CRYSTAL PALACE
Follow Sydenham Hill on to Crystal Palace
Parade with south London’s Eiffel Tower, the tall television mast, in front of you.
On your right, views across London. On your left, the site
of the Crystal Palace and Kent beyond. Beneath
your feet are the remains of the palace’s tiled entrance hall.
Keep going along Church Road until you come to the White Hart. The food is good, there is an eccentric back yard. The pub has a vintage clothes shop inside – the excellent VintageHart (one of Time Out’s top 100 shops).
Featuring a spectacular glass and iron building, the largest
fountains ever built and the world’s first dinosaur theme park, the Crystal Palace and
park beneath were the wonder of the day. Among the attractions are the dinosaurs, life-size models designed and made by Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins , situated by the Lower lakes.
Although the palace burned down in 1936, much of the
original layout can still be seen.