Walk in South Norwood Country Park

It was once part of the Great North Wood and since then it has been a sewage farm, farmland, allotments, and a refuse dump, but now the South Norwood Country Park is a fantastic 125 acre park for the use of the local community, and those like your author who are happy to travel to the latter pages of the A to Z to visit it.


Complete with a wild flower meadow, a wetland reserve and lake, a childrens playground and even an interesting visitors centre, the park is now designated a Local Nature Reserve and attracts over 100 different species of bird each year.

From the top of the viewing mound at the Southern End of the park, you can enjoy views to the Docklands sky scrapers, the Crystal Palace Transmitter, and across South London. Trams drift quietly by, and the high-rise buildings of central Croydon, so beloved by Nicholas Sarkozy, also loom large, shimmering in the distance on a clear day.

When your author was there yesterday, some optimistic souls were trying to fly a kite, which was a little hopeful, but it would be a lovely spot for kite flying if there were any wind.

For more on South Norwood Country Park, click here.