Dating from 1869, the 110 acre park has a mix of open ground, formal gardens, avenues of mature trees and an arboretum area with more unusual trees. There is also a lake, a children's play area, a cafe and an art exhibition space.
Finsbury Park (via Wikipedia):
The Parkland Walk, a linear park, starts here, and provides a pleasant, traffic free, pedestrian and cycle route with much of the feel of a country walk, that links the park with Crouch Hill Park, Crouch End, and Highgate tube station.
Sports facilities in the park include football pitches, a bowling green, an athletics stadium, and tennis and basketball courts. Unusually for London, the park hosts two facilities for "American" sports: an American football field, home to the 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2011 national champions London Blitz, and diamonds for softball and baseball, home to the 2007 and 2008 national champions the London Mets.
In recent years the park has been used for large public events such as Madstock!, the Fleadh, Big Gay Out, Party in the Park and Rise: London United.
20th century to present
Through the late 19th century and early 20th century the park was a respectable and beautifully manicured space for people to relax and exercise. By the early 20th century, it was also becoming a venue for political meetings including pacifist campaigns during the First World War. During the Second World War, it hosted anti-aircraft guns and was one of the gathering points for heavy armour prior to the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944.
