1.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
2.
Park
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A park is an area of natural, semi-natural, or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. It may consist of areas, rocks, soil, and trees. In North America, many parks have fields for playing such as soccer, baseball and football. Many parks have trails for walking, biking and other activities, some parks are built adjacent to bodies of water or watercourses and may comprise a beach or boat dock area. Often, the smallest parks are in areas, where a park may take up only a city block or less. Urban parks often have benches for sitting and may contain picnic tables, the largest parks can be vast natural areas of hundreds of thousands of square kilometres, with abundant wildlife and natural features such as mountains and rivers. In many large parks, camping in tents is allowed with a permit, many natural parks are protected by law, and users may have to follow restrictions. Large national and sub-national parks are typically overseen by a ranger or a park warden. Large parks may have areas for canoeing and hiking in the months and, in some northern hemisphere countries. The first parks were English deer parks, land set aside for hunting by royalty and they had walls or thick hedges around them to keep game animals in and people out. It was strictly forbidden for commoners to hunt animals in these deer parks and these game preserves evolved into landscaped parks set around mansions and country houses from the sixteenth century onwards. These may have served as hunting grounds but they also proclaimed the owners wealth, an aesthetic of landscape design began in these stately home parks where the natural landscape was enhanced by landscape architects such as Capability Brown. As cities became crowded, the hunting grounds became places for the public. With the Industrial revolution parks took on a new meaning as areas set aside to preserve a sense of nature in the cities, sporting activity came to be a major use for these urban parks. Areas of outstanding natural beauty were also set aside as national parks to prevent their being spoiled by uncontrolled development, in some parks or time periods with high pollen counts, parks tend to be avoided. Park design is influenced by the purpose and audience, as well as by the available land features. A park intended to provide recreation for children may include a playground, a park primarily intended for adults may feature walking paths and decorative landscaping. Specific features, such as riding trails, may be included to support specific activities, the design of a park may determine who is willing to use it
3.
London Borough of Southwark
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The London Borough of Southwark /ˈsʌðərk/ in south London, England forms part of Inner London and is connected by bridges across the River Thames to the City of London. It was created in 1965 when three smaller council areas amalgamated under the London Government Act 1963, all districts of the area are within the London postal district. It is governed by Southwark London Borough Council, Dulwich is home to the Dulwich Picture Gallery and the Imperial War Museum is in Elephant and Castle. The area was first settled in the Roman period but the name Southwark dates from the 9th century, the London Borough of Southwark was formed in 1965 from the former area of the Metropolitan Borough of Southwark, the Metropolitan Borough of Camberwell, and the Metropolitan Borough of Bermondsey. The borough borders the City of London and the London Borough of Tower Hamlets to the north, the London Borough of Lambeth to the west, to the south are the London Borough of Bromley and the London Borough of Croydon. At the 2001 census Southwark had a population of 244,866, Southwark is ethnically 63% white, 16% black African and 8% black Caribbean. The area is the home of many Nigerian, Jamaican, South African, Polish, Tower Bridge, the Millennium Bridge, Blackfriars Bridge, Southwark Bridge and London Bridge all connect the City of London to the borough. The skyscraper Shard London Bridge is currently the tallest building in the EU, the Tate Modern art gallery, Shakespeares Globe Theatre, the Imperial War Museum and Borough Market are also within the borough. At one mile wide, Burgess Park is Southwarks largest green space, Southwark has many notable places of Christian worship, Anglican, Roman Catholic and independent non-conformist. These include Charles Spurgeons Metropolitan Tabernacle, Southwark Cathedral, St Georges Cathedral, Londons Norwegian Church and Finnish Church and the Swedish Seamens Church are all in Rotherhithe. St George the Martyr is the oldest church in Greater London dedicated to Englands Patron Saint, the other redundant church is Francis Bedfords in Trinity Church Square, now a recording studio, Henry Wood Hall. Whilst Christianity is the dominant religion of the borough, several religious minorities are also active, according to the 2001 Census, approximately 28% of Southwark identified as non-religious, or chose not to state their faith. Charles Dickens set several of his novels in the old borough where he lived as a young man, the site of The Tabard inn, the White Hart inn and the George Inn which survives. The rebuilt Globe Theatre and its exhibition on the Bankside remind us of the areas being the birthplace of classical theatre, there is also the remains of the Rose Theatre. In 2007 the Unicorn Theatre for Children was opened on Tooley Street with both the Southwark Playhouse and the Union Theatre having premises in Bermondsey Street, the Menier Chocolate Factory combines a theatre and exhibition space. The Bankside Gallery is the headquarters of the Royal Watercolour Society, the Golden Hinde replica is at St Mary Overie Dock and nearby are the remains of the medieval Winchester Palace which is a scheduled ancient monument. Peckham Library, designed by Will Alsop won the Stirling Prize for modern architecture, the museum was closed by Southwark council in 2008. MOCA, London, as curated by the artist Michael Petry, is a museum located in Peckham Rye dedicated to exposing and showcasing new cutting-edge artists
4.
Camberwell
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Until 1889 it was part of the County of Surrey. In 1900 the original became the Metropolitan Borough of Camberwell. Then in 1965 most of the Borough of Camberwell was merged into the London Borough of Southwark, to the west part of both West Dulwich and Herne Hill come under the London Borough of Lambeth. Camberwell appears in the Domesday Book as Cambrewelle, the name may derive from the Old English Cumberwell or Comberwell, meaning Well of the Britons, referring to remaining Celtic inhabitants of an area dominated by Anglo-Saxons. Springs and wells are known to have existed on the slope of Denmark Hill. It was already a settlement with a church when mentioned in the Domesday Book. It was held by Haimo the Sheriff and its domesday assets were,6 hides and 1 virgate,1 church,8 ploughs,63 acres of meadow, woodland worth 60 hogs. Up to the century, Camberwell was visited by Londoners for its rural tranquillity. Like much of inner South London, Camberwell was transformed by the arrival of the railways in the 1860s, Camberwell St Giles formed an ancient, and later civil, parish in the Brixton hundred of Surrey. The parish covered 4,570 acres in 1831 and was divided into the liberty of Peckham to the east, the width of the parish tapered in the south to form a point at what is now known as the Crystal Palace area. In 1801 the population was 7,059 and by 1851 this had risen to 54,667, in 1889 the board was replaced by the London County Council and Camberwell was removed from Surrey, to form part of the County of London. In 1900 the area of the Camberwell parish became the Metropolitan Borough of Camberwell, in 1965 the metropolitan borough was abolished and its former area became the southern part of the London Borough of Southwark in Greater London. The western part of the area is situated in the adjacent London Borough of Lambeth, Camberwell today is a mixture of relatively well preserved Georgian and 20th-century housing, including a number of tower blocks. Camberwell Grove, Grove Lane and Addington Square have some of Londons most elegant, the Salvation Armys William Booth Memorial Training College, designed by Giles Gilbert Scott, was completed in 1932, it towers over South London from Denmark Hill. Camberwell is home to one of Londons largest teaching hospitals, Kings College Hospital with associated medical school the Guy’s King’s, the Maudsley Hospital, an internationally significant psychiatric hospital, is located in Camberwell along with the Institute of Psychiatry. Early music halls in Camberwell were in the hall of public houses. One, the Father Redcap still stands by Camberwell Green, but internally, in 1896, the Dan Leno company opened the Oriental Palace of Varieties, on Denmark Hill. This successful venture was replaced with a new theatre, designed by Ernest A. E
5.
Walworth
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Walworth is a district of Southwark in south London, England,1.9 miles south east of Charing Cross near Camberwell and Elephant and Castle. Walworth probably derives its name from the Old English Wealhworth meaning British farm and it is the birthplace of the poet Robert Browning. Major streets in Walworth include the Old Kent Road, New Kent Road, Walworth appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Waleorde. It was held by Bainiard from Archbishop Lanfranc of Canterbury and its domesday assets were, 3½ hides, one church, four ploughs,8 acres of meadow. John Smith House is on Walworth Road, and was renamed in memory of John Smith and it was used by the London Borough of Southwark as the home for its education department and reopened in July 2012 as a hostel. St Peters Church, Walworth, built circa 1825, is an excellent example of the style of church built by Sir John Soane. It is an indication of the wealth of the merchants who then lived in the vicinity that they could afford an architect of such prominence. Charles Upfold was born at Walworth Common and baptised at St. Peters, the church is home to the Monkey Gardens - which was once home to a menagerie kept by a past Reverend of the Church, but is now a delightful garden. Manor Place Baths is a wash house in Manor Place off Walworth Road. It is a grade II listed building, the building was renovated by Kagyu Samye Dzong, Tibetan Buddhist Centre who obtained a five-year lease in 2005. They opened it as their London centre, called Manor Place Samye Dzong on 17 March 2007, adjacent is the Councils old recycling depot which is now closed and has been replaced by a new facility at 43 Devon Street, off Old Kent Road. Walworth is also home to the Pullens buildings - a mixture of Victorian live/work spaces, many of the flats are 1 bedroom, and some of the flats still connect to the Workshops of any of the three yards. They all share communal roof terraces with views over to the West End. Walworth also used to have a zoo, in Royal Surrey Gardens, east Street market is a major street market. The Bakerloo Line Extension is planned to complete in 2028/29 and will see two new stations built along Old Kent Road, regeneration and Gentrification in Southwark, South London
6.
Bermondsey
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Bermondsey is a district in south London, and a part of the London Borough of Southwark. Thus Bermondsey need not have been an island as such in the Anglo-Saxon period, Bermondsey appears in Domesday Book as Bermundesy and Bermundesye. It was then held by King William, though a part was in the hands of Robert, Count of Mortain, the kings half brother. Its Domesday assets were recorded as including 13 hides, a new and handsome church,5 ploughs,20 acres of meadow and it also included interests in London, in respect of which 13 burgesses paid 44d. The church mentioned in Domesday Book was presumably the nascent Bermondsey Abbey, which was founded as a Cluniac priory in 1082, monks from the abbey began the development of the area, cultivating the land and embanking the riverside. They turned an adjacent tidal inlet at the mouth of the River Neckinger into a dock, but Bermondsey then was little more than a high street ribbon, leading from the southern bank of the Thames, at Tooley Street, up to the abbey close. The Knights Templar also owned land here and gave their names to one of the most distinctive streets in London, King Edward III built a manor house close to the Thames in Bermondsey in 1353. The excavated foundations are visible next to Bermondsey Wall East close to the famous Angel public house, as it developed over the centuries, Bermondsey underwent some striking changes. A pleasure garden was founded there in the 17th century, commemorated by the Cherry Garden Pier, Samuel Pepys visited Jamaica House at Cherry Gardens in 1664 and recorded in his diary that he had left it singing finely. Though not many survive from this era, one notable exception is the church of St Mary Magdalen in Bermondsey Street. This church came through both 19th-century redevelopment and The Blitz unscathed and it is not just an unusual survivor for Bermondsey, buildings of this era are relative rarities in Inner London in general. A new church was built for the population of the area. It was from the Bermondsey riverside that the painter J. M. W, turner executed his famous painting of The Fighting Temeraire Tugged to her Last Berth to be Broken Up, depicting the veteran warship being towed to Rotherhithe to be scrapped. By the mid-19th century parts of Bermondsey, especially along the riverside had become a notorious slum — with the arrival of industrial plants, docks, the area around St Saviours Dock, known as Jacobs Island, was one of the worst in London. Dickens provides a description of what it was like. Bermondsey Town Hall was built on Spa Road in 1881 but Blitzed in 1941, the area was extensively redeveloped during the 19th century and early 20th century with the expansion of the river trade and the arrival of the railways. Londons first passenger railway terminus was built by the London to Greenwich Railway in 1836 at London Bridge, the first section to be used was between the Spa Road Station and Deptford High Street. This local station had closed by 1915, the industrial boom of the 19th century was an extension of Bermondseys manufacturing role in earlier eras
7.
