Old Farm Park COVID Memorial
There are approximately 4000 parks and green spaces in Greater London. Bexley Borough alone has over 100. Public parks and green spaces are vital to modern cities, providing essential health, environmental and social benefits. They boost physical and mental wellbeing by reducing stress and providing a place for exercise. Furthermore they enhance urban sustainability, mitigate heat, and provide a sustainable environment for a wildlife. Parks are often a venue for social activities and events and as such are an important part of the local community. Going to the park has always been a part of my life. I live next to Old Farm Park in Sidcup and have made use of this recreational space throughout my life. I used visit with my parents in the seventies, when I was a child. Thirty years later my son, father in-law and I would fly kites there. Now I take my grandchildren to Old Farm Park as it now has a playground.
There are approximately 4000 parks and green spaces in Greater London. Bexley Borough alone has over 100. Public parks and green spaces are vital to modern cities, providing essential health, environmental and social benefits. They boost physical and mental wellbeing by reducing stress and providing a place for exercise. Furthermore they enhance urban sustainability, mitigate heat, and provide a sustainable environment for a wildlife. Parks are often a venue for social activities and events and as such are an important part of the local community. Going to the park has always been a part of my life. I live next to Old Farm Park in Sidcup and have made use of this recreational space throughout my life. I used visit with my parents in the seventies, when I was a child. Thirty years later my son, father in-law and I would fly kites there. Now I take my grandchildren to Old Farm Park as it now has a playground.
Because there is an abundance of parks in the UK, they can sometimes be taken for granted. They’re often seen as local resources that you use and you don’t really think about beyond the fact that it is there. However, as these green spaces are frequently in prime locations in urban areas they are often targetted by property developers. In 2019 Bexley Council decided to resolve its financial issues by selling off one of its parks. It was a controversial decision and it was strongly reisted by residents of the borough. Even the local MP at the time, thought it unwise policy. Despite concerns, the council decision was final and Old Farm Park was selected to be sold. Fortunately, due to an access road running behind some of the houses that back onto the park, only half of the land was bought by property developers. Hence in early 2020 Old Farm Park was partitioned and building began on sixty homes in the eastern half.
Up until 2020, Old Farm Park was effectively just a field with trees around the edges Some areas were specifically left unmaintained to accommodate “rewilding”. When the park was partitioned it was decided to landscape the remaining area and build a path to circumnavigate it. Exercise areas and a children’s playground were also added. Areas of rewilding were kept and a pond was built with decking looking out over it. No doubt this redevelopment of the park was undertaken to increase the desirability and marketability of the new housing estate. Residents opinions on this makeover were mixed. The quality of some of the work was questionable and as a result, the paths have been repaired several times already. The pond was not correctly constructed and as such, has never maintained a body of water for more than a few day. Yet despite these short comings, Old Farm Park is a pleasant and safe environment.
The pandemic and the accompanying lockdown was certainly made more manageable by numerous parks in this borough. The provided a degree of freedom from the confines of our own homes and a means to meet family and friends in a safe fashion. Therefore I was both surprised and pleased to see that a decision was made by the council to redevelop the failed pond in Old Farm Park and repurpose it into a rock garden and COVID memorial. The work was carried out towards the end of February and the memorial was officially opened on Sunday 8th March. During 2020-21 over 720 people died COVID-19 in Bexley Borough. My father passed away in hospital in September 2020, although not from COVID. However, due to the lockdown, I only visited him once. Hence this is a matter close to my heart and I am pleased that there is now a place of remembrance locally. It is important that the pandemic is not quickly forgotten, so this is a welcome addition to Old Farm Park, which is itself an invaluable community asset.
