Airs and Squares

"We are so remarkably airy! - Mr Wingfield thinks the vicinity of Brunswick Square decidedly the most favourable as to air." So spoke Isabella, the sister of Emma in Jane Austen's famous book of the same name.  And although located yards away from the busy Euston Road, lots of residents and workers were enjoying taking in its airs on the sunny September day when I visited.

Brunswick Square started life in what once was the very edge of London.  It was originally surrounded by Georgian houses on three sides with the Foundling Hospital to the East, and although time has taken its toll on the urban architecture, its original plane tree still stands proud. At over 200 years old, it lays claim to being the second oldest plane tree in London.  The oldest is in Berkley Square. The tree was in full splendour before it prepared to shed its autumn leaves, with the dappled sunlight glowing through the green.  

The circular flower bed in the middle of the square has recently been replanted and the new plants were being carefully protected and tended.  They included Thyme, Sedum, pink Cosmos, Verbena Bonariensis, Bergena, Sissirynchium, Red Hot Poker, and Echinacea, alongside assorted grasses.  It's good to see that Camden Council, supported and jollied along by residents and volunteers, can still sometimes give gardens the priority they need in these austere times. 

The Friends of Brunswick Square also organised the planting of some tall, orange, striking, Mexican daisies at the west entrance to the square.  They work with TCV Green Gym in their efforts to upgrade and improve the gardens.

The edges of the square are curved, and, in Jane Austen's day, one could imagine the wide circular sweeps taken up with carriages and horses trotting by. 

Now there is a Grade II listed phone box on the edge of the park, which seems to be perfectly sited for posterity. 

Brunswick Square had lots of famous residents in the past.  Virginia Woolf used to live here with other members of the Bloomsbury group. Most evocative is the image the children's author, J. M. Barrie, conjured up of Peter Pan flying across the park into Wendy's bedroom window.  The Georgian house Barrie lived in was demolished after the war, along with all the others around the park, but this is where it would have stood, just off the square.  Barrie's estate later benefitted the establishment of nearby Great Ormond Street Children's hospital. 

At first glance this London garden square feels like it is missing its Georgian houses and street scene, but the residential and shopping area bordering the park on the west, The Brunswick Centre, built in the 1970s,  is now Grade II listed instead.  It provides a busy and pleasant eating, retail and recreational space, complete with Curzon cinema. 

Nearby there are lots of adjoining garden squares and spaces through which you can wander. You'll need to be accompanied by a child to gain entry to Coram Fields though.  This was the site of  the Foundling Hospital, established by Thomas Coram (1668-1751).  Child poverty was so bad at that time that when it received public funding and opened its doors to all-comers, it was inundated with 100 babies a day. 

St George's Gardens nearby is very pretty - originally a graveyard when the local churches ran out of space for burial.  Oliver Cromwell's favourite granddaughter, Anne, is buried here. Relatives had to guard the graves after burial to avoid the body snatchers taking their loved ones.   Not far away there was a private anatomy school which boasted a tank with 17 cadavers.

This September Susan Jellis and the Friends of Brunswick celebrated 200 years of Jane Austen's association with the square with a wide variety of talks, walks and concerts in the Emma 200 Festival.  They are a creative and energetic bunch of volunteers who promote their square widely, as well as opening it for a variety of events at the Open Garden Squares Weekend (taking place on June 18th and 19th in 2016).

To find out more about Brunswick Square, there is an excellent book by Ricci de Freitas (Tales of Brunswick Square, Bloomsbury's Untold Past) or check out past and future editions of the London Gardener, Journal of the London Historic Parks and Gardens Trust for articles by Susan Jellis.   In the not too distant future, an article on Peter Pan is planned.

Information on visiting Brunswick Square on Open Garden Squares Weekend

Painting the Square Red

Maybe it's true that Sir Terry Farrell, designer of the MI6 building and Camden Lock's TV AM studios, painted the doors and windows of Wesley Square red because he found a bargain job lot of the stuff - or maybe it was secretly part of his grand plan to enhance the garden's greenery;  but peek behind the plantings in this tranquil square, and you can easily spot the Wesley Square houses with their distinctive, bright red paintwork. The residents have grown to like the colour and now they repaint in the same red hue after the weather has taken its toll.

