03/09/2024 08:36:55 PM
161. Harefield Village Green
Harefield is a village on the outskirts of west London. It existed as an early settlement and its village green is one of eleven registered commons and former village greens in Hillingdon. The name derived from “Herefelle” in Anglo Saxon, probably meaning open land or field used by an army.
We visited this green space by accident. We were on our way from a park in Northolt, where we couldn’t stop as there was nowhere to park (I plan to try again, soon), to another one where we might’ve been able to (I plan to see whether we can, soon). The route took us through Harefield and right past the green. When I saw that it had a “big lying down swing” and that there was a parking space right next to it, I decided that would do.
This historic green is located in the middle of Harefield Village conservation area and has been a registered common since 1813. It’s a Site of Nature Conservation Importance. There's a village pond to one side, and a war memorial commemorating the casualties from the village in both World Wars.
In one corner is the Harefield 2000 memorial, showing a hare and a shape of Australia inside a globe, representing the long association of the village with Australia originating in the First World War. Servicemen from Australia and New Zealand were evacuated to what is now Harefield Hospital, opposite the green, after being wounded on the Western Front. The hospital was set up in a house and grounds donated by an Australian family who were resident in the UK. The memorial was unveiled by Professor Sir Magdi Yacoub of Harefield Hospital.
The green was designated as Centenary Field in November 2014. This is an arrangement set up by the Fields in Trust charity, in partnership with the Royal British Legion, to protect war memorial, playing fields, parks and green spaces in memory of those who died in the First World War.
There’s also a children’s playground and an outdoor gym
Judith Field
Harefield Village Green, Breakspear Road North, Harefield, UB9 6EG
27/08/2024 08:21:35 PM
160. Woodside Playing Fields
This park, in Watford, covers a large area, including playing fields, sports facilities and woodland. It was awarded Green Flag status since 2011. The site includes an eight-lane synthetic track and stadium, an indoor bowls green, a community centre, cricket squares, football pitches and Woodside Leisure Centre.
There are large areas of open grassland, with mature trees dotted around the grounds. Daffodils, crocuses and bluebells can be seen in the spring.
Woodside Playing Fields was part of the original Woodside estate, with a house and farm built in 1860. During World War II, the site became a depot for the ATS. After the war, the local authority purchased the estate to use for housing and playing fields. The house was demolished in 1959, but the stables are still standing and are used for changing rooms.
Albans Wood, to the west of the playing fields, is a small area of semi-ancient woodland dating back to 1600 and named after the Roman soldier who became a Christian, was martyred and gave his name the neighbouring city of St Albans. It’s planted with mature beech and oak and supports a rich variety of wildlife. Muntjac deer, red fox and grey squirrel can be seen in the wood – we didn’t see any, probably because it was too early in the day, so I couldn’t pass on a greeting from the foxes in our Mill Hill garden, now numbering parents and three cubs. There are also birds including nuthatch, great spotted woodpecker and tree creeper, chiffchaff and blackcap. Bats have been spotted on bat walks. It was declared a local Nature Reserve in 2006 and is a county wildlife site.
There’s a children’s play area, car park and toilets, including one for people with disabilities, and their carers.
Judith Field
Woodside Playing Fields and Alban Wood, Horseshoe Lane, WD25 7HH
Judith and Jack's Park of the Week
20/08/2024 11:03:28 AM
159. St Alphage Garden
St Alphage Garden is an example of how you can be walking around in the City of London, surrounded by tall, modern buildings, when you come across something different. I hadn’t planned to visit it but just happened to walk past. It’s an urban garden in the City of London, off London Wall.[ It was converted from the former churchyard of St Alphage London Wall in 1872. The north edge of the garden has a section of the ancient London Wall, built below current street level between 190 and 225 AD.
The wall was crenellated in 1477 during the Wars of the Roses, to help protect the city. was also given the diamond pattern, known as ‘diapering’. This was a popular design in the 15th and 16th centuries, created from glazed bricks. The word ‘diaper/diapering’ originally referred to the geometric, repeated pattern. It later became associated with the same pattern on linen and cotton. This was the material used to make what the Americans call ‘diapers’ for babies.
