Secret London - The incredible Lost & Wonderful Crystal Palace & Dinosaurs Walk

Hi all, cost & info below, The historic Crystal Palace was a marvel of its day at the Great Exhibition of 1851, 3 times larger than St. Paul's Cathedral! The famous exhibition housed amazing new inventions during the Victorian age.

Join us for a wonderful 3 mile walk of the magnificent site, we will see the remains of where this incredible glass palace once stood, also stunning hidden remains of the palace lost within hedgerows and overgrown greenery. A true explorer's delight!

You will see amazing pictures and hear magnificent stories of the lost Palace and get a feel for one of the most amazing buildings that ever existed in the World. We have a chance to actually stand upon the site and feel the immense size of the structure and of course, walk by the famous giant dinosaurs built before they know what dinosaurs really looked like and also see the actual Crystal Place Bowl music stage where Pink Floyd, Bob Marley, Elton John, The Beach Boys, Eric Clapton, Santana, Jimmy Cliff, James Taylor, Elvis Costello, Andy Williams, Desmond Dekker and many more performed.

The walk starts and ends at Crystal Palace Railway Station.
Please meet outside the front of Crystal Palace Railway Station by the giant entrance pillars.

£9 cash/card payment by simply turning up on the day

CRYSTAL PALACE
Opened by Queen Victoria in 1851, more than 14,000 exhibitors from around the world gathered in its 990,000 square feet exhibition space to display examples of technology developed in the Industrial Revolution.

Designed by Joseph Paxton, the Great Exhibition building was 1,851 feet (564 m) long, with an interior height of 128 feet (39 m). After the exhibition, the Palace was rebuilt at Crystal Palace. It stood there from June 1854 until its destruction by fire in November 1936.

Crystal Palace fire, 1936
On 30 November 1936 came the final catastrophe – fire. Within hours, the Palace was destroyed: the glow was visible across eight counties.
Even though 89 fire engines and over 400 firemen arrived, they were unable to extinguish it. The fire spread quickly in the high winds that night, in part because of the dry old timber flooring, and the huge quantity of flammable materials in the building.

"In a few hours we have seen the end of the Crystal Palace. 'Yet it will live in the memories not only of Englishmen, but the whole world "they said. 100,000 people came to Sydenham Hill to watch the blaze, among them Winston Churchill, who said, "This is the end of an age".

TRANSPORTATION CHOICES
Trains connect to the London Overground Line, but even though not on the underground map, there is a train service to and from London Bridge, London Victoria and Clapham Junction Platform 15!

Large free 250 space car park in the centre of the park near the National Sports Centre, via Anerley Hill entrance. Free parking at Thicket Road entrance SE20 8DT

ABOUT OUR SECRET LONDON WALKS
It is a 15-year fascinating journey together to explore the whole of beautiful, enchanting Secret London. The only walking group in the World offering this unique experience!

The individual walks have been created from an original route several miles in length (usually on average about 25 miles) where we have checked every nook and cranny, every hidden alleyway, lane, lost cobbled path, cul de sac, avenue, road or street in that area for you!
It is then shortened, to give back to you a magical walk with all the best bits of 'Lovely London', voted the best City in the World for the 10th year running!

What is given back to you is the most scenic, healthy walk (usually 3-6 miles in length) with some of the walks containing hidden cobbled lanes, lost shops, secret gems, areas lost in time, wonderful views, idyllic Instagram photo shots and all sorts! Now and then some brief local info is mentioned or something of historical importance along the way.

Plenty of time to chat and meet new friends whilst walking the amazing lost areas of London! So we welcome you to the colourful highlights of this fascinating City of London with simply wonderful things to see!

TERMS AND CONDITIONS
PLEASE ensure ARRIVAL at least 15 minutes BEFORE the start of the walk, sorry no latecomers are accepted for whatever reason.

Members attend the unique walks from our different meetup groups.

IF LATE, SORRY WE ARE UNABLE TO RECEIVE CALLS OR ANSWER EMAILS AS WELCOMING MEMBERS, LEADING THE WALK, AND CONCENTRATING ON THE SAFETY OF THE GROUP. PLEASE DO NOT BE LATE, YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO CATCH THE GROUP UP, PLEASE ARRIVE EARLY TO AVOID DISAPPOINTMENT.

Part Tour - Medium pace walk from 'Visit England' Award-Winning Guide and our group featured in the National Press! Please Note: Some events, being a large attended meetup group will be an organised walk only, but members are very welcome to organise their own get-togethers after the event.

You are required to be fit and healthy with appropriate footwear & clothing, responsible for meeting at the correct location, own safety and to not lose the group by viewing the organiser/making the organiser aware as much as possible, or follow/not lose sight of the person(s) from the same walk in front. We advise carrying water and some snacks.

The organiser is also not responsible for any circumstances that may affect the group or personally such as personal accidents, rail information, engineering works, cancellations, rail strikes or delays, heavy traffic, tours affected, weather, walk paths or routes closed, postcodes for car parks or for when we arrive back at the station, or anything else not mentioned!

By joining the event you agree to all the terms and conditions.

No Dogs allowed sorry