Wesley Square was created when a large swathe of slum housing was demolished to make way for new build in the 1970s. The housing is private with joint ownership of the freehold on a 999-year lease.  Managed on a co-ownership basis by a not-for-profit company, the annual rent for the 50 houses in the square covers everything, including window cleaning as well as garden maintenance.

The simple brick houses hide the square from public view.  Reg, its green-fingered gardener, has worked the soil in these parts for the last 30 years.  He started as a postman, and took happily to cutting the grass when he was asked.  He remembers when the main lawn in the centre of Wesley Square resembled a hay field with a big hollow in the middle, which became a pool when there was heavy rainfall.  Jordan is his faithful assistant and they both defer to Hilary, local resident and plantswoman.

Hilary's ideas for planting and Reg and Jordan's skills have transformed Wesley Square. Out went many of the shrubs and now you will find delightful perennials and herbs.  A new bed containing lavender, nasturtium, Swiss chard, sage, horseradish, mint, bay and poppies has recently been planted along a main path. 

The communal central gardens are complemented by the tiny front gardens of houses which lead directly on to the lawns and beds.  

And, reluctant to leave any bare ground unadorned, Wesley Square has also been cheering up its car park, planting Amelanchier trees, snowdrops, hollyhocks and grasses in the spaces between and alongside the cars. 

The various entrances to the square are gradually being adorned with arbours, and trellises have been put on the sides of some of the houses for climbing plants, along which one house sports a mature wisteria.

The site of 10 Rillington Place, the home of John Christie, a notorious serial killer in the 1950s, lies nearby. It belongs to St Andrew's Square.  Having been demolished, the gruesome spot is now appropriately marked by a small, peaceful garden, which Reg also tends.

So successful have been the horticultural efforts of Wesley Square that it has started to win local gardening competitions, beating off several of the prestigious private squares around Ladbroke Grove and Notting Hill.   2015 was the first year that the square opened to the public as part of the Open Garden Squares Weekend, and we hope that this participation will long continue.   The residents are used to a bit of baking for their annual summer fetes, so teas are definitely worth a visit, as well as a chance to savour the smell of garden roses.

Information on visiting Wesley Square on Open Garden Squares Weekend

Planting Platforms

The Crossrail construction across London and the closure of Thameslink to Barbican left one platform at the station looking a bit forlorn. Marked by a couple of old terracotta pots, home to some tired and neglected plants, the platform stood forgotten until the eagle eyes of the Friends of City Gardens noticed it and took on the challenge to transform it and cheer up this corner of London.

They needed more than just gardening skills to complete their mission.  Starting in November 2013, they spent eighteen months gathering supporters and sponsors for their vision - with the help of Transport for London.  Along the way they met Gensler, an organisation specialising in global urban landscapes and design thinking, and the design of the new garden began to take shape.  Mischka Ickstadt from Gensler designed the 100 metre long platform garden and Marion Blair, a volunteer, designed the planting.

They had two major obstacles to overcome to achieve their vision.  Firstly the abandoned platform was performing an unbeknown function in the construction of the huge underground tunnel for Crossrail.  On the side wall, lasers had been mounted, whose job was to monitor any movement caused by the tunnel boring machine to the surrounding infrastructure. The two boring machines were also due to meet up at the Barbican, where the abandoned platform will eventually be reconstructed to run from Barbican to Farringdon.  The sight line from these lasers could not be obstructed, so the first design, which involved larger planters, had to be modified.

The second obstacle was that there was no elevator or lift to the platform, so all the construction materials and plants had to be carried down the flights of stairs.  Four Friends of City Gardens, helped by six staff from Kelly ITS, carried 35 concrete planters down these stairs, along with 7,500 litres of soil - the total weight of which has been likened to that of a small elephant.  The large trees were brought in during the night - in fact much of the work was done under cover of darkness when the station was closed. 

And the result is a triumph of design. Based on the concept of movement and speed, the upright red spacers echo the red wiring along the platform and the familiar London tube sign

This red wave design is good seen up close and also from passing trains.  For the best effect, catch an underground train from Moorgate to Farringdon on the Metropolitan Line.  Sit on the left facing forward and watch the garden move as you depart Barbican station and the train picks up speed. 