The Garden and the nearby Barbican garden were among the worst bombarded areas in London during World War II and the wall was revealed when the buildings around it were destroyed during the Blitz. Under the post-war rebuilding programme, provisions were made for open spaces and gardens and St Alphage Garden was one of them.
The wall at St Alphage's Gardens contains a large population of the fern maidenhair spleenwort. There’s also black spleenwort, hart's tongue, and pellitory-of-the-wall. Wonderful names. The garden has flower beds, benches, magnolia, and oak tree.
The priory of Elsing Spital, just to the south of the wall, was established here in 1331 by wealthy City merchant, William Elsing. The ‘spital’ bit comes from ‘hospital’, because it provided hospitality, food, shelter and care for poor people. It was probably more like an almshouse. The remains of this tower are all that is left.
Judith Field
St Alphage Garden, Barbican, London EC2Y 5DE
13/08/2024 05:48:03 PM
158. Astey's Row Rock Garden and Canonbury Gardens
Astey's Row Rock Garden is the legacy of the New River Company, set up in 1613 to bring clean water from Hertford to London. The southern end of the New River, where the Garden is, was covered over in the eighteen nineties but the ground was left empty. In 1913 the local authority bought the land to lay out as a public space. The rock garden was opened in 1953. The rock garden was re-landscaped in 1998, and again in 2003.
The Garden is mainly a path surrounded by planting, and the very obvious large stones that have been dotted along the path. It extends into a playground. I am always on guard when I go out with Jack, and I had an interesting exchange with some teenage girls who were giggling at Jack and his delight at the “big lying down swing”. I snapped “Is something funny?” and they, acting all surprised, said there wasn’t. I am saving “perhaps you’d like to share it with the whole class?” for another day. There’s bound to be one.
At the other end of the playground is a gate leading to the New River Path. That takes you back to the main road, but on the other side of the path is another gate, into Canonbury Gardens (not to be mixed up with Canonbury Square Gardens, see post 137). Here, the Manna Project, St Stephen's Church Canonbury, is creating an Edible Forest Garden. Manna is a day centre that supports marginalised, vulnerable and homeless people in the local community, providing a wide range of services including food, laundry, showers and work advice. This garden creation is one of the therapeutic diversionary activities offered to increase well-being and learn new skills, whilst improving the local environment.
The smaller text in the photo above reads “An edible forest garden imitates the ecosystem of a natural British woodland incorporating fruit and nut trees, shrubs, herbs, vines and perennial vegetables which have yields directly useful to humans. These can be intermixed in a succession of layers to replicate a woodland habitat.”
Judith Field
Astey's Row Rock Garden, Pleasant Place, London N1 2BP
06/08/2024 12:23:23 PM
157. Cricklewood Millennium Green
This pocket park built on former railway sidings. Created at the turn of the millennium in 2002, it’s one of 245 Millennium Greens created as part of a national scheme that ran in 1999 where the National Lottery gave parkland to 245 local communities in England, entrusting them with its management under the condition that the land should always be kept as a green space with no plans to build on it. This is one of eight built in London. We’d already visited Southgate Millenium Green (see no. 108). It received a grant of £5000 for improvement in 2021.
The site is sculpted with hills and hollows to wander around. One of the hills gives a good view of the mainline railway passing through Cricklewood and the Thameslink depot. There are paths running around the edges. A number of timber sculptures are also dotted in the park, created by the local artist Alistair Lambert. These look to be railway-inspired.
The park may get larger soon, as the waste depot next to it is to be demolished and flats built on the site. Part of the planning agreement includes giving some of the site to the Millennium Green as public open space.
A community trust was set up to look after the place and it's maintained by volunteers, who have planted trees on the site, mostly native ones such as field maple and hazel, creating a mixture of habitats which are home to butterflies and moths. There is a labelled nature trail. It's the sole nearby green space for the housing estate across the road, built on the site of the Handley Page aircraft factory that closed in 1964.
