There’s an old railway track somewhere near Finsbury Park. Running up Crouch hill, through Crouch End and into Highgate, it’s left to the wild and cuts a steep line through north London, hidden by teenage Oaks and Beech trees. Cycling back from Hampstead Heath today I found myself marveling at this hidden gem.
This secret little passage way is everything I love about London.
It’s not like something you’d find on a country walk, you’re very much in the city and yet you’re surrounded by nature; a feral nature desperately fighting for its patch, daringly encroaching on the back gardens that lie so close. You feel as though you’re on top of London here, and on a bright autumnal day, the sun constantly shines through the semi naked trees and the chimney pots poke out just beneath you.
You’re not alone; plenty have caught on, but in a good way. There’s a small overflow from Highgate- those who’ve perhaps got a little bored of the Heath and its crowds, who want to try something different. They saunter along with their pedigree dogs running dutifully behind their pedigree children. But then, coming out of a bend, you’ll eye a small bridge whose walls are overgrown with graffiti and vines. No one’s cleaned this place up- thankfully- and young graffiti artists spray away fearless. There’s even a mini skate ramp and an old relic of a playground…
I don’t know the history of this railway track. I can only assume from the trees that it’s been discarded for about 50 years perhaps? In a way I quite like not knowing the background, preferring to make up my own backgrounds as I ride through. Every now and then I spot the kind of house that I think I might like to live in when I grow up.
One thing that scares me most about cities is forgetting the seasons. Today I embraced autumn. All it took was a bike and an old map.
Parkland Walk. It's an amazing gem of a place, isn't it? It runs past the rear of where I live. I love being able to step out of London and do a country walk within 5 minutes of leaving home. Next time you do it, when you get to Highgate, you're not far away from Queens Wood and Highgate Woods, which are looking lovely right now. x
Ahh, Parkland Walk…But don’t you just want to carry on through that blocked off tunnel to the abandoned station at Highgate? It’s a nature reserve, you can see a bit of it from the bmx area adjacent to the road. Years ago, you could get into the left tunnel, but not out of the other end. You could go and peek at the station, platform level, but a spooky walk in the dark!