the hospital car park, rental of sports fields, advertising billboards and two public car parks. Access is via the surrounding road network and public transport routes that serve Old Oak Common; entry to the park is free and open to all.

Eel Brook Common

Walham Green · 7.5 miles

Eel Brook Common is common land in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, close to Fulham Broadway, with its south-eastern boundary along New King's Road. According to the Fulham Society, the name actually is a derivative of 'hill brook common' - which relates to Musgrave Crescent, which is raised much higher than the surrounding land. It is believed that this is artificial and it probably was originally a Bronze Age mound - either a raised piece of ground to defend against attackers, or as a burial mound. When you leave Eel Brook Common from the north side, you go up a steep ramp - up onto Musgrave Crescent. It is within the Hammersmith and Fulham Conservation Area of Parsons Green.

Design Museum

High Street Kensington · 7.5 miles

The Design Museum in Kensington, London, England, exhibits product, industrial, graphic, fashion, and architectural design. In 2018, the museum won the European Museum of the Year Award. The museum operates as a registered charity, and all funds generated by ticket sales aid the museum in curating new exhibitions.

Queen's Tower

Queen's Gate · 8.7 miles

Remnant of Imperial Institute buildings, demolished in 1957

Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum

Kensington Gore · 8.7 miles

A specialist museum and archive devoted to Poland’s experience during the Second World War occupies the Grade II-listed terrace at 20 Prince’s Gate, West London. The building fronts Kensington Road opposite Hyde Park and lies just inside the City of Westminster, close to the commercial heart of Kensington. Established on 2 May 1945, the institute was founded to safeguard the memory of the Polish Underground State, the government-in-exile and the Polish armed forces that fought alongside the Allies. It operates as a non-governmental organisation run by scholars from the Polish community and forms part of the same Victorian development by Charles James Freake that includes the nearby Polish Hearth Club. The collection comprises witness testimonies from the 1944 Warsaw Uprising, official documents, regimental colours, military medals, uniforms, insignia, artworks and a library of personal effects belonging to Polish statesmen, diplomats and ordinary citizens. A substantial film and photographic archive, digitised in 2005–06, holds more than 5 000 images and is accessible for exhibitions and educational projects. In 2006, a cache of 2 000 photographs taken by Jan Markiewicz of the 1950s Polish community in South London was added to the holdings. The institute merged in 1988 with the Polish Underground Movement Study Trust, which retains internal autonomy for research and publishing. Governance is provided by a council and executive committee, overseeing departments such as Archives, Museum, Reference Library, Publications and the Regimental Colours Fund. Membership categories include honorary, full, life and annual members.

Gladstone Park

Dudden Hill · 8.7 miles

Covering about 35 hectares in the Dollis Hill area of north-west London, Gladstone Park lies on both sides of the Dudding Hill Line. The London Borough of Brent manages the site, which is reachable on foot from Dollis Hill underground station on the Jubilee line, roughly a ten-minute walk to the south-west, and from Cricklewood Thameslink station to the east. Bus routes 226 and 232 pass nearby. A footbridge spans the railway at the western edge, while a service-road bridge at the eastern side is used by park staff. The park originated from the former estate of the Finch family, acquired by the Municipal Borough of Willesden at the end of the 19th century and opened in 1901, named after former Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone. Early design by surveyor Oliver Claude Robson retained the northern ground in a natural state and allocated the southern area for sport, resulting in facilities such as football and cricket pavilions, a bowling green and tennis courts. A children’s playground and an Old English garden, created from the house’s former vegetable plot, remain prominent. The former Dollis Hill House, an early-19th-century farmhouse, stands near the northern boundary. Although the original public swimming bath has been closed, the park still offers paved pathways, plane-tree avenues and a sundial installed in 1907. No admission fee is mentioned, and basic conveniences are provided within the grounds.