Beavers Released in Hammersmith Park

Hammersmith Park Beaver Dam

Beavers have been released in Hammersmith Park (known locally as "The BBC Park"), and already they are making an impact on the local ecosystem.

Residents visiting Hammersmith Park this morning may notice discreet new fencing around part of the lake. 

It forms part of a carefully managed pilot to reintroduce Eurasian beavers as a natural flood-mitigation and biodiversity project.

Japanese Garden Gets New "Torii" Gateway

New Gateway for Japanese Garden at Hammersmith Park

The Japanese Garden at Hammersmith Park has been given a new gateway, or "Torii", thanks to a generous donation by former Chair of the Friends of The Japanese Garden at Hammersmith Park, John Gordon-Smith. 

The Japanese Garden at Hammersmith Park dates from 1910, and is the chief legacy of the Japanese-British Exhibition that took place in White City.

New Tennis Courts For Hammersmith Park

Newly resurfaced tennis courts at Hammersmith Park

Thanks to our local council, the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham, for the newly resurfaced tennis courts at Hammersmith Park.

The old tennis courts had deteriorated badly and were prone to flooding, collecting mud and debris in wet weather. 

Hammersmith Park Outdoor Gym Nears Completion

Outdoor Gym at Hammersmith park

The outdoor gym in Hammersmith Park is almost ready to open.  The London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham consulted with local residents last September on whether to build an outdoor gym in Hammersmith Park and, if so what sort of equipment to install.

The location of the outdoor gym is the small triangle of grass located at the eastern end of the park, near the exit to TV Centre. 

At long last, the gym is just about ready to open to the public. This will - we hope - be a valuable community asset for the park. 

Hammersmith Park Outdoor Gym Needs Your Help

Proposed site for outdoor gym

The London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham consulted with local residents last September on whether to build an outdoor gym in Hammersmith Park and, if so what sort of equipment to install.

The location of the outdoor gym will be the small triangle of grass located at the eastern end of the park, near the exit to TV Centre. 

Unfortunately, LBHF say that the response rate was too low to justify the spend.  The council have re-opened the consultation, so it's important that we get a bigger response this time around.

Outdoor Gym for Hammersmith Park - Have Your Say

The London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham is consulting with local residents on whether to build an outdoor gym in Hammersmith Park and, if so what sort of equipment to install.

The location of the outdoor gym would be in a small triangle of grass located at the eastern end of the park, near the exit to TV Centre. 

You can have your say by emailing parks.projects@lbhf.gov.uk. 

The deadline for comments is today, Friday 15th September 2023.

Cherry Blossom in Hammersmith Park

This past week Hammersmith Park has been a riot of cherry blossom - on a sunny day visitors to our local park can sit on a bench beneath a cherry tree and watch the pink petals gently float away on the breeze.

The planting of cherry trees alongside the Japanese lanterns and the Japanese Garden means that at this time of year you can almost imagine yourself to be in Japan. 

New Tennis Nets at Hammersmith Park

Old (top) vs new (bottom)

Many thanks to the Parks Team at the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham for the new tennis nets recently installed in Hammersmith Park. 

The old nets were in pretty bad shape, with holes so big it wasn't clear whether balls were going over the net or through it.

The tennis courts in Hammersmith Park are one of our best local amenities. You can't book them in advance - meaning that anyone can drop in at any time and play.  

You might have to wait a few minutes, but spontaneity is rewarded for the patient.  

Work Begins on Hammersmith Park "Old Bowling Green"

Felled brush at Hammersmith Park

Work has begun at last to improve the "Old Bowling Green" in Hammersmith Park - that's the overgrown area beyond the tennis courts that hosts the so-called "Tiny Forest". 

Years of unplanned growth of shrubs and small trees have been cut down to make way for a more curated environment - you can see the plans from our council, the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham (LBHF) below.

Register Now for "Affordable" Macfarlane Place

Macfarlane Place - opening 2024

Macfarlane Place, the new development on Wood Lane, is underway, following the year-long process of demolition of the old BBC car park.

Local people can now register their interest in the flats in Macfarlane Place, which starting in 2024 will offer 142 new one and two bedroom flats for rent and shared ownership, part of "Phase Two" of the development. 

The new flats will be managed by Peabody Trust and are described as “affordable” - meaning that they are being offered at below market rates. 

