Barnard Park

Since moving to Islington two weeks ago, I feel like I just keep failing on every mission I set out to tackle. Finding a dog park is one of these failed missions. Barnard Park is the «largest» park nearest to our flat. It’s split in two, divided by a road. The smaller half is completely fenced in as Alex mentioned in his review and though this feature is nice, this medium-​sized plot of land is too boring for our German Shorthaired Pointer. There are no squirrels or rabbits to chase or woodsy area to thrash through. It’s just a grassy knoll, though MUCH larger than the famous grassy knoll in Dallas, Texas.
Side note: Alex also mentioned antisocial people in this park. This is true. On our first visit, I was just about to enter the smaller side of the park when a woman approached me and told me not to go anywhere near the man and his German Shepherd who were currently in the park. She stated both were aggressive and there have been many incidents with this man and his dog. She was super nice but her comments and concerns do prove that there seem to be some problematic dogs and dog walkers who frequent this park.
The larger half of Barnard Park is a terrible place to walk your dog unless you have a toy dog who can easily be walked on lead and who tires after walking for five minutes. When we were flat hunting, having a large park for our beloved Dexter was crucial and I relied on Google Maps to provide me with this information. Well, Google Maps sort of lied to me and we are currently not on speaking terms. The park, as portrayed on Google Maps, is large and is green in color, so I thought it was a for-​sure win for me and the dog. I even went so far as to reference the Islington borough website to get hectare info on said park and again, thought it was a for-​sure win.
The problem I have with the park is that 85% of it is blocked off for one reason or another — the adventure land, the football pitches, the children’s play area. This leaves 15% of the park left which, of course, happens to be the area home to the walking paths and along the roads. In other words, not a great area for dogs.
The other problem that I have with the park is that people leave bread out for the birds. I absolutely hate this. We do not need to attract pigeons, people! And also, bread-​leaving people, all the dogs eat your damn bread, not the birds! Knock this shit off!
Some might say that the problem I have here is that I moved to a condensed part of the city and brought my long-​range hunting dog who requires vast amounts of exercise along for the ride. Yes, this is true, but he’s 15.25 years old, at some point he’s no longer going to require daily hour-​long runs off lead, right? Who am I kidding? I hope he never slows down. I hope he goes off to doggy heaven by way of heart failure whilst chasing a squirrel and doing what makes him most happy — hunting.
Barnard Park, I had high hopes for you but Dexter and I just aren’t that into you.

Wide open spaces…
Quite a luxury for the dog-​loving set. Well, quite a luxury for the dogs I suppose. A rich, luscious, well-​tended plot of land smack dab in the middle of London, beckoning all the dogs to play. It’s not fancy but there are a few benches and garbage cans, heavy gates and enough room for your pooch to burn off the excess energy and pretend they don’t live in a small space all day long.
Overall, thumbs up. If you have a dog and live close (or even a longer walk away) this spot is surely worth putting on to your route.

This is my closest local dog park for my dog. But of course when I say dog park, I use it lightly, since it’s just a giant fenced-​in field.
Still, the grass is always mowed, the gates in and out are heavy so they won’t ever accidentally open and let all the little doggies run free and there are two benches on either side for sitting. Basic, boring, but nice to have in the area.
Watch out, some of the dog owners here are weirdly anti-​social and get terrified if you talk to them or your dog walks up to their dog. Come on, people, it’s a dog park, lighten up.
All in all, happy to have it here but there are better parks in the area farther down that are probably worth going to.