More Walking for Pleasure
I’ve written previously about walking for pleasure and its respective health benefits. I’ve decided that I wish to do more than just walk locally and for mainly functional reasons. Walking to the shops is good exercise but somewhat lacking in places of interest and areas of natural beauty, unless your definition includes the local Indian Restaurant and betting shop. So in an attempt to expand the scope of my travels, I’ve downloaded a few bespoke walking apps to my phone that are relevant to the local area. The most notable is the BexleyWalks app. Bexley being the London Borough in which I live. Although I enjoyed these suggested walks, they have covered a lot of familiar territory. Yes, it has been interesting to follow the various routes and pause to read about the local area history. But many of the walks are based in an area I’ve lived in for four decades. I need to travel further afield to somewhere I don’t know so well.
I’ve written previously about walking for pleasure and its respective health benefits. I’ve decided that I wish to do more than just walk locally and for mainly functional reasons. Walking to the shops is good exercise but somewhat lacking in places of interest and areas of natural beauty, unless your definition includes the local Indian Restaurant and betting shop. So in an attempt to expand the scope of my travels, I’ve downloaded a few bespoke walking apps to my phone that are relevant to the local area. The most notable is the BexleyWalks app. Bexley being the London Borough in which I live. Although I enjoyed these suggested walks, they have covered a lot of familiar territory. Yes, it has been interesting to follow the various routes and pause to read about the local area history. But many of the walks are based in an area I’ve lived in for four decades. I need to travel further afield to somewhere I don’t know so well.
Luckily, South East London has the Green Chain Walk. This is a linked system of open spaces covering five London boroughs. Bexley, Bromley, Lewisham, Greenwich and Southwark. The Greater London Council (now the Greater London Authority) created this Green Chain of 300 open spaces to protect them from building activity in 1977. The various paths cover a mixture of urban and rural areas and offer a wealth of sites and places of interest. The 18th century Gothic folly of Severndroog Castle, the Art Deco glamour of Eltham Palace and birdwatching at Southmere, among the boats and fishermen. This also includes numerous parks such as Plumstead common and Oxleas Woods. The walk also includes the wildlife and replica dinosaurs of Crystal Palace Park, Horniman Museum and Gardens and the Thames Barrier. The entirety of the route is well signposted throughout. All signs show the 'G-C' logo and text "Green Chain Walk". There are also numerous apps that can be used to navigate this extensive network.
I’ve also started trawling though websites like meetup.com to see if I can find a local walking group. It would be nice to enjoy walking with a group of like-minded people and I often find that I stick with new projects more consistently when I commit to a third-party group. In the meantime, I’ve joined the Cool Dudes Walking Club, run by comedian and long-time walker Marek Larwood. Marek has documented his walks and day trip for a while on his You Tube channel. In between the quips and humour, I have found them very useful as well as entertaining. Recently he has created a separate channel for his walking activities and has shared several ambitious walks that he has undertaken. This includes a four-day journey around the Isle of Wight coast. Although it is not a walking club in the traditional sense (as of yet there have been no formal group walks organised), it does present an opportunity to interact with other walking enthusiasts on social media. And the perks of membership are outstanding. These include a “Cool Dudes Walking Club pencil, badge, membership card and terrible hand drawn map of Britain”.
Finally, as South East London appears to be enjoying the last vestige of summer, I went for a brief stroll through Old Farm Park. My home backs onto the Western end of this public space, although the Eastern end is still allegedly awaiting development after the council sold the land in 2016. With temperatures reaching a pleasant 67° Fahrenheit (19.44° Celsius), a short stroll round the park proved most enjoyable. Greater London has a lot of infrastructure and housing problems due to the ad hoc fashion it which it has grown during the post war years. However, one thing it doesn’t lack is green spaces. Yet in such times as these, who can say how much longer such precious public resources will remain protected? It’s a terrible cliché to invoke but it’s very much a case of use it or lose it. Whenever local authorities look to sell such land, they frequently try to bolster their position by claiming that the park in question isn’t being used. Therefore it’s essential that the public walk their dogs, hold activities and generally ensure that these local resources are utilised in a high-profile fashion. Which brings me nicely back to my initial point about walking.