London Fields
Hackney's favourite park, free, a buzzing stretch of grass with a cricket pitch, a beloved barbecue field and Broadway Market right at its southern end.
FREE
The lowdown
London Fields has been common grazing land for centuries, and today it is the social heart of this part of Hackney. It is not large or especially ornate, but it is beloved, a tree-lined stretch of grass that fills with footballers, picnickers, cyclists and sunbathers the moment the weather turns.
It has a proper cricket pitch, a popular designated barbecue area that smokes away all summer, table tennis, and a much-loved heated outdoor lido along one edge, which is the one paid attraction in an otherwise free space. Avenues of mature London plane trees give shade and grandeur.
Its best trick is location. Broadway Market runs off the southern end, so on a Saturday you can buy food at the market and carry it straight onto the grass, and the Regent's Canal is a short stroll away. A free, easy, very London afternoon.
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