Open Ended Spaces
Category: Open Spaces
There’s something counter-intuitive about exposing ‘delicate’ children to the elements, come rain, come shine: (1)
Sometimes, when we got there in the morning the snow would have blown in on to the tables and chairs and we would have to clear it off before we could start.
But by all accounts, it did Norman Collier, a pupil at the Aspen House Open Air School in Streatham in the 1930s, ‘the world of good’.
The school was opened by the London County Council in 1925 for pupils described at the time as ‘pre-tuberculous’ – children who were anaemic, asthmatic or malnourished. It was the fifth of the LCC’s open-air schools. The first had been opened in Bostall Wood in Woolwich on land donated by the Royal Arsenal Cooperative Society in 1907. But it was the first built to the council’s ‘improved design’ which would go on to be used in fourteen…
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Rethinking Parks
‘Over the next two years, Nesta, The Heritage Lottery Fund and The Big Lottery Fund will back a small number of pioneering innovations, with a focus on finding the new business models that will enable our parks to thrive for the next century.
For example, what if parks made the most of temporary installations to generate income – like open air cinemas, food festivals or art showcases? What if communities took on the maintenance of parks, or real-time user data from smartphones was used to inform maintenance regimes?
If you’ve got an idea to reimagine the way your local park is used, maintained or run, we want to hear from you.’
After a stroll through Estrela Gardens in Lisbon we found our way to somewhere new to us – the English Cemetery just over the road. What a discovery- a quiet, green and fascinating space where a wide range of graves and monuments records the long association of the English with Portugal. The website of the Anglican Church in Lisbon describes it’s past:
‘Part of the Treaty of 1654 negotiated between Cromwell and King João IV of Portugal stipulated that English subjects living in Portugal should have a plot allotted to them “fit for the burial of their dead” in the Lisbon area. Due to opposition from the Inquisition, nothing was done about this until the early eighteenth century and it was only in 1717 that Consul Poyntz was able to report back to London that he had leased a suitable plot near the City “for the burial of our dead”. It became known as St. George’s Cemetery. From those early beginnings until the present day non- Roman Catholic British Nationals have had a traditional privilege of burial at St. George’s; practising Roman Catholics are now also admitted.
It is an historic site for many reasons and an interesting one too. Probably the most famous British person buried there is the novelist Henry Fielding; he came to Lisbon to try and recover from health problems but actually died on 8th October 1754. No-one knows exactly where he was buried, but a monument to him in the form of a raised tomb was erected by public subscription in 1830. Later on in the Peninsular War Portuguese soldiers acting under orders from Marshal Beresford forced open the door in order to inter the remains of Brigadier General Coleman; legend has it that many other British soldiers were buried there during this period but have no marked graves. From the twentieth century there are rows of Commonwealth War Graves, commemorating servicemen who happened to die in the Lisbon area during World War II. These are but three examples, a wander round confirms that the remains of many interesting people from all walks of life and different nationalities have been interred at St. George’s for almost three hundred years.
In the second half of the nineteenth century many trees and shrubs were planted in the cemetery, some of which survive to this day. It makes it a peaceful, verdant spot, a walled oasis covering several acres in the middle of Portugal’s busy capital.’
Here is my record of our visit in late October 2013.
The Cross of St. George flying at the entrance to the cemetery
Henry Fielding’s monument
Dappled shade makes this a beautiful spot for contemplation
Some more exotic planting
An interesting use of Box – it alomost recreates a coffin on top of the grave
Commonwealth War Graves
St. George’s church
Teracotta edging used to demarcate graves
Old School Gardener
‘This earth sculpture has been created by artist Richard Harris to draw attention to different species of trees that have traditionally been coppiced and their many characteristics and uses by people now and through history.’
Old School Gardener
Kids Fund- children experiencing nature
‘We believe that the only way you can learn about and appreciate the environment is by getting outside, experiencing it…and having some fun. The FSC Kids Fund provides financial support for groups of disadvantaged young people who would like to visit one of our centres for an FSC experience.
FSC Kids Fund courses are funded by donations – from FSC members, FSC staff and support from Trust Funds.
Read about the experiences of groups who have really benefitted from Kids Fund below:
Find out about becoming a member of the FSC and contributing to Kids Fund
Find out more about how to apply for Kids Fund…’
Field Studies Council website
I wrote an earlier article about the ‘Star Garden’ (Jardim da Estrela) in Lisbon, singing its praises as a wonderful example of a classic public park/ gardens and how it has maintained an important role in the life of the capital. On a recent trip I managed to weave in an early Autumn visit, something I haven’t done before.
It was even better than in the Spring – luxuriant foliage was everywhere, people were out and about enjoying the space and the low autumn sunshine provided some wonderful lighting effects. I was particularly taken this time with the little ‘public library’ housed in a picturesque kiosk in the centre of the gardens. Obviously popular with a set of older men, who here, as in other parts of the gardens, were reading or playing cards- one suspects that they are regulars.
This seems to be a wonderful amenity and an idea that’s worth a try in UK parks and gardens! (or are there some examples already out there that I’m not aware of?)
Library in the Garden- brilliant!
Cafes too
Books and Mags to loan on the spot
I also mentioned in my previous article the various statues in the gardens and how these were placed here after the formation of the Portuguese Republic in the early 20th century. I made a point in this visit to seek some more of them out, as I had not noticed them before, hiding, as they seem to be, under trees or in mature shrubbery.
My visit felt rather like meeting up with an old friend, someone I hadn’t seen for some time. I was able to easily recollect their more important physical features and personaility traits, but was also drawn to some new features or angles on them. My ‘new look’ at Estrela was repaid not only with the uncovering of more statues, but also with some superb scenes of dappled sunlight (including the dramatic back lighting of large exotic leaves), superb ‘Dragon’ and other trees, a fantastic decorative ceiling on the bandstand roof, lively play area, late summer blooms of Hibiscus and unusual tree conservation measures (filling in a hole in a trunk with brickwork!)
I wonder what the place must be like high summer when various events inlcuding live Jazz add yet another dimension to this magical place? Another visit beckons…..
The splendid ceiling of the bandstand in Estrela Gardens, Lisbon- a highlight of a recent visit
Related article: Portuguese Gardens: Estrela Garden, Lisbon
Old School Gardener
Seed Bombs – all you wanted to know…
A neat description of the various kinds of seed bomb in use by ‘Guerilla Gardeners’- why not get some or make your own to lay siege to that unattractive piece of wasteland at the end of the road?
Old School Gardener
iLandscape.com
Old School Garden 