Park of the week

65. Bethune Recreation Ground

Bethune recreation ground, also known as Bethune Park, is in Friern Barnet.

The site was acquired by the local authority in 1924 and opened as a park in 1926. Most of it is mown grass, although Bethune Park was one of those in which Barnet Council left the grass uncut in No Mow May, which feels like a long time ago.

It also includes a large nature reserve area with trees and wildflowers, a children’s playground (built on a former pitch and putt area), a basketball court and a tennis court. It’s popular with runners and there’s a pre-plotted 1 kilometre Marked and Measured Route around the park, over soft ground and grass all the way. We, didn’t try it, not even walking, because the weather was so hot on the day of our visit. On that day the park was quiet and peaceful. There are no café or toilets.

The entrance has benches. I understand that Friern (originally Freren) in Friern Barnet refers to the lordship of the knights of the Hospital of St. John, and that Barnet means a ‘place cleared by burning’. I could well believe the meaning of the name Barnet when I sat on one of the metal benches that was in the full blaze of the sun and immediately got up again. There didn’t seem to be that many benches in the large open area, so we sat on the dry, scratchy grass. All this may look as though I didn’t like the park much, but I did enjoy it, and the open space. Sitting on the ground somehow makes it seem larger, perhaps it’s to do with the level of your eyes. Or perhaps it’s just an effect of stir-craziness.

There is access from the corner of Manor Drive and Gresham Avenue, from Beaconsfield Road and from Bethune Avenue N11. There’s no car park but there is space on the nearby streets.

Bethune Recreation Ground, Beaconsfield Road, London, N11 3AU