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This Week's Walks - Archive

Please see the Saturday Walker's Club This Week's Walks page.

This is an archive of walks done by the Saturday Walker's Club. You should only need to use this page if the SWC website is down.

Thursday, 24 April 2025

Bluebells in the Evening: Highgate Wood and Queen's Wood (East Finchley to Highgate)

Length: 5.5 km/3.4 mi with 144m ascent
Net Walking Time: ca. 1 hours 20 mins
 
Meet at 18.45 hours downstairs at East Finchley Station (exit to the left) on the High Barnet Branch of the Northern Line. Journey time from Bank is 24 minutes.
Highgate is one stop closer to Central London. Both stations are in Zone 3.
 
This is an undulating meandering route in the Borough of Haringey through a couple of remnants of the ancient Forest of Middlesex, in one of the highest parts of Inner North London.

Both woods are very different in character and feel: Highgate Wood is only part ancient wood and has been managed for a long time, with several areas having been coppiced and others having been cleared, and it mostly has the appearance of a parkland wood. Queen’s Wood has a wilder, less managed and more challenging feel and consequently features a greater mixture of flora and fauna.

And while Highgate Wood is famous for its bluebell displays in season, these are largely confined to the northeasterly corner of the wood. In contrast, Queen’s Wood displays a fine mixture of wildflowers in season, amongst which are bluebells, wood anenomes and daffodils.

Both woods feature ancient possibly pre-historic – earthworks and they also boast cafés for refreshments.

Walk Options: 
A Short Walk of 3.7 km and with half the ascent – omits the more undulating Queen’s Wood. 
An Extension leads to Finsbury Park along the Parkland Walk, part of a dismantled railway line and now a very charming linear and raised Local Nature Reserve. This adds 3.5 km and is map-led.

Tea: See the pdf. The cafés are likely to be closed at that time, but The Woodman will certainly be open.

For walk directions, map, photos, height profile and gpx/kml files click here. T=short.49

1 comment:

Thomas G said...



One or other arrived a bit late so the n=7 of us only got started around 18.55, but start we did.

It was a w=clear-skies-evening and the ground was dry-ish and certainly firm and w/o mud. The bluebells didn't disappoint and there were also some anemones and various other tiny flowers on display.

All in, a fine woodland walk, always staying away from houses. We got to The Woodman for 20.15, where some musician was packing up his keyboard as we selected a table and ordered our food and drink.

Or so it seemed! In fact, he was UNPACKING the keyboard and him and his four mates started playing at 20.30, jazz and other out of its time music, unamplified but at full pelt.

That's three evening walks in a row now that we had either overly loud pub quizzes or live music to suffer through. I hope it ends with today.