An Art Trail adventure around North London’s Haringey
On some of the trails with Alan Dearling
Wow, this was great fun! I spent about five hours walking around three of the six Trails that have been recently created. These were the three separate Owl Trails which I visited:
- The Crouch End Trail
- Finsbury Park Trail
- Muswell Hill and Alexandra Palace Trail
The Owl Art Trails have been created/curated by Wild in Art, who are described as: “…a leading producer of spectacular public art events that entertain, enrich and inform…” They have enabled £26.5 million to be raised for charities. This particular creative Art Trail features 30 large owls, each decorated by an individual talented artist and sponsored by a variety of organisations who support the North London Hospice. It is described as the “…first mass participation of its kind in North London.” Additionally, the Trail includes about 10 installations of owlet sculptures created by local school children and local community groups. In the following photos you can follow my personal Trail around the three individual Owl Art Trails.
The North London Hospice and Wild in Art say:
“We chose owls for our Trail because they are known for being calm and a gentle source of wisdom – and they work at night like many of our doctors and nurses.”
The owls located around parks and the local shopping areas are certainly bright, lively, and iconic. Wise owls, indeed. The many hundreds and probably thousands of visitors who have followed parts of the Trails, in my limited experience can be easily recognised by their wide smiles. And, I enjoyed chatting with a number of them, who told me how much they were enjoying the challenge of finding the owls and walking around the parks and streets of North London.
The owls swept into North London in August 2024 and after eight weeks on their perches, there is a planned final goodbye at a special farewell event where all the owls come together before the owls are auctioned to raise money for the North London Hospice. The owlets will be returned to their ‘forever nests’ with their school or community groups.
- The Crouch End Trail
The owls are ‘living’ near the Clock Tower in the centre of busy Crouch End and near the local town hall and library. The owlets are inside the North London Hospice shop, inside the library and in the local Priory Park.
- Finsbury Park Trail
Finsbury Park is a great open space area, nature in the middle of the urban sprawl, with magnificent trees, plus activity and sports facilities. The locations of the large owls have been carefully chosen and I tried to photograph them in their personal owl spaces. 
3. Muswell Hill and Alexandra Palace Trail
The renovations of Alexandra Palace are continuing and the BBC is back in action there. Lots of concerts inside and outside the fabulous sprawling buildings, with parklands, adventure spaces, a mini-golf course, boating lake and more. Relatively nearby, Muswell Hill is a bustling shopping area with many individual, quirky shops. The owls and one owlet are in the central areas, keeping a wise watch on the many London red buses.
The main website for the Art Trail is at:
https://bigfunartadventure.org/