Peckham
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Peckham is a district of south-east London, England,3.5 miles south-east of Charing Cross. At the 2001 Census the Peckham ward of the London Borough of Southwark had a population of 11,381. Peckham was originally part of the parish of Camberwell, which became the Metropolitan Borough of Camberwell, and also included Camberwell, Dulwich, Nunhead. Peckham is a Saxon place name meaning the village of the River Peck, archaeological evidence indicates earlier Roman occupation in the area, although the name of this settlement is lost. Peckham appears in Domesday Book of 1086 as Pecheham and it was held by the Bishop of Lisieux from Odo of Bayeux. Its Domesday assets were,2 hides and it had land for 1 plough,2 acres of meadow. The manor was owned by King Henry I, who gave it to his son Robert, when Robert married the heiress to Camberwell the two manors were united under royal ownership. King John probably hunted at Peckham and local anecdotes suggest that the right to a fair was granted to celebrate a particularly good days sport. The fair grew to be a major event lasting three weeks until its abolition in 1827. Peckham became popular as a residential area by the 16th century. By the 18th century the area was a commercial centre. Peckham also boasted extensive market gardens and orchards growing produce for the markets of London. Local produce included melons, figs and grapes, the formal gardens of the Peckham Manor House, rebuilt in 1672 by Sir Thomas Bond were particularly noticeable and can be seen on the Rocque map of 1746. The manor house was sacked in 1688, as its then owner Sir Henry Bond was a Roman Catholic, the house was finally demolished in 1797 for the formation of Peckham Hill Street, as the Shard family developed the area. Today Shards Terrace, the block that contains Manzes Pie and Mash shop, the village was the last stopping point for many cattle drovers taking their livestock for sale in London. The drovers stayed in the local inns while the cattle were safely secured overnight in holding pens, most of the villagers were agricultural or horticultural workers but with the early growth of the suburbs an increasing number worked in the brick industry that exploited the local London Clay. In 1767 William Blake visited Peckham Rye and had a vision of an angel in a tree, in 1993, at the request of the Dulwich Festival, artist Stan Peskett painted a mural of Blakes vision next to the Goose Green playground in East Dulwich. At the beginning of the 19th century, Peckham was a small, quiet, since 1744 stagecoaches had travelled with an armed guard between Peckham and London to give protection from highwaymen
8.
Parks and open spaces in London
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There are many parks and open spaces in Greater London, England. Green space in central London consists of eight Royal Parks, supplemented by a number of garden squares scattered throughout the city centre. The centrepieces of Greater Londons park system are the eight Royal Parks of London, covering 1976 hectares, they are former royal hunting grounds which are now open to the public. Green Park 16 ha St. Notable examples open to the public are Russell Square in Bloomsbury, Lincolns Inn Fields in Holborn, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea contains over a hundred garden squares whose use is restricted to residents. The upkeep of these squares is paid for through a levy on top of residents council tax, in addition to these spaces, a large number of council-owned parks were developed between the mid 19th century and the Second World War. Crystal Palace Park, South London 80 ha Victoria Park 86.18 ha, some cemeteries provide extensive green land within the city — notably Highgate Cemetery, burial place of Karl Marx and Michael Faraday amongst others. All Outer London boroughs contain sections of the green belt. There are over a hundred registered commons in London, ranging in size from small fragments of land to large expanses, there are two historic lavender fields in the London Borough of Sutton. One, at Oaks Way, Carshalton Beeches is three acres in size and is run as a community project. The other, a 25-acre commercial site in Croydon Lane called Mayfield, is popular with tourists, situated on the North Downs of Surrey, the locality is ideal for lavender cultivation, owing to the chalky free-draining nature of the soil. It was known as the Lavender Capital of the World from the 18th to the early 20th centuries, with production of the plant centred here. There are several types of London greenways including The Greenway and the Thames Path
9.
London County Council
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It covered the area today known as Inner London and was replaced by the Greater London Council. The LCC was the largest, most significant and most ambitious English municipal authority of its day, by the 19th century the City of London Corporation covered only a small fraction of metropolitan London. From 1855 the Metropolitan Board of Works had certain powers across the metropolis, many powers remained in the hands of traditional bodies such as parishes and the counties of Middlesex, Surrey and Kent. While the Conservative government of the day would have preferred not to create a body covering the whole of London. It was established as a council on 31 January 1889. Shortly after its creation a Royal Commission on the Amalgamation of the City and County of London considered the means for amalgamation with the City of London. The LCC inherited the powers of its predecessor the MBW, but had authority over matters such as education, city planning. It took over the functions of the London School Board in 1903, from 1899 the Council progressively acquired and operated the tramways in the county, which it electrified from 1903. One of the LCCs most important roles during the late 19th and early 20th century, was in the management of the expanding city, in the Victorian era, new housing had been intentionally urban and large-scale tenement buildings dominated. Beginning in the 1930s, the LCC incentivized an increase in suburban housing styles. The LCC set the standard for new construction at 12 houses per acre of land at a time when some London areas had as many as 80 housing units per acre. By 1938,76,877 units of housing had been built under the auspices of the LCC in the city and its periphery, many of these new housing developments were genuinely working-class, though the poorest could rarely afford even subsidized rents. They relied on an expanding London Underground network that ferried workers en masse to places of employment in the city center and these housing developments were broadly successful, and they resisted the slummification that blighted so many Victorian tenement developments. The LCC undertook between 1857 and 1929 to standardize and clarify street names across London, many streets in different areas of the city had similar or identical names, and the rise of the automobile as a primary mode of transportation in the city made these names unworkable. In an extreme case, there were more than 60 streets called Cross Street spread across the city when the LCC began its process of systematic renaming and these were given names from an approved list that was maintained by the LCC, containing only suitably English names. If street names were deemed un-English, they were slated for change, Zulu Crescent in Battersea, for instance. By 1939, the council had the powers and duties. The LCC initially used the Spring Gardens headquarters inherited from the Metropolitan Board of Works, the building had been designed by Frederick Marrable, the MBWs supeintending architect, and dated from 1860
10.
Greater London Council
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The Greater London Council was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council which had covered a smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 1986 by the Local Government Act 1985 and its powers were devolved to the London boroughs, a new administrative body, known as the Greater London Authority, was established in 2000. It further recommended that the LCC be replaced by a strategic authority, with responsibility for public transport, road schemes, housing development. Most of the Commission’s recommendations were accepted, but the number of new boroughs was reduced to 32, other areas recommended for inclusion that were never part of Greater London included Epsom and Ewell, Caterham and Warlingham, Esher, and Weybridge. GLC councillors elected for areas within the former County of London became ex officio members of the new Inner London Education Authority, the GLC was responsible for running strategic services such as the fire service, emergency planning, waste disposal and flood prevention. The GLC shared responsibility with the London boroughs for providing roads, housing, city planning and it had a very limited role in direct service provision with most functions the responsibility of the London boroughs. The GLC did not take control of transport from the London Transport Board until 1970. Under the 1963 Act, the GLC was required to produce a Greater London Development Plan, the plan included the comprehensive redevelopment of Covent Garden and creating a central London motorway loop. The plan was subject to an Inquiry which lasted from July 1970 until May 1972, the campaign to save Covent Garden along with various opposition on other matters largely derailed the plan. Each of the six GLC elections was won by the national opposition party. The first GLC election was on 9 April 1964, each of the new boroughs elected a number of representatives under the bloc vote system. Despite Conservative hopes, the first GLC consisted of 64 Labour and 36 Conservative councillors, at the next election in 1967 the unpopularity of the national Labour government produced a massive Conservative victory with 82 seats, to Labours 18. Desmond Plummer became the first Conservative leader of London-wide government in 33 years, the Conservatives retained control in 1970 with a reduced majority. In 1972 the electoral system was reformed to introduce single-member constituencies for the election after the 1973 contest, Labour fought the 1973 election on a strongly socialist platform and won with 57 seats to 33 for the Conservatives. The GLCs hopes under the Labour administration of Reg Goodwin were badly affected by the oil crisis of 1974, massive inflation which when combined with the GLCs £1.6 billion debt led to heavy rate increases and unpopular budget cuts. Some months before the 1977 elections the Labour Group began to split, a left group, including Ken Livingstone, denounced the election manifesto of the party. The Conservatives regained control in May 1977, winning 64 seats under their new Thatcherite leader Horace Cutler against a Labour total of just 28, Cutler headed a resolutely right-wing administration, cutting spending, selling council housing and deprioritising London Transport
11.
Grand Surrey Canal
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The Grand Surrey Canal was a canal constructed in south London, England during the early 19th century. It opened to the Old Kent Road in 1807, to Camberwell in 1810 and its main purpose was to transport cargo, primarily timber to the Surrey Commercial Docks. The Grand Surrey Canal closed progressively from the 1940s, with all, much of the route is traceable, as it has been turned into roadways and linear parks. During the late 1700s, there were a number of proposals for canals on the bank of the River Thames. John Smeaton looked at two possible routes for a canal between Kingston upon Thames and Ewell in 1778. Ralph Dodd, who was involved with promoting the Thames and Medway Canal, proposed a canal with a number of branches linking Deptford, Clapham, Kingston, Ewell, Epsom, Mitcham. Jessop also advised on a canal from Vauxhall to Rotherhithe in 1796, while in 1799, eventually, three projects were submitted to parliament for approval. They were authorised to build a canal from Rotherhithe, on the River Thames, to Mitcham in what was then Surrey and those who opposed the canal ensured that clauses restricting use of water from the Wandle were inserted. The canal company agreed to construct it in 1803, and although it was poorly funded, the Croydon Canal, which had also been authorised in 1801, proposed to join the Surrey Canal near Deptford, to save having to construct a parallel route to the Thames. However, a second Act of Parliament, obtained in 1807, authorised them to raise another £60,000, which was used to extend the canal to Memel Wharf and this work was completed in 1810. So far, the route had been level, but to go any further would have needed locks or inclined planes, a short branch of about 0.5 miles was constructed in 1826, running from Glengall Wharf to Peckham Basin. Two further acts of parliament were obtained in 1808 and 1811 to allow new funds to be committed to the project, in 1812, the canal was closed for two months while the company finished work on a new dock and connecting lock, which opened in November. Although no extensions to the other than the Peckham Branch were made. The Peckham Branch, when it opened in May 1826, ended at a basin which was 450 by 80 feet, the scheme also included a railway along the bank of the canal from Vauxhall to Deptford, with a branch to Elephant and Castle. A prospectus was issued for the Grand Surrey Dock, Canal and Junction Railway Company, but there was little interest in subscribing the £600,000 capital needed, and the scheme foundered. Another scheme in 1850 was for a canal to the Kennet and Avon Canal at Reading, with branches to the Thames at Maidenhead, Datchet, Staines, Richmond, Mortlake, Wandsworth and Vauxhall. The route would have reduced the distance between Reading and Deptford from 42 miles to 22 miles, but it seems unlikely that the estimated cost of only £500,000 was realistic, the Rotherhithe end of the canal saw many changes, as the docks developed. As first built, the canal ended at the Stave dock, island Dock led into Russia dock, where the canal had an entrance lock
12.
