Continuing our series of blogs exploring the streets of London, taking in some of the new residential developments along the way, I’m starting out east in Victoria Park.

Victoria Park is one of London’s oldest parks and dates back to the 1870s. It’s home to a weekly market, boating lake and plenty of green space. This is a great place to start a walk and gives you a range of choices. If you take Grove Road up to Victoria Park, you’ll pass the blue plaque marking the spot the first flying bomb fell on London in 1944. When you reach Victoria Park village, you could get a takeaway coffee from Gail’s, The Deli Downstairs or Pavilion Café in the park itself. 

Once you’ve taken in a loop of the park, you could pick up Regent’s Canal and head north towards Hackney Broadway. Here you’ll see kayakers on the canal, plenty of houseboats and the street art that is synonymous with east London.

Just after you’ve passed underneath the bridge for Cambridge Heath station, you’ll spot Empress Works, a collection of warehouse-style apartments and cottages on the former site of Empress Coaches. The coach yard was used as a bomb shelter during the Blitz.

You can head up from the canal and on to where Andrews Road meets Broadway Market. From here you can walk in a straight line to London Fields. Across the road from London Fields is boutique development Pemberton Place. The 31-acre park is also home to London Fields Lido, an outdoor swimming pool first opened in the 1930s, closed in the 80s and reopened in 2006. The lido is currently closed due to Covid restrictions but is hugely popular with locals.

About a mile from Victoria Park lies Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford, one of London’s newest parks. A legacy of the 2012 games, the park is now home to London Stadium (West Ham FC’s home ground), an Olympic-sized swimming pool and Britain’s tallest sculpture, the Arcellar Mittal Orbit.

To get there, you’ll need to head down to the Hertford Union Canal. This is the canal that connects Regents Canal with the River Lea which goes all the way out to Bedfordshire. Keep following the canal until you reach White Post Lane, you’re now in Hackney Wick.

If you turn right you’ll pass restaurants and pubs along the river, including trendy floating bar and kitchen Barge East. You’ll also see Lock 19, a canal-side scheme. If you choose instead to turn left at White Post Lane, you’ll pass Crate Brewery and Pizzeria as well as Stone Studios.  And, for a real post lockdown treat you could try Tom Brown’s Cornerstone restaurant which has just been awarded a Michelin star.

Whichever direction you choose, you can easily find a path that will lead you into the heart of east London’s parks which are ripe for exploring

• At time of writing, shops, pubs and restaurants are still subject to restrictions and outdoor exercise must be local. For more information, see gov.uk/coronavirus.

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