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Swan Lane Open Space is a public park in Whetstone in the
/ref> but it also has more natural areas managed for nature conservation. The park was created around the 1930s on the site of former gravel pits beside a nineteenth-century estate. The park was known locally as "The Pits" in the 1960s and probably earlier. The pond is a natural spring. It was the scene of a tragedy in the early 1920s when children were drowned while playing in the disused gravel workings. According to a history of a local school, St John's: "Whetstone was the site of a number of gravel pits, particularly in the locality of Swan Lane. They are commemorated in the name still used for the recreation area there. School documents record a tragedy on these pits, which were then disused, in 1925, when a 10-year-old boy who attended the school was drowned with two friends when a raft on which they were floating capsized." In the early 1970s, the park featured in one of the
Swan Lane Open Space, Barnet Online
Swan Lane Open Space, London Gardens Online
Swan Lane and Beyond, LondonCountyCouncil
{{coord , 51, 37, 29, N, 0, 10, 45, W, type:forest_region:GB-BNE, display=title Parks and open spaces in the London Borough of Barnet
Swan Lane Open Space is a public park in Whetstone in the London Borough of Barnet
The London Borough of Barnet () is a suburban London boroughs, London borough in north London, England. Forming part of Outer London, the borough was formed in 1965 from parts of the ceremonial counties of Middlesex and Hertfordshire. It is the ...
. It is the smallest of Barnet's sixteen "Premier Parks". It has a children's playground, a café, and a pond which was formerly used for model boating but is now covered with reeds and water plants. Much of it is mown grass and trees, including giant redwood
''Sequoiadendron giganteum'' (also known as the giant sequoia, giant redwood, Sierra redwood or Wellingtonia) is a species of coniferous tree, classified in the family Cupressaceae in the subfamily Sequoioideae. Giant sequoia specimens are the la ...
s and a Cedar of Lebanon
''Cedrus libani'', commonly known as cedar of Lebanon, Lebanon cedar, or Lebanese cedar (), is a species of large evergreen conifer in the genus ''Cedrus'', which belongs to the pine family and is native to the mountains of the Eastern Medite ...
,Swan Lane Open Space, London Gardens Online/ref> but it also has more natural areas managed for nature conservation. The park was created around the 1930s on the site of former gravel pits beside a nineteenth-century estate. The park was known locally as "The Pits" in the 1960s and probably earlier. The pond is a natural spring. It was the scene of a tragedy in the early 1920s when children were drowned while playing in the disused gravel workings. According to a history of a local school, St John's: "Whetstone was the site of a number of gravel pits, particularly in the locality of Swan Lane. They are commemorated in the name still used for the recreation area there. School documents record a tragedy on these pits, which were then disused, in 1925, when a 10-year-old boy who attended the school was drowned with two friends when a raft on which they were floating capsized." In the early 1970s, the park featured in one of the
Monty Python
Monty Python, also known as the Pythons, were a British comedy troupe formed in 1969 consisting of Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin. The group came to prominence for the sketch comedy ser ...
films when a scene from the "Hells Grannies" sketches was filmed in the upper part above the keepers lodge. The Wendy House that stood nearby during the 1960s and 1970s can be seen in shot. Rose beds by the café have been planted in memory of two local residents.
There is access from Swan Lane, Whetstone High Road and Woodside Lane.
See also
*Barnet parks and open spaces
The London Borough of Barnet, located on the northern periphery of London and having much of the area within its boundaries in the Metropolitan Green Belt, has many parks and open spaces. In addition there are large areas taken over by cemeteries ...
References
External links
Swan Lane Open Space, Barnet Online
Swan Lane Open Space, London Gardens Online
Swan Lane and Beyond, LondonCountyCouncil
{{coord , 51, 37, 29, N, 0, 10, 45, W, type:forest_region:GB-BNE, display=title Parks and open spaces in the London Borough of Barnet