Places to Visit in South London - Kelsey Park

Many parks and meadows in London will often have signs proclaiming the wildlife you can find there. Many lakes and ponds, for instance, will advertise various ducks and swans which could be found if you wait for a long enough time. 

So far, however, only Kelsey Park has truly reflected the signage posted. There is such a great range of species to be found in this pocket of Bromley, and I got there without initially intending to, having been drawn to the green blob just south of Beckenham on Google Maps. And it was most certainly worth it.

Kelsey Park, like many parks, is the area that used to be occupied by an estate - in this case, it's the Kelsey Manor Estate, which had been transferred between people since the 12th century but which later passed into the hands of the Hoare banking family in 1835, who expanded the area further. However, the land was sold in 1909 and saved from becoming another estate by Tom Thornton, a local newspaper editor, who campaigned for the land to be bought by the council. He succeeded and the park opened in 1913, and his efforts are remembered by a plaque standing by one of the entrances.

I passed through that entrance and headed via the footpath, and could almost immediately see the River Beck; at this point, it's re-emerged after having disappeared beneath Beckenham town centre, earlier merging with Chaffinch Brook, a tributary of the Pool River, itself a tributary of the River Ravensbourne. Perhaps surprisingly, the Beck appears to be named after Beckenham, not the other way around. 

 

 It flows in a rather wide channel and you can come right up to it, at least until the earthy bank surrounded by trees becomes one made of bricks and the footpath splits in two - one path for dogwalkers, one path for everyone else (something I can't say I've ever seen before). At this point, the Beck flows into a large lake, which I'd consider the centrepiece of the park. It was definitely a popular place for locals to frequent when I went there, and none of them seemed unfazed by the geese that live in the lake (unsurprisingly). More on that in a bit.

 

The lake is spectacularly vast, at its extent nearly stretching from end to end, and it's not blighted by any footbridges crossing it for a great distance. Somehow I didn't notice the large island in its centre called Heron Island (perhaps due to where I was standing), so perhaps it blended into the landscape. I will admit, however, that any time spent looking at the lake was cut short by my unreasonable fear of geese.

I mentioned earlier that the wildlife signs reflect the area well, and I did see many listed birds such as Canada geese, wrens and mallards, indeed the park is delightful for this reason. Yet my attempts at taking photos of the birds that lived in the lake raised the attention of the Canada geese especially. I didn't want to take any risks, so I put my phone away and walked away, opting to take a different route through the park. I did manage to see a lovely carved bench (see below) outside an information centre, though, so all's well that ends well. Looking back, I find it somewhat funny that I wrote a blogpost on photographing birds and yet I was still hesitant to take a photo of the geese - but as seen earlier, I did take a photo before the lake of some.

I walked around the residential streets to find the southern entrance to Kelsey Park, and there was another footpath, this time in a more forest-like area than before. The Beck continues flowing here, now flowing through a narrower channel what with the lake behind it. It was here that I also spotted some grey squirrels which occasionally looked up at me as I approached them. Attempts at photographing them was met with scurrying into the trees. There were also further birds, including one which I managed to capture after it began to approach me - after I left, it continued onto the footpath, surprising a passerby.  

As expected, there's a cafe and play area around the corner, but why come here to visit them? I was surprised by what Kelsey Park had to offer, what with this being an outpost in Beckenham, but it didn't disappoint, not that it could have in the first place. It's not the most impressive park, but it sure is better than many that I've visited before.

Bromley Council recommend you to go visit the other park - that is, Harvington Wood, which appears to have also once been part of a large estate, and is where the Beck reappears - but I decided not to, instead heading home after an unexpected, but welcome, diversion.