London City’s Green Parks (their history)
London is an official urban forest, with more trees than people. It has over 3000 parks and thousands of tree-lined streets, including many secret green spaces.
Out walking? Follow the Countryside Code to keep all creatures safe. Keep dogs away from steep banks, mushrooms (and other toxic plants/trees) and on leads during nesting season (and near barnyard friends and wild ponies).
Did you know many trees (including yew, oak and sycamore) are unsafe near horses? Also keep conkers away from dogs. Councils should not plant flowers in railings, as deer can get stuck in them.
London Parks spends a year walking around the author’s favourite parks. From his local haunt on Hampstead Heather to Richmond Park to Battersea Park (with the little brown dog statue, in memory of the first victim of vivisection).
Richmond Park (home to red and fallow deer)
Richmond Park is a living landscape packed with history, wildlife and wide open views. Known for its herds of red and fallow deer, around 600 have roamed these fields and woods since the 17th century.
The Isabella Plantation bursts colour each spring and summer (Azaleas and rhododendrons (toxic to dogs) line the winding paths.
Alternatives to culling deer?
Richmond Park does cull deer, saying venison profits go towards employing Wildlife Officers. And says contraceptives would cause stress through rounding up and fencing (and could impact male deer and other wildlife. And says this is done to avoid starvation. But a Freedom of Information Act found that profits are huge, some say it’s just a ‘glorified farm’. And deer contraception appears to be working well in the USA (with some caveats).
Other deer have died from litter, collisions with cyclists, becoming trapped in fencing, cables and rope and even a calf abandoned due to someone picking it up. Read more on how to co-exist peacefully with deer.
Hyde Park (former home to ancient monks)
Hyde Park was built in 1536 by Henry III who ‘stole the park’ from local monks, who used it to worship and garden. The king then used it to hunt deer.
Thankfully today the 350 acres is home to over 4000 trees and an antique bandstand. Lake Serpentine is actually a pool, built at request of Queen Caroline (a sad history, as an IRA bomb killed four men and seven horses in 1982).
Hampstead Heath (wild panoramic vistas)
Hampstead Heather is more wild than many parks. In North London, trails dart through woodlands and meadows, up to Parliament Hill. On a clear day, the view across the city from here rivals any postcard.
Regent’s Park (includes an open air theatre)
Regent’s Park has neat gardens, flower borders and secret corners for quiet reading, as well as an Open Air Theatre that draws crowds each summer.
Boycott the zoo (caging animals to conserve species is not the answer). And instead notice wild swans, herons and robins living wild along winding paths.
