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The dinos are loose. At least in Crystal Palace Park. This Victorian-themed amusement park is located in south London, in the Crystal Palace suburb of the same name.
A palace for the World's Fair
80 hectares in size, the park is located on Sydenham Hill. It owes its name, Crystal Palace Park, to Sir Joseph Paxton, a British architect and botanist who designed a huge steel and glass building, the Crystal Palace, for the Great Exhibition of 1851. He was allowed to use Hyde Park as a building site, but had to dismantle it afterwards. Paxton therefore bought not only his palace, but also an associated site at Sydenham. The building was rebuilt in 1854 on Sydenham Hill. As the hill is with 109 metres one of the highest points of England's capital, the Crystal Palace was almost visible from the whole of London.
Car Race in the Park
Right next to the former palace, the National Sports Centre was built in 1964 and is one of the five largest sports venues in England. Almost everything was played. From football to rugby and cricket to basketball. Not to forget the racecourse. It was the main component of today's facility. Even Formula 1 races were held there. Parts of the racecourse can still be admired today.
Unfortunately, only pictures remind of the Crystal Palace, as it fell victim to a fire in 1936. In the small Crystal Palace Museum, drawings and pictures bear witness to the former splendour of the Crystal Palace, which radiated something filigree despite its cast-iron construction and its gigantic size.
Dinos and Parakeets
Today, it's the oversized sculptures of dinosaurs created by sculptor Benjamin Waterhous Hawkins that make this park special. You meet the giants everywhere, at the lake, between tree trunks or in the middle of fern scrub.
If you sit down in one of the many restaurants or cafes, you soon become aware of a persistent chirping. Large numbers of collared parakeets have made the park their home. Perhaps they like the company of the dinos.
