News

Luscious and Lovely
This is a very self-indulgent blog for which I make no apologies. I have had so many messages from you all about how much you are enjoying the parks and particularly mentioning how well they are looking. And some of our very good photographers have sent me stunning images which my second-hand iPhone 6 cannot match.

Keep Wildlife Wild
Leave No Trace
The Royal Parks have launched a campaign to run throughout the summer with key objectives:

1: To remind visitors that the Parks are important refuges for nature and encourage them to adopt behaviour to help nature thrive.

2: To raise awareness of the threats to biodiversity in both parks (for example climate change, increased visitor footfall, spread of plant and animal diseases).

3: To publicise what The Royal Parks are doing to help nature in the face of these challenges.

The campaign is about education, not enforcement.

“The Trumpet Shall Sound” …. Corinthians and GF Handel
It’s time to blow their trumpet for them, the super nursery tucked away as it is in the middle of Hyde Park may not have featured on our members’ radar.

Generous hosts and friends to ‘The Friends’ manager, Mike Jones and his staff have helped many members enjoy Spring and Autumn tours to gain an understanding of how things work. For the last few years (Covid year excepted) members have been pleased to buy surplus plants for their own gardens and balconies.

Members who live anywhere near to the parks, particularly the east side of Hyde Park and the south of Kensington Gardens will be well aware that, for months, there have been demonstrations taking place on the Parade Ground. It’s a huge, open, beautifully turfed inviting space for any group wanting somewhere to gather. Without major events constructing and decommissioning their paraphernalia and no ceremonial events taking place, the space it appears, is up for grabs.

Kensington Gardens is the star of this blog
There’s a lot going on with trees, flowers and planting, buildings, exhibitions and art all grabbing our attention.

In this blog we share a little bit of history of HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, planting in the park, rambling with Clare Balding, some of the issues with recent demonstrations and examples of where our views are threatened.

Decimus Burton is possibly the most important contributor to the development of Hyde Park in its entire history and in fact the best of his work there is still with us today, almost 200 years later – like the imposing Apsley Gate Entrance, the magnificent Wellington Arch, both at Hyde Park Corner, and the overall layout of the park itself.