Behind, or even above, London’s busy streets, there are many secret spots where workers relax, during the working day or at weekends. Unwind in a few of these hidden spaces, where nature still rules. Check www.opensquares.org for more.
Bonnington Square
Created on waste ground by locals, this tribute to the historic Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens which were nearby is open to all. The garden’s greening the city philosophy is also being extended into the surrounding streets.
Bonnington Square SW8
Tube: Vauxhall
Culpeper Community Garden
Largely maintained by volunteers, this lovely organic garden has ponds, rose pergolas, ornamental beds, vegetable plots and a small wildlife area. With a busy shopping area nearby, it is an oasis of calm in the heart of London.
1 Cloudesley Road N1
Tel: +44 (0)20 7833 3951
www.culpeper.org.uk
Freightliners City Farm
A real working farm in the heart of Islington, open all year round from Tuesday to Sunday. Animals range from rare breed pigs and goats to new born lambs and chicks. The farm is a charity and there is a strong educational aspect.
Sheringham Road N7
Tel: +44 (0)20 7609 0467
Tube: Highbury Corner
www.freightlinersfarm.org.uk
Golders Green Crematorium
Musicians, actors, writers, philosophers and many others co-exist peacefully in Golders Green Crematorium. Its lovely grounds are home to the ashes of everyone from Marc Bolan to Sigmund Freud. A restful place to meditate on passing.
Hoop Lane NW11
Tube: Golders Green
Redcross Garden
Set up in 1888, by Octavia Hill, co-founder of the National Trust, the garden was a green space for one of London’s poorest areas. Behind the garden is a set of model cottages Ms Hill designed as an alternative to the disease ridden tenements of the time.
Redcross Way SE1
Tube: Borough
www.bost.org.uk
St Mary’s Secret Garden
This Hackney project has four interlinking areas - a natural woodland, a food growing area (including vegetable beds and fruit trees), an herb and sensory garden and an area of herbaceous borders.
50 Pearson Street E2
Tel: +44 (0)20 7739 2965
www.stmaryssecretgarden.org.uk
Postman's Park
Three churchyards combine to make this park, once popular with postmen for their lunchbreak, hence the name. Painter and sculptor George Frederick Watts started a gallery of ceramic Doulton plates in 1887 that mark fatal feats of bravery by ordinary men, women and, amazingly, children.
Postman's Park EC1
Tube: St Paul’s
Kyoto Garden
The Kyoto Japanese Garden in leafy Holland Park was built for the 1991 London Festival of Japan and refurbished in 2001 by a specialist team flown over from Japan. It is being given an even more authentic Japanese feel as the planting improves with time.
Holland Park W8
Tube: High Street Kensington/
Holland Park
Any comments - or a suggestion? Please e-mail me.
Secret Gardens