Surrey Commercial Docks
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The Surrey Commercial Docks were a large group of docks in Rotherhithe, South East London, England, located on the south bank of the River Thames. The docks operated in one form or another from 1696 to 1969, most were subsequently filled in and redeveloped for residential housing, and the area is now known as Surrey Quays, although the name Surrey Docks is retained for the electoral ward. The sparsely populated Rotherhithe peninsula was originally wet marshland alongside the river and it was unsuitable for farming, but its riverside location just downstream from the City of London made it an ideal site for docks. In 1696, Howland Great Wet Dock was dug out to form the largest dock of its time, by the mid-18th century the dock had become a base for Arctic whalers and was renamed Greenland Dock. Eventually, 85% of the peninsula, an area of 460 acres, was covered by a system of nine docks, six timber ponds and a canal. Several of the docks were named after the origins of their customers cargos, hence Canada Dock, Quebec Pond, Norway Dock and Russia Dock. The Grand Surrey Canal was opened in 1807 to link the docks with inland destinations, the docks evolved a distinctive working culture, quite different from that of the Isle of Dogs across the river. The decline of the set in after World War II. The South Dock was pumped dry and used for construction of some of the concrete caissons which made up the Mulberry Harbours used on D-Day, when the shipping industry adopted the container system of cargo transportation, the docks were unable to accommodate the much larger vessels needed by containerisation. They finally closed for lack of custom in 1969, the Grand Surrey Canal was closed in 1971 and was subsequently drained and filled in. The area remained derelict for over a decade, with much of the warehousing demolished, the only surviving areas of open water were Greenland Dock, South Dock, remnants of Canada Dock, and a basin renamed Surrey Water. During the 1980s and early 1990s, the Surrey Docks were extensively redeveloped, over 5,500 new homes were built, ranging from individual detached housing to large apartment complexes. South Dock was converted into a marina - now the largest in London -, Canada Water and the infilled Russia Dock became wildlife reserves, with a woodland planted on the latter site. Leisure facilities and a number of industrial plants were also built, notably a new printing works for Associated Newspapers, the publisher of the London Evening Standard. In October 1988, the Surrey Quays shopping centre was opened as the centrepiece of the redevelopment of the area, the nearby London Underground station was renamed as Surrey Quays a few months later. Fisher Athletic calls Surrey Docks home, Surrey Docks is also a ward of the London Borough of Southwark. The population of this ward at the 2011 Census was 13,435, Canada Water Greenland Dock Russia Dock Woodland South Dock Grand Surrey Canal LDDC Completion Booklet - Surrey Docks
13.
Ginger beer
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Traditional ginger beer is a naturally sweetened and carbonated, usually non-alcoholic beverage. It is produced by the fermentation of prepared ginger spice, yeast. Its origins date from the spice trade with the Orient. It was popular in Britain and its colonies from the 18th century, other spices were variously added and any alcohol content was limited to 2% by excise tax laws in 1855. Few brewers have maintained an alcoholic product, current ginger beers are often manufactured rather than brewed, frequently with flavor and color additives. Ginger beer is produced at home using a symbiotic colony of yeast. Ginger beer has experienced an increase in popularity in recent years accompanying the popularity of cocktails based on it, such as the Moscow Mule. As early as 500 BC, ginger was used as a medicine and for flavouring food in Ancient China, in the western hemisphere, ginger was used to spice up drinks. During the Victorian era, it was used to brew a beverage termed ginger beer. It forms a gelatinous substance that allows it to be transferred from one fermenting substrate to the next, much like kefir grains, kombucha. The GBP was first described by Harry Marshall Ward in 1892, original ginger beer is made by leaving water, sugar, ginger, and GBP to ferment. GBP may be obtained from commercial sources or from yeast banks. A ginger beer plant may refer to a fermenting liquid mix of water, brewers or bakers yeast, ginger. This is kept for a week or longer to which sugar is added to increase alcohol content. Ginger may also be added along with the sugar, which increase the ginger flavour strength. At the end of the period, this mix is strained, diluted with water and lemon juice. Brewed ginger beer originated in the UK, but is sold worldwide, Crabbies is a popular brand in the UK. It is usually labelled alcoholic ginger beer to distinguish it from the established commercial ginger beers, which are not brewed
14.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
15.
Boris Johnson
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He had previously been an MP for the Henley constituency from 2001 to 2008 and was later Mayor of London from 2008 to 2016. Johnson was formerly a historian and journalist. A member of the Conservative Party, Johnson identifies as a conservative and has been associated with both economically and socially liberal policies. Born in New York City to wealthy upper-middle class English parents, Johnson was educated at the European School of Brussels, Ashdown House School and he studied Classics at Balliol College, Oxford, where he was elected president of the Oxford Union in 1986. He was assistant editor from 1994 to 1999 before taking the editorship of The Spectator from 1999 to 2005, joining the Conservatives, he was elected MP for Henley in 2001, and under Michael Howard and David Cameron he was in the Shadow Cabinet. Mostly adhering to the Conservatives party line, he adopted a more socially liberal stance on issues like LGBT rights in parliamentary votes. Making regular television appearances, writing books, and remaining active in journalism, selected as Conservative candidate for the London mayoral election of 2008, Johnson defeated Labour incumbent Ken Livingstone and resigned his seat in parliament. In 2012, he was re-elected mayor, again defeating Livingstone, in 2015 he was elected MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip, stepping down as mayor the following year. In 2016, Johnson became a prominent figure in the successful Vote Leave campaign to withdraw the United Kingdom from the European Union, Johnson is a controversial figure in British politics and journalism. Supporters have praised him as an entertaining, humorous, and popular figure with appeal beyond traditional Conservative voters, conversely, he has been criticised by figures on both the left and right, accused of elitism, cronyism and laziness, and using racist language. Johnson is the subject of biographies and a number of fictionalised portrayals. Johnson was born on 19 June 1964 at a hospital on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City and his birth was registered with both the US authorities and the citys British Consulate and he was granted both American and British citizenship. His father, Stanley Johnson, was studying economics at Columbia University. Stanleys paternal grandfather was Circassian–Turkish journalist Ali Kemal, while his other ancestry is English and French, Stanley had married Johnsons mother, Charlotte Johnson Wahl, in 1963, before they moved to the United States, she was an artist from a family of liberal intellectuals. She was the granddaughter of Americans Elias Avery Lowe, a palaeographer of Russian Jewish descent, and Helen Tracy Lowe-Porter, in reference to his varied ancestry, Johnson has described himself as a one-man melting pot – with a combination of Muslims, Jews, and Christians as great-grandparents. Johnson was given his name of Boris after a Russian émigré the couple had once met in Mexico. Johnsons parents were living in an apartment opposite the Chelsea Hotel, although they soon embarked on a tour of Canada. In September 1964, they returned to Britain, enabling Charlotte to study for a degree at the University of Oxford and she lived with her son in Summertown, Oxford and gave birth to a daughter, Rachel, in 1965
16.
Listed building
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A listed building or listed structure, in the United Kingdom, is one that has been placed on the Statutory List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest. The statutory bodies maintaining the list are Historic England in England, Cadw in Wales, Historic Scotland in Scotland, however, the preferred term in Ireland is protected structure. In England and Wales, an amenity society must be notified of any work to a listed building which involves any element of demolition. Owners of listed buildings are, in circumstances, compelled to repair and maintain them. When alterations are permitted, or when listed buildings are repaired or maintained, slightly different systems operate in each area of the United Kingdom, though the basic principles of the listing remain the same. It was the damage to caused by German bombing during World War II that prompted the first listing of buildings that were deemed to be of particular architectural merit. The listings were used as a means of determining whether a building should be rebuilt if it was damaged by bombing. Listing was first introduced into Northern Ireland under the Planning Order 1972, the listing process has since developed slightly differently in each part of the UK. In the UK, the process of protecting the historic environment is called ‘designation’. A heritage asset is a part of the environment that is valued because of its historic. Only some of these are judged to be important enough to have legal protection through designation. However, buildings that are not formally listed but still judged as being of heritage interest are still regarded as being a consideration in the planning process. Almost anything can be listed – it does not have to be a building, Buildings and structures of special historic interest come in a wide variety of forms and types, ranging from telephone boxes and road signs, to castles. Historic England has created twenty broad categories of structures, and published selection guides for each one to aid with assessing buildings and these include historical overviews and describe the special considerations for listing each category. Both Historic Scotland and Cadw produce guidance for owners, in England, to have a building considered for listing or delisting, the process is to apply to the secretary of state, this can be done by submitting an application form online to Historic England. The applicant does not need to be the owner of the building to apply for it to be listed, full information including application form guidance notes are on the Historic England website. Historic England assesses buildings put forward for listing or delisting and provides advice to the Secretary of State on the architectural, the Secretary of State, who may seek additional advice from others, then decides whether or not to list or delist the building. In England and Wales the authority for listing is granted to the Secretary of State by the Planning Act 1990, Listed buildings in danger of decay are listed on the Historic England Heritage at Risk Register
17.
Lime kiln
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A lime kiln is a kiln used for the calcination of limestone to produce the form of lime called quicklime. The chemical equation for this reaction is CaCO3 + heat → CaO + CO2 This reaction takes place at 900 °C, excessive temperature is avoided because it produces unreactive, dead-burned lime. Slaked lime can be formed by mixing water with quicklime, the earliest descriptions of lime kilns differ little from those used for small-scale manufacture a century ago. Because land transportation of minerals like limestone and coal was difficult in the era, they were distributed by sea. Many preserved kilns are still to be seen on quaysides around the coasts of Britain, permanent lime kilns fall into two broad categories, flare kilns also known as intermittent or periodic kilns, and draw kilns also known as perpetual or running kilns. In a flare kiln, a layer of coal was built up. The fire was alight for several days, and then the entire kiln was emptied of the lime, in a draw kiln, the chalk was layered with coke and lit. As it burnt through, lime was extracted from the bottom of the kiln and further layers of chalk, the common feature of early kilns was an egg-cup shaped burning chamber, with an air inlet at the base, constructed of brick. Limestone was crushed to fairly uniform 20–60 mm lumps – fine stone was rejected, successive dome-shaped layers of limestone and wood or coal were built up in the kiln on grate bars across the eye. When loading was complete, the kiln was kindled at the bottom, when burnt through, the lime was cooled and raked out through the base. Fine ash dropped out and was rejected with the riddlings, only lump stone could be used, because the charge needed to breathe during firing. This also limited the size of kilns and explains why kilns were all much the same size, above a certain diameter, the half-burned charge would be likely to collapse under its own weight, extinguishing the fire. So kilns always made 25–30 tonnes of lime in a batch, typically the kiln took a day to load, three days to fire, two days to cool and a day to unload, so a one-week turnaround was normal. The degree of burning was controlled by trial and error from batch to batch by varying the amount of fuel used. Because there were large temperature differences between the center of the charge and the close to the wall, a mixture of underburned, well-burned and dead-burned lime was normally produced. Typical fuel efficiency was low, with 0.5 tonnes or more of coal being used per tonne of finished lime, lime production was sometimes carried out on an industrial scale. Sets of seven kilns were common, a loading gang and an unloading gang would work the kilns in rotation through the week. A rarely used kiln was known as a lazy kiln, the large kiln at Crindledykes near Haydon Bridge, Northumbria, was one of more than 300 in the county
18.
