Much Loved Memorial Park to Have Spring Facelift


West Ken's Gwendwr Gardens to have paving repairs and new woodland flowers

 

Gwendwr Gardens, the small 70 year-old park just off North End Road in West Kensington, is getting a facelift for spring.

Gwendwr Gardens was opened in 1949 after being gifted by the Gunter Estate to what was then Fulham Council as a memorial to residents from West Kensington who died in the bombings of the Second World War.

H&F Council says in recent years though, the foliage has become overgrown and some of the paving – which is the original paving from the park's opening in 1949 – has become uneven so the park is getting a much-needed make over so it can be enjoyed for years to come.

" Gwendwr Gardens is a lovely piece of West Kensington and an important memorial to residents who died in the blitz, so we are pleased it is getting this investment," says Cllr Wesley Harcourt, H&F Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment, Transport and Residents' Services.

" The works, which include repairing paving along and planting areas of native woodland flowers, should give this charming and much-loved green space a new lease of life just in time for spring."

The gardens have remained largely in the same form as when first created in 1949, with many of the original features. But now many of the trees and shrubs need to be cut back to open up the park’s views again.

Gwendwr Gardens in West Kensington

Gwendwr Gardens today

The park will remain closed during the works, which are expected to be complete in April.

The sunken garden in the centre of the park will be given a new lease of life by being filled with colourful plants. And native flowers will be planted in shady areas to help boost biodiversity.

The triangular park, which is just under an acre, is enclosed by Gwendwr Road, Trevanion Road and Gunterstone Road.

It is named after the Gunter family’s home in Wales.

March 11, 2016