Where to sit in Victoria Park, East London?

September 25, 2021 8:49 AM

I'm shielding during Covid and am very risk averse, but would like to meet up with a couple of friends in Victoria Park, East London tomorrow. I'm not familiar with the park, so am not sure where to suggest we meet.

If you know Victoria Park, can you suggest a location where we can sit and chat but still socially distance? My friends are a married couple, so can sit together, but I would ideally like to be able to sit six feet away from them (and from strangers). Unfortunately I can't sit on the ground - I will need a bench/chair. Thanks!

posted by EXISTENZ IS PAUSED to Grab Bag (5 answers total)

Best answer: Victoria Park is a popular place to meet, so if it's a sunny day, expect it to be fairly busy. But it's a big park, and can swallow a lot of people without feeling crowded. (Last summer I saw some large groups meeting in the park for religious worship. But I don't suppose they're still meeting there now that indoor places of worship have reopened.)

If I were you I'd arrange to meet at the Pavilion Cafe. If you can't find seating outside the cafe, there's a long tree-lined avenue that runs along the SE edge of the park, parallel to the Hertford Union Canal. If I remember rightly, there are benches at regular intervals, so you should be able to find somewhere to sit.
posted by verstegan at 10:24 AM on September 25, 2021

Best answer: If you or your friends can bring a chair, then you'll have no trouble at all. The big open spaces on the east side of the park, near the cricket pitches, are the least crowded of the open spaces in the park even on busy days.

If you need to find open benches that are already in the park, I would suggest a mosey through the English Garden section. The benches are very far apart and, for some reason, people don't congregate there as much as they do elsewhere.

The Pavilion Cafe area is lovely, but there will be a lot of people around there. Like verstegan says, though, if you walk along the Herford Union Canal--inside the park fence--you will see the occasional bench. Mostly people use that wide boulevard for jogging, so the benches over there (between Pavilion Cafe/Grove Road and Gunmakers Gate, even down to the Parnell Road Bridge) are usually empty.
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 10:45 AM on September 25, 2021 [2 favorites]

Best answer: It's a huge park, so you should find somewhere eventually, even on a busy Sunday. Another suggestion would be the picnic benches on the south side of the east lake.
posted by amestoy at 10:58 AM on September 25, 2021

Response by poster: Thanks everyone, these are wonderful suggestions!

From scrolling through photos of the park I’m thinking the Burdett-Coutts drinking fountain might be a possibility - it looks like the wide ledge surrounding the water feature can be sat on in addition to the wooden benches, which would give us a chance to socially distance. But even if we do meet there I imagine we’ll also go for a stroll, so all these (and further!) suggestions are hugely helpful! Thanks so much!
posted by EXISTENZ IS PAUSED at 11:31 AM on September 25, 2021

Best answer: Just for information - the Hackney Half Marathon is tomorrow (30,000 runners) and whilst it doesn’t go through the park, it runs along the north and east sides. Starts at 9 and due to finish at 2:30.
posted by peanut butter milkshake at 3:14 PM on September 25, 2021 [2 favorites]