Almshouse
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An almshouse is charitable housing provided to enable people to live in a particular community. They are often targeted at the poor of a locality, at those from certain forms of employment, or their widows. Many almshouses are European Christian institutions though some are secular, alms are, in the Christian tradition, money or services donated to support the poor and indigent. Almshouses were established from the 10th century in Britain, to provide a place of residence for poor, old and distressed people. The first recorded almshouse was founded in York by King Athelstan, in the Middle Ages, the majority of European hospitals functioned as almshouses. In 1269 or 1270 an almshouse was established in Stavanger as the first known in Norway, the English tradition of almshouses was introduced to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania by its founder, William Penn. The Maryland legislature created almshouses in Anne Arundel County, financed by property taxes on landowners throughout the state, massachusetts also had a long tradition of almshouses. In the United States, aid tended to be limited to the elderly and disabled, Almshouses have been created throughout the period since the 10th century, up to the present day. Many of the almshouses in England were established with the aim of benefiting the soul of the founder or their family. As a result, most were regarded as chantries and were dissolved during the Reformation, Almshouses tend to be characterised by their charitable status and by the aim of supporting the continued independence of their residents. In the Netherlands, a number of hofjes are still functioning as accommodation for elderly people, the economics of almshouses takes the form of the provision of subsidised accommodation, often integrated with social care resources such as wardens. The basis for modern civil almshouses and workhouses came into being in 1597 when the Act for the Relief of the Poor was enacted. These institutions underwent various population, program, and name changes, blockley Almshouse Carroll County Almshouse and Farm, Westminster, Maryland Halfway house Hostel List of British almshouses Poorhouse Heath, Sidney. Old English houses of alms, a record with architectural and historical notes. Almshouses in the West Riding of Yorkshire 1600-1900, goose, Nigel, Caffrey, Helen, Langley, Anne, eds. The British Almshouse, new perspectives on philanthropy ca 1400-1914, the Almshouse Association The Almshouse Residents Action Group List of English Almshouses associated with monastic institutions. Medieval Hospitals of England, by Rotha Mary Clay
19.
Carnaval del Pueblo
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The Carnaval del Pueblo is Europes largest celebration of Latin American culture, held in Burgess Park, London in the first week of August. The event incorporates elements of Latin American culture, featuring dance rhythms, food, throughout the day, a mixture of musicians perform on the four stages set up around the park. In 2006, there were appearances from Puerto Rican reggaeton star Andy Boy, the festival has enabled both acts as well as other upcoming artists to champion latin urban music in the U. K. and gain airplay at a number of radio stations and clubs in London. In 2011, the carnival was cancelled due to works in the park. 2014 sees the return of Carnaval del Pueblo to their home in Burgess Park on 21 September, culture of London Carnaval Del Pueblo official site
20.
Latin American culture
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Latin American culture is the formal or informal expression of the people of Latin America, and includes both high culture and popular culture as well as religion and other customary practices. Latin America also has many races, from a cultural perspective, * Latin America generally includes those parts of the Americas where Spanish, French or Portuguese prevail, Mexico, most of Central America, and South America. There is also an important Latin American cultural presence in the United States, there is also increasing attention to the relations between Latin America and the Caribbean as a whole. See further discussion of definitions at Latin America, European colonial culture, owing to the regions history of colonization by Spain, Portugal, and France. European influence is marked in so-called high culture, such as literature, painting. Moreover, this imperial history left a mark of their influence in their languages. 19th- and 20th-century immigration also transformed especially countries such as Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Cuba, Chile, Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Latin America has a very diverse population with many ethnic groups and different ancestries. Only in three countries, do the Amerindians make up the majority of the population and this is the case of Peru, Guatemala and Bolivia. In the rest of the continent, most of the Native American descendants are of mixed race ancestry, in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries there was a flow of Iberian emigrants who left for Latin America. Of the European immigrants, men outnumbered women and many married natives. This resulted in a mixing of the Amerindians and Europeans and today their descendants are known as mestizos, even Latin Americans who are considered European usually have some native ancestry. Today, mestizos make up the majority of Latin Americas population, starting in the late 16th century, a large number of African slaves were brought to Latin America, especially to Brazil and the Caribbean. Nowadays, Blacks make up the majority of the population in most Caribbean, mixes between the Blacks and Amerindians also occurred, and their descendants are known as Zambos. Many Latin American countries also have a substantial population, which ancestry is a mix of Amerindians, Europeans and Africans. Large numbers of European immigrants arrived in Latin America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, most of them settling in the Southern Cone. In this same period, immigrants came from the Middle East and Asia, including Indians, Lebanese, Syrians and these people only make up a small percentage of Latin Americas population but they have communities in the major cities. This diversity has profoundly influenced religion, music and politics and this cultural heritage is called Latin or Latino in United States English. Outside of the U. S. and in many languages Latino just means Latin, Latin American is the proper term
21.
Greater London
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London, or Greater London, is a region of England which forms the administrative boundaries of London. It is organised into 33 local government districts, the 32 London boroughs, the Greater London Authority, based in Southwark, is responsible for strategic local government across the region and consists of the Mayor of London and the London Assembly. The county of Greater London was created on 1 April 1965 through the London Government Act 1963, administratively, Greater London was first established as a sui generis council area under the Greater London Council between 1963 and 1986. The area was re-established as a region in 1994, and the Greater London Authority formed in 2000, the region covers 1,572 km2 and had a population of 8,174,000 at the 2011 census. In 2012, it had the highest GVA per capita in the United Kingdom at £37,232, the Greater London Built-up Area—used in some national statistics—is a measure of the continuous urban area of London, and therefore includes areas outside of the administrative region. The term Greater London has been and still is used to different areas in governance, statistics, history. In terms of ceremonial counties, London is divided into the small City of London, outside the limited boundaries of the City, a variety of arrangements has governed the wider area since 1855, culminating in the creation of the Greater London administrative area in 1965. The Greater London Arterial Road Programme was devised between 1913 and 1916, one of the larger early forms was the Greater London Planning Region, devised in 1927, which occupied 1,856 square miles and included 9 million people. The LCC pressed for an alteration in its boundaries soon after the end of the First World War, noting that within the Metropolitan, a Royal Commission on London Government was set up to consider the issue. The LCC proposed a vast new area for Greater London, with a boundary somewhere between the Metropolitan Police District and the home counties, protests were made at the possibility of including Windsor, Slough and Eton in the authority. The Commission made its report in 1923, rejecting the LCCs scheme, two minority reports favoured change beyond the amalgamation of smaller urban districts, including both smaller borough councils and a central authority for strategic functions. The London Traffic Act 1924 was a result of the Commission, Greater London originally had a two-tier system of local government, with the Greater London Council sharing power with the City of London Corporation and the 32 London Borough councils. The GLC was abolished in 1986 by the Local Government Act 1985 and its functions were devolved to the City Corporation and the London Boroughs, with some functions transferred to central government and joint boards. Greater London was used to form the London region of England in 1994, a referendum held in 1998 established a public will to recreate an upper tier of government to cover the region. The Greater London Authority, London Assembly and the directly elected Mayor of London were created in 2000 by the Greater London Authority Act 1999, in 2000, the outer boundary of the Metropolitan Police District was re-aligned to the Greater London boundary. The 2000 and 2004 mayoral elections were won by Ken Livingstone, the 2008 and 2012 elections were won by Boris Johnson. The 2016 election was won by Sadiq Khan, Greater London continues to include the most closely associated parts of the Greater London Urban Area and their historic buffers. Thus it includes, in five boroughs, significant parts of the Metropolitan Green Belt which protects designated greenfield land in a way to the citys parks
22.
Royal Parks of London
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The Royal Parks of London are lands originally owned by the monarchy of the United Kingdom for the recreation of the royal family. They are part of the possessions of The Crown. With increasing urbanisation of London, some of these were preserved as freely accessible open space, there are today eight parks formally described by this name and they cover almost 2,000 hectares of land in Greater London. Bushy Park, Greenwich Park and Richmond Park are in the suburbs, the Royal Parks agency also manages Brompton Cemetery, Grosvenor Square Gardens, Victoria Tower Gardens and the gardens of 10,11 and 12 Downing Street. Hampton Court Park is also a park within Greater London. The public does not have any right to use the Parks, as public access depends on the grace and favour of The Crown. The Royal Parks Agency manages the Royal Parks under powers derived from section 22 of the Crown Lands Act 1851, the current regulations are the Royal Parks and Other Open Spaces Regulations 1997. They are managed by The Royal Parks and are policed by the Royal Parks Operational Command Unit of the Metropolitan Police, the main form of funding for the Royal Parks is a central government grant. This contrasts with most of Londons other parks, which are funded by local borough councils, the Royal Parks generate additional income from commercial activities such as catering and staging public events such as concerts. The Royal Parks Foundation is a charity which raises funds to protect, support. They have a number of schemes such as adoption and champion programmes. The plan was welcomed by Royal Parks but it is yet to be implemented following the 2012 London Olympic games, the Royal Parks Parks and open spaces in London Walking in London Thurston, Hazel. Royal Parks For The People, Londons Ten, UK and USA, David and Charles. Includes listing of the Parks with black-and-white photographic plates
23.
Bushy Park
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Bushy Park in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames is the second largest of Londons Royal Parks, at 445 hectares in area, after Richmond Park. The park, most of which is open to the public, is north of Hampton Court Palace. It is surrounded by Teddington, Hampton, Hampton Hill and Hampton Wick, the parks acid grasslands are mostly just above the 25-foot contour. In September 2014 most of it was designated a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest together with Hampton Court Park and Hampton Court Golf Course as Bushy Park, the park is Grade I listed on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. The area now known as Bushy Park has been settled for at least the past 4,000 years, there is also evidence that the area was used in the medieval period for agricultural purposes. A keen hunter, he established them as deer-hunting grounds and this period also saw the construction of the main thoroughfare, Chestnut Avenue, which runs from Park Road in Teddington to the Lion Gate entrance to Hampton Court Palace in Hampton Court Road. This avenue and the Arethusa Diana Fountain were designed by Sir Christopher Wren as an approach to Hampton Court Palace. The park has long been popular with locals, but also visitors from further afield. From the mid-19th century until World War II, Londoners came here to celebrate Chestnut Sunday, the customs were discovered and resurrected in 1993 by Colin and Mu Pain. Among those who served as ranger was King William IV, while Duke of Clarence, to ensure his consort Queen Adelaide, could remain at their long-time home after his death, he immediately appointed her as his successor as ranger. During World War I, Bushy Park housed the Kings Canadian Hospital, during World War II, General Dwight D. Eisenhower planned the D-Day landings from Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force at Camp Griffiss in the Park. A memorial by Carlos Rey dedicated to the Allied troops who fell on D-Day now marks the spot where General Eisenhowers tent stood, the nearby Eisenhower House is named in the Generals honour. Spaatz went on to command the US Army Air Forces throughout the European Theatre of Operations, also known by its US Army code, AAF-586, Camp Griffiss/Widewing was often confused with the wartime headquarters of Eighth Air Force Fighter Command at Bushey Hall, near Watford, Hertfordshire. It also has fishing and model boating ponds, horse rides, formal plantations of trees and other plants, wildlife conservation areas and herds of both red deer and fallow deer. As part of an upgrade of the facilities, the new Pheasantry Café was added. The work was supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, the closest railway stations are Hampton Court in East Molesey to the south, Hampton Wick to the east, Teddington and Fulwell to the north, and Hampton to the west. All are within a 10- to 20-minute walk, transport for London bus routes 111,216 and 411 pass the Hampton Court Gate on Hampton Court Road. R70, R68 and 285 buses stop near the two Hampton Hill Gates off the High Street, while the R68 also serves the Blandford Road Gate before continuing to Hampton Court Green via Hampton Hill
24.
Green Park
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The Green Park, usually known without the article simply as Green Park, is one of the Royal Parks of London. It is located in the City of Westminster, central London, Green Park covers 19 hectares between Hyde Park and St. Jamess Park. The park consists almost entirely of mature trees rising out of turf, the park is bounded on the south by Constitution Hill, on the east by the pedestrian Queens Walk, and on the north by Piccadilly. It meets St. Jamess Park at Queens Gardens with the Victoria Memorial at its centre, to the south is the ceremonial avenue of the Mall, and the buildings of St Jamess Palace and Clarence House overlook the park to the east. Green Park tube station is an interchange located on Piccadilly, Victoria. Tyburn stream runs beneath Green Park, the park is said to have originally been swampy burial ground for lepers from the nearby hospital at St Jamess. It was first enclosed in 16th century when it formed part of the estate of Poulteney family and he laid out the parks main walks and built an icehouse there to supply him with ice for cooling drinks in summer. The Queens Walk was laid out for George IIs queen Caroline, it led to the reservoir that held drinking water for St Jamess Palace, called the Queens Basin. The park was known as a duelling ground, one particularly notorious duel took place there in 1730 between William Pulteney, 1st Earl of Bath and John Hervey, 1st Earl of Bristol. In 1820, John Nash landscaped the park, as an adjunct to St. Jamess Park, on 10 June 1840, it was the scene of Edward Oxfords assassination attempt on Queen Victoria, on Constitution Hill. The Royal Parks website, The Green Park Virtual journey into Green Park
25.
