Walk The Walk – London’s East End – Broadway Market & Hackney Wick

Walk the Walk – London’s East End – Broadway Market & Hackney Wick

Yes, we’re back in the East End for the next leg of our walk. Last week, we visited Shoreditch and Columbia Road. This week we’ll continue our walk towards Haggerston Park, Broadway Market, Victoria Park and Hackney Wick.

Farm in the city

If you’ve been reading Travellous World for a while now, you know that I love animals. Living in a big city like London makes it hard sometimes to come across some lovely pets, but luckily that’s where the city farms come in.

Right when you exit Columbia Road on the east side you can almost immediately enter Haggerston Park and Hackney City Farm. This city farm was established in 1984 with the aim of giving children and teenagers the opportunity to learn about farming.

Today, the local community can contribute to the farm by attending workshops, educational projects and activities. A great initiative if you’d ask me – a village girl!

Broadway Market

After having said hello to the pig and goats at the farm, I made my way across Regent’s Canal to Broadway Market.

Every Saturday, this place is bustling with an actual market and lovely shops and restaurants all over. The Sunday I visited, I made a quick stop here for a delicious brunch and a walk down the street.

Victoria Park

When lunch break was over,the canal called out my name. I followed it eastbound and found myself quickly enough in Victoria Park.

The ‘People’s Park’ is a large city park in the London borough of Bow. I absolutely love this park with its summer festivals, ponds, and an actual Chinese pagoda.

From this point you can choose whether you want to follow the park all the way to the east exit, or whether you would like to follow Hertford Union Canal and turn left on Cadogan Terrace.

Hackney Wick

On the edge of Elizabeth Olympic Park is the area of Hackney Wick. This slightly run-down part of Hackney is easily accessible by the footbridge over the East Cross Route and is a fascinating artistic neighbourhood.

The best way to explore this part of the East End is by turning into random streets, as the area isn’t that big and easily covered on foot.

Large and industrial buildings now house art studios, galleries and cafes. Street art can be found on most constructions and its seclusion from the rest of the city makes it sometimes a bit mysterious.

Before I made my way to the Olympic Park and the tube station in Stratford, I first made a stop at Stour Space. This was again a random place I stumbled upon on my little tour of Hackney Wick.

This multi functional space is home to an art gallery, studios and a cafe with views of the canal and the Olympic Stadium. The perfect place for a latte!

The coffee marked the end of my little day trip through the East End. I crossed the bridge on White Post Lane and made my way to the Olympic Park, to Westfield Shopping Centre and finally, to Stratford tube and rail station from where I headed back home.

This was definitely not the last we’ve seen of the East End, as there is much more to explore!