The Friends, Transport for London, Gensler and Crossrail were all grateful for the help given by Hamptons International, Redrow London, Kingston Smith, Skanska, Kelly ITS, the Barbican Centre, and the City of London Corporation.  The garden was opened by Transport for London on 12th June and then for the Open Garden Squares Weekend in June 2015, when the pre-booked tours were all fully subscribed. Even so, over 100 other eager people turned up on the off-chance of a spare place, such was the interest the pop-up platform garden had generated. 

There are vegetables and herbs as well as flowers and shrubs in the planters - harvesting of the lettuce, kale, broad beans and herbs has already begun. Volunteers from London Underground staff and the Friends water and tend the plants and we all wonder what its future will be after 2016, when building work will start on the platform.

The Friends of City Gardens hope their efforts will bring the odd smile to passing commuters. Unfortunately access to the platform itself is not allowed; but, if you've seen the platform garden and are around Barbican station, you could take the time to pop into the Barbican to see the new plantings there by Nigel Dunnett (of London Olympic Park plantings fame).  There's lots happening on the garden front at the Barbican nowadays. Here's a glimpse of them. 

Through Instagrammers' Eyes and Lenses

Open Garden Squares Weekend may be over a month ago but we have been looking at all your wonderful photos from the Weekend on Instagram. There are so many gardens and here at Duck Island we don’t always get to see everything; so it's brilliant to be able to experience the Weekend through your eyes and lenses! We’ve especially enjoyed your perspectives and creative angles on our gardens. Here are some of our favourites!

We love this looking-through photograph of Belgrave Square from @pedroh1962

Using the fencing to frame the garden visitors really captures the idea of unlocking your own secret garden experience!

This wonderful take on the Moroccan mosaic tile floor at MaRoCoCo Garden Rococo Chocolates is from @thesilvercherry

We had the pleasure of the London-based Instagram group @igerslondon joining us on the Saturday for an Instameet.

It was tough to choose a favourite from their meet-up pictures but we loved the simplicity of this image.

Up on the rooftop of the award-winning Nomura International PLC garden there were birds of prey for visitors to meet, and many people were able to learn more about some of the nation's favourite birds. We love this snapshot of the inquisitive beautiful hawk from @homepheonix

This year we teamed up with Instagram sensation @symmetrybreakfast to create a limited number of special breakfast hampers for visitors to enjoy picnic-style in the gardens. Instagrammer @iswanting not only took this fabulous picnic garden photo but also brought her own (symmetrical of course) breakfast trays to enjoy the hamper!

Proof that natural and man-made can exist in harmony, this lovely photo by @monokraum mixes the calm, tranquil gardens with modernist architecture of the Barbican at Beech Gardens, one of the newer gardens.

We absolutely love this photo by @juliakolbeek of The Skip Garden Global Generation near King's Cross.

This clever reflectagram captures the spirit of the garden's organic urban agriculture and also incorporates art and installation.

Speaking of gardens and art, many of our gardens feature sculptures (you can use our on-line sculpture trail to find many of them).

This striking David Harber features in Eaton Square by @pedroh1962

The classical female nude hidden in the trees in Warwick Square by @mjbaker

@neversitstill took this photo of wonderful Dancers by David Wynne in Cadogan Place North Garden. Evidence of the breadth of design of the sculptures and ambiance they bring to our gardens.

We also brought poetry to our gardens this year with The Poetry School’s Mixed Borders collaboration. This photo by @londonse4 was taken in Postman's Park.

Capturing the fantastic source of inspiration and truly moving nature of this garden.

Make sure you visit and follow our Instagram account @opensquaresweekend and our featured Instagrammers for more wonderful photos from the weekend. You can use the tags #ogsw2015 and #opengardensquaresweekend to share your photos.

Bowling in the Backlands

Tucked away near Notting Hill are the backlands, green spaces of different kinds, created for the St Quintin Estate, built between 1880 and 1900.  One of the backlands has been a bowling club since its foundation in 1903, and despite its ups and downs, residents have kept the flag flying for this charming recreational space ever since.

The West London Bowling Club employs a professional greenkeeper to maintain the grass to a good standard for the 40 or so bowlers who use it regularly, but it is volunteers who have been beavering away since 2014 to reclaim the roses which surround it.

