‘’And after summer evermore succeeds Barren winter with his wrathful nipping cold ……” William Shakespeare.

For a few weeks, around Christmas and the New Year, we really did have a very nippy spell.

The lakes were frozen over. Then followed the rain which seems to have been never ending, with saturated ground and mud splashed early bulbs appearing.

POLICE REPORTING

This arrived from the Royal Parks, just too late to be included in our pre-Christmas Newsletter. It is really important that the Parks teams can build up a picture of offending in both of “our” parks to show how we are managing (or not) without our own dedicated police force. Statistics beat hearsay and apocryphal tales any day.

“The Royal Parks works closely with the Metropolitan Police to ensure that the parks are welcoming, safe spaces for everyone.”

If you do witness a crime, you should report it directly to the police so that all details are recorded as accurately as possible.

Please call 999 if it is an emergency, for example if there is a risk that someone is in danger, if the crime is still happening, or if the suspect is still at the scene. If you’ve witnessed or been the victim of crime that isn’t an emergency, please report it to the police by calling 101 or report online Report a Crime/ Metropolitan Police

The Royal Parks follows an internal procedure for recording any crimes that occur in the parks, to ensure that appropriate action can be taken by park management if required.”

CAN YOU HELP?

We are looking for volunteers to help in the Hyde Park Information Kiosk for this year, to run from late April to mid-October. This will be our third year in operation – last year we helped nearly 25,000 visitors, and we are now starting to gear up for our opening this year.

Our key role is to help visitors navigate and enjoy the parks, by handing out maps which everyone loves, providing information on the park and directions to park and non-park destinations (e.g. Diana Memorial Fountain, Harrods and Buckingham Palace). Don’t be put off by what you think you don’t know, you may surprise yourself and you will soon fill in the blanks in your knowledge.

The kiosk operates Monday to Friday, with two three hour shifts each day (morning 10am to 1pm, afternoon 1pm to 4pm) and there are two volunteers working on each shift. Whether you want to work on a regular basis (once a week, once a fortnight) or just fill in the odd shift, we have opportunities to suit everyone’s schedule. The kiosk is at the Hyde Park Corner end of the Serpentine Road next to the Colicci catering kiosk.

We would love to hear from you if you are interested – it really is a lot of fun. Please get in touch with Patricia Ladkin who organises the kiosk by email: contact@friendshpkg.org.uk

A NEW CHAIR FOR THE ROYAL PARKS

The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport has appointed Dr Linda Yueh CBE as the new chair of The Royal Parks.

Dr Yueh will take over from Sir Loyd Grossman CBE when his term finishes at the end of February. Sir Loyd deserves many thanks from us, as his term as chair has been extended twice as the process of selecting a new chair has been quite lengthy.

Dr Yueh has an impressive track record, and her CBE was awarded for services to economics. You can read all about Dr Yueh on our website: www.friendshpkg.org.uk

I have written on behalf of all of us, to welcome her and to tell her how much we are sure she will appreciate these great parks as much as we do.

PLAYGROUND PROGRESS

I make no apologies for giving you a fresh bulletin on the Princess Diana playground rebuild and our own Elfin Oak refurb.

Anyone strolling up the Broad Walk past Kensington Palace recently, will have been astonished to see going past them an enormous low-loader, on its last stage of the journey from Germany, to deliver the high treehouse walk to the site. By now, the galleon (or Pirate ship) will have arrived as well, and both key items are being settled in. Both play items are taller than the ones they replace. The original foundations of the galleon are being used so it covers the same footprint but looks excitingly enormous, with an additional deck.

The landscaping, which includes a giant crocodile, will take some time to complete and surrounds the large play items.

Work will start in the 2nd or 3rd week of February on the Elfin Oak. The company which won the tendering process has a good track record. The oak was last refurbished in 1997. The little figures will go away to be properly repainted. We will be really pleased if the Elfin Oak stands proudly alongside the new super world-famous playground when it reopens in the early summer.

Thanks to playground manager Ryan Gill for his great photographs. This is one where we really can’t get on to the site!

AN UPLIFTING MORNING

Your accredited photographer, Paul Shelley, and I had the honour on a very dark, wet January morning, of meeting one of our longest-standing members and a volunteer, Patrick Read. Patrick has, since 1938 when he was five years old, lived in a house tucked away behind Hyde Park Corner. From memories of sitting on his staircase watching the Battle of Britain over the City, to art school (then called Central and now Central St Martins), to an amazing career in the theatre, he had us both enchanted. Starting at Jeanetta Cochrane, he worked with both Oliver Messel and Cecil Beaton. He remembers decorating the Royal Opera House with swags and flowers for a performance (the first?) of Britten’s Gloriana, for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth ll.

Patrick was enlisted by no 1 member, the late Lady Riches (Anne), after a chat about a wonderful reference book she had in her information “Kiosk” in the lodge, by the Decimus Burton screen.

“You’re in” she said and he’s volunteered to help the public ever since. Time has taken its toll recently on Patrick’s ability to get about, but his memory is wonderful. I asked him about his thoughts on dealing with all those people over the years.

“I met lots of fun people, many of them generous and kind, and learnt a lot about other countries. Very few were rude. I’ve so much enjoyed working in the Park and meeting people”.

Thank you, Patrick, for everything you’ve done for ‘The Friends’ and the visitors from all round the world, and for providing a warm welcome and a chat to all those people over so many years.

More details of our conversation will be featured in our annual Review in the Autumn.

HOLD THE DATE

We are planning a variety of tempting events over the spring and summer and will give you dates to hold as we confirm these. Booking (where applicable will be via Eventbrite) look out for it near the date.

TOUR OF THE HYDE PARK NURSERY
Thursday May 7th, 6pm

Especially recommended to those of you who are new members or haven’t visited before. The acres of specialist growing space are full to bursting at this time of year with all the plants grown for the Royal Parks, and for the beds around Buckingham Palace and Downing Street.

Manager Rob Dowling shows us round and we finish with drinks and snacks, in a pretty part of this tucked-away place. Sometimes we leave with a “going home” present.

Look out for our plant sale date which will follow in late June or July, when we can buy at bargain prices any of these fabulous plants which are surplus to requirements.

Annual General Meeting
Wednesday 8th July, 6pm

There will be plenty more events to follow.

A TEASER TO END

Walking through the cockpit, I was puzzled by the benches installed along the path. How odd, what a peculiar shape. Are they designed for people to sleep on or, perhaps, a stand to stack deck chairs on in the summer? Answer: Neither
At The Hyde Park Learning Centre (used to be The Lookout).

They are for sitting on as usual. Why that shape? They are immensely heavy. Nobody could shift them. They are actually designed for the parade ground, where there are no normal benches at all near the Marble Arch area because they might get flung around by Speakers’ Corner lively behaviour. These, therefore, are designed to be impossible to be lifted by any normal efforts, but moveable to clear the area for Winter Wonderland and British Summer Time. They will return there for a few months when the ground has been re-established.

A piece about benches all over both Parks will follow soon as they are now popping up like spring flowers.

Sue Price
Chairman
2nd February 2026

Friends of Hyde Park & Kensington Gardens
Old Police House, Hyde Park, London W2 2UH
contact@friendshpkg.org.uk
www.friendshpkg.org.uk

Photography:
Paul Shelley
Rob Dowling
Patricia Ladkin
Ryan Gill
Sue Price

Setting:
Lynden Easton