A visit to Wanstead Park
The maximum temperature reached 26-27c in London as of writing so I had an idea to go to somewhere cool down. Visiting parks is always a great idea because of groups of trees, or woods/forests — the natural air conditioner which won't damage the environment by greenhouse effect. Thus I gave Wanstead Park — where I only passed by through running not seriously visiting — a chance.
Parks in London are already equivalent to country parks and even national parks because the whole nature has been simply be protected without many man-made facilities. No street lights as well so parks here are closed at night. The only difference between the general parks and national parks is the former is easy to access but the paths are usually not difficult to walk so even wearing sandals are not a problem.
Wanstead Park is located in Redbridge, which is accessible from three Underground stations: Leytonstone, Wanstead and Redbridge all along Central line. It also serves as the entrance of Epping Forest.
I started with Redbridge station and had a cup of oat flat white before visiting, as I thought it was the nearest way to enter the park.
However, there is a very big roundabout so I had to walk across it through a series of subways (pedestrian tunnels). After that the natural path getting there doesn't have trees on both sides, resulting in feeling like being in a desert. (Thankfully it was not inside the park)
Walking in the forest
I am always grateful to live in London where a big city has a lot of big parks with natural landscapes and reserves. They are in many parts of the city especially in the south so that in some cases I can walk or run there, and the paths are mostly flat so it is not quite challenging. Natural life can be embedded in my life.
It’s also a good idea to walk in the wood of a park, which serves as a kind of natural air conditioner which is impossible to damage the environment like greenhouse effects.
But I hope more trees to be planted also along the street. We can now see this in, for example, Holland Park Avenue. Yes it will be difficult to expand green areas, but we have to find the ways to achieve it, to make people feel comfortable not only in the park, but also in the urban areas.
Bird watching
Besides the woods in the park, there are three ponds in the park so it's easy to see closely how birds live. This time (June) I saw their kids were growing up and even became juveniles. Egyptian geese no longer needed their parents and they were able to be independent.
I ended up spending two hours there (from around 4 to 6pm) but definitely enjoyed there. I will surely come again especially the blossom of bluebell every April.
