Early Summer

“…I heard a singing in the sky,
And busy things went buzzing by”
Rose Fyleman.

Welcome to hot, heavenly Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens, at a time when our two parks really show how important they are for us crammed-in Londoners.

Your photographers, and I apologise because we haven’t given you as much of the “B”s as you could have expected. I hope we can make it up to you with photographs in this issue.

Blossom

Was a terrific season, as good as ever with masses of tourists and couples in their wedding attire and so much selfie city action … 

Bulbs

The thousands of earlier narcissi planted by volunteers, gardeners and small specially designed tractors, did not disappoint.

Tulips came into glorious flowering colour a little later on.

Bedding

The amazing displays of spring flowering plants grown in the nursery, became attractions in their own right and held on for ages until final blasts of heat tipped them over.

Birds and Bees

Everywhere, early foxgloves full of bees. One unexpected bed which is unusual for its location (in front of the Royal Park-run public toilets close to The Hyde Park bandstand) draws admirers as well as invertebrates.

Butterflies and loud birdsong, especially in the quieter parts of both parks, have been treats.

More treats to follow in this newsletter.
You’ll need your diary so at the ready !
Sue Price

Notice of AGM – Wednesday 8th July 6pm

This is an invitation to you, as a member of The Friends of Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens, to join the Charity’s 2026 Annual General Meeting.

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the 2026 Annual General Meeting of The Friends of Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens will be held at the ‘Hyde Park Learning Centre’ formerly called ‘The LookOut’, (by kind invitation of Manager, Graham Alderton). Beginning at 6pm on Wednesday the 8th July 2026 to transact the following business.

AGENDA
Welcome by Chair, Sue Price
Introduction by Graham Alderton of the Learning Centre team
Approval of Trustees’ Report and Accounts
Resolutions- Re-elect Trustees retiring on a 3 year rotation Joanna Clark and Simon Cox
Any other business

Following the Agenda there will be Presentations by:
Hyde Park Manager – Jason Taylor
Kensington Gardens Manager – Andrew Williams
Head of Horticulture and Landscape Strategy – Matthew Pottage

Concluding with a Q & A session

Reception to follow the Meeting: If weather is fine we can enjoy the terrace and garden.

For catering purposes only please let our Trustee, Carol Joseph, know if you wish to attend the AGM: friendshpkg.admin@gmail.com

If you are unable to attend, please inform Carol Joseph, then you can appoint a proxy pursuant to sub-clause 11(10) of the Constitution.

The Hyde Park Learning Centre’ is quite a long walk. If it is not easily accessible for you, we can arrange buggy transport, collecting you from a convenient place on the edge of the Park. Please contact Will Gray: info@parkrides.org

Below is a map illustrating how to reach the ‘Hyde Park Learning Centre’ (shown as the LookOut) in Hyde Park. There are signposts around the Park.

The entrance is on the Bayswater Road side. Nearest parking is in The Triangle Car Park on West Carriage Drive, just north of the Serpentine Bridge. The car park and tube stations all take about 10 minutes to walk to.

Members Plant Sale

The Hyde Park Nursery.
Tuesday 7th July 10am to 3pm.

We are indebted to manager Robert Dowling for inviting us again
After these amazing plants which have been grown in this huge and largely hidden space have gone out to the Royal Parks and Buckingham Palace beds, there are usually some surplus plants and these, we are very lucky, are offered to the members first of all.

Although you may think your garden, window boxes or pots are already planted you’ve probably got some gaps to fill with lovely plants at bargain prices.

The gates will open at 10am, sorry no early admittance as we will be busy setting up. There will be plenty of stock and the shelves will be refilled all day. No need to panic!
Why not pop in on your dog-walk with a carrier bag, to take a few little gems home or give to a friend or neighbour?

It’s worth coming to look, even if you are not sure of what you might need, and always very photogenic.

There will be plenty of advice on hand to help if you’re not sure about plants or planting.

All proceeds from the sale of these plants go to the Royal Parks Charity.

Payment by card only, sorry no cash

Music fills the air in both Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens

Please do come along to our concerts, which have been arranged over the summer by our trustee Tina Higginson and especially, with thanks, to our very generous sponsors.

We have run the season for several years now, and it’s great to get real live music played again and to be recreating concerts for everyone of all ages to enjoy.

There is no charge and no tickets needed either. You can’t say that often these days.

Our thanks too to both managers Jason Taylor and Andy Williams, for their help with arrangements and for making some seating available for audience and musicians.

*Sunday June 14th 2.30 to 4.30 pm. Kensington Gardens bandstand. Epsom and Ewell Silver Band * Postponed from last year due to bad weather

This band, on their first appearance two years ago, produced a lovely mellow, calm selection of music, from shows and a wide variety of sources. The audience at this concert was noticeably relaxed as the bandstand is surrounded by trees and mown grass, so picnic rugs were much in evidence. Close by, an ice cream van was stationed. Some chairs will be provided.

Many thanks to Sarah Joiner, our extremely generous member, for supporting this concert.

