Hanwell Zoo

Keilyn ready to explore Hanwell Zoo.

Hanwell Zoo is typical of the many smaller zoos dotted in and around London, with the usual animals to see. Rabbits, ducks, chickens, donkeys and goats are a staple of this sort of zoo. 

However, at Hanwell Zoo there are exotic birds, some of which I have never seen anywhere else, red-crowned crane, black cheeked lovebirds, red fody, glossy starlings, white faced whistling ducks and more.

Then there are the mammals, like Meerkats, capybara, porcupine, armadillo, alpaca and more.

In the nocturnal enclosure you may, if you have the patience, spot the gray slender loris, loping through the branches.

The same could be said for the Margay, a cat that likes to sleep more than it likes to walk around.

With a fair-sized playground, with sandpits, water features, slides and climbing apparatus, there is something for children of all ages to enjoy, when they tire of the animals.

Southwark Park

The Caryatids of the Old Rotherhithe Town Hall.

Opening to the public on June 19, 1869, Southwark Park covers 26 hectares and is Grade II listed. It stretches from Jamaica Road, to the north, to Hawkstone Road in the southeast.

Southwark Park, has two entrances on Jamaica Road, Christchurch Gate, named after a nearby church, and Paradise Gate. Christchurch Gate was designated an entrance in 1903, but following damage in World War II it was replaced with a new gate, modelled on the original, thanks to the Heritage Lottery Fund restoration in 2001-2002.

Southwark Park Bandstand.

Entering through Christchurch Gate the path divides, with one that leads you on a tree-lined avenue around the park, while the other leads you to the Bandstand. This Bandstand was acquired, in 1884, from the Great Exhibition in South Kensington and placed in the park. During the summer months free concerts are held here.

Caryatids. One representing Oak and the other Laurel.

Continuing south from the Bandstand you suddenly come across some stone pillars, hidden among the trees. These are Caryatids that originally flanked the the main entrance of the old Rotherhithe Town Hall. They were placed here in 2011. Continuing on there are tennis courts to the west, while a bowls club, hidden behind manicured hedges, takes up a small area at the centre of the park. 

Memorial to a working-class man.

Then there is the polished grey granite Jabez West Drinking Fountain, which is a memorial to a working-class man. 

A simple gate.

Jamaica Gate stands at the west end of Carriage Drive, which now divides the park into separate spaces.