Holland Park - London Parks - London

Holland Park is the largest park in London’s wealthiest borough, Kensington and Chelsea. It’s not huge, 54 acres, but has a very rustic, woodland feel that makes it seem a lot bigger than it is when you’re walking around it. All the trees and thick foliage help cut out of traffic noise and disguise you’re in a busy part of west London.

It’s bordered on its east by Kensington Palace (Princess Di’s old pad), trendy Notting Hill on the north and Kensington High Street on the south and all over this area are four and five storey Victorian townhouses that provide a great location for sections of London’s weathly to live. If I had the money I’d love to buy a place around here.

You can tell the park attracts a different type person because the dogs even have their own designated pooping area. Whether a dog thinks to itself ‘I hope she hurry’s up and gets to the dog toilet area quick, I’m dying for a shit’ when its being walking around the other end of the park I don’t know, but its a nice idea.

One thing that struck me walking around there the other day was the number of Russian voices I heard, it seemed like every other person was speaking it, they definitely are the new money in Britain at the moment.

There are a lot of different areas to Holland Park, on the north side its mainly woodland with a number of paths and tracks to walk down. These are mainly stony, uneven paths which with all the autumn leaves and moisture on them can be a bit slippery, so be careful if you go for a jog.

There’s a pond called Lord Holland’s Pond in this northern part with a statue of a seated Lord Holland in the middle. A lot of wildlife are attracted here, foxes, a couple of types of bat, over 30 species of bird and there are even some great looking blue, green and yellow coloured peacocks running around. The squirrel’s here are very tame and almost run up your leg looking for something to eat.

Holland Park has a Japanese garden called the Kyoto Garden, that was built by the Kyoto Chamber of Commerce to signify friendship between Japan and the UK and was opened by Prince Charles in 1991. The centre piece is a waterfall and pond but the water at the moment looks like it could use a good clean, there’s a thin grey film all over the surface which can’t be good for the fish in there.

The old Holland House in the centre of the park is not what it was a 100 years ago and is used as a youth hostel. Around the house are large formal garden’s with low clipped box hedges and plenty of park benches that provide lots of quiet places to sit. Next to here are a restaurant and outdoor cafe, the house’s old orangery (a type of greenhouse) being converted, there’s also an ecology centre.

Holland Park is known for its summer outdoor theatre and opera performances in the grounds of the old house. There’s a busy and varied programme of shows from early June to the middle of August. They do erect a large canopy to cover the stage and auditorium.

The southern section of the park is more open with tennis courts and a large cricket/sports pitch. There’s also a good size children’s play area but that’s more towards the eastern side.
Holland Park’s a nice, peaceful place to come for a walk or a quiet sit down, maybe if you need a break from all the shopping on Kensington High Street. The entrance there is right next to the Commonwealth Institute building, which looks like its in disrepair and no longer in use.

The nearest tubes are Holland Park on the north side and High Street Kensington on the south.