Route Developer: CW
Route Checker:
[1] Come out of the centre and head towards the green space ahead. Walk along the path, passing the sports pitch and onto Peel Grove. Once on Old Ford Road turn left to cross using the zebra crossing. After crossing, turn right & immediate left into Globe Road.
[2] Cross over the end of Cyprus Street & Gawber Street and use the raised crossing to cross over Globe Road. Turn back on yourself & turn left just past The Camel pub down the pedestrian-only Sugar Loaf Walk. When you reach the end of Sugar Loaf Walk, head right to cross Victoria Park Square using the raised crossing. After crossing, head left to enter Museum Gardens through the gates.
(A) The Gardens are next door to the V&A Museum of Childhood. The museum was originally called the Bethnal Green Museum and was opened in 1872. The museum did not focus on childhood until the 1920s, and it wasn’t until 1974 that it officially became the Museum of Childhood. Today it contains the largest collection of childhood items in the UK. The museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5:45 p.m.
[3] When you are in the gardens, take the path immediately to your left. Follow the path as it bears round to the right, towards the main road. Exit the gardens here, and turn left past Bethnal Green Tube station. The underground station has been open since 1946, although it was used as an air-raid shelter during World War Two. The station is on the Central Line, and is used by over 10 million passengers a year. Just past the tube station is St John on Bethnal Green church. After the church, turn left onto Roman Road. After a short distance cross at the controlled crossing and go straight ahead into a wide pedestrian path. Keep ahead through the wide gates to enter Bethnal Green.
[4] Continue straight ahead, passing the public library on your left. Carry on straight ahead at the path junction, with the Parks Community Ranger office on your left.
[5] When you see a children’s play area ahead, head left on another tarmac path between two black bollards. At the wide path junction take the path with the children’s play area on your right. There are benches here, and throughout the green, should you need a rest. When you reach the tennis courts, follow the narrow path around the edges of the courts. Turn right at the first corner, walking parallel to the road and railway line.
[6] At the end of the tennis courts, cut across a short patch of grass to reach a circular tarmac path. Here turn right (still inside the green), with the main road on your left and sports pitches on your right.
[7] At the wide path crossroads continue straight ahead (through both sets of gates). Follow the path round to the right to another circular area, with a palm tree in the middle. Head left here to exit the park, back onto Roman Road. Use the controlled crossing to get across Roman Road. Go along the road, passing the church and tube station.
[8] Turn right into Museum Gardens, this time turning left once inside the gardens. Follow the park path as it bends round to the right.
Next to the entrance to the park is a drinking water fountain that commemorates the lives of two local residents who died saving others from a fire on nearby Hackney Road in 1902.
[9] Exit the gardens at the previously used entrance and turn left up Victoria Park Square. You will pass the rear of the Museum of Childhood. When you reach the end of Victoria Park Square turn left. Almost immediately cross Old Ford Road using the zebra crossing. Turn right and then go up Peel Grove, retracing your steps back to the centre.