Welcome to Alexandra Park
in North London
Alexandra Park is a delightful mixture of informal
woodland, open grassland, formal gardens and attractions such as the boating
lake, cafés and the pitch-and-putt course. It covers 196 acres around Alexandra Palace in North London.
The Friends of Alexandra Park is a voluntary group that promotes
the use of the Park, encourages the
conservation of its wildlife and protects the Park from unwanted development. Become a Friend here - buy our book "A History Of Alexandra Park" in our shop
Our normal activities include:
Heritage in Lockdown Hero Award – Alexandra Palace’s litter picking volunteers win Extract from a statement from the Palace Alexandra Park has served as a haven for millions of people throughout the pandemic, with visitor numbers nearly double what they would be in a normal year. Unfortunately a negative side effect of this has been a huge spike in litter. Overall for the period May-December 2020, 147 tonnes of rubbish were collected in the park, an increase of 45 per cent on the same time in previous years. The role played by the volunteers in tackling this issue was outstanding. More than 100 people, young and old, helped the effort, all with the common goal to support the environment and their local park. Tree Planting - 8 new trees
 8 large-ish trees provided via the Mayor's Greener City Fund. What are they, I hear you ask.... 2 Small-leaved Limes (Tl), a Japanese Red Cedar (Cj), an English Oak (Qr), an Atlas Cedar (Ca), a Persian Ironwood (Pp), a Liquidambar (Ls) and a Tulip Tree (Lt). This map shows precisely where they were planted. The abbreviations are the latin names for the trees.... Picture is the new Persian Ironwood being planted (the Japanese Red Cedar is on the trailer). More pictures here.
More Awards for the Park!  To celebrate the latest awards the BBC Tower was illuminated by green light.
Friends Events in the Park to come
All our events at present require pre-booking via email Allyparkn10@gmail.com
Walks
 We are not planning on having any organised walks while we remain in lockdown.
Conservation Work
 We are not planning on having any organised volunteer conservation work while we remain in this high tier. Removing saplings with the Tree Popper (pictured) and bramble cutting back will be the main focus.
For a video of the tree popper in action - please follow this link. This new tool was kindly donated to the Friends by Gerry.
What's different, December 2020
Farmers' Market Alexandra Palace Farmers’ Market is open at its Campsbourne School location. NHS staff and vulnerable people will have priority between 10am-11am. Strict social distancing will be in place. Only two people per household to allow faster access for others too. Litter  Like most parks around the country, Alexandra Park suffered a wave of littering when lockdown began to be eased. Fortunately the John O’Conner team were working throughout lockdown.
There is now less demand for litter picking in the park....... however, we will continue to support the large number of brilliant volunteers helping to keep the park clean. Anyone wishing to join the volunteer litter pickers, should please Email us.
The Palace has been appealing for donations, because of their almost total loss of income caused by the pandemic, and some of those donations have paid for additional John O’Conner litter clearing staff at the weekends. Please see the Alexandra Palace site if you'd like to help with a donation. Friends' Past Events in the Park
History walks  Chapter 8 - ponds, pools and reservoirs was the theme for the fully subscribed History Walks. The weather held and the small group could be shown locations important in the past.... A few extra historical facts about the watery part of the park, not included in A History of Alexandra Park. Picture shows a corner of the old Swimming Pool by the reservoir. Nature walks Saturday 12th December  It is always impressive to find out what can be seen even in the depths of Winter.  This session we spotted some fungi including Fragile Brittle Gill and False Chanterelle.
 Other topics included the building of airships and their test flying from the park during the early part of the 20th Century.
Much more information to be found in our new history book....
Some of the Friends normal events
Conservation Work Parties
 Talks
 Mostly taking place in the Winter and early Spring the talks focus on Nature (Butterflies, Bees, Birds etc.) with some on history and other subjects that are relevant to the Park.
We have had great talks on Bats, Trees, the New River and the old railway line that used to run up to the Palace.
Coming up when conditions allow, local resident Stuart Little will presenting elements from his film about the Park and Palace....
This will be great opportunity to see some elements of history from the early days up and until the (second) fire in 1980.
Nature Walks
 Members' Walks
 The next walk (when pandemic restrictions permit) is planned to be:
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