King George’s Park

This is a lovely park with a Waitrose within 5 minutes walk for all the picnic essentials.
I was here for the tennis and another forlorn attempt to get some sort of game together. 8 hard courts available for £5 an hour were fully occupied all weekend so you need to book well in advance.
Various intensive (3 hrs on a Saturday and 3 hrs Sunday for about £60) courses are run throughout the summer for beginners and basic players and seem to be pretty good value.
If we hadn’t needed to rush back for a thrashing by the Germans this would have been a good spot to bask in a beautiful English summers afternoon.
⁹⁄₁₀ Good hard courts and friendly young staff.

Small and unassuming, King George’s Park certainly isn’t a destination.
But that means that there’s more park for me and other locals without the rest of London there. The park’s main draw for me has been the ten well-​maintained and secluded tennis courts that cost £6 per hour during peak times. Although the courts aren’t flood-​lit, which means no tennis matches through the evening or during after-​work hours in the winter are to be had. Also, there’s a bowling green at the park, if you’re into that sort of thing.
The grounds throughout the park are well maintained, and the River Wandle borders it to the East, creating quite a picturesque little area.
And so far I’ve done the adult thing and avoided the playground for big kids, despite its enticing monkey bars and climbing structures, but mostly this is because it’s socially unacceptable for me to interact with ten-​year-​olds during the day and the gangs of teenagers who loiter in the playground after dusk intimidate me. Yes, I’m easily intimidated by packs of 16-​year-​olds in hoodies. Aren’t you?

This park is really simple, there’s not much to it compared to other fancier parks in and around London, but you know what? I really think this park rocks. It’s usually quite quiet, which is what I value the most as I hate lots of rowdy folk infesting parks in the summer time.
I’ve often sat with friends here, made a little picnic and watched locals fly kites, walk their dogs and play with their kids (not all at once mind you!). The park has a real family feel to it and it’s just so serene.
It may not be big and fancy but it’s definitely the park for me being so calm and unpretentious. One of my favourite places i the summer time…

Bordering the River Wandle, this is a brilliant park for children. It has three separate well-​equipped play areas for younger and older kids, and a large grassy area for ball games, with a cycle track running along the edge. There’s a separate bike park too. It has a small lake with a fountain, ducks and moorhens, tennis courts, a rose garden and an area with picnic benches. There’s a one o’clock club for babies and toddlers with lots of activities. It’s open on weekday afternoons — staff there are very friendly.