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| Guildhall Yard |
The day dawned with bright
sunshine and an early start to catch the coach from The Guildhall for the
Annual Visit of the Open Spaces, City Gardens and the West Ham Park Committees
to West Ham Park.
This part of London was new to me
so the journey was just as exciting as the destination, and for the umpteenth
time I told myself I must go and visit the Olympic site at Stratford, which we
passed enroute.
We were greeted by Martin Rodman,
Superintendent of Parks and City Gardens and informed The Lord Mayor would join
us later in the tour and her Consort Mr Nicholas Woolf would stand in for the
time being.
On entrance to the Park you are
greeted by two glorious wildflower meadows, so lush and colourful it took your
breath away, no picture can really capture their beauty. So many poppies! After welcome refreshments and an opportunity
to meet other members of the group Alderman Ian Luder made the introductions. Ms Sue Banks then took us closer to the
meadows and explained the outreach, biodiversity and sustainability projects in
the park.
‘Thanks to funding from the City Bridge Trust
4,170m² of meadow has been sown over the
last two years bringing the total area to 7,500m². Children from four different
local primary schools have helped sow the seeds.’ (Taken from Programme of the day)
The park consists of 77 acres and
is the largest in Europe and Grade II listed.
It has a recorded footfall of 1.2 million per annum and the local
community consists of a population of 300,000 with 110 languages spoken, all
living in a high density of dwellings. The park offers a ‘breathing space’ as
well as encouragement to healthy living, various sports plus a running track and an outdoor gym. In
partnership with ‘activeNewham’ the community joins in seasonal cricket matches
and tournaments.
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| Children are entertained by Mr Nicholas Woolf and Deputy John Bennett |
There are over 1000 trees within
the park, Plane trees account for 20% of them and there are also the famous
Liquid Amber of which they have 77 different cultivars, a sight to behold in
their Autumn glory. The management have been working with the London Borough of
Islington to record every single tree in the park on Arbortrack a tree
management database, which is an excellent tool to manage their tree stock.
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| Alderman Ian Luder, The Lord Mayor, Martin Rodman, Superintendant of the Parks & City Gardens, Deputy John Bennett, Chief Commoner |
Although the Winter Garden is
relatively new and the first phase has begun with dwarf Silver Birch and
red-stemmed dogwoods, it harks back to the Victorian age of ornamental gardens,
rose-gardens and formal bedding, all of which West Ham can offer. There is also
a Victorian Bandstand which is still used today. They are all part of the rich history of the
site, as with many parks, this magnificent started life as a rich man’s
botanical enterprise and private garden.
West Ham Park was originally the
site of Upton House, later to be called Ham House and home to several notables.
In 1762 it was bought by Dr. John Fothergill, a Quaker physician and botanist. He
enlarged the estate to slightly more than its present size and developed it
into one of the finest botanical gardens in Europe. Another is the younger
brother of Elizabeth Fry (the prison reformer) Samuel Gurney, a Quaker banker
and philanthropist. After his death in
1856 it was occupied by members of the Gurney family until its demolition in
1872 and the grounds became West Ham Park in 1874. The site of the house is
marked by a cairn of stones in the park.
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| Newham Heritage & Archives Ref 13/1/10 -47 |
The Lord Mayor joined us in the
gardens to plant a Paulownia tomentosa (Foxglove tree). It is unusual that it
flowers first – lilac-purple foxglove-live flowers in spring, soon followed by
light green leaves. A native of China and first introduced in 1834.
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| Planting of the Paulownia tomentosa (Foxglove tree) by The Rt Hon The Lord Mayor, Fiona Woolf CBE |
After a brief mix with the group,
a photo opportunity and a presentation, in the nursery area, of a beautiful
bouquet of flowers grown there, The Lord Mayor sadly was whisked away.
The nursery has eight glasshouses
and sees 250,000 plants passing through annually. Over 350 varieties of summer
and spring bedding plants are nurtured here.
The nursery not only provides the City of London green spaces but also
The Royal Parks, plus the floral displays for functions at the Guildhall and
Mansion House.
It was a wonderful way to spend a
sunny morning, excellent company, new contacts, beautiful park and the presence
of The Lord Mayor. We climbed back in to the coach for a splendid lunch at the
Guildhall in the Livery Hall.
Again I was lucky with my companions
at table, hosted by Deputy Michael Welbank CBE, which included David Curtis
from Roots and Shoots, Stella Fox, Support Officer, West Ham Park, Sandra Lea,
Alison Elam, Chamberlain’s Department and Daniel George a City Gardens
Apprentice.
After an initial debate about
whether one should pay for the use of toilets in the City and the writer
expounding the virtues of the Toilet Map, the conversation did take did change
tack as lunch was served!
I can only highly recommend a
visit to this excellent Park, it is a short bus ride from Stratford and an easy
walk. Take a picnic as presently no
refreshments available although I have it on very good authority that this will
be remedied very soon. Oh and by the
way, there are loos!
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