The WI ladies enjoyed a walk a bit closer to home in the borough of Havering this month. We used the Borough's Heritage Walk to guide us around.
We met at the gates of Raphael Park and walked around the delightful gardens which were given to the borough by Sir Herbert Raphael in 1902.
He bought Gidea Hall and the estate in 1897 and donated 15 acres for a public park to be enjoyed next to busy Romford with its market. Next with inspiration from the Hampstead Garden Suburb, Sir Herbert Raphael, John Tudor Walters and Charles Albert McCurdy formed the Gidea Park Development Company to develop the Romford Garden Suburb. With a new train station in the area, they held a competition for architects and builders to design the '100 best homes'. People travelled on the train in the summer of 1911 to view the 4 bedroom houses costing £500 and 3 bedroom cottages costing £375. The houses were designed by famous architects such as Clough Williams-Ellis and Baillie Scott.
The Romford Garden Suburb has changed little in the 100 years and still retains the garden feel with the beautiful front gardens and the original features on the houses. Lovely features such as the lake at the bottom of the gardens on Heath Drive and the trees on Reed Pond Walk are a pleasure to stumble across as you gaze longingly at the homes. Even the traditional lamposts add to the charm of this delightful area.
We walked back through the park and enjoyed an ice cream by the children's area before walking back under the trees and finding Percy the Park Keeper with his wheelbarrow. Nick Butterworth was born in Gidea Park and they have given Percy his very own little section of the park to look after because of his famous author and illustrator.
We met a very friendly squirrel before finishing back at the gates of the park. What a wonderful way to enjoy the hottest day of the year.