Roses have been given pride of place in the restoration of the garden.  Along the side of the green a red rose lives happily next to a berberis, the colours of each complementing one another, while
around the corner, alongside the scoring board for games, a genista was in full yellow bloom when I visited.  Since local people brought back life to the bowling club in 2014, there has been a lot of
propagation of roses with a view to not only maintaining and restoring those around the green, but also reclaiming a wilderness on the east side.  This work is led by Dennis and his merry band of
volunteers from a local allotment site, St Quintin Avenue Community Kitchen Garden, who turn up every Sunday afternoon to restore the garden here, once the eighth rink, where children used to learn to bowl.  Albertine and Seagull roses have been planted, new peach and pink roses grafted to replace those strangled by ivy, brambles restrained, hops trained to climb high with the new roses, and all adorned by beautiful bird songs in the background.  A treat to enjoy on Open Garden Squares weekend.

The bowling green was formally opened in 1920 and bowling has taken place here ever since, pretty much.  Although other backlands on the St Quintin Estate became allotments when war started, here they continued bowling, and fortunately dodged falling bombs.  The beauty of the garden was recognised in successive years from 1968 to 1978, when it was an annual prize winner of the Kensington and Chelsea Gardens Competitions, as well as producing many bowls champions.  In the 1970s the ownership of the estate moved to the Legard family and the club is now one of the three remaining backlands of the area, with the Nursery Road site fighting creeping property development, and the Kelfield sports ground also remaining.  The bowling club boasts a degree of protected status, but supports the other remaining backlands in their attempts to retain green space in the area, as well as improving its own.

Ruth Hillary, Chair of the Association, with the help of the St Helens Residents' Association, has been leading a successful make-over of the club since its re-opening in 2014.  Up with all the new trends, barefoot bowling is possible here, and the clubhouse has an inviting bar and free wifi.  Benches and tables have been sanded and scrubbed, new planters constructed, and there are
good relations with neighbours, with fairs and events for local people in the summer and at Christmas.   There is an emphasis on attracting and engaging local families, with a new orchard
and pleasure ground for picnics and teas planned, not forgetting the local hedgehogs, who will still find shelter here in a wild corner, when the garden is completed.

Information on visiting West London Bowling Club on Open Garden Squares Weekend »

London’s Little Villages

The film 'Notting Hill' captures a romantic London of the not-too-distant past and a beautiful, classical London garden square, Rosmead Garden, is the star of the show. There is a famous scene when, one moonlit evening, Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant climb over the railings beside a tall, locked gate to wander inside the garden where they kiss and fall in love. Hugh Grant, an impecunious travel bookseller, William Thacker, explains to Julia Roberts, playing the American film star, Anna Scott, what these gardens are, saying:

“All these streets round here have these mysterious communal gardens. They are like little villages... They’re like private villages, only the people around the edges are allowed in.”

And he’s right. Notting Hill is a rabbit warren of private garden squares. Different developers in the nineteenth century built large estates and provided well for green space for their residents.

Rosmead is part of the Ladbroke Estate, originally conceived in Thomas Allom’s plan of 1823. This garden is part of the outer crescent of the Ladbroke Estate and dates from the 1860s. It used to be called Elgin and Lansdowne Gardens, but was changed to Rosmead, after the name of the nearby road.

It is a very generously sized garden which is actively used by its residents. Children play on the expanses of lawn, just as they did in the film, and Rosmead is amongst the few garden squares who allow them to play ball games and bring their dogs along.

There is both private and social housing along its borders, which co-exist happily and enjoy the benefits of their private, communal garden.

Rosmead is nearing the completion of a major restoration project to restore the beautiful original railings, the wall (using original London bricks) and the gate on Rosmead Road, using as much of the original materials as possible. When I first visited the old gate (on the left), which Hugh Grant struggled to scale, was being removed from its foundations. The top of the gate has now been altered to match the railings. Although film buffs may be sad to see it changed, the new gate, railings and wall are beautiful. Susan Walker is the architect overseeing works, with a foundry in Tottenham (MetalCraft) restoring all the metalwork. A very small amount of the metalwork and the coping had to be recast in Scotland. One and a half metres of vegetation and undergrowth bordering the old gate have been removed, giving a great opportunity for replanting. There is a plan for the rejuvenation of the garden’s planting in accordance with a common horticultural theme. The project is entirely self-funded, on budget and on time. Visitors on Sunday 14th June will be able to see the completed building works.