Fingers crossed for fine weather this year, we have changed the month in search of true summer on the 14th June.

Sunday 9th August 2.30 to 4.30 pm. Hyde Park Bandstand. The All Saints Concert Band

Do come along to support them on their first appearance with us, they are looking forward to this gig very much.

There will be some seating but grass close by with a rug is an option.

We are indebted to the Marble Arch BID team for their generosity for funding a concert in the park yet again.

Sunday 16th August 2.30 to 4.30 pm. Hyde Park Bandstand. Orquesta Mambarito

A Salsa band which will once again entertain both dancers and spectators.

It’s a wonderful contrast to our other bands this season and toe-tapping, as well as being a great spectacle. If you fancy turning out in your carnival clothes, you will fit in very well.

Again, we are indebted to a generous member who wishes to remain anonymous.

Sunday 6th September 2.30 to 4.30 pm. Hyde Park Bandstand. Royal Yeomanry Military Band
With thanks to Director of Music Major David Hammond.

For us, it was very exciting last year to have our first military band performing and we are so lucky to be able to welcome another military band this year.

It’ll be a real honour for us to be able to welcome this band to London and they deserve a lot of support.

This was facilitated with support from our member Carl Richardson who represents the charitable foundation, Richardson, and funded by the Army.

For all of these, or at least the ones you are around for, do make a note in your diary.

All Hyde Park concerts have an ice cream van parked nearby.

Royal Parks toilets are opposite the bandstand, and the Serpentine Bar and Kitchen is also about two minutes’ walk away.

We are very grateful to Colicci for providing all the musicians and volunteers with drinking water.

Another generous invitation for members

Jessica Chambers (The Royal Parks Events Communications Manager) has invited our members to a tour of the BST site on Weds 1st July.

This will be in the afternoon at about 5 pm so those who work will hopefully be able to join in.

It will show you what’s going on in the middle of the week between the concerts. You will end with the cinema which starts at 7pm and there may be some more treats in store for those on the visit.

Members only

Yet more things to entice

Jessica has sent us an offer to draw names for a pair of tickets for the following shows during BST. The requests will be drawn, and the lucky winners will be told by us and their email addresses forwarded to the events team who will then make contact.

All requests to be in by Friday 19th June noon

There is one pair for each of the following:

Members only may request a pair.

Only one request per member.

Saturday 27th June- Garth Brooks
Friday 3rd July – Maroon 5
Saturday 4th July – Mumford and Sons
Sunday 5th July- Duran Duran
Saturday 11th July- Lewis Capaldi

Send your choice (one concert only) to: Friendshpkg.admin@gmail.com
Good luck!

More celebrations!

Our membership secretary, Lynden Easton, has been keeping a close eye on numbers and is now sure that we have safely passed 1000 members on our up-to-date records.

We have, for the last couple of years, longed to get to this mark.

Somehow, we felt it would help us to be heard (not that we at all feel we aren’t listened to) and hold our heads high in my favourite activity which is comparables. We stand alongside the other Royal Parks Friends’ groups and although we will never get the huge numbers of a couple of the others, we fit in comfortably.

The trustees will raise a glass to celebrate and pat each other on the back.

And, I might even be able to make contact with the person who we think is our member No. 1000

I certainly had a good interview with member 500 a few years back, and we took some good photos of her on a smart Brompton bike, only pedalled in the proper places of course.

The very best of good wishes to all you members, whether you joined 25 years ago or this week. I think, and hope, that all our wishes for our parks remain the same .

And, we will end with a brief remembrance of two wonderful recent events.

Hockney exhibition at Serpentine North

We so enjoyed an evening private view of the Hockney exhibition at Serpentine North

100 members signed up in a trice. I went in towards the end and the cool, calm atmosphere, the pictures so cleverly lighted and displayed with almost no one else there, was one of those special moments.

If you can’t book for some reason to see it, at least walk round the back of the gallery for the experience of seeing the massive painting on a high wall in the garden, with plants growing all round its base it truly looks like a Normandy landscape in the middle of London.

Thank you to the Serpentine Gallery for organising a special event for us.

Nursery Tour Hyde Park

Once again, the manager of the Nursery in Hyde Park, Rob Dowling, gave us a wonderful evening in early May

And great enthusiasm was shown as, again, this was an event which was immediately booked up. It’s a lovely and pleasantly sociable evening in a beautiful place. It’s hard for Rob to get much spare time as, particularly when we had our tour, he was involved with filming for BBC 2 Gardeners World, so it’s especially appreciated

With so many of you wanting to come to our events, the trustees will be looking at how we can perhaps enable a fairer distribution of tickets within the boundaries of Eventbrite, without which we couldn’t function.

After this Newsletter, almost entirely full of dates and events, I look forward to seeing plenty of you all in the coming months, and to our next newsletter which hopefully can focus on trees, flowers, plants and water.

Enjoy these summer months.

Sue Price
Chairman
05/06/26

Photography:
Paul Shelley
Robert Dowling
Design and Layout: Lynden Easton

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