Parks and open spaces in Hounslow recognised with Green Flag awards

Photograph of the day by Barbara Chandler – @sunnygran

Sunflowers on Turnham Green; Photograph Barbara Chandler

Turnham Green and Chiswick House & Gardens awarded Green Flags

Hounslow Council is celebrating after receiving 20 Green Flag Awards across the borough, which they say means their parks, open spaces and cemeteries are recognised as ‘among the very best in the country’.

Among the parks which have been recognised are Turnham Green and Chiswick House and Gardens, who are regular recipients, Chiswick Old Cemetery and the Staveley Road Allotments

Kath Mitra, acting chair of the Friends of Turnham Green, told The Chiswick Calendar she was delighted it had been renewed and it was thanks to all the hard work of their volunteers, working together with the parks department.

Friends of Turnham Green volunteers

The site of an important Civil War battle, the green, with the elegant Christ Church in the middle, is owned and run by Hounslow parks department, but the extra work done by the volunteers gives it that extra bit of love and attention.

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The Friends were established in 2007 to rescue the park from ‘municipal shabbiness’. Over the years they have replaced derelict public toilets with a rockery and seating, planted an avenue of cherry trees and seeded the western end of the green as a wildflower meadow.

Turnham Green was awarded its first Green Flag in 2011 and it has been renewed every year since for 15 years.

Friends of Turnham Green volunteers

Friends of Turnham Green want to involve as many people in the local community as possible in looking after the park, and held a very successful meeting last week Kath told us, at which they signed up quite a few new volunteers.

“New volunteers are always welcome”, she said.

Contact: fotg@outlook.com

Friends of Turnham Green volunteers

Looking after the heritage of a 300 year old garden

Chiswick House & Gardens also has a (much bigger) team of volunteers, organised by professionals to carry out a programme of work year round on the 65 acre estate.

Head Gardener Rosie Fyles writes a regular guest blog for The Chiswick Calendar describing what they’re working on in the Gardens as well as giving gardening tips people can follow at home.

Recently she has written about how the Gardens have offered respite from heat, cooler air, ‘a beautiful early start or a peaceful late finish’ to the day.

The Italian Garden at Chiswick House; Photograph Freya Willetts

In June she described the impact on the Gardens of the 37-degree shift in temperature over a fortnight from frost to a heatwave.

Read her most recent blogs here:

READ ALSO: How Chiswick House provides a holiday of its own

READ ALSO: How Chiswick House and Gardens is coping with the wild weather

Chiswick House & Gardens Trust also relies on the financial support of the community around it to maintain the Gardens to the standard to which we have become accustomed. The annual Chiswick House Dog Show in September is one way in which local residents raise money for their upkeep.

‘For some, many four-legged, they have provided a somewhat cheeky dip in cool water’

“Parks are essential public spaces that support our wellbeing, our communities and our economy”

Councillor Salman Shaheen, Cabinet Member for Environment, Transport and Public Realm, at Hounslow Council, said:

“We are proud that 20 of our green spaces have achieved Green Flag status. These awards once again honour the passion and the dedication of our Parks team and Lampton GreenSpace, as well as the volunteers and Friends groups, who all work tirelessly throughout the year to help our green spaces thrive”.

The Parks department recently unveiled a newly landscaped green space in Dukes Meadows that could in future also be a contender.

READ ALSO: Newly landscaped public space ‘Emmanuel Hollow’ unveiled at Dukes Meadows

Paul Todd MBE, Green Flag Award Manager at Keep Britain Tidy, said:

“Parks are essential public spaces that support our wellbeing, our communities and our economy. With public services under pressure, investing in parks is not a luxury, it’s a practical, preventative solution and one of the most visible ways to improve people’s quality of life.

“Hounslow Council and Lampton GreenSpace have shown what can be achieved when parks are properly supported and managed. As we celebrate 30 years of the Green Flag Award, we want every community to have access to green spaces like this that are safe, welcoming and maintained to a high standard”.

Cllr Salman Shaheen, centre, with Hounslow parks staff

The other parks and open spaces in Hounslow which have Green Flags are: Beaversfield Park / Bedfont Lakes Country Park / Boston Manor Park / Bridge House Pond / Feltham Green / Heston Park / Hounslow Heath / Inwood Park / Jersey Gardens / Lampton Park / Pevensey Road Nature Reserve / Redlees Park / St Dunstan’s Park  / St John’s Gardens / St Pauls Recreation Ground  / Thornbury Park / Watermans Park.