Greenwich Park
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Greenwich Park is a former hunting park in Greenwich and one of the largest single green spaces in south-east London. One of the Royal Parks of London, and the first to be enclosed, it covers 74 hectares and it commands fine views over the River Thames, the Isle of Dogs and the City of London. The park is open year round, the estate of some 200 acres was originally owned by the Abbey of St. Peter at Ghent, but reverted to the Crown in 1427 and was given by Henry VI to his uncle Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester. He built a house by the river, Bella Court, the former evolved first into the Tudor Palace of Placentia and then into the Queens House and Greenwich Hospital. Greenwich Castle, by now in disrepair, was chosen for the site of the Royal Observatory by Charles II in 1675, in the 15th century the park was mostly heathland and probably used for hawking. In the next century, deer were introduced by Henry VIII for hunting, james I enclosed the park with a brick wall, twelve feet high and two miles long at a cost of £2000, much of which remains and defines the modern boundary. In the 17th century, the park was landscaped, possibly by André Le Nôtre who is known at least to have designed plans for it, the public were first allowed into the park during the 18th century. Samuel Johnson visited the park in 1763 and commented “Is it not fine. ”, the famous hill upon which the observatory stands was used on public holidays for mass ‘tumbling’. In the 1830s a railway was driven through the middle of the lower park on a viaduct. However, the London and Greenwich Railway was later extended beneath the ground via a tunnel link between Greenwich and Maze Hill which opened in 1878. In 1888 the park got a station of its own when Greenwich Park railway station was opened, the station was not successful, with most passengers preferring the older Greenwich station, and in 1917 Greenwich Park station and the associated line closed. Greenwich Park was used for outdoor London scenes including representing the street, Constitution Hill in the 2009 film The Young Victoria starring Emily Blunt, the park is roughly rectangular in plan with sides 1000 metres by 750 metres and oriented with the long sides lying NNW to SSE. In what follows this direction is taken to be N to S for ease of exposition and it is located at grid reference TQ390772. The park is on two levels with a number of dips and gullies marking the transition between them. The lower level lies to the north, from there a walk uphill reveals the southern part - a flat expanse that is, essentially. Roughly in the centre, on the top of the hill, is the Royal Observatory, at the northern edge is the National Maritime Museum and Queens House, and beyond those Greenwich Hospital. To the east is Vanbrugh Castle, to the south is Blackheath and in the south western corner is the Rangers House, looking out over heath. To the west lie the architecturally fine streets of Chesterfield Walk, the Observatory is on the top of the hill
26.
Hyde Park, London
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Hyde Park is one of the largest parks in London and one of its Royal Parks. The park is divided by the Serpentine and the Long Water, the park is contiguous with Kensington Gardens, which are often assumed to be part of Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens has been separate since 1728, when Queen Caroline divided them. To the southeast, outside the park, is Hyde Park Corner, during daylight, the two parks merge seamlessly into each other, but Kensington Gardens closes at dusk, and Hyde Park remains open throughout the year from 5 a. m. until midnight. The Great Exhibition of 1851 was held in the park, for which the Crystal Palace, the park became a traditional location for mass demonstrations. The Chartists, the Reform League, the suffragettes, and the Stop the War Coalition have all held protests there, many protesters on the Liberty and Livelihood March in 2002 started their march from Hyde Park. Hyde Park is also a ward of the City of Westminster, the population of the ward at the 2011 Census was 12,462. Hyde Park was created for hunting by Henry Vlll in 1536, Charles I created the Ring, and in 1637 he opened the park to the general public. In 1652, during the Interregnum, Parliament ordered the then 620-acre park to be sold for ready money and it realised £17,000 with an additional £765 6s 2d for the resident deer. In 1689, when William III moved his residence to Kensington Palace on the far side of Hyde Park, public transport entering London from the west runs parallel to the Kings private road along Kensington Gore, just outside the park. In the late 1800s, the row was used by the wealthy for horseback rides, the first coherent landscaping was undertaken by Charles Bridgeman for Queen Caroline, under the supervision of Charles Withers, the Surveyor-General of Woods and Forests, who took some credit. It was completed in 1733 at a cost to the public purse of £20,000, the 2nd Viscount Weymouth was made Ranger of Hyde Park in 1739 and shortly after began digging the Serpentine lakes at Longleat. The Serpentine is divided from the Long Water by a bridge designed by George Rennie, one of the most important events to take place in the park was the Great Exhibition of 1851. The Crystal Palace was constructed on the side of the park. The public did not want the building to remain after the closure of the exhibition and he had it moved to Sydenham Hill in South London. At the age of twenty-five, Decimus Burton was commissioned by the Office of Woods and he laid out the paths and driveways and designed a series of lodges, the Screen/Gate at Hyde Park Corner and the Wellington Arch. The Screen and the Arch originally formed a single composition, designed to provide a transition between Hyde Park and Green Park, although the arch was later moved. An early description reports, It consists of a screen of handsome fluted Ionic columns, the extent of the whole frontage is about 107 ft. The two side gateways, in their elevations, present two insulated Ionic columns, flanked by antae, all these entrances are finished by a blocking, the sides of the central one being decorated with a beautiful frieze, representing a naval and military triumphal procession
27.
Kensington Gardens
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Kensington Gardens, once the private gardens of Kensington Palace, are among the Royal Parks of London. The gardens are shared by the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and sit immediately to the west of Hyde Park, the gardens cover an area of 270 acres. The open spaces of Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, Green Park, Kensington Gardens are Grade I listed on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. The Gardens are fenced and more formal than Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens are open only during the hours of daylight, whereas Hyde Park is open from 5 am until midnight all year round. Kensington Gardens has been regarded as smart because of its more private character around Kensington Palace. However, in the late 1800s, Hyde Park was considered fashionable, because of its location nearer to Park Lane. Kensington Gardens was originally the section of Hyde Park, which had been created by Henry VIII in 1536 to use as a hunting ground. Bridgeman created the Serpentine between 1726 and 1731 by damming the outflow of the River Westbourne from Hyde Park. The part of the Serpentine that lies within Kensington Gardens is known as The Long Water, at its north-western end in an area known as The Italian Garden, there are four fountains and a number of classical sculptures. At the foot of the Italian Gardens is a boundary marker. The land surrounding Kensington Gardens was predominantly rural and remained undeveloped until the Great Exhibition in 1851. Many of the original features survive along with the Palace, and now there are public buildings such as the Albert Memorial, the Serpentine Gallery. The park also contains the Elfin Oak, an elaborately carved 900-year-old tree stump, the park is the setting of J. M. Barries book Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, a prelude to the characters famous adventures in Neverland. The fairies of the gardens are first described in Thomas Tickells 1722 poem Kensington Gardens, both the book and the character are honoured with the Peter Pan statue by George Frampton located in the park. Rodrigo Fresáns novel Kensington Gardens concerns in part the life of J. M. Barrie and of his creation Peter Pan, the Infocom interactive fiction game Trinity begins in the Kensington Gardens. The player can walk around many sections of the gardens, which are described in moderate detail, list of public art in Kensington Gardens Citations Bibliography Official website The Garden a poem by Ezra Pound set in Kensington Gardens
28.
Regent's Park
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Regents Park is one of the Royal Parks of London. It lies within north-west London, partly in the City of Westminster, the population of the Camden ward at the 2011 Census was 13,528. It contains Regents University London and the London Zoo, the park is Grade I listed on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. The park has a ring road called the Outer Circle and an inner ring road called the Inner Circle. Apart from two roads between these two, the park is reserved for pedestrians. The south, east and most of the west side of the park are lined with elegant white stucco terraces of houses designed by John Nash, Running through the northern end of the park is Regents Canal, which connects the Grand Union Canal to the former London docks. The northern side of the park is the home of London Zoo, winfield House, the official residence of the U. S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom, stands in private grounds in the western section of the park. Nearby is the domed London Central Mosque, better known as Regents Park mosque, located to the south of the Inner Circle is Regents University London, home of the European Business School London, Regents American College London and Webster Graduate School among others. Primrose Hill is also the given to the immediately surrounding district. The public areas of Regents Park are managed by The Royal Parks, the Crown Estate Paving Commission is responsible for managing certain aspects of the built environment of Regents Park. The park lies within the boundaries of the City of Westminster and the London Borough of Camden, the Crown Estate owns the freehold of Regents Park. In the Middle Ages the land was part of the manor of Tyburn, in the Dissolution of the Monasteries, Henry VIII appropriated the land, and it has been Crown property ever since, except for the period between 1649 and 1660. It was set aside as a park, known as Marylebone Park. It was then let out in small holdings for hay and dairy produce, when the leases expired in 1811 the Prince Regent commissioned architect John Nash to create a masterplan for the area. However, most of the terraces of houses around the fringes of the park were built. Nash did not complete all the detailed designs himself, in some instances, the scheme is considered one of the first examples of a garden suburb, and continues to influence the design of suburbs. The park was first opened to the public in 1835. On 15 January 1867, forty people died when the ice cover on the lake collapsed
29.
Richmond Park
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Richmond Park, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, was created by Charles I in the 17th century as a deer park. The largest of Londons Royal Parks, it is of national and international importance for wildlife conservation and its landscapes have inspired many famous artists and it has been a location for several films and TV series. Richmond Park includes many buildings of architectural or historic interest, the Grade I-listed White Lodge was formerly a royal residence and is now home to the Royal Ballet School. Historically the preserve of the monarch, the park is now open for all to use and includes a course and other facilities for sport. It played an important role in world wars and in the 1948 and 2012 Olympics. Richmond Park is the largest of Londons Royal Parks and it is the second-largest park in London and is Britains second-largest urban walled park after Sutton Park, Birmingham. Measuring 3.69 square miles, it is comparable in size to Pariss Bois de Vincennes and it is almost half the size of Casa de Campo and around three times the size of Central Park in New York. Of national and international importance for conservation, most of Richmond Park is a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The largest Site of Special Scientific Interest in London, it was designated as an SSSI in 1992, excluding the area of the course, Pembroke Lodge Gardens. In its citation, Natural England said, Richmond Park has been managed as a deer park since the seventeenth century. In particular, Richmond Park is of importance for its diverse deadwood beetle fauna associated with the ancient trees found throughout the parkland, in addition the park supports the most extensive area of dry acid grassland in Greater London. The park was designated as an SAC in April 2005 on account of its having a number of ancient trees with decaying timber. A public open space since the mid C19, Richmond Park is located in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It is close to Richmond, Ham, Kingston upon Thames, Wimbledon, Roehampton, day-to-day management of the Royal Parks has been delegated to The Royal Parks, an executive agency of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The Royal Parks Board sets the direction for the agency. Appointments to the Board are made by the Mayor of London, the Friends of Richmond Park and the Friends of Bushy Park co-chair the Richmond and Bushy Parks Forum, comprising 38 local groups of local stakeholder organisations. Although welcoming the principles of the new arrangements, the forum. Richmond Park is enclosed by a wall with several gates
30.
