Friends fear for Waterlow’s gardeners

Published: 16 September, 2010
by CHARLOTTE CHAMBERS

RECREATING the pose of his much-loved ancestor Sir Sydney Waterlow, his great-great grandson couldn’t help but smile at the beauty of the park.

For Dr Peter Noyes, a 65-year-old retired surgeon from San Francisco in the United States, the three-day visit to London was long overdue: he had never been before and had no idea about the importance of Waterlow Park or his ancestor.

“I came here because my grandmother (Sir Sydney’s granddaughter) said if you ever come to London there’s a statue of your great-great grandfather you should have a look at,” he said when he toured the Highgate park on Thursday.

“So I started to look into it and realised this is more than just a little park, it is a very important part of London and that being Lord Mayor of London is a very important position.”

The statue of Sir Sydney features him holding an umbrella, his hat, and, most importantly, owing to his role as Lord Mayor, the keys to London.

Sir Sydney christened the park a “garden for the gardenless” in 1889 after he donated the land for Londoners living through one of its most unsanitary and dirtiest eras. Prior to his lasting donation, Sir Sydney had travelled to America and met his wife, Margaret Hamilton, while a daughter of theirs – Dr Noyes’s great-grandmother – later returned to the USA and settled there. 

“It gives you a very good feeling,” he said of the knowledge Sir Sydney was his ancestor, and used his visit as a chance to highlight a campaign to save the park from budget cuts.

A protest will to be launched next month by the Friends of Waterlow Park, who moved to act after learning that the parent company of the park’s contractor, Connaught Environmentals Limited, went into administration last week.

Patricia Walby, a member of the group, warned that the Friends fear Waterlow’s four gardeners face an uncertain future and said they believed the gardeners were already operating at a lower service – something denied by Camden. 

Ms Walby warned that each of the borough’s 73 parks and open spaces could be at risk if the parks contractor became affected by the collapse of its parent company, Connaught Group.

“We are concerned things are going to be missed if the situation is not resolved quickly in what is a very busy period,” she added.

Dr Noyes said he had been touched to learn how much the park is  loved by people from all walks of life. “I hope the public is made aware of this situation,” he said.

“Politicians must realise how important these kind of spaces are for our daily lives – this park was donated because my great-great grandfather worried about what would happen if people didn’t have a garden.”

Camden this week moved to reassure the public that parks would not be affected by Connaught’s collapse, and said its contract was with a subsidiary of the company that is unaffected.

A press officer said: “Our grounds maintenance contract is with Connaught Environmental, which is a completely separate company – a subsidiary – and they haven’t been placed into administration and they continue to trade as normal. The contract specifies the level of service they supply to us and so the level of service is maintained.” 

Despite coming under the Connaught umbrella until last week, a spokesman for Connaught Environmental said: “It is very much business as usual at Connaught Environmental.”

The Friends responded by calling for more help.

Ms Walby said: “We’re going to need lots of volunteers and we need funding. We urge anyone interested in becoming a member to please contact us.”

Anyone interested can contact the Friends’ chair, Ceridwen Roberts, on 0208 340 4770 or go to www.waterlowpark.org.uk