Park Bench

News from around the London Parks

Marble Arch On the Move?

TRANSPORT for London (TfL) has proposed relocating Marble Arch to the entrance to Hyde Park near Speakers' Corner to improve pedestrian access between Oxford Street and Hyde Park.

An Edwardian postcard of Marble Arch, posted in 1905
(Hazelle Jackson collection)

The Arch, designed by Regency architect John Nash in the style of the Constantine Arch in Rome, was originally built in 1828 as the chief entrance to Buckingham Palace. It was moved to its present location when the Palace was enlarged in 1851. Since then various road traffic schemes, most notably in the 1960s, have left the Arch stranded on a traffic island.

A working group, which includes Westminster Council, TfL, the Royal Parks and the Grosvenor and Portman estates, is currently looking at the options for improving access to Hyde Park including relocating Marble Arch.

The Arch, which is owned by English Heritage, is built of white Carrara Marble and was cleaned in 1997.

For more about the history of Hyde Park see our feature 'Hyde Park through the Ages'.

PGDP Scoops Big HLF Award

A new Heritage Lottery Fund grant of nearly £1 m has been awarded to the Parks and Gardens Data Partnership (PGDP).

The money is intended to assist academics and volunteers create a national database of historic parks gardens and landscapes in England and Wales. The Partnership is an alliance between The Association of Gardens Trusts, The Welsh Historic Gardens Trust and the Department of Archaeology at the University of York

The work will collate new and existing data, including research already carried out by many of the 7,500 members of the AGT through its 35 constituent County Garden Trusts.

AGT Project Director Peter Lindesay said: "This 3-year project will provide opportunities for local people, as volunteers and partners, to get involved in actively researching and recording their local historic parks and gardens ... and ensure the information volunteers have already collated is ... made available to the widest possible audience".

Head of the University of York's Department of Archaeology, Jane Grenville, said: "The database was conceived in York, in the former Institute of Advanced Architectural Studies, and launched here in 1994. After a period of zero funding, we are hugely grateful to our partners at AGT for their unswerving dedication to the bid and to the HLF for their generous support".

Work Advances at Waterlow Park

RESTORATION of Waterlow Park in Highgate (LB Camden) continues to arouse strong feelings among local residents and attract more than its fair share of bad luck.

The original contractors responsible for the £2.1 m restoration of the Grade II listed park, (given to the public by Mayor Sir Sidney Waterlow in 1889) went bust in 2003, forcing Camden Council to find a replacement firm to finish the work. Then in September 2004 one of the project managers working on the restoration was badly injured in a road accident leading to further delays.

Towards the end of 2004 work focused on landscaping: laying gravel paths, terracing and planting and work on the fountain, statues, artefacts and listed buildings in the park. New decking has been installed to open up the lower pond area; although this, along with the clearance and replanting of the "jungle" at the Lower Terrace Gardens, has not been to everybody's liking. A plaque has been erected to Sir Sydney Waterlow near the entrance, the drinking fountain repaired and nearly all the gates have been repaired and repainted, with the original gilt being restored in some cases. There will also be a new park information centre.

Quentin Edwards chair of the Friends of the Waterlow Park commented recently: "The clearing of the undergrowth has been an immense improvement.  I wish the work had been done quicker but they have got a first-class firm doing the work so we are certainly not complaining overall."

Four in Frame at Jubilee Gardens

THE four teams short-listed to go forward to the second stage of the Open Competition to redevelop the South Bank's Jubilee gardens were announced at the end of 2004.

They are

• EDAW;
• Gross Max;
• Land Use Consultants/Thomas Heatherwick Studio with Dan Pearson studio; and
• West 8.

Gross Max have worked locally on improvements to Potters Fields near Tower Bridge, while Thomas Heatherwick, who designed the roll-up bridge at Paddington basin, is currently working on plans to improve the Great Maze Pond approach to Guy's Hospital.

Public consultation is now underway and an exhibition is to tour various sites in Waterloo. There is a website at www.opensouthbank.org/jubilee.htm

Lom Heads Royal Parks Foundation

SARA Lom has been appointed as the first director of the Royal Parks Foundation, a new charity to protect and enhance London's eight Royal Parks. Mrs Lom was previously director of public affairs at The Royal Parks.

Ain't No Mountain

PLANS (reported in London Landscapes 8) to erect a 23-metre temporary grass mountain over the Serpentine Gallery in Kensington Gardens this summer have been delayed for at least a year by technical problems.

