<p> </p> <p> <span class="GWKWIntroduction">Route Developer: DdM/CW<br /> Route Checker: KH</span></p> <p> <span class="GWKWIntroduction">Start Point: Rhodes Estate Community Hall</span></p> <p> <strong>[1]</strong> Leaving the centre, turn right then immediately left along a footpath to the left of a small grassy square. At the end keep straight ahead along a residential street, Laurel Street. At the T-junction, turn right down the busy Queensbridge Road, using the footpath set back from the road behind a green strip.</p> <p> At the next junction, cross Queensbridge Road at the zebra crossing on the left and continue ahead on the left hand pavement of Forest Road. <span class="GWKWInformation">This is a leafy, traffic-calmed street with some houses from the 1820s. You pass the Prince Arthur pub on the left, built in 1861 and known during the 1980s and 1990s as the Lady Diana.</span></p> <p> Keep ahead across several junctions, to the T-junction with Greenwood Road.</p> <p> <strong>[2] </strong>Turn right and walk along to the crossroads with Richmond Road. Go straight on and cross to the left hand pavement of London Fields West Side. Continue on past the London Fields Lido on the left. </p> <p> <span class="GWKWInformation">(A) The Lido is London’s only open air heated Olympic size swimming pool and first opened in 1932 but has been closed for much of its history, first between 1939 and 1951 and again in 1986. It re-opened in 2006 after major refurbishment as the earliest surviving example of its style in London. The cut-out decorations on the railings were designed by local schoolchildren. There are toilets in the lido. </span></p> <p> Continue along the road beside London Fields,</p> <p> <span class="GWKWInformation">(B) London Fields was formerly a common on a main footpath from Essex across the river Lea to the City of London. It was saved from development in 1872 thanks to new legislation and became a public park. It’s now an attractive open space crossed by ancient straight footpaths lined with mature plane trees, with playgrounds, a paddling pool and various sports facilities. </span></p> <p> Keep straight ahead when the road becomes a footpath crossing the Fields, <span class="GWKWSafetyNotes">keeping an eye out for bikes </span>on the major cycle track which crosses the path here. <span class="GWKWInformation">There is a children’s play area to the far left. Look for the Pearly King and Queen statue surrounded by statues of sheep on the left as you near the end of the path. There are two picnic tables here and a table tennis table. </span>The path ends at a junction with a busier footpath and cycle way.</p> <p> Turn right here, <span class="GWKWSafetyNotes">looking out for bikes</span>, and almost immediately leave the park. Cross the road at the junction straight ahead to reach Broadway Market.</p> <p> <span class="GWKWInformation">(C) From Broadway Market you can glimpse a view of the “Gherkin” (the Swiss Re Tower which is 180 metres high) straight ahead. You are now on the route of the Porter’s Path, the historic footpath from Epping Forest to London. The Royal Charter to run a market here is centuries old and though the number of stallholders had dwindled by the end of the last century, in recent years a Sunday farmers’ market and regeneration has brought new vitality to the street – as well as gentrification and rising rents! There are an interesting range of shops, cafes, a Post Office and an Eel and Pie shop on the right just before the canal. </span></p> <p> Follow Broadway Market until you reach the end of the market area, by La Vie en Rose restaurant. Ahead of you is a humped bridge over the Regents Canal.</p> <p> <strong>[3]</strong> Don’t cross the bridge: instead turn right along Regents Row. After a few steps, cross to the gate on the left, then down the ramp to the towpath. Turn right along the towpath to Acton’s Lock.</p> <p> <span class="GWKWInformation">The canal opened in stages between 1816 and 1820, connecting Paddington with the Thames at Limehouse Basin as an extension of what became the Grand Union canal system linking London and Birmingham. It is named after the Prince Regent, later George IV (reigned 1820-30), as parts of the canal were incorporated into the redevelopment of Regent’s Park by the architect John Nash. The towpath, originally intended for use by the horses which towed the canal boats, now forms a very useful off-road link through North London popular with cyclists as well as walkers. </span><span class="GWKWSafetyNotes">Take care of fast cyclists particularly under bridges where it’s difficult to see round corners.</span></p> <p> Continue along the towpath until you reach the next bridge, which goes under Queensbridge Road, passing a playground and green area with seating just off the canal to the right and some colourful new buildings on the opposite side. A board gives walking times to nearby bridges, while the hook-shaped sculpture at the top of the ramp is part of Reflections, the Shoreditch Arts Trail. Continue, looking out for mosaics, to the next bridge, Haggerston Road.</p> <p> Go under the bridge and just past it, leave the towpath up a short flight of steps on the right. <span class="GWKWInformation">There are seats either side of the bridge and an interesting map of the Hackney section of the Regent’s Canal. C</span>ross Dunstan Road and turn left along the right hand pavement of Haggerston Road.<br /> <span class="GWKWAlternateRoute">To avoid these steps, leave the towpath on the ramp just before the previous bridge and follow the road that runs alongside the canal, Denne Terrace. Cross Denne Terrace and turn right along it to rejoin the route at Haggerston Road. </span></p> <p> Keep ahead along Haggerston Road, passing Ivy’s Gardens, a new children’s play area on the right, and Haggerston community centre on the left to reach a shopping area. You pass a green triangle maintained as a community garden. Cross Scriven Street, keep ahead past the shops and just past the last shop by a post box turn right down a short footpath.</p> <p> <strong>[4]</strong> Cross Livermere Road and keep ahead along another footpath which turns right behind some flats, Hillborough Court. Follow the backs of the flats for a short distance, past a play area then at the bollards, go through the first gap on your left which leads out onto a street. Keep ahead, crossing Albion Drive and along Albion Square, with the attractive gardens in the square to your left.</p> <p> Keep ahead across Middleton Road and along Holly Street. Follow this all the way to its end, crossing several roads. You pass through an area of new housing, with the Queensbridge Sports and Leisure Centre on the right. When you reach Richmond Road, cross at the pelican crossing on the left and turn right back to Holly Street. Continue along Holly Street to Forest Road. Cross Forest Road and take the footpath into the estate opposite. At the T-junction with a paved path turn left, then right along a narrow estate road. Where the tarmac road turns left, keep ahead along a footpath. Turn left at the next green square to return to the centre.<br /> </p>