Although not in our usual part of town, we were kindly invited to a picnic at Enfield’s Grovelands Park by a family that lived in Winchmore Hill. After a quick visit to the dentist in the morning, we picked up a few picnic snacks and made our way to North London.
Date Visited: Saturday, 11th August 2018
Location: Grovelands Park, 44 Queen Elizabeth’s Dr, Winchmore Hill, London N14 6RD
Getting There: A short walk from either Southgate or Winchmore Hill stations. There is also ample street parking available.
Cost: Free. Minor costs if you make any purchases at the shop like ice cream or cold drinks.
Review: We wouldn’t normally drive 40-minutes to visit a park, especially when Greenwich Park is on our doorstep. However, when an invite is received to have a picnic with other families, we’re not going to say no. There’s plenty of street parking on Broad Walk with side access to the Grovelands Park.
Upon arriving, we didn’t realise how large Grovelands Park was. It’s huge! We were due to meet the other families at the children’s playground area. However, due to the size of the park, we got a little lost and ended up going the long way around the lake. The playground itself is quite decent, with plenty of space and different sections for various ages. It consists of usual swings, slides and climbing areas. Within the enclosed play area, there are picnic benches and sufficient seating on the grass, where we decided to set up.
The kids were free to roam, with parents taking shifts at monitoring them whilst the others tucked into the treats. There’s a snack shop located next the play area where Cara picked up an ice cream. It also conveniently contains the loos. After a couple of hours eating and playing, we headed to the tennis courts to burn off what we had just eaten. Along the way, we saw a few anglers who had camped by the lake, with one lucky enough to catch a fairly large carp.
There’s two free courts available, and surprisingly both were free. So the adults took one court and the kids took the other. It was good watching Cara swing wildly at the ball and connect on quite a few. Hopefully a future Serena Williams in the making! By about 5:30pm, Cara and her friends started to run out of batteries and slowed down. We decided to call it a day, but before heading back to the car, the kids stumbled across the tall grass which made for a great photo op.
Besides the play area, fishing and tennis courts, there’s also basketball courts, the boating lake, a small golf area (extra cost I believe), a forest area and plenty of open space to explore. During our time there, Cara didn’t watch or ask to watch the phone once, which is proof it was a fun-filled day out. If we’re ever in the area again, or invited back up, we’ll definitely return to Grovelands Park.
Tips
- Bring your own sporting equipment – scooter, bike, tennis rackets, basketball, fishing line
- Best not to bring bread to feed ducks as it’s not very nutritional for them. Try some oats or frozen peas instead!
More details: Enfield Parks – Grovelands Park
Ratings:
Burn Time: 5 out of 5 – we spent roughly four (4!) hours there. Brilliant day out.
Value: 5 out of 5 – spent some money on picnic snacks, but nothing whilst at the actual park.
Overall: 5 out of 5 – what a fabulous way to spend a day, especially when the weather is clear. Kids loved it!
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