Author Archives: leafshade
Bloomsbury walks during Urban Tree Festival 18 -19 May
Although the plane trees of Bloomsbury may be thought of as the distinctive feature of the area, two walks during this year’s Urban Tree Festival will also focus on the other interesting trees (and more) in three local squares. The walks are being offered by Camden Guides at 11.30 am to 12.45 on Saturday and […]
Bluebells in Bloomsbury
Warm sunshine has brought out the bluebells, spreading a blue carpet here in Queen Square. Gordon Square also has bluebells, with a signboard in one corner explaining the difference between native English ones (with flowers on one side of the stem only), Spanish ones (with a fuller, more upright flower head) and hybrids between […]
Party – St George’s Gardens 27 April
This year’s St George’s Gardens party will be on the Saturday after Easter. Please be there, bring your families, invite your neighbours. We’ll have children’s entertainer Jebb the Juggler, music from the Café Marama Band, face-painting and second hand books – all as usual. But, in addition, there will be music from Gwang’s Djembe […]
The medicinal bed in Brunswick Square
The volunteer gardeners were very busy – all 14 of them – on the first Saturday of April planting herbs and shrubs, to refresh the existing pharmaceutical garden inspired by Lovell’s Herbal. The plants included myrtle, rhubarb and rosemary, to expand the range of plants with medicinal properties in this area outside the UCL School of […]
Goldfinches in Marchmont Community Garden
A lovely pair of goldfinches was spotted last week in one of the cherry trees in MCG as a volunteer was tidying up after the recent gales. This is the first such sighting since the early days of MCG in 2012 (see image). Quite a few great tits have been spotted – fingers crossed that […]
Store Street Spring Market, 29-31 March
The inaugural Store Street Spring Market will take place from Friday 29th to Sunday 31st March 2019. Supported by The Bedford Estates, the market will feature a vibrant, colourful selection of international street cuisine, artisan grocery foods and ethically traded handmade arts and crafts Visitors will have the opportunity to discover an array of unusual […]
Insect hotels for Russell Square gardens
Russell Square gardens will soon acquire two beautiful ‘bug hotels’, which will be installed on 26th March by a group of Volunteers. The Russell Square Insect Hotels were the idea of a new Volunteer Gardening Group for the Square. They have been sponsored by two adjacent hotels (Imperial London Hotels and Kimpton Fitzroy Hotels). New […]
Living, Working and Surviving in Bloomsbury – Local Resident Anthony Heap’s 1931-1945 Diaries
Robin Woolven will speak about the 1931-45 diaries of an eccentric Bloomsbury resident, Anthony Heap, at the Friends of St George’s Gardens AGM on Friday 22 March, 7-9pm, at the Marchmont Street Community Centre (WC1N 1AB). This is also an opportunity to hear what FoSGG have achieved in the last year and about their plans […]
Spring brings out new volunteer gardeners in the squares
The call for Volunteer Gardeners in Russell Square has been answered by the community, with residents, Bedford Estates, and staff and students from the University of London, Imperial Hotel and the British Museum all coming together. On Saturday 23 March, with plants supplied by Camden Council, the volunteers planted up two flower beds to re-establish […]
Legal duty to maintain parks will not be enforced
London Parks and Gardens Trust, which campaigns for the green spaces in London, said in their recent newsletter: We were dismayed to hear that the Government has indicated that it will not attempt to enforce a legal duty on councils to maintain local parks. Responding to a petition calling for changes to ensure councils ring-fence […]
Bloomsbury Squares & Gardens 