The Friends of Meath Gardens, saving our green spaces one tree at a time
The Friends of Meath Gardens is a community organisation fighting to save, maintain and improve our green spaces.
Meath Gardens–formerly Victoria Park Cemetery– is a large green area nestled next to Mile End Park. You can reach it over the footbridge near the Palm Tree and the Mile End Climbing Wall or from Smart Street.
The Friends of Meath Gardens was officially set up in 2015 to make this green space more community-friendly, preserve its heritage, and encourage the development of wildlife habitats.
Forester, chairman and co-founder of the Friends of Meath Gardens Tunde Morakinyo became involved with the organisation when he saw Alison Figueiredo, a resident, running to stop the council from trying to pollard one of these ancient trees. She was successful. This inspired Morakinyo to join the organisation on the spot.
Joanna Milewska, landscape architect and co-founder of the Friends of Meath Gardens, explains that the organisation was founded several years ago to oppose the over-pollarding of trees by the council. The Friends group now has a collaborative relationship with the council and this partnership has helped facilitate the development of the project.
The Friends of Meath Gardens is an inspiring example of how a partnership between a grassroots organisation and the local authority can work particularly well.
‘With passion, open dialogue, and a lot of hard work we have managed to turn a negative situation into a positive project’ says Milewska.
Following consultation with residents living around the park and the council, a landscape strategy was developed. The garden has been divided into different zones, including woodland areas, wildflower meadows, open recreational areas, historical features and the demarcation of trees.
One of these is an Ancient Black Poplar, one of Britain’s most endangered native trees. The Woodland Trust estimates that only 8,000 now exist in the UK, with only 400 being female. Meath Gardens has only one left that may be over 200 years old, following the death of another in February of this year.
To try and maintain the final one for as long as possible, the Friends of Meath Gardens are planning to build a flower bed around it for protection.
Other historical and natural features include the archway into the gardens which marks the entrance to the former cemetery and a Eucalyptus Tree which commemorates the burial of Bripumyarrimin, also known as King Cole, an Aboriginal cricketer, in 1868.
The Friends group is working closely with the council to restore the arch and, later this year, on an event to honour the memory of King Cole. Residents have been actively involved in both of these activities which shows how much passion there is for this hidden green open space in Bethnal Green.
As well as planting and maintaining trees, the Friends of Meath Gardens also want to create an ‘edible playground’ garden so children can learn about edible plants and become more comfortable in a horticultural setting.
Morakinyo says that ‘It is important to engage children with these ideas and encourage them to care about the future of our green spaces.’
The long-term goal for the Friends of Meath Gardens is to create a green corridor across Bethnal Green, linking fragmented green spaces in urban settings with Meath Gardens, Mile End Park and Victoria Park.
It is hoped this green corridor would then ‘spill out’ into estates and heavily concreted public areas like Globe Town Market with trees, perennials and wildflower meadows. The proposal is supported by the Council, local councillors and Globe Town’s newly emerging high street Steering Committee.
So far, the Friends have achieved the first stage of the project. Thanks to a grant from the Greener City Fund (GCF), the Friends planted 18 new trees at the beginning of April in Meath Gardens as well as Smart and Usk Streets.
These included three lime trees, a copper beech, a red oak, a sweet chestnut, a golden elm, a rowan, a multi-stemmed cherry and a foxglove tree according to a planting plan agreed with the council beforehand.
The GCF grant will also enable several other activities later in the year including the installation of bird and bat boxes and insect ‘hotels’ with local schools, planting shrubs to enrich the woodlands and erecting signage to inform the public about the garden’s history and its wildlife.
Volunteers play an important role in the Friends of Meath Gardens; once the trees have been planted, they require ongoing maintenance.
Volunteers are required to help look after and water the trees, and add tree guards for their protection.
As well as planting and maintaining trees, volunteers have planted over 2300 daffodils this year alone.
In 2017, one mammoth day of volunteering with the council onsite led to over 70 trees being planted by over 50 residents.
Protecting our green spaces and trees is something fun and incredibly beneficial for the local community.
Keep an eye on the Friends of Meath Gardens’ Facebook page to find out about upcoming opportunities for volunteers.
Visit Meath Gardens at Smart St, London E2 0SN
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I was hoping to visit the memorial site of Bripumyarrimin/King Cole in Meath gardens and was hoping you could advise on how to reach Meath Gardens and where within the gardens the memoial is located.
I would be travelling by underground and/or bus.
I hope you can help.