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Autumn 2019 Good Friends of Hyde Park & Kensington Gardens www.friendshpkg.org.uk Issue 49 Founded in 1991 to promote the peace and beauty of the parks Registered Charity No. 1168319 Autumn 2019 Newsletter Bandstand Concerts in the Park Sunday in the I wondered why a huge space had been left Park with … between the dozens of chairs and the bandstand. …not just George (apologies David Strachan, to Stephen Sondheim) but spokesperson for the band, hundreds of other visitors told me that dancers would who were there to enjoy the definitely be showing up. second annual series of I had my doubts, it looked three concerts on the terribly empty. Through bandstand in Hyde Park in social media David had August. contacted every Salsa Without generous donations from dance club in London and businesses, members and trustees probably the whole of the we wouldn’t be able to stage these South East. Sunday afternoon concerts Before 3pm the music performed by three completely struck up, our feet started different bands. " tapping and a stream of The scene was set on August 4th at potential dancers rolled in. 3 pm for our first concert. The whole area was meticulously swept and We could tell who they were, because, apart from looking fit, there were cleared of all the debris some wonderful outfits on display. Within a few minutes dancers popped brought down by the high up all over the place and they were seriously impressive. Dear reader, your winds. Rows of chairs trustees joining the throng were not quite so athletic but enthusiastic none were in place (free for those the less. who wanted to sit and All shapes, ages and nationalities danced like mad for a couple of hours. listen) and a classic ice- Vows were made to attend classes over the winter, and polite requests for a cream van was stationed dance were the order of the day. One wonderful dancer from Imperial close by. College Salsa group told us “We meet every week but we very rarely have The South London Jazz a chance to dance to a live band.” Orchestra and their upbeat And to finish with David Strachan “Thanks again for having us it was programme were ideally certainly our best gig of the year and we had a great time.” suited to the dancers of Live Band Lindy who not Things calmed down a little on Sunday August 18th when the thirty only entertained and musicians of the Snowdown Colliery Welfare Band staged a programme impressed the audience, they of widely varied music arranged for this traditional silver band. Songs " inspired a good number to from the shows, dance music and Beatles numbers spread their silvery stand up and join in the notes across the Park and drew in a large and appreciative audience. fun. Time flew by. The band was formed in 1926 shortly after the opening of the East Kent Following a week of pretty bad weather Sunday August 11th looked much coal mines. Originally the band consisted entirely of miners, and now more encouraging and once again the scene was set by late morning. includes many family members who have long been associated with the ‘From Here to Havana’, the band for the afternoon, had been doing early area and its history. sound checks and were already running through short warm-up numbers. Thanks! And see you next year for more music and dancing in the Park… The second year of our Hyde Park Bandstand concerts has only been possible thanks to the organisation of trustee Julian Peach and Hyde Park Events Manager, Kathryn Whybrow, together with support from Hyde Park Manager Jason Taylor.In addition, thank you to the trustees and members who came along to the concerts bringing friends and family with them. It was lovely to see you all. Can we look forward to another series next year? With your help we do hope so. Funding is most important, either from your own generous donations, or perhaps from your contacts who might be willing to help us with some financial support. And we also look forward to having a dance in August 2020. We are most grateful to the following for their Sue Price generous donations: Julian Peach The Berkeley Hotel Colicci Ltd Park Deck Chairs (Nick Kwabi) Rene Gimpel John Harkness Tom Newman Helen Perkes " Carl Richardson Our chairman Sue Price does an expert twirl with trustee Julian Peach Plus several other kind donors who wish to remain anonymous. Flower Power Summer Plant Sale for Mike Jones and his staff were busy all afternoon answering Members gardening questions, Kathryn Whybrow, Hyde Park Events Following our visit in Manager wrestled with the e-bay cash register and the plant sale May, later in June our was the idea of Steve Edwards (Events Director Hyde Park). Our members were invited back immense gratitude to them all and we are hoping that it might be to the Nurseries to buy, at repeated. astonishingly