Alvaro Siza, a distinguished European architect, is to design an alternative pavilion at short notice.

Let's Play Ball

SOFTBALL, the recreational form of America's summer pastime of baseball, is thriving in Regent's Park, with around 300 teams regularly playing.

A new £3.5m pavilion with 20 changing rooms is being built in the heart of the park alongside 19 full-size softball pitches, due for completion this spring. An additional £2m is being spent on 90 acres of sports pitches to form London's largest grassed sports area.

Funding from the pitches has come from Sport England, The Football Foundation, the London Marathon Charitable Trust, Sportsmatch and Nike. Further funding for the pavilion is being sought by the Royal Parks Foundation.

Lottery Success and Personnel Changes

Trust News from Chair BARBARA SIMMS

So much has happened since the last London Landscapes that it is difficult to know where to start!

Perhaps the most exciting news is that the Trust's application to the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) was successful and we have been awarded a grant of £50,000 to assess the feasibility and sustainability of Open Garden Squares Weekend (OGSW).

OGSW creates a celebratory atmosphere around London's green spaces (Ian Kennaway, the current organiser, once called it 'London en fête'), encouraging people to think positively about the areas in which they live, work and visit. The HLF project seeks to

• widen the number and range of sites participating,
• increase active involvement by local communities and
• develop new audiences by providing more activities and attractions for visitors and a range of related educational materials.

To achieve this, a large percentage of the HLF grant will fund a project organiser to work with local communities, schools, local businesses and a wide range of heritage and amenity groups.

The project organiser will work alongside a new OGSW co-ordinator (a paid part~time position funded by the Trust), whom we hope to appoint in the next few months.

Ian's Final Year

The co-ordinator will take over the demanding job of organising OGSW, a task carried out in recent years by Ian Kennaway with great commitment, enthusiasm and energy, supported by a team of equally hardworking volunteers.

Due to his many other commitments, Ian is standing down as organiser of OGSW after this year's event - and has already ceded his post as vice-chair of the Trust to Chris Sumner.

On behalf of all those who have worked with Ian in both capacities I would like to thank him warmly for his significant contribution to the Trust. In particular he has been a great support and friend to me as chair.

Trust Researchers Group

The final new development is the establishment of the Trust Researchers' Group. Kristina Taylor's call for researchers produced an excellent response and about 20 people booked to attend the Researchers' Training Day on February 19th.

The researchers will be recording new historic green spaces for the Trust's Inventory and also looking at existing sites in more detail. This is a great opportunity to become involved in practical garden history research, to share your expertise or learn new skills and raise awareness of the value of London's historic green open spaces.

Volunteers can join the group at any time so please contact Kristina Taylor, Research Co-ordinator if you are interested. volunteer.research@londongardenstrust.org

Squares Helpers Needed Please

OPEN Garden Squares Weekend, the Trust's major summer promotion, will be held this year on the 11th and 12th June. As we So to press 116 sites are taking part. Knight Frank are major sponsors and the ticket hotline 020-8347 3230 will be operated by Capital Gardens Ltd. (Tickets bought via this service will be accompanied by a £5 CGL discount voucher).

As always, friendly, enthusiastic volunteers are needed to man the gardens on the Sunday. The main duties are to welcome the visitors, check and sell tickets and ensure that the garden is treated with respect. No one will have to be on duty for more than half a day and every volunteer will receive a free ticket to the whole two-day event.

With more than ninety gardens participating, and lots more still to come forward, this promises to be a really good weekend! If you or any of your friends would like to be involved, please contact Charlotte Buchanan ...

Chris Sumner - New Vice Chair

WE welcome Chris Sumner in his new rôle as Trust vice-chair. Chris is a founder member of the Trust, longstanding member of Council and the Executive Committee, and a well-known speaker on London Squares.

As an architect and landscape architect with English Heritage (London Region) Chris contributes a wealth of knowledge and expertise on London's historic green spaces to the Trust.

Rosemary Jury - Administrator

A further warm welcome is extended to Rosemary Jury, our new Trust Administrator, who began work (one day a week) at the beginning of the year.

Rosemary's past experience includes work with the National Trust and the Architectural Association. Together with her recently completed MA in Garden History (Birkbeck), she is an excellent person to both organise the Trust's increasing administrative function and develop its information database.

Rosemary can be contacted by telephone at the Trust office (020 7839 3969) on a Thursday or by emailing office@londongardenstrust.org.