The new development will also offer a new route to TV Centre from Wood Lane, and a new pedestrian access to Hammersmith Park. 

Hammersmith Park Tennis Court Needs Resurfacing

Soggy tennis courts in Hammersmith Park

The tennis courts in Hammersmith Park are one of our best local amenities, at least when it hasn't rained for a while. The best thing about the courts is that you can't book them in advance - meaning that anyone can drop in at any time and play.  You might have to wait a few minutes, but spontaneity is rewarded for the patient.  

The downside is that the tarmac on the courts has bizarrely been designed to drain into the centre of the courts themselves (rather than drain towards the verges, as you might expect), turning the courts into a wet sludgy mess after every rainfall.  

Friends of The Japanese Garden - June Newsletter

Clearing the pond on Sunday

The Friends of the Japanese Garden continued their hard work last Sunday, cleaning up the duckweed from the pond at the Japanese Garden.

It's a reminder of how many unpaid volunteers give up their time to help preserve the beauty of our neighbourhood parks, quietly getting on with their work with little fanfare. 

New Ugly Buildings for Hammersmith Park

TV Centre - 1 Wood Crescent. Ugly or Fugly?

For sheer ugliness it would be hard to beat the new buildings being built by Stanhope and Mitsui in Hammersmith Park, just east of the children's playground. 

Faced in grey concrete in the brutalist style, this ugly construction towers over its surroundings, even blocking out the view from many of the expensive new flats in TV Centre. 

The new development is called "TV Centre - 1 Wood Crescent", and is described at the official website as "a 9 storey building with 111,765 sq ft of prime office space". That's an ugly office block to you and me.

Friends of the Japanese Garden Feb 2022

Hammersmith Park

The Friends of the Japanese Garden are celebrating the recent cleanup of the Japanese Garden at Hammersmith Park, which you can read about in their monthly newsletter below. 

The new pond skimmer is working, by removing floating debris off the surface of the pond - especially the duckweed which, if left unchecked, completely coats the surface of the pond. 

Japanese Garden Gets Annual Clean-Up

Japanese Garden Annual Clean-Up

On October 10th the Japanese Garden got its annual clean-up, organised by the Friends of the Japanese Garden, led by John Gordon-Smith, assisted by the Nippon Club.

More than 60 volunteers turned up to help clean the pond, trim back the shrubs, and generally tidy up. 

Here at the Shepherd's Bush Blog we warmly thank the volunteers who regularly give up their time to maintain and preserve the Japanese Garden at Hammersmith Park.

Community Science Day at the "Tiny Forest" 29 Sept

Community Science Day at H&F Tiny Forest 29 Sept

On Wednesday 29th September Earthwatch and our local council LBHF are hosting a "Community Science Day" event at the "Tiny Forest" in Hammersmith Park.  Each session includes the collection of data to monitor how the trees are doing and what creatures are starting to cal the forest home. You can sign up here.

The event is sponsored by local business Fever Tree, who will also be running the early sessions, and the afternoon is open to our local community.

Hammersmith Park Japanese Garden September Newsletter

Hammersmith Park

The Japanese Garden in Hammersmith is one of the many pleasures of our neighbourhood. 

The Garden gets a regular cleanup by local volunteers; Japanese Garden Chair John Gordon-Smith also writes a monthly newsletter about the Garden. To see the latest news, see John's newsletter below. 

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.

Hammersmith Park Tennis Courts Locked

Why lock the courts?

Sometimes our local council moves in mysterious ways.  On Sunday I went to the tennis courts in Hammersmith Park to play with my children, only to discover the courts locked.  

Two basketball players were also there, but none of us could get in.  Not to worry, I said, let's crawl in through the hole in the fence at the back.  But no luck; the council - in its wisdom and efficiency - has blocked up the hole. 

The two basketball players were undeterred; they simply climbed over the fence, while my kids and I had to find somewhere else to hit a ball. 

But how long will it be, I wondered, before someone makes a new hole in the fence? 

"Tiny Forest" Planted in Hammersmith Park

"Tiny Forest" in Hammersmith Park

According to recent news reports, Hammersmith Park is set to house London’s first "Tiny Forest", planted in the old Bowling Green in the Park.  

Our Council, LBHF, posted a news story about the forest back in March.

But where is this forest? And how do you get there? Turns out, it isn't that easy to find, and there isn't any legitimate public access.