Open Squares

A couple of Sundays ago Ruth and I headed for the Open Garden Squares weekend, which we last went to in 2016. Profiting by experiences at previous such events of spending most of the day travelling between venues, we were determined to pick a collection of places to visit within a reasonably confined area. I decided I wanted to visit some actual garden squares this time, and picked a selection from the 'Kensington, Brompton and Chelsea' section of the guide.

Ruth in Thurloe Square

First up, after brunch at the Carluccio's opposite South Kensington tube, was Thurloe Square, which Ruth later decided she liked the best of all the squares we saw - unlike all the others, it was divided up into different zones rather than having a central lawn surrounded by paths.

We then visited the nearby Ismaili Centre - a building I've noticed before but never gone into - as its roof garden was open as part of the weekend. This one had a 'no photography' rule, so no pictures - but here's a photo of it in the guide, sans the crowds that were there when we visited. We were escorted in the lift up several floors and then joined a small group for a mini-tour. The garden was apparently designed as a traditional four-part garden or 'chahar bagh'. It's very lovely.

After this we visited the Brompton Food Market for a cup of tea, then headed westwards along Cromwell Road to visit Courtfield Gardens (East) and (West). The 'East' garden is mainly occupied by a church, though apparently it now houses a theological college.

In Courtfield Gardens (East)

The 'West' garden is a more standard lawned area surrounded by paths. We failed to locate the handkerchief tree mentioned in the guidebook. On the way in we were handed a guide to the plants in the garden, but with only their Latin names given, which wasn't too helpful - though quite a few Latin plant names give the impression of being crudely made up from English words with Latin-type endings (admittedly we couldn't spot 'handkerchiefium' on the list, though we did look for it).

Courtfield Gardens (West)

On a couple of streets away to Bramham Gardens, with a different feel of house (variously red-brick Victorian and Dutch-Gothic style, apparently).

Victorian houses backing onto Bramham Gardens

Then on to Collingham Gardens - these are really lovely, bordered by interesting terraces of houses - including these - that back directly onto the gardens. The lucky residents must really get a peaceful green oasis feeling in the middle of London.

Collingham Gardens

The last garden we visited was Gledhow Gardens. For whatever reason - possibly garden saturation by this point - I didn't take any pictures of this one, but was very charmed to see the actual two cats that grace the photo of these gardens in the guidebook (below), together with their elderly owner and two cat baskets. Does she bring the cats into the garden every day? One of them looked like a British Blue, lovely- if slightly cross-looking cats that you don't see often. Both were lying around in the sun when we arrived at the garden; after a while both headed back into their cat baskets when the owner got up. Intriguing - clearly they know the form and don't wander off.

We headed back to Paddington across Hyde Park, feeling extremely constructive at having visited seven venues in the space of only a couple of hours or so. Park was full of people sunning themselves. Lovely sunny day and thankfully I didn't get too much hay fever, given the awfulness of the pollen levels currently.

Ruth in Hyde Park