I have been slowly walking around London, exploring the Capital Ring Walk on calm weekends when I have no plans. Today I wandered Section 3 from Grove Park to Crystal Palace.
The first portion was a little bit rough around the edges, with lots of trash, including at least 2 mattresses and discarded bedframes along the somewhat sad trail.
While it was not exactly a pristine wilderness trail, it was not without its charms.
To my surprise and delight, I walked back in time to the Jurassic period!
Crystal Palace has been home to dinosaurs, specifically these large dinosaur sculptures, for 170 years. These were the world’s first dinosaur sculptures, sculpted by Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins under the scientific direction of Sir Richard Owen. These full-scale models represented the scientific understanding of dinosaurs and other extinct animals at the time.
Our more recent scientific understanding of dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures has revealed many hilarious inaccuracies in these sculptures, but I think this makes the Dinasour Court even more charming (like the hundreds of lions sculpted by artists who had clearly never seen a lion).
Apparently, Charles Darwin and his wife Emma went to Crystal Palace Park several times, so you can walk in his footsteps.
A visit to Dinasour court is definitely a worthy way to pass a few moments in London.
Lovely Outliers 