St James's Park
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St Jamess Park is a 23-hectare park in the City of Westminster, central London. The park lies at the southernmost tip of the St Jamess area, the park is the most easterly of a near-continuous chain of parks that comprises Green Park, Hyde Park, and Kensington Gardens. The park is bounded by Buckingham Palace to the west, the Mall to the north, Horse Guards to the east and it meets Green Park at Queens Gardens with the Victoria Memorial at its centre, opposite the entrance to Buckingham Palace. St Jamess Palace is on the side of The Mall. The closest London Underground stations are St Jamess Park, Green Park, Victoria, the park has a small lake, St Jamess Park Lake, with two islands, West Island, and Duck Island, named for the lakes collection of waterfowl. A resident colony of pelicans has been a feature of the park since pelicans were donated by a Russian ambassador in 1664 to Charles II. While most of the time the wings are clipped, there is a pelican who can be flying to the London Zoo in hopes of another meal. The Blue Bridge across the lake affords a view west towards Buckingham Palace framed by trees. Looking east the view includes the Swire Fountain to the north of Duck Island and, past the lake, the grounds of Horse Guards Parade, with Horse Guards, the Old War Office and Whitehall Court behind. To the south of Duck Island is the Tiffany Fountain on Pelican Rock, and past the lake is the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, with the London Eye, the Shell Tower, and the Shard behind. In 1532, Henry VIII bought an area of marshland through which the Tyburn flowed from Eton College. It lies to the west of York Place acquired by Henry from Cardinal Wolsey, it was purchased in order to turn York Palace, subsequently renamed Whitehall, a 775 metre by 38 metre canal was created as evidenced in the old plan. The king opened the park to the public and used the area to entertain guests and mistresses, such as Nell Gwyn. The park became notorious at the time as a place for impromptu acts of lechery, as described by John Wilmot. In the late-17th and early-18th centuries cows grazed on the park, at the same time, Buckingham House was expanded to create the palace, and Marble Arch was built at its entrance, whilst The Mall was turned into a grand processional route. It opened to public traffic 60 years later in 1887, the Marble Arch was moved to its current location at the junction of Oxford Street and Park Lane in 1851 and the Victoria Memorial was erected between 1906 and 1924. Media related to St Jamess Park at Wikimedia Commons Visitor information at the Royal Parks website
31.
Urban park
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The design, operation and maintenance is usually done by government, typically on the local level, but may occasionally be contracted out to a private sector company. A park is an area of space provided for recreational use. Grass is typically kept short to discourage insect pests and to allow for the enjoyment of picnics, trees are chosen for their beauty and to provide shade. An early purpose-built public park, although financed privately, was Princes Park in the Liverpool suburb of Toxteth and this was laid out to the designs of Joseph Paxton from 1842 and opened in 1843. The land on which the park was built was purchased by Richard Vaughan Yates, the creation of Princes Park showed great foresight and introduced a number of highly influential ideas. First and foremost was the provision of space for the benefit of townspeople. Nashs remodelling of St Jamess Park from 1827 and the sequence of processional routes he created to link The Mall with Regents Park completely transformed the appearance of Londons West End. Liverpool had a presence on the scene of global maritime trade before 1800. The latter was commenced in 1843 with the help of public finance, frederick Law Olmsted visited Birkenhead Park in 1850 and praised its qualities. Indeed, Paxton is widely credited as having one of the principal influences on Olmsted. Another early public park is the Peel Park, Salford, England opened on 22 August 1846, in The Politics of Park Design, A History of Urban Parks in America, Professor Galen Cranz identifies four phases of park design in the U. S. As time passed and the area grew around the parks, land in these parks was used for other purposes, such as zoos, golf courses. These parks continue to draw visitors from around the region and are considered regional parks, because they require a higher level of management than smaller local parks. According to the Trust for Public Land, the three most visited parks in the United States are Central Park in New York, Lincoln Park in Chicago. In the early 1900s, according to Cranz, U. S. cities built neighborhood parks with swimming pools, playgrounds and civic buildings and these smaller parks were built in residential neighborhoods, and tried to serve all residents with programs for seniors, adults, teens and children. Green space was of secondary importance, as urban land prices climbed, new urban parks in the 1960s and after have been mainly pocket parks. One such example of a park is Chess Park in Glendale. This award-winning park was given an award by the American Society of Landscape Architects and these small parks provide greenery, a place to sit outdoors, and often a playground for children
32.
Alexandra Park, London
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Alexandra Park is an 80 hectare, Green Flag Award and Green Heritage winning landscaped park, dominated by Alexandra Palace, in the Borough of Haringey in north London. The name is widely used locally to describe the neighbourhood directly to the north of the park. Alexandra Park is split between hilly terrain and flat ground and it is adjacent to Hornsey, Muswell Hill and Wood Green. It is dominated by Alexandra Palace, from 1936 to 1981, the BBC transmitted TV programmes from a tall mast built onto one of the towers of the palace. In 1980, most of the palace was gutted by a huge fire, the building has since been restored and is now a conference and exhibition centre. The vast, tree-lined sloping hill has views over London. On a clear day, the Crystal Palace Transmitter on the far south-east side of London is visible, an Act of Parliament in 1900 created the Alexandra Palace and Park Trust. The Act required the Trustees to maintain the Palace and Park and make available for the free use. The park is named after Queen Alexandra, the wife of King Edward VII, the park has a secondary school named after it called Alexandra Park School. Until September 1970, Alexandra Park hosted horse racing, including many evening meetings that were televised by the BBC, the racecourse in the park grounds was nicknamed the Frying Pan owing to its shape, and boasted an ornate Victorian grandstand and cast-iron railings. Its most prestigious race was the London Cup, Alexandra Park Cricket and Football Club is situated within the old racecourse providing sporting facilities for the local community. It was declared a Local Nature Reserve in 2013, and is also a Site of Borough Importance for Nature Conservation, Grade 1. The Park hosts a variety of events throughout the year including, food and craft beer festivals, a summer festival, at the foot of Muswell Hill, the park is host to a farmers market most weeks selling fresh organic produce as well as other products. Alexandra Park also hosts a weekly 5 kilometer Parkrun each Saturday morning, the Friends of Alexandra Park also organise Fungi, Tree, Wild Flower, History, Bat Walks etc. Events coming up in the Park, a medium-sized lake attracts a variety of waterfowl in all seasons, and used to have a large enclosure housing a small herd of fallow deer. The deer were moved to Devon early 2016, the area to the north of the park is known locally as Alexandra Park. The areas identity has been reinforced by its website, Alexandra Park Neighbours. Alexandra Park Racecourse Friends of Alexandra Park - website promoting and protecting Alexandra Park in North London Alexandra Palace official website
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Arnos Grove
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Arnos Grove /ˈɑːrnɒs ɡroʊv/ is an area in the south west corner of the London Borough of Enfield, England. It is close to Enfields borders with two other boroughs, Barnet and Haringey, Arnos Grove was previously considered part of Southgate, and then New Southgate. The modern district of Arnos Grove is centred on the end of Bowes Road. The road running from Morton Crescent to Southgate is also called Arnos Grove, the areas name derives from that of an estate called Arnoldes Grove or Arnos Grove, i. e. grove or copse of the Arnold family. The Arnolds were local landowners who are mentioned in documents dating from the 14th century, until the 1930s Arnos Grove was largely undeveloped and rural, and not considered to be an area in its own right. Instead, it was considered to be part of Southgate, although in the late 19th century the area of Colney Hatch began to grow nearby, Arnos Grove was, until the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII, owned by the Nuns of Clerkenwell. It was known as Armholt Wood in the 14th century, locals called the estate Arno’s and the next owner, Sir William Mayne, renamed the house and estate Arnos Grove, which is now pronounced as though it never had an apostrophe. In 1777, it was bought by Isaac Walker, the estate was owned from 1777 to 1918 by Walkers of the Taylor Walker brewing family, who bought the nearby Minchenden estate to increase the area of Arnos Grove to over 300 acres. The New River loop ran through the Arnos Grove estate until the nineteenth century, the Arnos Grove mansion was also sold in 1928 to the North Metropolitan Electricity Supply Company. The house was sold to Legal & General in 1975 and renamed Southgate House, in 1997-8 the bulk of the property was converted into a residential care home called Southgate Beaumont with the southern part developed into luxury apartments. On 19 September 1932 Arnos Grove tube station was opened, as part of the extension of the London Underground Piccadilly line to Cockfosters. In the years that followed Arnos Grove changed from an area to being fully developed – the part of the estate to the north of Arnos Park was, for example. The main public facilities at Arnos Grove were built in the 1930s and these include Arnos Pool and Bowes Road Library, both of which underwent major refurbishment in the mid-2000s, like Arnos Grove tube station. The southward expansion of Arnos Grove, which was initiated by the bias of facilities to the south of the estate, was aided by the destruction of parts of New Southgate during World War II. There is now an almost continuous line of shops between Arnos Grove and New Southgate, via Betstyle Circus, making the areas closely linked, today, seven bus routes link Arnos Grove and New Southgate stations. The nearby Colney Hatch Lunatic Asylum has been redeveloped as Princess Park Manor, one of the main features of Arnos Grove is Arnos Park. Arnos Park is a remnant of the Arnos Grove estate, and was opened in 1928 after having been purchased by Southgate Council, the Pymmes Brook flows through the park, which contains diverse woodland but is mostly grassy fields. A large brick viaduct, with 34 numbered arches, carries the Piccadilly line beyond Arnos Grove tube station towards Southgate through the end of the park
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Barking Park
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Barking Park, in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, in east London, is a park covering just under 30 hectares to the east of Barking town centre. It lies north of Longbridge Road, and is near the boundary with Loxford, the park was the first council-controlled park in the Borough, and was established as a classic Victorian park in 1896. It was officially opened on 9 April 1898 by Councillor C. L. Beard JP, the parks most significant feature is a 910 metre long boating lake on the north side of the park. Rowing boats were introduced first, and then on 1 April 1953, motor boats, the paddle steamer continued to operate on the lake until 1967. Other facilities include tennis and basketball courts, two bowling greens, a playground, a waterpark, football pitches and a flower garden. A lido was built in 1931 but this was closed permanently in 1988, the longstanding park cafe was demolished and a roller-skating park built on the site. The park contains a war memorial, renovated in 2000, for men of the Barking Town Urban District who fell in World War I, every year on Remembrance Day a commemorative ceremony is held at the war memorial preceded by music from a local marching band. In 2006 the council received stage one funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund to develop a proposal for restoration, funding of over £3 million was approved, and works were completed between 2010 and 2012, including two lengthy new pathways, a childrens play area and splash park. Barking Park Light Railway, a passenger railway, opened in the early 1950s. After being replaced by a diesel locomotive named Little Nan. About halfway along the line, trains went through a level crossing. When trains were not running, the level crossing afforded access to the park from the adjacent Park Avenue and it now features new trains, and new 7 1⁄4 in gauge track, with wheelchair-friendly station access. The new train ran a few times during 2008 but the official grand re-opening took place at Easter in 2009. The previous level crossing was removed, Barking Park, Barking and Dagenham Council Barking Park Light Railway
35.