low prices, More Plant Sales surplus plants from the This time to the general public at the Royal Parks Showcase tent in enormous selection which the British Summer Time concert ground at their free mid-week we had so admired in events. May. It was a first for us Trustees and members were selling the plants and doing their best to all and the opportunity answer questions. They were at times rushed off their feet calling was seized with alacrity. for frequent re-stocking of the shelves and wrestling with THAT Plants were taken away by cash register. Trustee Tina Higginson organised a rota of helpers all means of transport including push-chairs, bicycles, an open-top and is already working out how she can run a smoother, slicker, and car, huge numbers of carrier bags and even a hired van (for a more professional team operation next member who was replanting his Church year. Any of you members who might garden). like to help? We’d be pleased to hear from you. Those Buckingham Palace geraniums proved magnetic, and I was impressed by Once again we thank Steve Edwards, the very careful selection of plants for Kathryn Whybrow, Mike Jones and colour combinations, shape and size. all the Royal Parks team for their input These were arranged in groupings in without which we would not be able to corners by members so the perfect collection enjoy any of these events. could be taken home. EcoWarfare in the Nursery - predators and pests He adds, “As ever, you learn by Mike Jones, manager of the your mistakes. A while ago, we Hyde Park Nursery, found that some of the predators explains how he and his were not effective - they were not colleagues combat heading for the targeted pest. infestations of all types Thanks to our entomologist, we that threaten their plants, learned that positioning the small bug container envelopes on without resorting to the wrong side of a column in pesticides. the greenhouse caused them to lose their sense of orientation. It On a sunny day at the end of July, the was a question of the light being Central Parks Nursery appeared almost in the wrong place - we’re empty. The deliveries had been made to always careful now to attach the other Parks and the vast area that had them on the south side of the housed thousands of plants only a few column!” weeks earlier when the Friends had visited, was virtually denuded of greenery. I asked Mike which aspects of The only tell-tale signs of the war that his job give him the greatest Mike and his colleagues had waged satisfaction. He replies that through the spring to ensure that all those working with students and plants supplied to the Parks were healthy, apprentices, the gardeners of the were a few small white window-envelopes future, is particularly rewarding. attached to some of the columns in the Most employees stay in the job glasshouses. Those envelopes, now empty, for a long time - and many find had housed many of the predators fulfilment in working in a totally introduced to eliminate specific pests. different environment from the one they were in before. He cites Aphids, whitefly, mealybug, spider mites, the example of one of his leaf miner are prominent among persistent colleagues, originally a nursery garden pests that can wreak havoc on the nurse, who arrived initially as an unpaid volunteer and is young plants being raised in the Nursery. But in turn " now a key member of his staff of 16. “Literally from these pests all have predators that will destroy them and nursery to Nursery!” he adds. save the young plant crop. “I also love the challenge of sourcing some weird and wonderful plants “The refurbishment and reconstruction of the Nursery three years ago requested by the other Royal Parks, which I may find anywhere in the revolutionised the way we wage our eco-war on pests”, says Mike. “All world, from Hampshire to China.” the predators we used to use, which had mostly overwintered in the Mike concludes our conversation by talking about the Friends. “I’d like to greenhouses over many years, had their habitat destroyed when the old expand our relationship with the Friends. I enjoy your visits to the Nursery Nursery was pulled down, and so they left. We had to start from scratch - I think taking tours round is my vocation! I am also sure we can develop again and introduce new predators.” further the very successful initiative begun this year with the sale of excess plants from the Nursery through the Friends.” Mike, himself a veteran with 27 years’ experience in charge of the Nursery, explained how expertise has been built up over time, through I thanked Mike for his time and promised to relay to our chairman, Sue, specialist suppliers and the in-depth knowledge of a consultant his suggestion on expanding plant sales next year.
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