South Norwood Lake and Grounds

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South Norwood Lake and Grounds is quite a way out of Addiscombe but not ridiculously far. It is within reasonable walking distance of the west side of town and served directly by the 410 bus placing it within about twenty minutes of East Croydon station, for example.

The most notable feature of the park is the lake which is used for fishing and boating (I believe this is restricted to the local boating club) and also has some water fowl. The lake is surrounded by trees and shrubbery only really punctuated by the viewing platform, fishing platforms and the jetty for the boating, so you can't really get that close to it in too many places. However you can certainly get close enough in enough places to feed the ducks! The park also has a large field which has a cricket square in summer, grassland and woodland areas, basketball and tennis courts, a bowling green, a 'fitness trail' rather like that in South Norwood Recreation Ground (except made out of wood), and a children's play area tucked way up in the north corner near Sylvan Road. The park surrounds a large playing field with a pavilion which the aerial photo shows marked out with three cricket squares, an athletics track and rounders diamonds. A fence separates this field from the park proper and there is only limited access to it.

It seems like a pretty well kept park (at least compared to other parks nearer Addiscombe, but Kelsey Park it isn't) and is certainly worth a visit.

Location

South Norwood Lake and Grounds is situated to the north-west of Addiscombe between Auckland Road and the railway line from Norwood Junction to Crystal Palace. Auckland Road is served by the 410 and is a continuation of Lancaster Road which forks off from the north end of South Norwood High Street at the bottom of Goat House Bridge. The most formal entrance is at the end of Woodvale Avenue (about a ten to fifteen minute walk up from the High Street) which is next to the boathouse and leads to a path around the lake, with other entrances on Auckland Road and Sylvan Road.

History

I'll flesh this out later, but the bottom line is that the lake originated as one of the reservoirs for the Croydon Canal.

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