Judith Field
Cricklewood Millennium Green, 23 Claremont Road, London NW2 1BP
30/07/2024 05:44:18 PM
156. Cleary Garden
The site of this garden, near St Paul’s Cathedral, was a bomb site left over from World War 2, but in the late nineteen forties Joseph Brandis, who was a City worker, member of the Cordwainers Company and keen gardener decided to turn the space into a public garden, using plants and soil from his own garden in Walthamstow and mud from the river. The garden was completed in 1949.
The area from Cleary Garden down to Upper Thames Street used to be the site of a Roman bath house, built in 80AD. Its remains were discovered in 1929, with further excavations taking place in the nineteen sixties.
The garden was then significantly re-landscaped in the nineteen eighties to create the park that exists today and was named after Fred Cleary, chairman of the Metropolitan Public Gardens Association. He was known as ‘Flowering Fred’ for his work in creating public gardens in the City.
The garden is arranged over three terraces, created from the basements of the buildings that had previously been there. Designated a site of Local Importance for Nature Conservation, it is a haven for birds, including robins and blackbirds, blue tits, greenfinches, dunnocks, and sparrows.
In 2007 a series of grape vines were planted along the upper terraces as a gift from the winemakers of the Loire valley. This is a reminder of the time when this area was a hub for wine merchants. It is in the ward of Vintry, and the Worshipful Company of Vintners headquarters is nearby.
The upper terrace, with seating facing the main road is also lined with the tree peony monument, a gift from Yatsuka Town, Japan in 2004. The people of the town said ‘These flowers bring us happiness and comfort in time of trouble. We hope that these tree peonies, raised by the producers in our town, can be loved by and bring peace of mind to people in the United Kingdom.’ I could do with some of that. I think I’ll get a peony plant or two for my garden.
Judith Field
Cleary Gardens, Queen Victoria Street, London EC4V 2AR
23/07/2024 09:00:04 PM
155. Down Lane Park
This park is another one that I found by looking at a map, and is in Tottenham Hale. Until a few years ago, it was the typical recreation ground, with extensive mown grass and lines of trees around the edge, but the Council planted native trees, including birch, hazel and wild cherry. In these areas the grass is left to grow, allowing wildflowers to become established.
It is sited on what was once open land, referred to as ‘Lammas Land’, a description rather than a name in this case, although it’s also the name of a park in Cambridge. This was something I hadn’t seen before; it means land that was private property until Lammas Day (also known as Loafmas or Lughnasa on August 1st: not long to wait, now) after which it was were subject to common rights of pasturage until spring. The council acquired the site in 1900 and it was formally opened in 1907. By 1935 the park had a linear area of gardens and paths with perimeter planting, and perimeter planting around the site and an athletics ground and running track had been installed. The park was used for concert parties and bands as well as sporting activities.
It's designated as Significant Local Open Land and is a Site of Local Importance for Nature Conservation. In 2012 the site was named a Queen Elizabeth II Field as part of the Fields in Trust campaign to protect outdoor recreational spaces as a legacy of the Diamond Jubilee. It has a community garden, football pitches, basketball and tennis courts, children’s play areas, skateboard area and a bowling green. There is a café, and toilets.
Judith Field
Down Lane Park, Park View Rd, London N17 9AU
16/07/2024 09:04:07 PM
154. Dartmouth Park
We’d driven past the Dartmouth Park Hill side of this park several times, but all I’d seen was the Victorian reservoir tanks in the middle surrounded with a metal fence, and it didn’t look like a place you’d be able to get into or want to do so. However, a very helpful reply from Islington Council, in reply to my question about which of their parks had “big lying down swings”, told me that there was one, in each of the two playgrounds in Dartmouth Park so I decided to give it another go and approach from a side road.
The Dartmouth Park area takes its name from the Earl of Dartmouth who bought land here in the mid eighteenth Century. Housing development had accelerated and the need to increase the supply of fresh water to serve London’s expanding population meant that water companies were building new facilities. Two reservoirs were constructed on Dartmouth Park Hill in 1855. They are covered in grassland and are still in use.
Dartmouth Park was laid out on the edge of the reservoirs and opened to the public in 1972. The land slopes steeply to the north and the east of the reservoirs. The top of the slope gives a great view over London.
