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Meandering route through two adjacent ancient woods with very different
character. Undulating.
Length: 5.5 km/3.4 mi with
144m ascent
Net Walking Time: ca. 1 hours 20 mins, Toughness: 1 out of 10.
Meet at 18.30 hours on the platform at East Finchley Station 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 Рearthworks and they also boast caf̩s 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
3 comments:
Pity this walk isn't taking place during the day ..may I politely ask why there are so many evening walks atm pls?
Of course you may. To squeeze them in while the wee terrors are out in bloom. There may be another one next week as well, for good measure.
And because the people keep coming.
n=8 walkers tonight in w=lightly-overcast weather.
We proceeded at sedate pace around the mildly undulating course, taking in the green canopy and various features in the woods. Plant life: one nice area of bluebells in good condition, some more scattered in smaller clumps here and there in Highgate Wood, plus plenty of wood anemones and some bluebells over in Queen's Wood.
At the end, we tried The Woodman, but they claimed to be fully booked (despite many empty tables), so we walked back to The Boogaloo, hoping against hope that there would be avails. And there were: friendly staff set up two tables for us, and we enjoyed efficient service, good drinks and very palatable food. And some of us also very much enjoyed the eclectic music selection from their in-house radio station (early Human League, Nico, The Nightingales...).
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