Excursion to Crystal Palace Park


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November 27th 2017
Published: November 27th 2017
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We decided to go to Crystal Palace Park, southeast of London, on 18 September. It was raining when we arrived at Crystal Palace station. We decided to have hot drinks at the café in front of the entrance of the park. Fortunately, it was a showery rain and cleared away in half an hour.



Having entered from Boundaries Gate, we started strolling through the terrace gardens around South Terrace. On its left there used to be the gigantic glass and ironwork exhibition hall, designed Sir Joseph Paxton. We found the BBC Transmitter on the left edge of the former Crystal Palace, and it seemed the symbol of the park. Standing on top of Sydenham Heights, it offered fantastic views of the massive park towards county of Kent.



There were various remains, e.g. statues on the former site of the palace. We walked down the Lower Terrace and ambled through the lush park including the water lily pond, fishing lake, maze and the Boating Lake.



Sir Joseph Paxton was one of the great Victorian engineers – a gardener, architect, Member of Parliament, editor and railway magnate – we found the bust of Paxton at the foot of the former Crystal Palace. Together with the Duke of Devonshire at Chatworth House in Devonshire, Paxton developed an enthusiasm for iron and glass architecture and an interest in the design and mechanics of water gardens, and he had been involved in the creation of the first Victorian city park at Birkenhead and these interests culminated in the design of Crystal Palace.



The highlight of the Crystal palace Park is the Geological Time Trail on the Boating Lake. Although some of models were under conservation on 18 September, we could see an amazing array of models of prehistoric monsters – two massive iguanodons, plesiosaurs, pterodactyls, etc – standing on the interlined islands made of real rocks from different geological periods. The stone models of dinosaurs, which were executed earlier time, looked particularly authentic and made us feel as though we were transported to the Jurassic Park.



Afterwards, we followed the trail suggested by ‘Walking London’s Parks and Gardens’ and returned to Crystal Palace station.


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