Mile End Park
The King George’s Playing Fields Trust, founded after King George V died in 1936, resulted in sports facilities which were opened in 1952 by the Duke of Edinburgh. Mile End Stadium which opened in 1954, was refurbished in 2005 and its Leisure Centre with Sports Hall, swimming pools and fitness studios opened in 2006. Other facilities for physical activities in the Park include a Climbing Wall, mini BMX circuit, Skate Park and an Electric Go-carts circuit.
But there is much more…
The north end, just across the road from Victoria Park, is the site of Rachel Whiteread’s 1993 Turner Prize winning ‘House’.
Then we stroll through the Ecology Park, with wind turbine and Ecology Pavilion.
After a detour to Meath Gardens, once Victoria Park Cemetery, where Australian Aboriginal cricket player Bripumyarrimin aka “King Cole” lies buried (I’ll tell you the story), we return, past the Climbing Wall, through the Woodland Walk, past where the first V1 Flying Bomb fell, one week after D-Day, to the Art Pavilion, with its terraced lakes.
Continuing along the Regent’s Canal, across the Green Bridge, we reach more terraced gardens, and virtually visit the sports facilities on our way to Limehouse at the southern end. We virtually cycle back, following a slightly different route.
All this was cleverly designed by garden designer, botanist, entomologist and writer Gilles Clément, when the Millennium Commission awarded a grant of more than £12m.
Come and see the result!
