Skimmer Vandalised in Hammersmith Park

Vandalised Skimmer

Sometimes you have to feel a bit sorry for our local council, and for everyone who works hard to improve our parks.

For many years, John Gordon-Smith and other volunteers at the Friends of the Japanese Garden in Hammersmith Park have been lobbying our Council to install a skimmer to clean up the duck weed in the Japanese Garden.  After years of waiting, we finally got the skimmer, which was then almost immediately vandalised.

It isn't clear why anyone would want to smash up the skimmer. But someone, for whatever reason, decided it would be a good plan.

The problem of duckweed

Volunteers at work in Hammersmith Park

Hammersmith Park has been waiting for years for a solution to the problem of duckweed and algae bloom.

Without a skimmer, the pond gets quickly covered in duckweed, which has to be manually removed by volunteers about once a month. 

It's backbreaking nasty work, hence the request to LBHF to install the skimmer, which was finally installed earlier this year - and immediately smashed up.

The replacement skimmer will have to be re-housed in a special protective cage which might - or might not - be vandal proof.

In the meantime, many, many thanks to all the volunteers who continue to work unpaid to clean up The Japanese Gardens and maintain it as a place of beauty and tranquility.  Next time you are strolling through our local park, spare a thought for all the hard work that goes into keeping it well maintained and pristine. 

The Shepherd's Bush Blog offers a personal view on life in Shepherd's Bush. If you would like to contribute a story about our neighbourhood, email us at shepherdsbushblog(at)gmail.com.