Barra Hall Park
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Barra Hall Park is an 11. 06-hectare formal park situated near the centre of Hayes in the ward of Townfield in the London Borough of Hillingdon. The park came into existence in December 1923, the main entrance to the park is off Freemans Lane. There are ten entrances altogether, spread around the perimeter of the park, later alterations by the UDC brought the total to £7,000. In 1965, Hayes UDC was integrated into the London Borough of Hillingdon, the Barra Hall building was originally a manor house, formerly known as Grove House. In the late eighteenth century it was home to Alderman Harvey Combe and it passed ownership and in 1871 was bought by Robert Reid. Reid was an auctioneer and surveyor and claimed to descend from the Reids of Barra, after enlarging and refacing the building he changed its name to Barra Hall in 1875. Army Cavalry were stationed here during World War I, on 6 October 2005, a renovated Barra Hall was opened as a Sure Start childrens centre. Barra Hall Park features ornamental lawns, recreational areas, rose and shrub beds, seasonal bedding. The main building within the grounds is a grade-two listed manor house, there is also Barra Hall Open Air Theatre, a bandstand, a refreshment kiosk and a childrens play area. Hayes towns annual carnival, a feature of local life since the 1950s, culminates in a fête. Barra Hall Open Air Theatre is a community venue for music, theatre, on Sunday 5 August 2012, Jeremy Dellers art installation Sacrilege was installed in the park from 10. 30am to 6pm. An estimated 1,400 people visited on the day, the park features a tree sculpture titled Man looking for his dog by Tom Carver Harvey. Parts of Bend it Like Beckham were filmed in the park, parts of Chocolat were filmed in the Barra Hall building. The 195 and H98 stop near Barra Hall Park on Church Road, Hayes town centre is approximately 1 km away, with its many other regular bus services. The closest train station is Hayes and Harlington, which is a little over 1 km walk away, street parking may be found on the surrounding roads near to the entrances
36.
Battersea Park
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Battersea Park is a 200 acre green space at Battersea in the London Borough of Wandsworth in London. It is situated on the bank of the River Thames opposite Chelsea and was opened in 1858. The park occupies marshland reclaimed from the Thames and land used for market gardens. Prior to 1846 the area now covered by the park was known as Battersea fields, on 21 March 1829, the Duke of Wellington and the Earl of Winchilsea met on Battersea fields to settle a matter of honour. When it came time to fire, the Duke aimed his duelling pistol wide, Winchilsea later wrote the Duke a groveling apology. Running along the riverside from the fields were industrial concerns and wharves, including a pottery, copper works, lime kiln, chemical works, the site of Battersea Power Station was partly occupied by the famously bawdy Red House Tavern, patronised by Charles Dickens. Access was via the rickety wooden Battersea Bridge or by ferry from the Chelsea bank, the Act was passed in 1846 and £200,000 was promised for the purchase of the land. The Commission for Improving the Metropolis acquired 320 acres of Battersea Fields, of which 198 acres became Battersea Park, opened in 1858, and the remainder was let on building leases. The park was laid out by Sir James Pennethorne between 1846 and 1864, although the park which was opened in 1858 varied somewhat from Pennethornes vision, the park’s success depended on the successful completion of the Chelsea Bridge, declared open in 1858 by Queen Victoria. In her honour, the road alongside the edge of the Park was called Victoria Road. Prince of Wales Road was laid out along the southern boundary, the park hosted the first football game played under the rules of the recently formed Football Association on 9 January 1864. The members of the teams were chosen by the President of the FA, from the 1860s, the park was home to the leading amateur football team Wanderers F. C. winners of the first FA Cup, in 1872. One team they are known to have played at the park was Sheffield F. C. the worlds oldest football team, in 1924, a war memorial by Eric Kennington was unveiled by Field Marshal Plumer and the Bishop of Southwark. It commemorates the over 10,000 men killed or listed as missing presumed dead whilst serving with the 24th East Surrey Division and it is now Grade II* listed. During both wars, anti-aircraft guns and barrage balloons were installed to help protect London from enemy air raids, shelters were dug, part of the park was turned over to allotments for much needed vegetables and a pig farm was also set up. Maintenance of the park was reduced as the war took priority. In 1951 the northern parts of the park were transformed into the Pleasure Gardens as part of the Festival of Britain celebrations, popular attractions included the Guinness Clock, designed by Jan Le Witt and George Him, and the Far Tottering and Oyster Creek Branch Railway. Another part of the transformation was the addition of Battersea Fun Fair, with rollercoasters, swings, roundabouts, the fun fairs most spectacular ride was a rollercoaster called The Big Dipper, which opened in 1951
37.
Blackheath, London
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Blackheath is an area of south-east London, divided between the Royal Borough of Greenwich and the London Borough of Lewisham, located east of the town of Lewisham, and south of the town of Greenwich. It is notable for its pubs, village-y feel. The name is recorded in 1166 as Blachehedfeld and means the dark coloured heathland and it is formed from the Old English blæc and hǣth and refers to the open space that was the meeting place of the ancient hundred of Blackheath. The name was applied to the Victorian suburb that developed in the 19th century and was extended to the areas known as Blackheath Park. An urban myth is that Blackheath was associated with the 1665 Plague or the Black Death of the mid-14th century, virtually every part of London has a local tradition about plague pits under, say, a local school or shop. The sheer number of bodies meant that the traditional churchyards became, as one put it. During the seventeenth century Blackheath was, along with Hounslow Heath, in 1673 the Blackheath Army was assembled under Marshal Schomberg to serve in the Third Anglo-Dutch War. The Roman road that became known as Watling Street crosses the northern edge of Blackheath, probably heading for the mouth of Deptford Creek. Blackheath was a point for Wat Tylers Peasants Revolt of 1381. Wat Tyler is remembered by Wat Tyler Road on the heath, after pitching camp on Blackheath, Cornish rebels were defeated in the Battle of Deptford Bridge, just to the west, on 17 June 1497. With Watling Street carrying stagecoaches across the heath, en route to north Kent, in 1909 Blackheath had a local branch of the London Society for Womens Suffrage. The Vanbrugh Pits are on the north-east part of the heath, the site of old gravel workings, Vanbrugh Pits have long been reclaimed by nature and form one of the more attractive parts of the generally rather flat Blackheath. It is particularly attractive in spring when the extensive gorse blossoms, the pits are named after Sir John Vanbrugh, architect of Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard, who had a house nearby, adjacent to Greenwich Park, now called Vanbrugh Castle. Mince Pie House built for his family, survived until 1911, the sizeable estate of Blackheath Park, created on lands of Wricklemarsh Manor by John Cator is situated east of Blackheath. The Cator Estate was built on part of the formerly owned by Sir John Morden. The Cator Estate also contains innovative 1960s Span houses and flats by the renowned Span Developments, St Michael and All Angels Church, designed by local architect George Smith and completed in 1830, was dubbed the Needle of Kent in honour of its tall, thin spire. All Saints Church, situated on the heath, designed by the architect Benjamin Ferrey, another Anglican church, St John the Evangelists, was designed in 1853 by Arthur Ashpitel. The Pagoda is an example of a beautiful property situated in Blackheath
38.
Brockwell Park
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Brockwell Park is a 50.8 hectare park located between Brixton, Herne Hill and Tulse Hill, bordered by Brixton Water Lane, Norwood Road, Tulse Hill, and Dulwich Road in South London. The park commands views of the skyline of the city and Central London, at the top of the hill within the park stands Brockwell Hall. The Brockwell Lido, a Grade II listed art deco building near the top of the park, is a swimming pool popular with swimmers and bathers. Its attached café/restaurant is also popular, other amenities in Brockwell Park include tennis courts, a bowling green, a BMX track and a miniature railway. The park is home to the Lambeth Country Show, which takes place in July. An annual fireworks display takes place around November 5. There are two festivals held in Brockwell Park in the summer, Brockwell Park is open from 7. 30am to 15 minutes before sunset every day. The Grade II* listed Brockwell Hall was built between 1811-1813 when the area was part of Surrey and was the seat of glass merchant John Blades Esq. The land and house were acquired by the London County Council in March 1891 and opened to the public on 2 June in the following summer, at the unveiling, Bristowe died of a heart attack on the steps of the hall. In 1901 the LCC acquired a further 43 acres of land north of the original park, in the 1920s, there were 13 cricket pitches in the park, which attracted crowds of up to 1,500. Brockwell Park was home to the Galton Institute, a bust of Thomas Bristowe was returned to the Park and unveiled on its 120th birthday,2012. Pop singer Adele told the Sun that she was not performing at festivals in 2011, preferring sitting in Brockwell Park with my friends. Brockwell Park is the setting for the video of Do Your Thing by local band Basement Jaxx. The park is a key location in Mo Hayders crime novel The Treatment
39.
Clissold Park
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Clissold Park is a designated community park in Stoke Newington, within the London Borough of Hackney. Its facilities include childrens playgrounds, sports fields, a green, tennis courts, the café and some other attractions including terrapins in its lakes, as well as deer, quail. The park also remains of the New River, and the Capital Ring has some of its paths running through a small section of the park. Clissold House was built, in the half of the 18th century, for Jonathan Hoare. The park was created to be his idyll, and the stretch of water which wends its way around the house was part of the New River. A fountain was erected in 1890 commemorating them, later, the two wildlife ponds were named after them too. Clissold House, the former villa within the park, is a Grade II listed building, in 2007, Clissold Park was voted the Heart of Hackney, in an I Love Hackney Poll organised by Hackney Council. On 30 March 2007 the Heritage Lottery Fund announced the award of a development grant to put forward a bid for a full £4.5 million Park Restoration Grant, the work should restore the park and house to its original 18th-century design. Funding was received from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Big Lottery Fund, Clissold Park received a Green Flag award in July 2008. Clissold House was added to the English Heritage Heritage at Risk Register in 1991, there are no London Underground stations nearby, but within one mile are Manor House, Finsbury Park and Arsenal. The nearest railway stations are Canonbury and Stoke Newington, Clissold Park, and its pond, feature in the Hank Wangford song, Jogging with Jesus. The album Ham by London-band The Chap features a song entitled, the London-based Astrophonica record label features a song by label owners Fracture & Neptune, titled Clissold named after the Park. In Nick Hornbys novel Slam, the character Sam and his girlfriend Alicia often go to Clissold Park, the Aphex Twin track 19 w early morning clissold sunrise is part named after the park. Clissold Park User Group Hackney Tennis Club, Clissold Park
40.
Crystal Palace Park
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Crystal Palace Park is a Victorian pleasure ground, used for cultural and sporting events. The park features full-scale models of dinosaurs in a landscape, a maze, lakes, and this site contains the National Sports Centre, which includes an athletics stadium. The park is situated halfway along the Norwood Ridge at one of its highest points and this ridge offers views northward to central London, eastward to the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge and Greenwich, and southward to Croydon and the North Downs. The park remains a major London public park, after the 1851 Great Exhibition in Hyde Park, Joseph Paxton appealed for the retention of The Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, but the government decreed that the Palace be removed. Paxton formed the Crystal Palace Company, and the issue raised £1.3 million for the purchase of the Palace. The 389 acre site consisted of woodland and the grounds of the known as Penge Place owned by Paxtons friend. Between 1852 and 1854, an enlarged and redesigned Crystal Palace was rebuilt at the new site, the development of ground and gardens of the park cost considerably more than the rebuilt Crystal Palace. The series of fountains constructed required the building of two 284 ft high towers, designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, at either end of the palace. The sculptor Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins was commissioned to make 33 lifesized models, completed in 1854, of the newly discovered dinosaurs, the park was also given a gift of a megatherium skull by Charles Darwin. The rebuilt Crystal Palace was opened by Queen Victoria in June 1854, rail access to the park became possible when the Crystal Palace railway station opened in 1854. In 1864, Thomas Webster Rammell experimented with a 600-yard pneumatic railway in the tunnel between the Sydenham and Penge gates to the park, in 1865, another station, the Crystal Palace railway station opened, but this station closed in 1954. The park has used for various sporting activities from its early days. The Crystal Palace Park Cricket Ground was created on the site in 1857, in 1894, the two largest fountains were grassed over and the south basin was converted to a football stadium in 1895. The stadium was used for the FA Cup Finals for 20 years starting with the 1895 FA Cup Final until 1914, Crystal Palace F. C. also played their home games at the stadium from 1905 to 1915. A400 ft-long Marine Aquarium was built in 1872 on a part of The Crystal Palace site left vacant after a fire in 1866, in 1911, the Festival of Empire was held at the park and the park was transformed with buildings designed to represent the British Empire. Many buildings remained at the site until the 1940s, in 1936, The Crystal Palace burnt down. The south water tower was demolished soon afterwards due to fire damage, the north water tower was demolished in 1941, perhaps to eliminate landmarks that German bombers might use to orient themselves during air raids in the Second World War. The park also housed one of the pioneer speedway tracks, which opened for business in 1928, the Glaziers raced in the Southern and National Leagues up to 1933 when the promotion moved on to a track in New Cross
41.
