Tooting Commons

Essential green space in Tooting. Big open areas plus a pond, a few thickets, the lido on one side, tennis courts and a cafe. Good for running, cycling, sport generally and spotting parakeets.

Definitely biased but personally my favourite green space in London. It was a life-saver during the summer of 2020 and always has a good atmosphere on warm summer evenings. Also good for exercise in the morning and sunrise can occasionally be spectacular.

One of London’s many celebrated large spaces of park and woodland that offer respite from the city. Tooting Bec Common and Tooting Graveney Common stretch from Balham, Streatham and Tooting, although the common land once stretched as far as Mitcham. The area also includes a pond, park cafe, lido and stadium.

The boundary between the two commons is called Doctor Johnson Avenue and originally a country path Samuel Johnson is reputed to have regularly walked while visiting Hester Thrale, Welsh-born diarist, author and patron of the arts. In 2017 there was a proposal to close the road and grass it over, but was surprisingly rejected by 70% of respondents.

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Huge and beautiful park, well-kept park with an excellent location.
It has a varied playground for children, tennis courts and other sports, nice trackingways for running, areas of trees with forest, cafe shop, many commemorative benches, and a beautiful lake with very welcoming birds. Without a doubt, a wonderful park 😍

I visited here in March 2022 as part of walking the Capital Ring. This is a large and reasonably flatly open area with lots of areas to explore

Peaceful and beautiful walks with variety depending on what you want. Perfect for dog walkers, parents with prams, whatever... Only slightly ruined by the delivery riders now on electric bikes which cause somewhat of a hazard.

Had coffee and cake and sat outside in the cold but brilliant sunshine. So love the Woodland Pavillion cafe 😍

I really like Tooting Common, it has so many different places to visit. I like to go and sit next to the lake and watch the wildlife, the Ducks, Swans and Terrapins to name but a few. There is the Triangle, which has no roads on any sides. Two really nice playground for the kids, one in the Triangle for older kids and one opposite the lake for the younger ones. There are Tennis Courts, a Running Track that also has a Gym, the running track has seating for spectators. There is a nice Cafe, with seating inside and out. The famous Lido, one of the biggest outdoor swimming pools in the UK, if not Europe (but don't quote me on that 😏). And also the woods for walks on hot summer days to get some shade from the sun. There is a cricket pitch and football pitches where teams come to play at the weekend. I visit this common several times a week, for walks and runs, and am so glad I live close to it.