The park has a seating area surrounded by a hedge, which local children helped to plant in 1991.
It has been designated as a Site of importance for Nature Conservation and has a variety of grassland types. Locally uncommon plants grow there, including burnet saxifrage, grey sedge, sheep's and common sorrels (on which the small copper butterfly feeds) and field woodrush.
The park hosted one of the beacons lit nationwide on 21 April 2016 to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II's 90th birthday.
Judith Field
Dartmouth Park, 80-18 Bickerton Rd, London N19 5JT
09/07/2024 11:45:24 AM
153. Distaff Lane Garden
This garden, opened in 2018, is in the heart of the City of London, between St Paul’s Cathedral and St Nicholas Cole Abbey, which isn’t actually an abbey, but a church. The name is derived from “coldharbour”, a medieval word for a traveller’s shelter or shelter from the cold. It’s dedicated to St Nicholas of Myra, the patron saint of fishermen, and in Elizabethan times there was an important fish market next to it. This must explain the name of this nearby alley, and the fact that Distaff Lane used to be called Fish Street.
The garden was designed with the aim of supporting biodiversity and providing shade and plant interest. with a small cluster of trees, divided by interweaving paths. There are birch trees and a single pin oak. The trees are underplanted with a mix of shade and drought tolerant perennials and grasses. I’m including this photo of a plant I saw growing there just because I like the name of the plant – Heavenly Bamboo. At the rear of the garden is a “water wall” where water bubbles over stones with a texture inspired by fish scales, recognising the area’s historic importance as a fish market.
The park replaced a carpark that sat next to an office block. It used to have a plot of grass on the top. When the old office block was demolished and the current one built, the car park entrance was made into the garden. Part of the reason for the garden being in this specific location is that the slice taken out of the side of the office building to allow it exists to preserve a line of sight between the church and St Paul’s Cathedral.
This sculpture of Icarus (you’ll have to take my word that he’s the subject) used to be on the old lawn on top of the car park.
Judith Field
Distaff Lane Garden, Distaff Lane, London EC4V 5EY
02/07/2024 10:46:40 AM
152. The Phoenix Garden
The Phoenix Garden is behind the Phoenix Theatre, between Soho and Covent Garden. It was established in 1984 by local people as a community garden and is the last of the Covent Garden Community Gardens. There were originally seven gardens, created by the local community on vacant lots in the nineteen seventies and eighties, including a Japanese Garden, a Water Garden and a Chess Garden. The last of these closed for development in the nineteen eighties. The Phoenix Garden was set up on a car park site, which had itself been established on a World War II bombsite. Before this the Garden was the site of houses and a pub.
In 2016, the building of a new community centre left a construction site to re-landscape, all to be done by one gardener and a group of weekend volunteers. They were keen to use the rubble and earth onsite, because of the cost of waste removal and the wish to operate in a sustainable way. Volunteers put over 25 tons of rubble through a mini crusher and this material was used to construct raised beds and new, wheelchair and pram friendly paths. The Garden continues to be run by a committee of volunteers made up of local residents and workers.
The Garden has won first prize for Best Environmental Garden in the Camden in Bloom competition six times, from 2004 to 2010. It also holds regular social events, including an annual Agricultural Show and volunteering workdays.
It has a bedrock of thin, rubbly soil and, being in central London, is affected by the urban heat island effect, which means that it’s warmer than the surrounding rural areas. As a result, half-hardy plants such as the Giant Viper’s Bugloss can grow there – although I don’t remember seeing it. The garden is also a hotspot for both bird and pondlife. Quirky ornaments and signs, winding paths and peaceful corners with benches to sit and appreciate some peace and quiet, make it a welcome escape.
I overheard the guide of a walking tour of the garden say that the garden is featured in the 2019 film Last Christmas. I can’t confirm this, however, as you would have to force my eyelids open and clamp my head in place before I’d watch the film. Think “A Clockwork Orange”, one that, despite being underage, I did manage to see in the brief time it ran before being withdrawn.
Judith Field
The Phoenix Garden, 21 Stacey St, London WC2H 8DG