Dulwich Park
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Dulwich Park is a 30. 85-hectare park in Dulwich in the London Borough of Southwark, south London, England. The park was created by the Metropolitan Board of Works from former farmland, while the initial design was by Charles Barry, it was later refined by Lt Col J. J. Sexby. It was opened in 1890 by Lord Rosebery, in 2004–6, the park was restored to its original Victorian layout, following a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund. Dulwich Park contains a café, boating lake and numerous sporting facilities, various types of recumbent bicycles are available for hire. Cars have not been permitted to drive inside the park since 2003, with the exception of disabled badge holders and it is home of Dulwich Park Runners, a minor running club. On 20 December 2011, a sculpture by Barbara Hepworth, Two Forms that resides in the park, was cut from its plinth, old College Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club London Borough of Southwark — Dulwich Park Dulwich Park Friends
42.
Finsbury Park
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Finsbury Park is a public park in the ward of the London neighbourhood of Harringay. It is in the formerly covered by the historic parish of Hornsey. It was one of the first of the great London parks laid out in the Victorian era, the park borders the districts of Finsbury Park, Harringay, Stroud Green, and Manor House. The park has a mix of ground, formal gardens, avenues of mature trees. There is also a lake, a play area, a cafe. Sports facilities in the park include football pitches, a green, an athletics stadium. Unusually for London, the hosts two facilities for American sports, an American football field, home to the London Blitz. Parkland Walk, a park, provides a route that links the park with Crouch Hill Park, Crouch End. The park was landscaped on the extremity of what was originally a woodland area in the Manor or Prebend of Brownswood. It was part of a large expanse of woodland called Hornsey Wood that was cut further and further back for use as grazing land during the Middle Ages, in the mid-18th century a tea room had opened on the knoll of land on which Finsbury Park is situated. Londoners would travel north to escape the smoke of the capital, around 1800 the tea rooms were developed into a larger building which became known as the Hornsey Wood House/Tavern. A lake was built on the top of the knoll with water pumped up from the nearby New River. There was boating, a shooting and archery range, and probably cock fighting, the Hornsey Wood Tavern was destroyed in the process of making the area into a park, but the lake was enlarged. Once the park had opened, a pub across the road from its entrance along Seven Sisters Road called itself the Hornsey Wood Tavern after the original. This pub was renamed the Alexandra Dining Room and closed for business in April 2007. In 1841 the people of Finsbury in the City of London petitioned for a park to alleviate conditions of the poor, the present-day site of Finsbury Park was one of four suggestions for the location of a park. Originally to be named Albert Park, the first plans were drawn up in 1850, renamed Finsbury Park, plans for the parks creation were ratified by an Act of Parliament in 1857. Despite some local opposition, the park was opened in 1869, during the First World War the park was known as a location for pacifist meetings
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Forster Memorial Park
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Forster Memorial Park, is a public park in London Borough of Lewisham. It is located between Bellingham Road and Whitefoot Lane, Catford – an area referred to as Southend or Southend Village. The nearest stations are Bellingham and Beckenham Hill, the land where the park now stands was donated by H. W. Forster, first MP for Bromley and later Governor General of Australia. The Forster family had lived at Southend Hall from the early 19th century and had an estate covering what was then a rural outpost of London in the county of Kent. The land for the park was donated in memory of H. W. Forster’s two sons, Alfred and John Forster, who died in World War I, and was opened by his daughter in 1922. The park was expanded again in 1937, when land to the north was bought from the Forster Estate Company. The park, which is accessed from Whitefoot Lane, extends to 17 hectares and is unusual for an area in that its central area of open grassland is surrounded by relict ancient woodland. This wood includes ash, hornbeam and oak trees, the woodland’s shrub layer has been found to include some wild service tree, a rare species in the UK that is almost exclusively found in ancient woods and hedgerows. The area has managed since 1999 by the borough’s environmental taskforce. Their work includes removal of invasive species, such as sycamore, the park includes a children’s play area, BMX track, cycle route and cycling proficiency area and a football pitch. Excalibur Estate History of Southend Village, including historic maps Nature conservation report from Lewisham Borough Council
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Hampstead Heath
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Hampstead Heath is a large, ancient London park, covering 320 hectares. This grassy public space sits astride a sandy ridge, one of the highest points in London, running from Hampstead to Highgate, which rests on a band of London Clay. The heath is rambling and hilly, embracing ponds, recent and ancient woodlands, a lido, playgrounds, and a training track, the south-east part of the heath is Parliament Hill, from which the view over London is protected by law. Running along its perimeter are a chain of ponds – including three open-air public swimming pools – which were originally reservoirs for drinking water from the River Fleet. The heath is a Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation, lakeside concerts are held there in summer. The heath first entered the books in 986 when Ethelred the Unready granted one of his servants five hides of land at Hemstede. This same land is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as held by the monastery of St. Peters at Westminster Abbey. Over time, plots of land in the manor were sold off for building, particularly in the early 19th century, the main part of the heath was acquired for the people by the Metropolitan Board of Works. Parliament Hill was purchased for the public for £300,000, Golders Hill was added in 1898 and Kenwood House and grounds were added in 1928. From 1808 to 1814 Hampstead Heath hosted a station in the shutter telegraph chain which connected the Admiralty in London to its ships in the port of Great Yarmouth. The City of London Corporation has managed the heath since 1989, before that it was managed by the GLC and before that by the London County Council. In 2009, the City of London proposed to upgrade a footpath across the heath into a service-road, the proposal met with protests from local residents and celebrities, and did not proceed. The heath sits astride a sandy ridge that rests on a band of London clay and it runs from east to west, its highest point being 134 metres. As the sand was easily penetrated by rainwater which was held by the clay. Hampstead Heath contains the largest single area of land in Greater London. Buses serve several roads around the heath, the heaths 320 hectares include a number of distinct areas. Hampstead Heath is an important refuge for wildlife, including snakes, foxes, rabbits, slow worms, squirrels. Common kingfishers, jackdaws, pipistrelles and Daubentons bats are seen over the ponds, some introduced species have also thrived at the site, for example muntjac deer, terrapins and ring-necked parakeets
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London Air Park
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London Air Park, also known as Hanworth Air Park, was a grass airfield in the grounds of Hanworth Park House, operational 1917-1919 and 1929-1947. It was on the edge of Feltham, now part of the London Borough of Hounslow. In the 1930s, it was best known as a centre for flying, society events, visits by the Graf Zeppelin airship. Hanworth Park House was built by the Duke of St Albans to replace Old Hanworth Park which was burnt down in 1797, for remains of earlier house see remains listed in Tudor Court and Tudor Close, and Ann Stanhope. It is a two-storeys stock-brick structure and has a tall basement, Hanworth Park House has an impressive 11 French casement windows on both floors, opening on to balcony, a central open pediment and a hipped slate roof, sloping down on all sides. Both floors have cast iron columns or trellis, the ground one has a central Portland stone, Doric, tetrastyle, fluted columned front porch, with a frieze end cornice. In front,17 wide Portland stone steps lead to the house with plain balustrades, a rosette frieze is above the each level. The west side has a balcony on brackets to ground floor, inside the style is Greek stone and plaster with some later alteration. The staircase is of cast iron balusters and with a central glazed lantern above. At the end of 1915, the Whitehead Aircraft Co Ltd, headed by John Alexander Whitehead, manufactured six B. E. 2b aircraft for the Royal Flying Corps, at his factory in Richmond. That was followed by an order for one hundred Maurice Farman MF.11 Shorthorns, Whitehead then purchased the whole of Hanworth Park, plus an area northwest of the park. Since 1915, Hanworth Park House, in the centre of the park, was occupied by the British Red Cross for recuperation of wounded servicemen, the Longford River, flowing northwest-southeast, was partly culverted and covered, to permit aircraft to taxy over it. The original company was taken over by Whitehead Aviation Construction Co Ltd, the first Pups, initially built at Whiteheads Richmond works, were flown from Hanworth aerodrome in early 1917. In 1917, the aerodrome was officially designated an Aircraft Acceptance Park, the factory employed 600 workers in 1916, and by 1918 covered 325,000 sq ft. In 1917, the Whitehead Flying School was formed, using Caudron G. 3s, production of Pups ended in early 1918, when 820 had been completed. The final aircraft production was of 500 Airco D. H. 9s, Whitehead offered several projected aircraft designs, a seaplane was built, but never flown. In 1920, diversification plans failed, Whitehead Aircraft was dissolved,2,000 workers were dismissed, in January 1924, Feltham Garden Suburbs Ltd acquired Hanworth Park and other assets of Whitehead Aircraft. In 1926, Aston Martin purchased buildings at the end of the industrial site nearest to Feltham
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Holland Park
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Holland Park is a district and a public park in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, in west London. Holland Park has a reputation as an affluent and fashionable area, known for attractive large Victorian townhouses, and high-class shops and restaurants. Though there are no boundaries, they are roughly Kensington High Street to the south, Holland Road to the west, Holland Park Avenue to the north. Holland Park Avenue is at the boundaries of the four wards of Norland, Holland, Pembridge. Holland Park is about 22 hectares in area, the northern half of the park is semi-wild woodland, the central section around the ruins of Holland House is more formal with several garden areas, and the southernmost section is used for sport. Today the remains of the form a backdrop for the open air Holland Park Theatre. The green-roofed Commonwealth Institute lies to the south, in 2010, the park set aside a section for pigs whose job was to reclaim the area from nettles etc. in order to create another meadow area for wild flowers and fauna. Cattle were used subsequently to similar effect, the district was rural until the 19th century. Most of it was formerly the grounds of a Jacobean mansion called Holland House, in the later decades of that century the owners of the house sold off the more outlying parts of its grounds for residential development, and the district which evolved took its name from the house. It also included some areas around the fringes which had never been part of the grounds of Holland House, notably the Phillimore Estate. In the late 19th century a number of artists and art collectors lived in the area. The group were known as The Holland Park Circle. Holland Park was for the most part comfortably upper middle class when originally developed. Of the nineteenth-century residential developments of the area, one of the most architecturally interesting is The Royal Crescent designed in 1839, the stucco fronted crescent is painted white, in the style of the many Nash terraces which can be elsewhere in Londons smarter residential areas. Today many of these four houses have been converted to apartments. The Royal crescent is listed Grade II, aubrey House is situated to the North-East of the park. Holland Park is now one of the most expensive districts in London or anywhere in the world. Several foreign countries maintain their embassies here, pete Townshends song How Can You Do It Alone includes the narrators reference to a flasher walking up Holland Park Road
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Mayesbrook Park
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Mayesbrook Park is a 43 hectare public park in Dagenham in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. It is owned and managed by the borough council, the southern end, which is mainly a large lake, is a Local Nature Reserve. The area covered by the park was part of the historic Manor of Jenkins. The park, which was opened in 1934, was created to meet the need for space for the London County Councils Becontree Housing Estate. The park has a car park, a play area, football pitches, a cricket pitch and pavilion, an athletic track, tennis courts, basketball court. The Mayesbrook Park project has used green infrastructure engineering to address flood water management needs, the southern end has two large lakes which are rich in wildlife, newly planted woodland and rough grassland. The Mayes Brook runs along the western edge, there is access from Lodge Avenue. Mayesbrook is also a ward of the London Borough of Barking, the population of the ward at the 2011 census was 10,342. London Borough of Barking and Dagenham
