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Alexandra Park, London

Coordinates: 51°35′44″N 0°07′34″W / 51.59568°N 0.12603°W / 51.59568; -0.12603
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An avenue in the park lined with lime trees

Alexandra Park is an 80–hectare, Green Flag Award, and Green Heritage winning, landscaped park,[1][2] in the Borough of Haringey in north London adjacent to Hornsey, Muswell Hill and Wood Green. The park is named after Queen Alexandra, the wife of King Edward VII.[3]

Alexandra Park is split between hilly terrain [4] and flat ground. The tree-lined sloping hill has wide views over London, spanning the whole panorama. On a clear day, the Crystal Palace Transmitter on the far south-east side of London is visible. It is dominated by Alexandra Palace. From 1936 to 1981, the BBC transmitted TV programmes from a tall mast built onto one of the towers of the palace. In 1980, most of the palace was gutted by a huge fire. The building has since been restored and is now a conference and exhibition centre.


History

An Act of Parliament in 1900 created the Alexandra Palace and Park Trust. The Act required the Trustees to maintain the Palace and Park and make them available for the free use and recreation of the public forever.

Until September 1970, Alexandra Park hosted horse racing, including many evening meetings that were televised by the BBC. The racecourse in the park grounds was nicknamed "the Frying Pan" owing to its shape, and boasted an ornate Victorian grandstand and cast-iron railings. Its most prestigious race was the London Cup. Alexandra Park Cricket Club and Football Club are situated within the old racecourse providing sporting facilities for the local community.[5][6] The name is widely used locally to describe the neighbourhood directly to the north of the park.[7]

A medium-sized lake attracts a variety of waterfowl in all seasons, and used to have a large enclosure housing a small herd of fallow deer.[8] The deer were moved to Devon early 2016.[9] The Park was declared a Local Nature Reserve in 2013,[10] and is also a Site of Borough Importance for Nature Conservation, Grade 1.[11][12]

Events

The Park hosts a variety of events throughout the year; food, craft and beer festivals, a summer festival, a fireworks festival in November and a weekly Parkrun each Saturday morning.[13]

The Friends of Alexandra Park organise walks, such as fungi, tree, wild flower, history and bat.[14][15]

At the foot of Muswell Hill, the park is host to a farmers market most weeks.[16]

Access

Accessibility by public transport became well developed in the late nineteenth century, and the park and its palace were well connected to both to the electric tram network and to London's train network through Alexandra Palace railway station (Muswell Hill branch), sited on the grounds of the palace itself. These services no longer exist, but there is access by the frequent W3 bus (connections at Wood Green and Finsbury Park tube stations), or walking 10 minutes uphill from Alexandra Palace railway station.

Alexandra Park neighbourhood

The area to the north of the park is known locally as Alexandra Park. Like many London neighbourhoods, its precise boundaries are not clear but it can be approximately placed in the area bounded by the North Circular Road to the north, the Great Northern Railway line to the east, the park to the south and a line to the west somewhere between Avenue Road and Curzon Road. The area's identity has been reinforced by its local website. [17] There is a secondary school named Alexandra Park.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ http://www.keepbritaintidy.org/GreenFlag/GreenFlagAwardSites/London/Default.aspx?parkID=574
  2. ^ - About (accessed 31 January 2008)
  3. ^ Mills, A.D. (2010). A Dictionary of London Place-Names. Oxford University Press. p. 6. ISBN 9780199566785.
  4. ^ grid reference TQ299902
  5. ^ http://www.alexandraparkcricketclub.com/ Cricket
  6. ^ http://www.alexandraparkfc.co.uk/ Football
  7. ^ Local residents refer to the area north of Alexandra park as simply Alexandra Park, Alexandra Park Neighbours
  8. ^ http://www.alexandrapalace.com/park/animal-enclosure/
  9. ^ http://www.hamhigh.co.uk/news/environment/alexandra_park_deer_set_to_move_to_greener_pastures_1_4389116
  10. ^ "Alexandra Park". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England. 20 March 2014. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
  11. ^ "Alexandra Park". Greenspace Information for Greater London. 2013. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
  12. ^ "iGiGL data portal (map)". Greenspace Information for Greater London. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
  13. ^ http://www.parkrun.org.uk/allypally/
  14. ^ [https://www.friendsofalexandrapark.org/ Walks
  15. ^ https://sites.google.com/a/dreamcountry.org/foapk/home/coming-soon Events coming up in the Park
  16. ^ https://weareccfm.com/city-country-farmers-markets/market-profiles/alexandra-palace-market/ farmers market
  17. ^ http://alexandraparkneighbours.org.uk/ Alexandra Park neighbourhood

51°35′44″N 0°07′34″W / 51.59568°N 0.12603°W / 51.59568; -0.12603

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