Established by the Friends Of Abbey Gardens within the footprint of the ancient Cistercian Abbey of St Mary Stratford Langthorne, Abbey Gardens is a community space in the London Borough of Newham which was opened in 2006 to provide residents of the local area with access to a green space where they could grow flowers, vegetables and fruit. Today it contains 30 raised beds in all, which this season are occupied by everything from sunflowers to tomatoes, via some very outlandish-looking Echinacea purpurea ‘Magnus’, or purple coneflowers as they are commonly known, part of the daisy family.
The Friends Of Abbey Gardens number about 60 people – between them they run regular sessions where new gardeners are made welcome, and there’s also a calendar of special events throughout the year. The next happening will be on Saturday 8 September when there is a charity open-day, followed by a Harvest Festival celebration on the 22nd of the month.
As you can see from the photographs in this post and the online album here, its a lovely colourful space. I note that it’s also used by local residents who just want to come along and chill out – someone was sitting on one of the benches with their head buried in a book when I was snapping away today. If you’re local and are green-fingered, or would like to be, why not pay them a visit? They’re right next to the new Abbey Road DLR station which is in easy reach of both Stratford and Canning Town.
About Pete Stean