There is one gardener, Paul, who manages this garden on a part-time basis, and Nicola, a volunteer who co-ordinates the garden planting committee. When I visited, the quince and camellias were in bloom, the magnolias in bud, with hints of grey, blue, lilac and terracotta themes. The square cherishes its four old horse chestnut trees, which now require regular pruning and maintenance by The Tree Agency. Their lovely candelabra flowers may be over by mid-June, but there should be a good show of colour in the borders to enjoy.

In past years at the Open Garden Squares Weekend, refreshments have been served in one of the adjoining house gardens like these above. Rosmead has been faithfully supporting a charity in Kenya, the Kipungani Schools Trust, which helps schoolchildren there.

Finding your way to Rosmead from Notting Hill Tube takes you past the tourist haunts, still selling memorabilia from the film, and then through a delightful array of streets with houses painted in pastel colours

Some visitors search in vain for the original bench where Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts kissed. Search instead for the long, low, stone megalith, which marks the spot and enjoy a romantic moment.

Information on visiting Rosmead Garden on Open Garden Squares Weekend »

Waiting for the Bluebells

The bluebells were late appearing this year. I was waiting and waiting for them to come and then suddenly I got the call. No time to lose, I thought, as I wanted to catch that heart-churning moment when a swathe of cobalt blue appears amidst spring’s lush greenery under the sunny, dappled shade of trees as they prepare to unfurl their leaves. The call came from Durand Gardens in Stockwell, and it was worth the wait. A sunny, showery day did the bluebells proud. Bluebells aplenty are here in spring, right on the doorstep of central London, no need to venture out to the shires to capture the moment. They are not the only flowers in this park woodland. There are early snowdrops in the winter, and violets, primroses and daffodils follow on. The residents of the square are stalwart in their attempts to diversify the flowers of the woodland – to the extent that they remain undaunted after only three white foxgloves survived last year’s planting of 300. Small maples and acers pop up here and there to provide autumn colour, and white Japanese anenomes and a variety of roses have been planted, including the shrub roses, Rosa 'Complicata' and Rosa moyseii and old-fashioned rambling roses such as Rosa filipes 'Kiftsgate' and Rosa 'Rambling Rector', to add interest to the evergreen holly trees in the centre of the square. The residents aim to attract wildlife and bring back the London sparrow to the square, as well as more butterflies and insect life. In addition to the plants and the wildlife, the square has a very pleasant, open feel, as the space by the iron railings is not encumbered by a hedge or dense planting, as is often the case with London squares. You can see through under the trees from one side to the other in many parts. Durand Gardens was created from an old plague pit, dug centuries ago and said to be the reason for its irregular “D” shape. The first owner of the land was the Cope Derby Estate. The main houses in the square were built gradually over a period of 25 years and for a long time the square was owned by one resident, who rather eccentrically kept a large goat in the garden. The story goes that the goat became enormous and eventually retired to the West Country. This area of Stockwell used to be the fruit orchard for Covent Garden. There are still fruit trees which survive from the past in the back gardens of some of the houses, and the leases specify that residents may not sell fruit from the front of the house. Other local historical interest for the visitor includes a nearby house in which Van Gogh lived for eighteen months and Marie Lloyd of music hall fame lived here too. The first trees believed to be planted in the square were the limes, which were probably pleached. Now there is a wide variety of trees, including limes, holly, silver birch, oak, horse chestnut, hornbeam, robina, black walnut, cherry, maple and hawthorn. Like all good things, they need good management. Beautiful wildlife environments do not appear by chance in our inner city, but by residents assiduously digging out brambles and ivy and from time to time pollarding the trees. This year will be the turn of the limes. The sketch of the tree here on the left is the black walnut. Durand Gardens, as it exists today, is due entirely to the vigilance and care of local residents, and the lucky demise of a local estate agent. The Inland Revenue became the owner of the central gardens when the estate agent was declared bankrupt. In the 1980s residents bought the freehold, clubbed together to restore the iron railings and maintain the garden themselves, collecting an annual charge of £40 from each house.

There is a cheering community spirit to the square, with regular coming together over a collective, summer BBQ and bonfire night. In summer they mow paths through the grass and visitors can wander under the full canopy of the trees and have tea and cakes. In fact, if you google the square and look on Google Street View, you will see Richard and Gloria, active board members, distributing tickets for Open Garden Squares Weekend a few years back. (Link) A view of the entrance, not unlike the sketch below.

With thanks to Richard Rees for sketches and photos.

Further information on visiting Durand Gardens on Open Garden Squares Weekend