Clapton Park

Tucked away down a back street on the wrong side of the Lee Navigation from Hackney Marshes, this is not a park you easily wander into. But when I see a patch of green on the map I like to take a look and I was pleasantly surprised.
It’s quite a little oasis, surrounded by thick, mature trees, and a central sweep of grass giving a vista out over the Marshes.
There’s also a large and imaginative playground (very much in use), and an adventure playground as well (closed when I visited). Between there’s an impressive bmx/​skateboard park, with lots of concrete hummocks and some ramps. It was busy when I was there, with most of the users seeming quite young.
The atmosphere was also good: a couple of old guys chatting on a bench, an Afro Caribean family having a waterfight, a group of Turkish women sitting in a ring on the grass nattering while their children played in the playground
Definitely not a tourist attraction, but if you want somewhere to play or sit and relax, you could do a lot worse.