Finally, after what seems like a long cold wet spring, the weather improved enough to do a serious walk. Walking the New River has been in my “queue” of things to do for a while.
The New River isn’t new and it isn’t a river. The New River is actually a water supply aqueduct built in 1613 to bring fresh drinking water from Hertfordshire to North London.
The day started with a fast train to London Bridge. We had 20 minutes before the next train, so had a chance to explore the station and surrounds:
I also found the Pipe Organ tucked away in the west side of the station, but didn’t try to play it:
We then got a busy Thameslink train to Finsbury Park. Rocco seemed to attract a lot of attention from everyone!
After crossing a road, we got to Finsbury Park itself, and Rocco was glad to be off the lead and have a run around.
We then had a bit of street walking to get to the New River itself. I was impressed with the cycle stores on many of the roads:
Finally we reached the river, which was as blue/green as it looks in the photo. Behind is West Reservoir, a popular boating lake:
The path continues through Woodbury Down:
This was starting to look very familiar, then I saw a signpost indicating the Capital Ring also follows this path. See Capital Ring Highgate to Hackney Wick for my 2018 walk.
After a few more detours, we reached the river again:
And past the Horsey Water Treatment works. You can see Alexandra Palace on the hill in the background:
After passing under the railway we reached Wood Green Common:
There was a dog friendly pub by Alexandra Palace station, so we popped in for a pint and large bowl of water for Rocco:
Suitably refreshed, we continued through Nightingale Gardens and Finsbury Gardens:
We then had the joy of crossing the North Circular road, then along a rather weedy stretch of the river:
We left the New River at Palmers Green and headed to the station for our first train home:
And after changing at Finsbury Park and London Bridge, we soon home.
An interesting walk, but an exhausting day with the heat!