Tower Hamlets and Docklands may sound unlikely areas for beautiful gardens, but take a chance and journey east to explore the sites in the Docklands Area which are open during Open Garden Squares Weekend, 17 & 18 June! You won’t be disappointed – just check the Guidebook or the website to be sure which gardens are open on…
The Docklands south of the Thames aren’t derelict! This historically important part of the Thames is home to some very imaginative conservation and regeneration projects – do venture south and east of the river and visit during Open Garden Squares Weekend. There are some fascinating sites south of the Thames, in the former Surrey Commercial Docks and near…
Yes, I know it is mid-June, but it is been busy! And for this post it was the three-week garden because I had been in Portugal – yes, wonderful! And there will be posts about Portugal on London Traveller. The garden in Suffolk hadn’t grown quite as much as I expected in my absence, but with…
‘…The Phoenix Garden is the best-kept secret of London’s West End. Open daily, it provides a peaceful green retreat for local residents, workers and tourists all year round, and is a haven for a wide range of urban wildlife. Created by local volunteers in 1984 on the site of a former car park, this is…
The Brunel Museum will be open during Open Garden Squares Weekend, 17 & 18 June – do visit! The Museum is housed in the Engine House which was built by Sir Marc and his son Isambard Kingdom Brunel as part of the Thames Tunnel. The garden is on top of the Rotherhithe shaft and home to the cocktail…
The Garden Barges at Tower Bridge are absolutely fascinating – literally gardens on the roofs of barges linked to one another and moored on the bank of the Thames. The gardens are filled with trees, shrubs, and flowers, and there are even bee hives! Do visit during Open Garden Squares Weekend!
Winterton House is a ‘Hidden Gem’ in Open Garden Squares Weekend on 18 June 2017. This wonderful garden is tucked away behind a building that gives no hint of anything horticulturally special. But do visit! The photographs give you a taste of the garden where plants of all kinds and varieties are on show and…
Wow! I love this garden in Canary Wharf! Crossrail Place was designed by Foster & Partners and the Roof Garden opened in 2015. Since then the garden has developed into a peaceful, lush space filled with beautiful ferns, grasses and various flowering shrubs and perennials. The garden was designed by Gillespies. The flowers – shrubs and perennials –…
The Russia Docks Woodlands is part of the wonderful Nature Reserve which has been created on the site of the former Surrey Commercial Docks. It is alongside the Stave Hill Ecology Park and together they offer over 40 acres of peace and quiet, teeming with wildlife, across the water from Canary Wharf Business Centre and…
Woollon House is a small block of flats on one side of Sidney Square in Tower Hamlets. The Square was developed in the 1820s and the central garden was bought by the LCC in 1904 and opened to the public in 1904. Currently local residents are working to restore the gardens. Behind Woollon House is a rectangular garden which stretches…
Hidden in the Stave Hill Ecology Park and the Russia Dock Woodlands are the most beautiful flag irises – do visit during Open Garden Squares Weekend, 17 and 18 June.
The Stave Hill Ecology Park (6 acres) and the adjoining Russia Docks Woodlands (36 acres) have been created out of the former Surrey Commercial Docks when the docks closed in the 1970s. This marshy area alongside the Thames has been the site of docks in one form or another from 1696 to 1969. The first dock in…
